The Carboniferous Period that encompassed much of Central Alabama was known for its vast swamp forests, such as depicted in the diorama picture below that is located in the Chicago Field Museum. "Such swamps produced the coal from which the term Carboniferous, or 'carbon-bearing' is derived. The Carboniferous Period lasted from about 359.2 to 299 millions years ago during the late Paleozoic Era." ~Google
The second picture to the left shows what the earth looked like during the Paleozoic Era what is known as Pangea. Most of the continents were landlocked during this time period but were teeming with life such as insects, amphibians, reptiles and all sorts of marine life. The time known as the Mississippian (358.9 may) and Pennsylvanian (323.2 may) sub periods. The picture below shows what North and Central Alabama looked like back then. ~J. Lacefield. Most of my plant and marine fossil collection comes from those sub periods.
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