Mass Extinction Timeline by Kayden Vosburg

Ordovician-Silurian extinction

21437032_1 — 2024-02-08 15:38:45 UTC

This was the first ever mass extinction and took place around 443 million years ago. There are a few possible reasons for why this happened but none know for sure. The cause could have been changes in sea level, climate change, and its possible that a volcano had some reason for this. It is estimated that this mass extinction took around 60%-70% of all marine life.

Late Devonian extinction

21437032_1 — 2024-02-08 15:45:24 UTC

This was the second mass extinction in the planets history and occurred around 372 million years ago. The causes of this mass extinction are unknown but the causes are believed to be either sea level fluctuations, climate change, or oceanic anoxia. Its hard to tell what percent of all life it took but it is to believed to have taken 70%-80% of all life.

Permian-Triassic extinction/great dying

21437032_1 — 2024-02-08 15:52:13 UTC

The great dying or the third mass extinction occurred around 252 million years ago. This is considered to be the biggest mass extinction of all time. This extinctions cause has been heavily debated but is believed to have been caused by either a vary large asteroid or volcanic activity that caused climate change and greenhouse gasses to be released. This mass extinction took around 90% of all marine life and about 70% of all terrestrial vertebrata species.

Triassic-Jurassic extinction

21437032_1 — 2024-02-08 15:58:35 UTC

This mass extinction took place around 201 million years ago. It affected many groups of organisms and life but mainly it affected marine species and life. Over the course of time the cause of this extinction has been debated but the main theories include volcanic activity, climate change, and asteroid impacts. It is unknown how much life was taken during this time because of incomplete fossil records but it was a very large portion of life.

Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction

21437032_1 — 2024-02-08 16:06:34 UTC

This mass extinction took place about 66 million years ago and this event led to the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs and many other species. This event marked the end of the cretaceous period and the beginning of the Paleogene period. This event cause the extinction of over 75% of all of earths species. This mass extinction was caused by a very large asteroid which caused tsunamis, mass wild fires, and a nuclear winter due to debris ejected into the atmosphere.

Holocene extinction

21437032_1 — 2024-02-08 16:09:43 UTC

This is known as the sixth mass extinction and is still ongoing, we are currently in the middle of it! This extinction is being caused by humans destroying the habitat, pollution, climate change, and overpopulation.