A WORLD WHERE INSECTS HAVE THE UPPER HAND.

Picture this, its 300 million year ago, quite a long time don't you think. Although the Age of Mammals is a term we use frequently for this period, we should probably change it to the Era of Insects. Considering the numbers alone, there are far more of them than there are of us.

At this time, there are more than 7 billion people on the planet, which is a lot. Bugs, though? Aim for 10 Quintilian!

We establish the rules and, we're larger than they are, so we may want to pretend we're in charge. Yet, insects and other arthropods were formerly much larger.

It is known as during the Carboniferous epoch period, they were not merely numerous. They were... huge. Its an important turning point in Earth's history.

To meet the biggest invertebrates to ever crawl across the Earth, we have to go back to Period. Extreme ecological changes defined this time period, which preceded the dominance of enormous dinosaurs.

The enormous swamps and warm, humid woods dominated the terrain during a period when the continents were progressively merging to become the super continent of Pangea. Interestingly, this time period was noted for the existence of enormous insects, including millipedes the length of vehicles and dragonflies with wingspan comparable to crows.

You may now be thinking, "Earth has a lot of trees now." What then distinguishes them? Among other things, here we will look at the causes of the gigantism of insects throughout the Carboniferous, how oxygen contributed to this phenomena, and how these enormous arthropods eventually became extinct.

Giant Insects of the Carboniferous:

Many enormous insects, each more amazing than the previous, lived throughout the Carboniferous epoch. The meganeura stands out among them; it resembles a dragonfly and may have wingspan up to 75 cm. It is around a pigeon's size and is more than three times bigger than the largest dragonfly that is currently alive. Its carnivorous diet included tiny amphibians and other insects, which was noteworthy.

The arthropleura. You've probably seen those adorable tiny millipedes in the woods curled up behind dead, decaying logs. Imagine one of those, which is roughly 1.5 meters broad and 2 meters long, moving over the underbrush like a living carpet. It was millipede-like arthropod with lengths of up to 2.5 meters, most likely the biggest arthropod to ever walk on land. Even though it was enormous, its main food source was decaying plants.

Factors Affecting Gigantism:

Take a long breath. At this time, the atmosphere contains roughly 21% oxygen. Yet, it was approximately 35% back in the Carboniferous!This is due to the enormous, out-of-control plant growth that occurred during the Carboniferous.

Elevated oxygen levels in the atmosphere were one of the main causes of the enormous size of Carboniferous insects. According to research, the gigantism of insects was mostly a result of this excess oxygen. In contrast to other animals, insects rely on a network of microscopic tubes called the trachea for the supply of oxygen instead of having a circulatory system. As a result, greater insect sizes were made possible by increased oxygen levels.

Most of the earth had been covered by vast forests made up of ferns, mosses, and some of the first vascular plants. They produced huge volumes of oxygen while exhaling massive amounts of carbon dioxide.

The wood-eating bacteria weren't around during the Carboniferous period. Huge, ancient forests on Earth were therefore absorbing and exchanging large amounts of carbon dioxide and oxygen. Plants act in that way. The CO2 wasn't returning to the atmosphere, though, since the trees weren't disintegrating. The world's atmospheric oxygen levels reached an all-time high as a result.

Due to their special spiracles and tracheae, which distribute oxygen throughout their body, arthropods may grow to enormous sizes. But, in the Carboniferous, the abundance of oxygen in the air enabled them to surpass their restrictions and grow to record-breaking sizes.

Their Demise and extinction:

Yet, you are now familiar enough with natural history to understand that even the largest species don't always reign supreme. The Permian Era, some 275 million years ago, saw yet another major upheaval in the environment. We don't know why, but the oxygen concentrations in the atmosphere started to decline. Ancient climatic changes could have played a role.

Such include ocean currents, wind patterns, and the temperature of the entire world changed as Earth's continents joined to form Pangea, turning the planet from a lush greenhouse condition to an ice house state. When rain forests disappeared, oxygen levels dropped. As a result, the ecosystem became less favorable for huge insects to survive, which eventually caused their extinction. Early reptiles started to take over the environment at the same time, which increased competition and harmed the chances of big insects.

The last Meganeura had already flailed its wings. The arthropods that came after were never nearly as enormous as their progenitors. Of course, everything worked out well for them in the end! We are currently completely outnumbered by insects, arachnids, and other land-based arthropods in both biomass and variety.

It truly stands as a remarkable chapter in Earth's history but, if there was ever a time when it was truly an Age of Insects, it was probably during the Carboniferous Period, when arthropods of every sort were abundant and large.