No mass extinction for land plants at the Permian–Triassic transition

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 384 - 8
• Main Authors: Nowak, Hendrik, Schneebeli-Hermann, Elke, Kustatscher, Evelyn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 23.01.2019; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/158/2462; 631/181/414; 631/449/2669; 704/158/670; Animals; Biodiversity; Classification; Cycadopsida - classification; Cycadopsida - genetics; Embryophyta - classification; Embryophyta - genetics; Extinction; Extinction, Biological; Fossils; History, Ancient; Humanities and Social Sciences; Mass extinctions; Microorganisms; multidisciplinary; Permian; Plant fossils; Plants - classification; Plants - genetics; Pollen; Pollen - metabolism; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Species extinction; Triassic

The most severe mass extinction among animals took place in the latest Permian (ca. 252 million years ago). Due to scarce and impoverished fossil floras from the earliest Triassic, the common perception has been that land plants likewise suffered a mass extinction, but doubts remained. Here we use g...