🔥 THE PERMIAN EXTINCTION: THE GREAT DYING
PAGE 1 OF 5 — THE WORST EVENT IN EARTH'S HISTORY
252 MILLION YEARS AGO
96% OF ALL LIFE — GONE
Long before the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, there was a far more devastating catastrophe. The Permian-Triassic extinction event — nicknamed "The Great Dying" — killed 96% of all marine species and 70% of all land vertebrate species on Earth. It is the closest life has ever come to being completely wiped out. Every animal alive today — including you — is descended from the tiny fraction of survivors. Without the Great Dying, dinosaurs would never have existed.
"The only mass extinction that nearly ended ALL life on Earth."
THE NUMBERS
💥 96% of all marine species extinct
💥 70% of all land vertebrate species extinct
💥 83% of all insect genera extinct
💥 Took 10 million years to recover
💥 70% of all land vertebrate species extinct
💥 83% of all insect genera extinct
💥 Took 10 million years to recover
BEFORE & AFTER
🌿 Before: rich diverse forests and seas
🔥 During: volcanic hellscape, acidic oceans
☠️ After: near-empty Earth, a few survivors
⏫ Recovery took longer than the dinosaur age
🔥 During: volcanic hellscape, acidic oceans
☠️ After: near-empty Earth, a few survivors
⏫ Recovery took longer than the dinosaur age