The Silurian Period: The History of the Prehistoric Era When Life Formed on Land

The early history of Earth covers such vast stretches of time that years, centuries, and even millennia become virtually meaningless. Instead, paleontologists and scientists who study geochronology divide time into periods and eras.

The Silurian Age occurred during the mid-Paleozoic, and despite its relative brevity, the era developed some interesting features that promulgated life on Earth. Roderick J. Murchison, a British geologist, named a sequence of rocks after a group of indigenous pe...