When the Rainforests Collapsed

↓ More info below ↓

The Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse set the stage for a takeover that would be a crucial turning point in the history of terrestrial animal life. If it weren’t for that time when the rainforests collapsed - in an extinction event that you probably haven’t heard of - our ancestors might never have made it out of the swamps.

Thank you to these paleoartists for allowing us to use their wonderful illustrations:

Super special thanks to the following Patreon patrons for helping make Eons possible:
Anthony Callaghan, Anton Bryl, Jeff Graham, shelley floryd, Laura Sanborn, Henrik Peteri, Zachary Spencer, Chandler Bass, Joao Ascensao, Andrey, Ben Thorson, Robert Amling, Marcus Lejon, Ilya Murashov, Nathan Paskett, Jerrit Erickson, Merri Snaidman, David Sewall, Gabriel Cortez, Jack Arbuckle, Kevin Griffin, Robert Noah, Philip Slingerland, Todd Dittman, James Bording, Eric Vonk, Robert Arévalo, Esmeralda Rupp-Spangle, Jon Monteiro, MissyElliottSmith, Jonathan Wright, Gregory Donovan, Miles Chaston, Michael McClellan, PS, Maria Humphrey, Larry Wilson, Hubert Rady, John Vanek, Tsee Lee, Daisuke Goto, Gregory Kintz, Matt Parker, Tyson Cleary, Case Hill, Stefan Weber, Betsy Radley

Want to follow Eons elsewhere on the internet?

[mathematicalmatt]

I love how almost every video starts with: lemme tell you about this particular animal that had a really bad day.

[biohazard]

I know what's meant by 'collapse' but I can't shake the mental image of all the ancient rainforests just *falling down* in unison.

[TheKiwijord]

Long ago, four ecosystems existed together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the rainforests collapsed

[Animeyou]

A clarification for those who do not know:

Amniote does not mean reptile. Just because something is scaly and it lays eggs on land does not make it a reptile.

"Amniote" refers to a small group of lizard-like animals from the Carboniferous and Permian that were not amphibians and not yet proper reptiles, and all their descendants (e.g., mammals, reptiles and birds). This is a important distinction, because if you do not know that the diapsid-synapsid split occurred before reptiles evolved, you may be inclined to falsely believe that mammals evolved from proper reptiles, which is not the case.

[kathrinestewart]

Can u do an episode on how scientists predict how an animal would look like when only partial skeletons are found.

[ebihn]

It'd be so cool if you guys did a behind the scenes series on what you put into making these videos because they're always so informative and interesting. I'd love to see what's put into the research for these!

[jansenart]

Learn to use an egg. Use a stronger egg. Put water in it. Have a baby on land in an egg. Water's in the egg. Baby in the egg in the water in the egg. Works for me!

Bye bye ocean!

[eomguel]

Yeeey! I love episodes that give a little more protagonism to plants. I mean, if you are a plant person, you'd be inclined to call the Mesozoic era the age of gymnosperms rather than the age of dinosaurs. That said, an episode on cycads, please!!!

[xileets]

1:06 - This illustration is really creative. I don't usually care that much about the concept sketches in these videos...

[oleksandrbyelyenko]

I remember this channel had tens of thousands of subscribers and now there are almost 1.2 million of them...
Even though it is not as nice as 1.5 or 2 million, still congrats. I am happy to see you rise.

[Leftatalbuquerque]

The most disturbing thing I learned today is that the host moved from New Mexico to Montana. IN THE WINTER. I am now seriously doubting the integrity of the folks at PBS.

[pkmnaj]

This will forever be one of my favorite channels

[Shantosh]

Do an episode titled "When India was an Island". Thanks.

[flightlesschicken]

4:13 If I remember correctly those "tree ferns" bare a sticking superficial resemblance to modern tree ferns but are completely unrelated. And we know that because those tree ferns bore seeds, hence they were called seed ferns.

It's weird to think they were not related with how similar they appear, but they were in completely different phyla

[latticeddreams]

I love PBS Eons so much, it's so intriguing, keep doing what you're doing, guys. One of the few big corporations that aren't corrupt, and are entertaining! ^^

[holothuroid]

The most interesting part to me where the different quasi trees. Can you do more plants in the future?

[dustinfreeman]

The Carboniferous was a weird period in Prehistoric times. It was all forests, swamps and marshes. I never guessed that amphibians and reptiles shared the same forests before it collapsed.

[jacobopstad]

2:35 Could I be the only one who sees a yellow serpent with a big mouth trying to catch a gray fish?

[lynnclapper]

You do know that these videos are addictive

[bryal]

A lizard-like creature living in a dump in Nova Scotia? Yup that's me.


Oh wait you said stump... that's still me.