Extinctions

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Scott Storm Lab section 8 Jon Klimstra Mass extinction?s are very important to biology because they directly influence all life on Earth. All of earth?s organisms work together in a community to survive in nature. This community is directly impacted when several species go extinct, by loosing organisms to extinction other organisms may loose food, a habitat, or a partner which is key to its survival.

The most famous extinction occurred sixty-five million years ago; this extinction brought the end to the dinosaurs. However, this extinction falls short of the level of destruction brought on by the Permian extinction. The Permian extinction began 250 million years ago, and is estimated to have wiped out ninety percent of the earth?s organisms. Many scientists believe this extinction is not as well known because of its lack of truly developed creatures at the time. The Permian period began with a sharp increase in the amount of organisms on earth.

Almost all of earth?s organisms were flourishing during the Permian period. Then right around 250 million years ago, thousands of species just vanished from the fossil record. Life took millions of years to recover after the mass extinction. Scientist for years pointed to gradual climate change and sea level changes as the cause for extinction. However, new studies have pointed to a much quicker extinction. Studies conducted in 1997 show that the extinction may have occurred in less than 500 thousand years. Subsequent studies have trimmed that estimate of 500 thousand years to ten thousand years. New theories indicate that the Permian extinction occurred virtually overnight. According to Michael Rampino, ?something happened very suddenly, very catastrophically.? Scientist are now trying to consider what this sudden instance was. The main suspicion is a comet or a meteorite, which if one influenced earth it...