Until now, these extinction events have remained a mystery to humans.
This extinction event happened 252 million years ago, with terrible severity. It took the next 10 million years for our planet to fully recover. 96% of marine species and 70% of species living on Earth have completely disappeared. Therefore, this is also known as the “dead era”.
Also known as the KT extinction event , it put an end to the existence of dinosaurs, and is the reason mammals evolved.
Dinosaurs were the sole victims of the disaster, with 70% being killed off in the event. Other species of animals were also wiped out from land and oceans.
The most popular theory is that the impact of an asteroid, or meteorite, caused the event.
Occurring about 2.5 billion years ago, this is considered the first extinction event. Our planet has very little oxygen in the atmosphere, almost only the existence of bacteria, including anoxic.
Anoxic bacteria do not need oxygen to survive, in fact, oxygen with them is extremely toxic. This turned out to be detrimental when cyanobacteria appeared. Cyanobacteria can photosynthesize with sunlight, have produced oxygen, and quickly fill the atmosphere with oxygen. Therefore, anoxic bacteria are asphyxiated and wiped out.
Then, the effect of oxygen in the atmosphere caused the death of the cyanobacteria. Today, cyanobacteria only exist in low-oxygen places like the ocean floor.
Also known as the 6th extinction event , the Holocene refers to the extinction of plant and animal species that took place during the Holocene (10,000 BC). The truth is that this extinction is still happening due to human impact on nature. This has caused the disappearance and extinction of many animal species from thousands of years ago to the present.
The Triassic period ended 200 million years ago with this extinction event. It includes a terrible mortality rate, all living things die in less than 10,000 years. There are many theories as to why this extinction took place, but there is still no consensus.
With so many creatures wiped out, there is plenty of room for species that are still alive. This event allowed the dinosaurs to rise and rule the earth.
This extinction event wiped out 85% of marine species. One of the theories put forward is climate change, destruction of aquatic environments, or oxygen depletion. It could also be due to a gamma-ray burst, however, since it happened 400 million years ago, no one can say for sure.
This event happened when the ice age was about to end, the giant animals in all parts of the world were quickly wiped out. Climate change and human hunting were the main causes, and entire species of animals such as mammoths were gone. A significant proportion of giant wildlife has gone extinct.
About three-quarters of the species on earth became extinct because of this event, considered the most severe mass extinction of all time. However, only marine life was affected more strongly, leaving insects and plants unaffected. As a result, it took 100 million years for damaged coral reefs to be replaced.