Our planet’s first known mass extinction happened about 440 million years ago. Species diversity on Earth had been increasing over a period of roughly 30 million years, but that would come to a halt ...

Paleontologists recognize five big mass extinctions in the fossil record, marked by the loss of a significant number of species in a (geologically speaking) short span of time. Theories to explain ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Sharks might be the all time bullet-dodging champions. They’ve been around for about 450 million years, longer than trees, longer ...

Earth has a long and dramatic history, and one recurring theme is extinction. Did you know that over the last 500 million years, our planet experienced five major mass extinction events? These events ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Around 66 million years ago, a six-mile-wide asteroid hit Earth ...

Introduction -- Beginnings -- The end-Ordovician mass extinction -- The late Devonian mass extinction -- The end-Permian mass extinction -- The end-Triassic mass extinction -- The end-Cretaceous mass ...

Stewart Edie receives funding from the Smithsonian Institution. Even groups that weathered the catastrophe, such as mammals, fishes and flowering plants, suffered severe population declines and ...

Sharks might be the all time bullet-dodging champions. They’ve been around for about 450 million years, longer than trees, longer than the rings of Saturn, and longer than most of the other life on ...