Life Through Time: Life in the Paleozoic Era

The Paleozoic era, spanning from about 541 to 251 million years ago, was a period of significant diversification of multicellular life. It saw the flourishing of marine invertebrates like trilobites and the emergence of fish. Plants began colonizing land, leading to the formation of coal deposits. The era was marked by several bursts of diversification, interrupted by four major mass extinctions.

What type of organisms thrived in the warm, shallow seas of the early Paleozoic era?

• Vertebrates

• Reptiles

• Invertebrates

• Mammals

Which of the following creatures is known to have existed during the Paleozoic era but is now extinct?

• Sabertooth Tigers

• Mammoths

• Trilobites

• Dinosaurs

What significant event occurred over 400 million years ago during the Paleozoic era?

• Birds began to fly

• Plants first colonized land

• Dinosaurs first appeared

• Mammals evolved

What did the decayed plants in the swamps of the late Paleozoic era form?

• Natural gas reserves

• Limestone formations

• Oil deposits

• Coal deposits

How many major mass extinctions occurred during the Paleozoic era?

• Two

• Five

• Three

• Four