The Carboniferous is the Paleozoic geological period between the Devonian and the Permian, approximately 359–299 million years ago. Its subdivisions include the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian. The name refers to the importance of coal-bearing rock successions, rather than implying that every Carboniferous environment was a coal swamp.[ref]
International Chronostratigraphic Chart by the International Commission on Stratigraphy. Version 2024/12; Carboniferous boundaries and subdivisions
Coal records the accumulation and burial of plant material in settings where production and preservation exceeded decay. Carboniferous fossils and the sediments around them can therefore be used together: a plant compression constrains the vegetation, while the enclosing deposit supplies evidence about the environment of preservation. A fossil assemblage is a sample from particular places and preservation conditions, not a census of all life during the period.
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