Click on the name of a geological period to see a globe of the world at that time. Each reconstruction shows the geography in the exact middle of the period. All of the Paleobiology Database fossil collections from throughout the period are indicated by the white circles.

You can make your own customized maps using our map drawing tool.

The paleogeographic reconstructions were provided by Chris Scotese and are the results of his PALEOMAP Project.

You can also see animations showing how the paleogeography changes through the Phanerozoic.

Instructions: you can make the globes turn around either by clicking on their sides or corners, or by using your arrow keys.

Cambrian (515 Ma)	Ordovician (466 Ma)	Silurian (430 Ma)
Devonian (388 Ma)	Carboniferous (329 Ma)	Permian (275 Ma)
Triassic (225 Ma)	Jurassic (173 Ma)	Cretaceous (106 Ma)
Paleogene (45 Ma)	Neogene (12 Ma)