During these waves of mass extinction, most vertebrate survivors were confined to refugia, or isolated biodiversity hotspots ...

Farther back in our planet’s history, volcanic eruptions, rapid climate change, and plummeting oxygen levels have caused at least four additional mass extinctions, with smaller pulses of biodiversity ...

The mass extinction that wiped out nearly all life on Earth just before the dinosaurs evolved may have been caused by a global temperature drop rather than a rapidly warming climate. The End Triassic ...

A spectacular fossil trove on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen shows that marine life made a stunning comeback after Earth’s ...

No species lasts forever — extinction is part of the evolution of life. But at least five times, a biological catastrophe has engulfed the planet, killing off the vast majority of species from water ...

Asteroid impacts and volcanism have led to mass extinctions on our planet. Illustration by Emily Lankiewicz / NASA / Public Domain Life’s first major catastrophe crept across the planet with the ...

Humans have been shaping their environment since time immemorial. From cities to farms to highways, our impact has grown so large that we've pushed planetary boundaries, fueling concerns about climate ...