Timeline of Mass Extinctions
Major extinction pulses from about 445 million to 66 million years ago, followed by the research that connected the fossil record to extinction, volcanism and asteroid impacts, through 2016.
- Category
- Natural Sciences
- Events
- 15 events c. 445–443 million years ago – 2016
- Generated
- by gpt-6-astra
c. 445–443 million years ago: End-Ordovician losses disrupt marine ecosystems
A major extinction eliminated many marine lineages near the end of the Ordovician Period. The losses occurred in pulses associated with glaciation, changing sea levels and ocean chemistry, although the relative importance of these mechanisms remained debated.
Wikipediac. 372 million years ago: Kellwasser crises damage Devonian reefs
Extinction pulses near the Frasnian–Famennian boundary severely affected reef-building organisms and other marine groups. Widespread oxygen-poor conditions formed part of the crisis, but the Late Devonian losses extended across multiple events rather than one catastrophe.
Wikipediac. 359 million years ago: Hangenberg crisis ends the Devonian
A separate extinction near the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary disrupted marine and freshwater ecosystems. Fish groups suffered major losses, and surviving lineages subsequently diversified as climate, sea level and ocean oxygen conditions changed.
Wikipediac. 260 million years ago: Capitanian extinction precedes the end-Permian crisis
A distinct extinction pulse affected marine life near the end of the Capitanian Age. Researchers linked the losses to environmental disruption associated with the Emeishan volcanic province, while continuing to investigate the event's reach and severity.
Wikipediac. 252 million years ago: End-Permian extinction devastates marine and terrestrial life
The most severe mass extinction recognized in the fossil record eliminated many marine groups, including the last trilobites. Siberian Traps volcanism contributed to rapid warming and major changes in ocean chemistry; recovery unfolded unevenly over millions of years.
Wikipediac. 201 million years ago: End-Triassic losses open ecological space for dinosaurs
Extinction eliminated many marine organisms and several major groups of terrestrial vertebrates. The timing closely matched eruptions of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province, whose gas emissions disrupted climate and ocean chemistry as Pangaea began to break apart.
Wikipediac. 183 million years ago: Toarcian warming stresses marine ecosystems
A major Early Jurassic warming episode coincided with widespread oxygen depletion and marine extinctions. Carbon-cycle disruption associated with large-scale volcanism linked the biological losses to changes in temperature and ocean conditions.
Wikipediac. 94 million years ago: Oxygen-poor seas accompany a Cretaceous extinction pulse
The Cenomanian–Turonian oceanic anoxic event disrupted marine ecosystems and left organic-rich sediments in many basins. It represented a significant environmental crisis, although it was not one of the conventional Big Five mass extinctions.
Wikipediac. 66 million years ago: Chicxulub impact triggers end-Cretaceous extinction
An asteroid impact in present-day Mexico disrupted the global environment, ending the non-avian dinosaurs, ammonites and many other lineages. Birds and several other groups survived; researchers continued to examine how Deccan volcanism affected conditions around the boundary.
Wikipedia1796: Cuvier demonstrates that extinction is real
Georges Cuvier compared fossil elephant remains with living species and argued that mammoths and other fossil animals represented vanished species. The work helped establish extinction as a process that natural history had to explain.
Wikipedia1980: Alvarez and colleagues propose an impact cause
Luis Alvarez, Walter Alvarez, Frank Asaro and Helen Michel reported unusually high iridium concentrations at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary. They proposed that an extraterrestrial impact explained the chemical signal and the accompanying mass extinction.
Wikipedia1982: Raup and Sepkoski identify five exceptional crises
David Raup and Jack Sepkoski analyzed marine fossil diversity and highlighted five unusually severe extinction intervals. Their statistical treatment helped establish the Big Five framework while allowing extinction intensity to be compared across the fossil record.
Wikipedia1991: Chicxulub emerges as the impact crater candidate
Alan Hildebrand and colleagues identified the buried Chicxulub structure as a candidate for the impact linked to the end-Cretaceous extinction. Geophysical evidence and rock samples connected a specific crater with the previously recognized global boundary layer.
Wikipedia2013: Radiometric dating tightens the impact–extinction link
High-precision dating by Paul Renne and colleagues placed the Chicxulub impact and the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary within a narrow interval of one another. The results strengthened the temporal case connecting the impact to the extinction.
Wikipedia2016: Drilling samples Chicxulub's buried peak ring
An international drilling expedition recovered rock cores from the Chicxulub peak ring beneath the Gulf of Mexico. The samples supplied direct evidence about crater formation and the environmental aftermath of the impact.
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