Planet Belgium (5) - Belgium, an Eldorado for Mammals - Podcast

Order our unique posters of Belgium throught deep time!

The origin of Belgium is a mysterious little continent called ‘Avalonia’. About 500 million years ago, it began an incredible odyssey from the South Pole. Listen to the first podcast episode in Dutch and discover the oldest rocks in our country and the earliest traces of life.

Four hundred million years ago, Belgium lay just below the equator. After a violent period of collisions and mountain formation, a quieter time dawned. Our land was eroding into a plat pays and was largely submerged underneath a tropical sea with immense coral reefs. These would ultimately petrify and form the world-famous Belgian marble.

300 million years ago, our country was a swampy region full of bizarre trees, located right on the equator. The plant-rich and soggy world of the Carboniferous would eventually be compressed into coal. This “black gold” has been mined and burned at a blistering pace since the 19th century. 

125 million years ago, herds of iguanodons roamed our regions. The drowning deaths of several dozen iguanodons became our palaeontological stroke of luck: their remains fossilized perfectly and slid through the unstable ground down into the deeper coal layers of the Carboniferous period. There, in 1878, two miners struck the first bones. The Iguanodons of Bernissart became the Rosetta Stone of fledgling dinosaur palaeontology. 

Mammals lived in the shadow of the dinosaurs until an asteroid, 66 million years ago, wiped out the great voracious reptiles. This gave frugal, milk-suckling little creatures with fur, multifunctional teeth, and excellent hearing new opportunities. They seized those chances with both hands (and opposable thumbs). In our country we find crucial traces of their conquest.

The origin of Belgium – and of Central Europe – lies on a mysterious little continent called ‘Avalonia’. About 500 million years ago, it set out on an unlikely odyssey from the South Pole. Enjoy our longread!

Four hundred million years ago, Belgium lay just below the equator. After a violent period of collisions and mountain formation, a quieter time dawned. Our land was eroding into a plat pays  and was largely submerged underneath a tropical sea with immense coral reefs. These would ultimately petrify and form the world-famous Belgian marble. Enjoy the longread!

Go back 300 million years and our country is a swampy forest right on the equator. Amongst strange trees, cockroaches fly, giant dragonflies hover and gi-gan-tic centipedes crawl. In the foliage, the first reptiles lay their eggs. The plant-filled and soggy world of the late Carboniferous will be compressed into coal. Enjoy the longread!

125 million years ago, herds of iguanodons roamed Bernissart, in the south of Hainaut. Their drowning deaths became our palaeontological stroke of luck: their remains fossilized and they became the Rosetta Stone of fledgling dinosaur palaeontology. When and how did upright-walking land reptiles we call dinosaurs rise to the top? And where in our regions can we still find traces of the apocalypse that brought their reign to an end? Read the long read!

Mammals lived in the shadow of the dinosaurs until an asteroid, 66 million years ago, wiped out the great voracious reptiles. This gave frugal, milk-suckling little creatures with fur, multifunctional teeth, and excellent hearing new opportunities. They seized those chances with both hands (and opposable thumbs). In our country we find crucial traces of their conquest. Enjoy the longread!