Chinese fossils force major rethink of ‘Great Dying’ rebound

Name: Australian palaeontologists discover rare Plesiosaur fossil from 100 million years ago
Uploaded: 2023-02-09T19:00:10.000Z
Duration: 1 min 20 s
Description: Australian palaeontologists discover rare Plesiosaur fossil from 100 million years ago

Life rebounded much earlier than thought after mass extinction, giving rise to modern marine life, researchers say

Chinese fossil collection provides unprecedented snapshot of ancient marine ecosystem

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An international team of researchers says life recovered much earlier than thought after the ‘Great Dying’ mass extinction, giving rise to modern marine life. Photo: Dinghua Yang, Haijun Song

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Published: 3:00am, 10 Feb 2023Updated: 3:43am, 10 Feb 2023

Long before the first dinosaurs roamed the Earth – and then suddenly did not – there was another, far bigger mass extinction.

The “Great Dying” 252 million years ago wiped out massive swathes of life on Earth, including more than 80 per cent of marine species, in what scientists call the Permian-Triassic mass extinction.

It is generally believed that the event was caused by intense global warming that heated the oceans, causing the metabolisms of sea creatures to speed up. Eventually, there was not enough oxygen for ocean animals to breathe.

Despite the scope of the eradication, life eventually rebounded during the following Early Triassic period.

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Australian palaeontologists discover rare Plesiosaur fossil from 100 million years ago

Scientists have long been trying to trace the recovery of marine life during this crucial time when evolutionary changes exploded, eventually laying the foundation for the ecosystems that dominate our oceans today. The problem, until recently, has been a lack of fossils.

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