The Ordovician period was from 488.3 million years ago to 443.7 million years ago. This period was named after an ancient British tribe in the North Wales. The tribe was established by geologist Charles Lapworth.

The area around Lake Winnipeg holds many preserved fossils from the Ordovician period. These fossils are preserved in the limestone there and around the region.

Huge glaciers started to form over Africa and later spread to the rest of the continents. Ocean levels started to drop due to the formation of the glaciers. The climates were fluctuating extremely over a long period of time.

Some of the life that was alive during this period includes red and green algae. The pictures below show some of the creatures that were alive during this time.

Fun Facts: The Ordovician-Silurian mass extinction is the second largest mass extinction that took place on Earth. The largest was the Great Dying.

According to experts, this mass extinction event took place in two phases that were separated by a million years.

As far as the severity of the event was concerned, it wiped out over 60% of marine invertebrate life forms. The most interesting thing to know about the Ordovician Period is that there were no land-based animals during that period. All life forms were confined to the oceans.

Berry, William B.N. "The Ordovician Period." The Ordovician Period. University of California Museum of Paleontology, 6 July 2011. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.

Baidya, Sankalan. "25 Interesting Ordovician-Silurian Mass Extinction Facts." Facts Legend. Facts Legend, 20 Feb. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.