Carboniferous Animals & Coal Forests

482Paleozoic

Smaller than Meganeura but still broad-winged, this griffinfly hunted above coal forests.

483Paleozoic

A long piercing mouthpart and four patterned wings belonged to the vanished palaeodictyopterans.

501Paleozoic

Diamond leaf cushions and a repeatedly forked crown marked a tall tree-sized lycopsid.

506Paleozoic

Four broad net-veined wings belonged to the completely vanished palaeodictyopterans.

507Paleozoic

A basal odonatopteran retained a more primitive wing base than modern dragonflies.

508Paleozoic

A wingless body ended in three tail filaments and combined traits of early silverfish-like insects.

510Paleozoic

Long transparent net-veined wings record an early radiation of large flying insects.

519Paleozoic

Males carried a striking anvil-shaped brush-and-spine complex on the back.

520Paleozoic

A short snout, large eyes and pectoral structures belonged to an early chimaera relative.

521Paleozoic

Iniopteryx rushlaui was a small cartilaginous fish with broad pectoral fins attached high on its body; the fins suggest underwater strokes, not flight.

526Paleozoic

A tiny body and retained gill structures marked a branchiosaurid amphibian.

555Paleozoic

Two pairs of net-veined wings could not fold, and some species carried thoracic winglets and piercing mouthparts.

560Paleozoic

A broad flat skull and dense pointed teeth belonged to a large aquatic temnospondyl.