Carboniferous of Europe ... Also shown is stem of a giant horsetail -- calamites (the one growing at an odd angle). The winged insect climbing a horsetail (equisetum) is a primitive cockroach ...

This time period took place ... wet and humid. Carboniferous coal was produced by bark-bearing trees that grew in vast lowland swamp forests. Vegetation included giant club mosses, tree ferns ...

First, it led to the creation of iconic "coal forests" full of giant insects in the Carboniferous period during the ice age. It also paved the way for the rise of reptiles in the Permian period ...