Paleozoic era
- noun
- /ˌpeɪliəˈzoʊɪk ˈɛrə/
- Specialized
:
era paleozoica
- During the Paleozoic era, the planet saw the evolution of major animal groups and the development of hard-shelled organisms.
Examples
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The Paleozoic era was a significant geological time when many ancient life forms, including trilobites and early amphibians, emerged on Earth.
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The Earth has survived 4.5 billion years; nature will survive the coming sixth extinction, which we will have wrought, albeit with species that seem as alien to us now as those abundant in the Paleozoic era.
Blog text (16) -
Most abundant were trilobites, members of the family of scuttling, many-legged invertebrates with crusty outer skeletons that thrived during much of the Paleozoic era.
Academic text (1992) -
Fossils from the Paleozoic era provide valuable insights into the diversity of life that existed over 250 million years ago.
Synonyms
1
9.9
An era in Earth's history from about 541 to 252 million years ago when early plants and animals developed
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a simple noun phrase formed by a proper name 'Paleozoic' plus the common noun 'era'; if a learner already knows that 'Paleozoic' refers to a named geological time and that 'era' means a large timespan, the combined meaning (the geological era called the Paleozoic) is directly derivable. The structure is fully compositional and follows a common cross-linguistic naming pattern, so learners who know the constituents will understand it.
Etymology
Paleozoic era comes from Greek parts: paleo- meaning 'old' and -zoic meaning 'life', and 'era' means a long 'time'. So the name gives the image of a very 'old time of life', which fits because many early animals and plants appeared then.