Late Devonian
The Late Devonian Epoch / corresponding Upper Devonian Series; about 382.31–358.86 Ma.
Language and route: English, transparent ordinal adjective (not a historical proper-name coinage). English, transparent ordinal adjective (not a historical proper-name coinage). Name-source: descriptive position within the Devonian succession.
Literal gloss: descriptive position within the Devonian succession
The name and its history
No individual proposer: ordinal rank labels standardised through international usage and formal boundary agreements · No individual proposer: ordinal rank labels standardised through international usage and formal boundary agreements
- What does the word literally mean?
- English ordinal label for the descriptive position within the Devonian succession. Not a separate Greek, Latin or regional etymological coinage.
- What did the original author mean?
- The upper / later part of Devonian time as part of the threefold period subdivision, with the named stages Frasnian, Famennian.
- Why was the name needed?
- Geologists needed consistent time-series divisions rather than conflicting provincial rock-based subdivisions of the Devonian.
- What evidence supported the original concept?
- Global stages (Frasnian, Famennian) and their boundary stratotypes, correlated primarily by fossils, define the modern limits.
- How has geology changed the concept?
- Early/Middle/Late label epochs in time; equivalent Lower/Middle/Upper label series of rock strata. The ordinal meaning remains, but the globally fixed boundaries differ from historic local schemes.
Further historical context
*Original use.* The upper / later part of Devonian time as part of the threefold period subdivision, with the named stages Frasnian, Famennian.
*Historical problem.* Geologists needed consistent time-series divisions rather than conflicting provincial rock-based subdivisions of the Devonian.
*Evolution.* Early/Middle/Late label epochs in time; equivalent Lower/Middle/Upper label series of rock strata. The ordinal meaning remains, but the globally fixed boundaries differ from historic local schemes.
Editorial qualification
Not an independently coined etymological name. The ICS chart labels the rock-series Upper; in time, the epoch is Late Devonian.
Related names
Sources
- ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart, 2026/06 — Current nomenclature, rank and numerical age
- ICS Devonian subdivisions — International epoch/series terminology and constituent stages
- Global historical standardisation of period subdivisions — Historical naming, original claim or scholarly review; see confidence note