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[-] CeruleanRuin@lemmings.world 139 points 2 weeks ago

It always staggers me when I remember that for roughly sixty million years during the Carboniferous Period, there were trees but no microorganisms capable of decomposing them.

Just sixty million years of branches falling off and trees falling down and... just sitting there on the ground, not rotting at all.

[-] XOXOX@lemmy.world 79 points 2 weeks ago

Now consider wild fires during that period.

[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 69 points 2 weeks ago

Fire hadn't been invented yet.

[-] nikaaa@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

they said "wild fires"

just like wild horses, wild fires existed long before they were domesticated.

[-] ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago
[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

Was the world turning though?

[-] ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

Not the song I mean, but thanks for the ear worm.

[-] affiliate@lemmy.world 19 points 2 weeks ago

they must have been wild

[-] sushibowl@feddit.nl 38 points 2 weeks ago

Note that although species can be described as tree-like, they didn't quite look like modern trees do. Also, much of the world was swamp, and much of the dead plant material sank into these bogs and decayed into peat.

The amount of CO2 trapped during this period caused the atmosphere to be around 35% oxygen. This allowed life with inefficient respiratory systems to grow much bigger in size without suffocating, mainly insects. Think woodlice 6 feet long, spiders the size of dogs, millipedes as big as cars, and dragonflies as big as eagles.

[-] RagingHungryPanda@lemm.ee 24 points 2 weeks ago

Think woodlice 6 feet long, spiders the size of dogs, millipedes as big as cars, and dragonflies as big as eagles.

No, I don't think I will

[-] hex@programming.dev 12 points 2 weeks ago

I LOVE the thought of a world-covering swamp with pseudo-trees and giant fucking bugs. Such a stimulating thought. I'd love to explore and see it.

[-] crank0271@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago

Have you been to Florida, friend?

[-] hex@programming.dev 5 points 2 weeks ago

Nope, but I was in Australia. Not quite as swampy.

[-] ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago

It was a lot more fun to believe that coal was crushed dinosaurs.

[-] pumpkinseedoil@mander.xyz 2 points 2 weeks ago

We have oil for that

[-] OpenStars@discuss.online 1 points 2 weeks ago

Sus: bacteria predate trees by like... a lot. There may not be many fossils of them:-), but surely they would eat whatever they could.

this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2024
894 points (99.1% liked)

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