Pa|le|o|zo|ic

Pa|le|o|zo|ic «_PAY lee uh ZOH ihk, _PAL ee-», noun, adjective.

–n.

1. an early geological era whose fossils represent early forms of life. It was characterized by the development of the first fishes, land plants, amphibians, reptiles, insects, and forests of fernlike trees and came after the Proterozoic and before the Mesozoic. »

Beginning about 505 million years ago, the Paleozoic is divided into six periods: Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian (Beals and Hoijer).

2. the rocks formed in this era.

–adj.

of this era or its rocks: »

The Paleozoic rocks are the oldest that contain abundant evidence of life (Raymond Cecil Moore).

╂[< paleo- + Greek zō life + English -ic]