Britannica
Sources used in this answer
Where does the Devonian Period fit within the Paleozoic Era?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Devonian Period
Distribution of landmasses, mountainous regions, shallow seas, and deep ocean basins during the early Devonian Period. Included in the paleogeographic reconstruction are the locations of the interval's subduction zones.
The Devonian Period is a major interval of the Paleozoic Era that follows the Silurian Period and precedes the Carboniferous Period. It spanned approximately 419.2 million to 358.9 million years ago.12
Within the broader context of the Paleozoic Era, the Devonian occupies the fourth position in the sequence of six periods, which are ordered from oldest to youngest as follows:
- Cambrian
- Ordovician
- Silurian
- Devonian
- Carboniferous
- Permian2