Land animals, ecosystems walloped after Permian dieoff
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - 08:30
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Researchers have concluded the mass extinction that ended the Permian Period was disastrous for land-based animals. In a specimen-by-specimen analysis, the scientists say species were reduced to a handful of forms, called disaster taxa. The low diversity of vertebrates meant that terrestrial ecosystems endured boom-and-bust cycles for up to eight million years before finally stabilizing.