Best Carboniferous
Meganeura monyi was a giant dragonfly that lived during the Carboniferous period approximately 300 million years ago. It is notable as one of the largest flying insects ever discovered, boasting a wingspan reaching nearly 65 centimeters. Fossil evidence suggests this “griffinfly” inhabited swampy en...
Pulmonoscorpius kirktonensis is a remarkably well-preserved fossil scorpion dating back to the Carboniferous period approximately 310 million years ago. It’s notable for possessing lungs, an unusual adaptation among scorpions at this time, suggesting a more active terrestrial lifestyle than previous...
Palaeopisthacanthus schucherti is a Carboniferous fossil scorpion from the United States, described by Petrunkevitch in 1913.
Arthropleura armata was a very large terrestrial arthropod related to millipedes that lived during the Carboniferous, with fossils known from Europe. Its body consisted of many articulated segments protected by broad dorsal plates, and trackways attributed to Arthropleura show that it moved across l...
Edestus is an extinct genus of eugeneodontid holocephalan fish that lived during the Late Carboniferous period, with fossils found in regions including the United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom. The genus is distinguished by its unique tooth whorls, which projected outward from its jaws and...
Stethacanthus is an extinct genus of shark-like cartilaginous fish that lived during the Late Devonian and Carboniferous periods, approximately 380 to 320 million years ago. It is most noted for the unusual, anvil-shaped dorsal fin and spine found on mature males, the top surfaces of which were cove...
Lepidodendron aculeatum is a fossil species of arborescent lycopsid, part of the scale-tree vegetation that flourished in Carboniferous wetlands. Like related Lepidodendron species, it is identified largely from patterned leaf cushions preserved on trunk and branch surfaces, producing the characteri...
Compsoscorpius buthiformis is an extinct species of scorpion that lived during the Carboniferous period. It was first scientifically described based on fossilized remains discovered in the coal measures of the United Kingdom. Paleontologists classify it as a basal arachnid that predates modern scorp...
Calamites suckowii is a giant Carboniferous horsetail relative that reached up to 30 m in height and was a dominant plant of coal-swamp forests worldwide.
Archaeocidaris brownwoodensis is a Carboniferous fossil cidaroid sea urchin, often illustrated as about 300 million years old in echinoid history.
Sigillaria brardii is a Carboniferous lycopsid tree with hexagonal leaf scars in vertical rows, a major component of coal-swamp forests across Europe.
A proetid trilobite genus spanning the Late Devonian into the Carboniferous, representing one of the longer-persisting trilobite lineages documented in the stratigraphic record.
Akmonistion is an Early Carboniferous chondrichthyan from Bearsden, Scotland, named in 2001 and noted for an anvil-like dorsal fin.
Tristychius arcuatus is a small Carboniferous shark from Scotland, notable as an early stem elasmobranch with evidence for suction feeding.
A Devonian proetid trilobite genus characterized by a smooth, inflated glabella, known from multiple paleocontinents and used in biostratigraphic correlation studies.
Pentremites godoni is a Mississippian blastoid echinoderm with a distinctive bud-shaped theca, one of the most commonly collected blastoids in North America.
A Carboniferous proetid trilobite widespread across Europe and North America, one of the few trilobite genera to persist well into the late Paleozoic era.
A Carboniferous proetid trilobite known from Mississippian limestones of Europe and North America, found in association with coal-measure-adjacent carbonate facies.
A Permian trilobite from Tethyan marine deposits, Pseudophillipsia is among the last surviving trilobite genera before the end-Permian extinction.
A Carboniferous proetid trilobite known primarily from Europe, part of the late-surviving proetid lineage that persisted through much of the Carboniferous Period.
Dunbarella papyracea is a small Carboniferous bivalve with a distinctively thin shell, widespread in European coal-measure marine bands and used in biostratigraphy.
A Carboniferous proetid trilobite from Europe and North America, known from Mississippian and Pennsylvanian strata and notable for its compact form and smooth glabella.
A Carboniferous to Permian trilobite, Ditomopyge is among the last surviving trilobite genera before the end-Permian mass extinction event.
An Ordovician trinucleoid trilobite genus from Europe, particularly Bohemia, characterized by a pitted cephalic fringe typical of the family Trinucleidae.
A Middle Cambrian trilobite genus of the order Ptychopariida, known from deposits in multiple regions and recognized by its distinctive cranidial and pygidial morphology.
