{"id":25702,"date":"2021-02-02T18:32:03","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T22:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=25702"},"modified":"2021-02-06T15:48:32","modified_gmt":"2021-02-06T19:48:32","slug":"mass-extinction-timeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mass-extinction-timeline\/","title":{"rendered":"Mass Extinction Timeline: History of Life on Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What marked the start of the mass extinction timeline? How many mass extinction events were there and how did they affect our planet?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The mass extinction timeline dates back to the end of the Ordovician period-beginning of the Silurian period. After the Ordovician extinction, there were four more extinction events, the most recent one being the dinosaur extinction 65 million years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is a brief overview of the mass extinction timeline and the planetary effects of each <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/major-extinction-events\/\">extinction event<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mass Extinction Timeline<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Scientists have identified five previous mass extinction events (plus smaller disasters) over 500 million years and many believe a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-sixth-mass-extinction\/\">sixth extinction<\/a>, set in motion by modern humans, is underway<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Big Five mass extinction events of the distant past each suddenly decimated the earth\u2019s diversity of life, the most \u201crecent\u201d being an asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs and other life 66 million years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is a brief overview of the mass extinction timeline:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1) <strong>The End Ordovician period<\/strong>, 444 million years ago, 86% of species lost. The cause was a sudden cooling of the climate (carbon dioxide levels and temperatures dropped and things froze\u2014glaciation) plus a huge drop in sea levels and an ocean chemistry change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2) <strong>Late Devonian<\/strong>, 375 million years ago, 75% of species lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3) <strong>End Permian<\/strong>, 251 million years ago, 96% of species lost. This extinction seems to have been triggered by a sudden warming of the climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4) <strong>End Triassic<\/strong>, 200 million years ago, 80% of species lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>5) <strong>End Cretaceous<\/strong>, 66 million years ago, 76% of all species lost when an asteroid traveling at 45,000 miles an hour crashed into the Yucatan Peninsula.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By a twist of fate, just as we\u2019re learning more about how these five mass extinctions occurred, we\u2019re also beginning to grasp that our species is causing the Sixth Extinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2014humans<strong>\u2014<\/strong>began <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-make-a-difference-in-the-world\/\">impacting the world<\/a> from the start. As their population grew, modern humans spread from East Africa into new regions, undeterred by climate or geographic barriers like rivers and mountains. Humans adapted to the conditions and food supply wherever they landed\u2014for instance, along coasts, they ate shellfish, while inland, they hunted mammals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we arrived in Europe, we found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/homosapiens-and-neanderthals\/\">Neanderthals<\/a>, archaic humans similar to themselves, and interbred with them before wiping them out. Then we encountered gigantic animals\u2014huge bears, elephant-sized turtles, fifteen-foot-tall sloths\u2014which we killed faster than they could reproduce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They\u2014we\u2014rapidly multiplied and started demolishing forests to grow food and spreading animals, plants, and organisms to new continents, thus changing the face of the earth. With the discovery of fossil fuels underground, we began our greatest transformation\u2014of the makeup of the atmosphere and the oceans. Some plants and animals have survived by migrating. But many, possibly millions, are stranded where they are unable, or lack time, to adapt. <strong>Extinction rates are skyrocketing. No other species has so drastically changed life on earth<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What marked the start of the mass extinction timeline? How many mass extinction events were there and how did they affect our planet? The mass extinction timeline dates back to the end of the Ordovician period-beginning of the Silurian period. After the Ordovician extinction, there were four more extinction events, the most recent one being the dinosaur extinction 65 million years ago. Here is a brief overview of the mass extinction timeline and the planetary effects of each extinction event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":25705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,160],"tags":[201],"class_list":["post-25702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-science","tag-the-sixth-extinction","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mass Extinction Timeline: History of Life on Earth - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What were the 5 mass extinction events? 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Here&#039;s a brief overview of the mass extinction timeline and the planetary effects of each extinction.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mass-extinction-timeline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-02T22:32:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-06T19:48:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/jungle-dinosaur-extinction.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1220\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mass-extinction-timeline\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mass-extinction-timeline\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"Mass Extinction Timeline: History of Life on Earth\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-02T22:32:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-06T19:48:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mass-extinction-timeline\/\"},\"wordCount\":476,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mass-extinction-timeline\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/jungle-dinosaur-extinction.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Sixth Extinction\"],\"articleSection\":[\"History\",\"Science\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mass-extinction-timeline\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mass-extinction-timeline\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mass-extinction-timeline\/\",\"name\":\"Mass Extinction Timeline: History of Life on Earth - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mass-extinction-timeline\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mass-extinction-timeline\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/jungle-dinosaur-extinction.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-02T22:32:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-06T19:48:32+00:00\",\"description\":\"What were the 5 mass extinction events? 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