Mass extincition event

• What is the name of the extinction event that occurred 440 million years ago?

  Ordovician-Silurian Extinction
• What major climatic event contributed to the Ordovician-Silurian Extinction?

  Massive glaciations that turned most of Earth's water into ice
• What percentage of sea life became extinct during the Ordovician-Silurian Extinction?

  Approximately 85%
• Which organisms were severely affected during the Ordovician-Silurian Extinction?

  Trilobites, eel-like conodonts, and brachiopods
• When did the Devonian extinction occur?

  Around 350 million years ago
• What was the estimated percentage of marine organisms that became extinct during the Devonian extinction?

  About 70%
• What is theorized to have caused the Devonian extinction?

  The expansion of terrestrial plants reducing carbon dioxide levels
• What is the largest extinction event in history?

  Permian-Triassic extinction
• What percentage of organisms perished during the Permian-Triassic extinction?

  About 90%
• What are the two main theories regarding the cause of the Permian-Triassic extinction?

  A large asteroid impact and massive volcanism of the Siberian Traps
• When did the Triassic-Jurassic extinction occur?

  200 million years ago
• What percentage of world species were killed during the Triassic-Jurassic extinction?

  70%-75%
• What geological event is linked to the cause of the Triassic-Jurassic extinction?

  Massive floods of lava from the Atlantic magmatic province
• What significant evolutionary change occurred after the Triassic-Jurassic extinction?

  The evolution and proliferation of dinosaurs
• What is another name for the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction?

  1. T extinction
• What major event is strongly linked to the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction?

  An asteroid impact off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula
• What was the impact of the asteroid and volcanism during the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction?

  It caused Earth's climate to cool down, wiping out dinosaurs and half of the world's species
• What is the current mass extinction event referred to as?

  Sixth mass extinction (Holocene/Anthropocene extinction)
• What is believed to be driving the current sixth mass extinction?

  Human activities such as pollution, overexploitation, and deforestation
• How does the extinction rate of the current sixth mass extinction compare to previous extinction events?


  It is believed to be faster than any other extinction rate in history
• When is it believed that the sixth mass extinction started?

  About 13,000 years ago
• Which famous megafauna have already gone extinct?

  Saber-toothed cat, woolly mammoth, giant moa, and Haast's eagle