Driver Identified of the Largest Mass Extinction in the History of the Earth
New study provides a comprehensive reconstruction of the Permian-Triassic boundary event. Life on Earth has a long, but also an extremely turbulent history. On more…
Extinction Event
Stellar Explosion Blamed for Mass Extinction Event on Earth 360 Million Years Ago
Between a decline in biodiversity and a series of extinction events, the Late Devonian period was not the most hospitable time on Earth. And then…
Discovery of a New Mass Extinction – Carnian Pluvial Episode – 233 Million Years Ago
It’s not often a new mass extinction is identified; after all, such events were so devastating they really stand out in the fossil record. In…
“Green Bananas” – New Research Shows Exploding Stars May Have Caused Mass Extinction on Earth
Imagine reading by the light of an exploded star, brighter than a full moon – it might be fun to think about, but this scene…
Mass Extinction 215 Million Years Ago Was NOT Due to Asteroid or Climate Change
A team of University of Rhode Island scientists and statisticians conducted a sophisticated quantitative analysis of a mass extinction that occurred 215 million years ago…
In Earth’s Greatest Extinction, Land Animals Began Dying Off Long Before Marine Life
New dates for fossils indicate land animal turnover extended for hundreds of thousands of years. The mass extinction at the end of the Permian Period…
Throughout Earth’s History, Solar System Processes Controlled the Carbon Cycle
The world is waking up to the fact that human-driven carbon emissions are responsible for warming our climate, driving unprecedented changes to ecosystems, and placing…
First Day of Dinosaur Extinction Recorded by Rocks at Asteroid Impact Site
When the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs slammed into the planet, the impact set wildfires, triggered tsunamis and blasted so much sulfur into the…
Scientists Document a Surprising Trend in a Study on Extinctions
Sixty-five million years ago, clouds of ash choked the skies over Earth. Dinosaurs, along with about half of all the species on Earth, staggered and…
Earth Recovered 10 Million Years After Permian-Triassic Mass Extinction
The greatest mass extinction pulse was the Permian-Triassic extinction event, and it happened about 250 million years ago, nearly wiping out life on Earth. It…
How the Holmzaden Ichthyosaur Sank Before the Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction Event
Paleontologist Alim Reisdorf and the co-authors of a new study published in the journal Paleobiodiversity & Paleoenvironments have been trying to figure out exactly how…