Tag: mass extinction
July 30, 2021
Bird Brains Left Other Dinosaurs Behind
Today, being “birdbrained” means forgetting where you left your keys or wallet. But 66 million years ago, it may have meant the difference between life…
Read MoreNovember 11, 2019
Life’s Speed Limit
Mass extinctions have decimated the diversity of life on Earth numerous times. Almost all ocean life was lost during the aptly named “Great Dying” 252…
Read MoreApril 8, 2019
Evolution Imposes “Speed Limit” on Recovery after Mass Extinctions
It takes at least 10 million years for life to fully recover after a mass extinction, a speed limit for the recovery of species diversity…
Read MoreMay 30, 2018
Life Recovered Rapidly at Impact Site of Dino-Killing Asteroid
About 66 million years ago, an asteroid smashed into Earth, triggering a mass extinction that ended the reign of the dinosaurs and snuffed out 75…
Read MoreMarch 28, 2017
Our Cataclysmic Planet
If you could have been there, somewhere in Siberia at the end of the Paleozoic Era nearly 252 million years ago, you would have witnessed…
Read MoreMarch 15, 2017
Recovery After “Great Dying” was Slowed by More Extinctions
Researchers studying marine fossil beds in Italy have found that the world’s worst mass extinction was followed by two other extinction events, a conclusion that…
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