The Coming of Life
The Ordovician Period
The name comes from an ancient tribe of
people known as the Ordovices. They
lived in the part of England where the
first fossils of this period were found.
An enemy appeared for the
Trilobites -the cold. Then other animals
became powerful and filled the seas.
The most important of these were
the "sea lilies." The "sea lilies,"
or crinoids, transformed the bottom
of the ocean into a huge garden.
the "sea lilies." The "sea lilies,"
or crinoids, transformed the bottom
of the ocean into a huge garden.
Although they appeared to be
flowers they were really animals,
belonging to the echinoderms.
Other animals which developed were
large cephalopods (feet on their heads),
starfish , many mollusks, graptolites,
smaller crinoids, and sand dollars.
All of these animals consumed
great amounts of calcium thus
cleaning the waters. Plants were
still very simple; algae made
up of simple cells.
Pinegreenwoods Montessori
