Ordovician
485.4 Ma – 443.8 Ma · part of the Paleozoic era
Marine life diversified enormously in the Ordovician, and the first primitive land plants took hold. The period ended in a severe glaciation and one of the “big five” mass extinctions.
View the Ordovician on the globe →
Highlights
- Great Ordovician biodiversification
- First land plants
- End-Ordovician glaciation and extinction