Silurian

[ si-loor-ee-uhn, sahy- ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

of or relating to the Silures or their country.
Geology. noting or pertaining to a period of the Paleozoic Era, occurring from 425 to 405 million years ago, notable for the advent of air-breathing animals and terrestrial plants.

Silurian

/ saɪˈlʊərɪən /

of, denoting, or formed in the third period of the Palaeozoic era, between the Ordovician and Devonian periods, which lasted for 25 million years, during which fishes first appeared
of or relating to the Silures

Silurian

/ sĭ-lr′ē-ən /

The third period of the Paleozoic Era, from about 438 to 408 million years ago. During this time glaciers that formed during the late Ordovician melted, causing sea levels to rise. The first coral reefs, fish with jaws, and freshwater fish appeared, and jawless fish continued to spread rapidly. The first vascular plants also appeared, as did land invertebrates including relatives of spiders and centipedes.
See Chart at geologic time

First recorded in 1700–10; Silur(es) + -ian

Perhaps we are the trilobites of a new Silurian period; well, trilobites were painfully common, but we need not be.

The prevalence of the brachiopods in the Silurian period over the cephalaspid proves little.

The Silurian rocks, as regards oceanic life, are perfect and abundant in the forms they have preserved.

They are, perhaps, the predecessors of the curious Graptolites, which we shall have to represent in the Silurian.

Undoubtedly the geographical arrangements of the Silurian period contributed to this.

April 18, 2024petrichor

[pet-ri-kawr]

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