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Dawn of the Coal Age
Dawn of the Coal Age
The Tournaisian Age (359–347 Ma) is the first age in the Mississippian Epoch of the Carboniferous Period, occurring after the Famennian age (of the Devonian Period), and before the Visean Age.
Geologic Age
Geologic Age
358.9±0.4–346.7±0.4 Ma
Eon / Era / Period / Epoch
Eon / Era / Period / Epoch
Above: Sanfordiacaulis densifolia reconstruction (Gastaldo et al. 2024)
Below: Reconstruction of continent positions during Tournaisian
What happened during this time?
What happened during this time?
Biological
Biological
Sanfordiacaulis densifolia, a single-stemmed, non-woody "tree" estimated to be 20 feet tall (Gastaldo et al. 2024)
It possessed more than 250 leaves around its trunk, with partially-preserved leaves extending 1.75 meters, and probably another meter in real life
Affinities for this plant are unknown
Geophysical
Geophysical
Tropical Everwet and Summerwet
Dominated by arborescent lycopods, sphenophyllophytes, equisetophytes, and pteridosperms (Cleal and Thomas 1991)
Clear increase in fossil charcoal in marine black shales during this time (Rimmer et al. 2015)
Burned plant material from ground fires being transported into watersheds
This is probably due to increased oxygen levels from the increased amount of plant life on land
Subtropical Desert
no fossil evidence
Warm Temperate
non-arborescent lycopsids and equisetophytes
Cool-cold temperate, arctic and glacial
no fossil evidence
Additional Resources
Additional Resources
Earliest reptile footprints rewrite the timeline of tetrapod evolution (Phys.org 14May2025)
└Long et al. (2025) Earliest amniote tracks recalibrate the timeline of tetrapod evolution
Rare tree fossils preserved with leaves unlike any plant known today (Live Science 2Feb2024)
└Gastaldo et al. (2024) Enigmatic fossil plants with three-dimensional, arborescent-growth architecture from the earliest Carboniferous of New Brunswick, Canada
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