The long-ago seas of the Carboniferous and Devonian swarmed with tiny plankton that wrapped themselves inside tiny protective shells.

泥盆和石炭的古代海洋里生活着大批微小的浮游生物。它们躲在小小的保护性壳里。

The clue to this ancestor, it was assumed, would be found in the Devonian era, from about 400 million years ago.

据认为，这个祖先的线索要在大约4亿年以前的泥盆寻找。

But these creatures lived in a very different world from the Devonian.

但这些生物生活在 与泥盆截然不同的世界中。

Well, during the Devonian, things were … complicated.

好吧，在泥盆，事情… … 很复杂。

While fish with jaws first appeared in the Silurian, they proliferated in the Devonian.

虽然有颚的鱼最早出现在 志留，但它们在泥盆大量繁殖。

The Ordovician (440 million years ago) and Devonian (365 million) each wiped out about 80 to 85 percent of species.

奥陶（44000万年以前）和泥盆（36500万年以前）分别大约80%——85%的物种。

But about 385 million years ago, in the Devonian Period, tetrapods started venturing away from the water's edge.

但大约 3.85 亿年前， 在泥盆时，四足动物开始冒险离开水边。

But in the Devonian, a new branch of the cephalopod family tree appeared: ammonites.

但在泥盆，出现头足类 家族树的一个新分支：菊石。

And the evolution of armor may seem like an obvious adaptation for protection, especially in the Devonian's crowded seas.

盔甲的进化似乎是对保护的明显适应，尤其是在泥盆拥挤的海域。

Once plant life started to spread and diversify on land in the Devonian Period, fungi were there to help again.

一旦植物生命在泥盆时开始在陆地上传播和多样化，真菌就会再次提供帮助。

And the wood in these plants was  directly responsible for a lot of the soil generation that  took place in the Devonian.

这些植物中的木材直接导致泥盆发生的大量土壤生成。

It's not really clear what caused the Devonian extinctions, which occurred in two main bursts.

目前还不清楚是什么导致泥盆的物种绝，它发生在两次主要的爆发中。

The Devonian seas were peopled by animals of these species, and deposited them by thousands in the rocks of the newer formation.

泥盆海洋中栖息着这些物种的动物，并将成千上万的它们沉积在较新地层的岩石中。

Because, at this point in the Devonian,   holding onto water was a real challenge.

因为，在泥盆的这个时候，抓住水是一个真正的挑战。

Take, for example, that plant I mentioned  earlier: Archaeopteris from the late Devonian.

以我之前提到的植物为例：泥盆晚的古蕨属。

Oxygen levels in the Devonian and Carboniferous periods, when terrestrial life first bloomed, were as high as 35 percent (as opposed to nearer 20 percent now).

在陆地生命大幅度增加的泥盆和石炭，空气中的氧的浓度高达35%（现在是将近20%）。

So armored fish came in a variety of shapes and sizes during the Silurian and Devonian, from tiny Heterostracans to massive Placoderms.

因此，在志留和泥盆， 装甲鱼的形状和大小各不相同，从微小的异类鱼到巨大的盾皮鱼。

The Devonian is often known as " The Age of Fishes" - the time when things like Dunkleosteus ruled the waves.

泥盆通常被称为“鱼类时代”——邓氏鱼等生物统治海浪的时代。

But things started to change about a  quarter of the way into the Devonian Period.

但在进入泥盆的大约四分之一时，情况开始发生变化。

By the end of the Devonian period, plants had developed almost all of  the traits they would need to thrive.

到泥盆末，植物已经发展出它们茁壮成长所需的几乎所有特征。