Permian Extinction: When the End of Life Was Near

The Permian period, which lasted from 290 to 248 million years ago, ended with the world’s most devastating extinction event of all time. Over 90 percent of Earth’s species, including insects, plants, marine animals, amphibians and reptiles, were destroyed worldwide. The Permian is therefore remembered as the time when life came the closest ever to being wiped off the face of the planet.

Permian Geology

The beginning of the Permian did not suggest the mass extinctions that would follow, although geological change was afoot. Due to crustal plate movement, the world’s lands joined together to form a supercontinent known as Pangea. Shaped like a gigantic crescent, with present day Eurasia at the top and Antarctica and Australia at the bottom, Pangea stretched from the North Pole to the South Pole. The space formed inside the continental crescent held the Tethys Sea, while the enormous Panthalassa Ocean covered the rest of the globe.

Animals and Plants

Pangea’s unusual fused configuration meant that animals and plants could move, or distribute, with relative ease and with few barriers. The interior of the supercontinent was quite hot and dry, however, as it was far removed from the two large water bodies. Great forests of plants resembling today’s ferns, which had thrived in other parts of the Paleozoic era, began to shift to seed-bearing plants. Cone-bearing plants, similar to today’s pine trees, also emerged.

The animals that lived among such greenery would look like aliens in today’s modern world. Diplocaulus, for example, was an amphibian with the body of a salamander and a head shaped like a big boomerang. Mesosaurus, on the other hand, resembled a sinister alligator, with teeth as thin and sharp as needles housed in long, strong jaws. The armored Cacops had a body shaped like a Volkswagen bug, with ears that could pick up faint sounds. Yet it had glazed over eyes, which inspired the meaning of its name, "Looking like a blind man."

The Great Dying

Just over 251 million years ago, the Permian extinction event, also called the Great Dying, took place. To this day, no one is certain why so many species and entire ecosystems disappeared. Estimates vary, but it’s believed that 96 percent of all marine life and 70 to 80 percent of all land-dwelling animals perished. Proposed theories for the extinctions include an asteroid hit, increased volcanic activity, drastic climate changes, or perhaps a series of damaging events.

Stage Set for Dinosaurs

Recent studies suggest animal communities that survived the Great Dying took approximately 30 million years to recover. At first opportunistic creatures, like the plant-eating, pig-sized, Lystrosaurus filled empty ecosystem gaps. Although reptiles, like massive, spiked Scutosaurus bit the dust, new reptile species emerged in their place during later periods. This dramatic shift led to a vibrant new era: the dinosaur age.