Devonian
After its formation EURAMERICA was a very large land area, the "Old-Red-Continent". Its prevailingly reddish, erosion-produced sediments fill non-marine basins (England, Scotland) and parts of the Variscan trough (Ardennes, Rhenish Mountains)., GONDWANA, including what is now southern Europe, moves toward the north, heralding further great plate collisions "soon" to occur.
Terrestrial life diversifies, led by vegetation. At the beginning of the Devonian only simple, small, spore-bearing vascular plants cover the land, but by the end of the period, forests with trees to 30 m are prevalent, including the first seed plants. Flightless insects, spiders, fresh-water fish, and amphibians follow the vegetation onto land. In the oceans fish, cephalopods and conodonts diversify and graptolites and tentaculites go extinct. A major mass extinction of life occurs early in late Devonian.