Permian extinction
Largest mass extinction
The Permian extinction, also called the Great Dying, was the most severe mass extinction in Earth's history, occurring roughly 252 million years ago at the end of the Permian period.
An estimated 90 percent of marine species and 70 percent of land vertebrates disappeared.
The cause remains debated but likely involved massive volcanic eruptions triggering catastrophic climate change.
The Permian extinction nearly ended life on Earth.
- fossilsPreserved ancient organism traces
- end of the worldComplete destruction of everything
- paleontologyStudy of ancient organisms
- fossil recordRemains documenting prehistoric life
- fossil bedsRock layers containing preserved organisms
trilobites · Pangaea · brachiopods · anoxia · dead zone · stratigraphy · greenhouse effect · volcanic eruptions · supercontinent · acid rain · Paleozoic · Triassic · geochronology · geologic time · deep time · paleoclimate · apocalypse · cataclysm
- extinctiondodo, extinct, died out, passenger pigeon, extinct species
- Earth history eventsice age, volcanic eruption, asteroid impact, continental drift, meteor strike
- PermianPangaea, Dimetrodon, Gondwana, supercontinent, evaporites
- paleontologydinosaurs, fossil, paleontology, fossil record, dinosaur bones
- Triassicarchosaurs, pterosaurs, ichthyosaurs, Pangaea, Pangea
- Anoxic Eventsoxygen depletion, deoxygenation, hydrogen sulfide