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The Palaeozoic Era includes the Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous and the Permian periods of the Standard Geological Time Scale. This is known as the Dravidian Era in the Indian Geological Time Scale.
The Palaeozoic Era extends from 570 million years ago to 24.5 million years ago. It marks the beginning of life on the Earth’s surface. The formations of this period are almost absent in the Peninsular India except near Umaria in Rewa. These formations exist in the Salt Range, Pir-Panjal, Handwara, Lidder-Valley, Anantnag of Kashmir (Jammu & Kashmir), Spiti, Kangra, Shimla region (Himachal Pradesh), and Garhwal and Kumaun (Uttarakhand). It was during this period that the Pangaea was broken and the Tethys Sea came into existence. The Cambrian rocks include shales, sandstones, clays, quartzites slates, salts, marble, etc.