The catastrophic story is familiar, but the insight, and the ending, offer an opportunity, and perhaps motivation, for modern readers.
Articles on Mass extinctions
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A newly-dated geological timescale will help scientists connect NZ’s deep past to present day hazards, climate change and biodiversity.
The strange fossils were lost in museum collections around the world for some 50 years.
The answer confirms scientists’ suspicion that when our planet’s climate crosses certain ‘tipping points’, truly catastrophic ecological collapse can follow.
A deep dive into Earth’s distant past shows how life on land struggled to recover long after the worst warming event of all time.
We modelled the climate during this period and discovered episodes of intense ocean heating.
Ever been made to feel small? Here’s why being petite is no bad thing.
The mission provided details about how to deflect an asteroid should one threaten Earth in future.
Invasive ants are a major threat to biodiversity, according to a study.
Research on the Deniliquin structure points to an asteroid impact that would have been more than double the scale of the one that killed the dinosaurs.
The UN biodiversity summit COP15 in Montreal is over. Here’s what should happen next.
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test successfully showed that it is possible to crash a spacecraft into a small asteroid and change its orbit. This technique could save Earth from asteroids in the future.
The dinosaurs were possibly annihilated by two asteroids.
The fossil of a gigantic ichthyosaur was recently discovered in the UK. It wasn’t the only creature lurking in the Jurassic oceans.
While current extinction rates remain lower than during previous mass extinction events, the number of species under threat of dying out is growing, reflecting the true scale of loss.
If the asteroid caused the very sudden end of the dinosaurs, a new study shows that their decline had begun 10 million years earlier.
Today, Earth’s biodiversity is highest at the equator – but it hasn’t always been this way.
Huge volcanic eruptions were once believed to be the cause of mass extinctions on Earth. However, new research has found that super eruptions did not necessarily result in mass extinctions.
A new study found iridium, an element found in asteroids, in the rocks of the Chicxulub impact crater.
Humanity is destroying Earth’s ability to support complex life. But coming to grips with the magnitude of the problem is hard, even for experts.
Top contributors
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Adjunct professor, UNSW
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Senior Lecturer in Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences at the University of Bath, University of Bath
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Professor of Evolutionary Palaeobiology at the Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath
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Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate, James Cook University
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Palaeoenvironmental Scientist, University of Hull
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Assistant Professor in Palaeontology, Trinity College Dublin
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Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Node Leader in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, Flinders University
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President, Center for Conservation Biology, Bing Professor of Population Studies, Stanford University
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Assistant Director of the Global Systems Institute, University of Exeter
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Professor in Particle Cosmology, Lancaster University
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Professor of Biology, New York University
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Associate Professor in Animal Ecology, University of Gothenburg
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Adjunct Associate Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland
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ARC Laureate Professor, The University of Melbourne and James Cook University, The University of Melbourne
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Distinguished Professor of Geology, University of Tasmania