The Carboniferous Period lasted from 359 mya- 299 mya. The Carboniferous was a time of glaciation, low sea level and mountain building, diversification and extinction. The name "Carboniferous comes from the many coal beds that were globally lain in this period. The climate of the early part of the Carboniferous was mostly warm; and then cooled as the period went on. During the Carboniferous Period the most important marine invertebrate groups are the foraminifera, corals, bryozoa, brachiopods, ammonoids, hederelloids, microconchids and echinoderms (especially crinoids). Fossil remain of air-breathing insects, for example the myriapods and arachnids are known from the late Carboniferous, but no such fossils have appeared from the early Carboniferous. Carboniferous amphibians were both diverse and common, more so than they are today; some were as long as 6 meters, and those fully terrestrial as adults had scaly skin.
