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 ...

A spectacular fossil trove on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen shows that marine life made a stunning comeback after Earth’s greatest extinction. Tens of thousands of fossils reveal fully aquatic ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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