Kasimovian Age

The Kasimovian (307–304 Ma) is the third age in the Carboniferous Period, occurring after the Moscovian age, and before the Gzhelian age.

Above: Reconstruction of Meganeura, a large winged insect realted to dragonflies

What happens during this time?

Flora

Club moss forests covered tropical Euramerica
Climate change devastated tropical rainforests creating a cooler, drier climate
- Severely affected arboescent lycopsids which dominated the wetland areas
By the late Kasimovian, rainforests were fragmented, forming shrinking patches further and further apart.

Fauna

This is the age of the giant flying meganeurid insects, called griffinflies
- Meganeura was related to living dragonflies and damselflies, in the group Odonatoptera
- They had wingspans ranging from 65 cm (25.6 in) to over 70 cm (28 in)
- Meganeura monyi is one of the largest-known flying insect species every recorded in Earth's history
- It is suggested that extremely high oxygen levels at this time allowed these insects to get to enormous sizes (Chapelle & Peck 1999)
- Other researchers have suggested that a lack of aerial vertebrate predators may have been the cause (Bechly 2004)
There was a great loss of amphibian diversity
Drier climate spurred the diversification of reptiles.
Terrestrial invertebrates were diverse and included annelids, molluscs, and arthropods, including the giant arthropleurids.
- Most were detritivorous, eating 'litter' off of the forest floor however, some had evolved herbivorous and predatory forms.
- By the end of the age, the Arthropleurids went extinct.