Posted on 06/22/2025 9:27:47 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Fossils from China's Turpan-Hami Basin reveal it was a rare land refuge during the end-Permian extinction, with fast ecosystem recovery driven by stable climate conditions.
A new study has found that a region in China's Turpan-Hami Basin acted as a refugium, or "life oasis", for terrestrial plants during the end-Permian mass extinction, the most severe biodiversity crisis since the Cambrian period.
Published in Science Advances, the research challenges the common belief that land-based ecosystems were as heavily impacted as marine environments during this extinction event.
The team's findings suggest that some land areas were shielded from the worst effects of the extinction, creating pockets of resilience that played a crucial role in the rebound of life on Earth.
The end-Permian mass extinction, which occurred approximately 252 million years ago, wiped out over 80% of marine species, and its impact on land has long been debated. One prevailing theory suggests that volcanic eruptions in Siberia triggered widespread terrestrial devastation through wildfires, acid rain, and toxic gases.
Evidence for this includes the successive extinction of characteristic Gigantopteris flora in South China and typical Glossopteris flora across Gondwanaland around the end-Permian mass extinction.
However, the opposing camp argues that these catastrophic effects were limited by latitude and atmospheric circulation. Some fossil discoveries even suggest that certain Mesozoic plants existed before the extinction event, pointing to uninterrupted evolution.
(Excerpt) Read more at scitechdaily.com ...
Artistic reconstruction of the terrestrial ecological landscape after the end Permian mass extinction based on fossil palynomorphs, plants, and tetrapods recovered, as well as sedimentological data from the South Taodonggou Section.Credit: Dinghua Yang
This has been cluttering up the 'On Deck' folder for months.
RINOs and democrats emerging from the swamp.
Didn’t a square foot of ocean near Australia survive it too?
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