A cataclysm engulfed the planet some 252 million years ago, wiping out more than 90% of all life. Known as the Great Dying, the mass extinction that ended the Permian geological period was the worst ...

While El Niño climate patterns today are responsible for prolonged droughts and high temperatures, during the end-Permian (some 251 million years ago), they contributed to what was nearly the end of ...

The mass extinction that killed 80% of life on Earth 250 million years ago may not have been quite so disastrous for plants, new fossils hint. Scientists have identified a refuge in China where it ...

The Permian Period, which lasted from about 299 to 252 million years ago, was one of the most fascinating and dangerous times in Earth’s history. It ended with the largest mass extinction ever ...

Scientists don't call it the "Great Dying" for nothing. About 252 million years ago, upward of 80% of all marine species vanished during the end-Permian mass extinction—the most extreme event of its ...

Roughly 252 million years ago, Earth experienced its deadliest known extinction. Known as the Permian–Triassic Mass Extinction, or “The Great Dying,” this cataclysm wiped out over 80% of marine ...

Tropical riparian ecosystems—those found along rivers and wetlands—recovered much faster than expected following the end-Permian mass extinction around 252 million years ago, according to new research ...

The Great Dying at the end of the Permian Period 250 million years ago may have been amplified by El Niño events far stronger and longer lasting than any today. These mega El Niños caused wild swings ...

Fossil evidence from North China suggests that some ecosystems may have recovered within just two million years of the end-Permian mass extinction, much sooner than previously thought. Tropical ...

A new study reveals that a region in China's Turpan-Hami Basin served as a refugium, or "Life oasis" for terrestrial plants during the end-Permian mass extinction, the most severe biological crisis ...