All articles tagged with #mass extinction
Fossils from Inner Meadow, eastern Canada, dated to about 551 million years ago, indicate the Kotlin Crisis was far more severe and rapid than previously believed, with about 80% of known macroorganisms disappearing in a single pulse, as overlapping Avalon-type biotas suggest abrupt turnover possibly tied to declining ocean oxygen ahead of the Cambrian explosion.
New fossils from Inner Meadow in eastern Canada suggest Earth's earliest mass extinction, the Kotlin Crisis, about 550 million years ago, occurred abruptly and was far more deadly than previously thought, wiping out roughly 80% of large organisms. Evidence points to an oxygen-depleted ocean and environmental stressors, with exceptional Lagerstätten preservation helping to precisely date the event and prompting researchers to reassess the pace and causes of early ecosystem collapse.
Scientists outline four possible future supercontinents—Novopangea, Pangea Proxima, Aurica, and Amasia—each arising from how today’s oceans evolve, with climate models predicting divergent outcomes (cooling and expanded ice in some scenarios, warmer, drier conditions in Aurica, and potential widespread glaciation in Amasia). While these projections show strikingly different worlds, they share high uncertainty and stress that substantial ecological disruption or extinction could accompany a new planetary union; humanity’s long-term survival may hinge on living in harmony with Earth's ecosystems.
China’s Huayuan biota from about 512 million years ago yielded 153 species, with roughly 90 new to science. The fossils show soft-bodied anatomy (gills, guts, eyes, nerves) and include radiodont apex predators, indicating deep-water ecosystems endured the Sinsk mass extinction around 513 million years ago even as shallow-water life was decimated, revealing surprising Cambrian diversity.
A Chinese team in Hunan uncovered over 50,000 fossils from a small quarry dating to about 512 million years ago, capturing more than 150 species (91 new to science) with soft tissues preserved. The Huayuan biota, from just after the Sinsk mass extinction, offers new insights into early animal life and shows surprising connections to the Burgess Shale, implying early larval dispersal and rapid post-extinction recovery during the Cambrian explosion.
New research indicates that dinosaurs in North America were still thriving just before the asteroid impact 66 million years ago, with fossils from the last moments of the Cretaceous period showing diverse and large species like Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, and Alamosaurus, challenging the idea that dinosaurs were in decline before their extinction.
New evidence suggests that a comet explosion over Earth around 13,000 years ago caused the Younger Dryas cooling period, leading to mass extinctions and the disappearance of the Clovis culture, supported by impact markers like shocked quartz and nanodiamonds found at archaeological sites.
The asteroid that caused the dinosaurs' extinction 66 million years ago was about 7 miles wide, leaving behind a massive crater in Mexico and a layer of iridium-rich rock, but little of its physical remains have been found. Its impact triggered global fires, tsunamis, and a 'nuclear winter' effect, leading to the extinction of about 75% of Earth's species.
Approximately 34 million years ago, a massive meteorite impact created the Popigai crater in Siberia, transforming graphite into industrial diamonds and contributing to a global cooling event that led to the Eocene–Oligocene extinction, with impacts and volcanic activity significantly reshaping Earth's biodiversity and climate.
Human activity has significantly accelerated CO2 emissions, risking a sixth mass extinction by overwhelming Earth's natural carbon cycle, similar to past catastrophic events like the Permian extinction. Urgent action to reduce emissions and adopt sustainable practices is crucial to prevent irreversible environmental collapse.
The article discusses the potential for human-induced climate change to trigger a sixth major mass extinction, drawing parallels with past catastrophic events like the Permian extinction caused by massive volcanic eruptions and CO2 overloads, emphasizing that the rapid rate of current CO2 emissions could push Earth beyond its capacity to recover, leading to irreversible damage to global biodiversity.
Scientists have uncovered detailed fossils from southern Africa that reveal the rich ecosystems just before Earth's largest mass extinction at the end of the Permian period, providing new insights into which species thrived and which vanished, and offering a broader understanding of global extinction patterns.
An international team of paleontologists has uncovered a rich collection of Permian fossils in Africa, providing new insights into the species that lived before the Earth's largest mass extinction, the Great Dying, about 252 million years ago, and helping to better understand the evolution and resilience of life on Earth.
An international team of paleontologists has uncovered well-preserved fossils from Africa's Permian period, providing new insights into the animals that thrived before the Earth's largest mass extinction, with findings including new species of dicynodonts, gorgonopsians, and temnospondyls, which help understand survival and extinction patterns across Pangea.
Research by SMU paleontologists has reconstructed Louisiana's ancient marine life, highlighting the impact of the asteroid that caused the dinosaurs' extinction, evidenced by seismic megaripples and fossils, and revealing rapid mammal evolution afterward, thus providing a comprehensive timeline of Earth's major biological transitions.