Silurian

The Silurian is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at 443.1 Ma to the beginning of the Devonian Period, 419.62 Ma. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of the Paleozoic Era, and the third of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon. As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the exact dates are uncertain by a few million years. The base of the Silurian is set at a series of major Ordovician–Silurian extinction events when up to 60% of marine genera were wiped out.