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Extinction: How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago
Some 250 million years ago, the earth suffered the greatest biological crisis in its history. Around 95% of all living species died out--a global catastrophe far greater than the dinosaurs' demise 65 million years ago. How this happened remains a mystery. But there are many competing theories. Some blame huge volcanic eruptions that covered an area as large as the continental United States; others argue for sudden changes in ocean levels and chemistry, including burps of methane gas; and still others cite the impact of an extraterrestrial object, similar to what caused the dinosaurs' extinction.
Extinction is a paleontological mystery story. Here, the world's foremost authority on the subject provides a fascinating overview of the evidence for and against a whole host of hypotheses concerning this cataclysmic event that unfolded at the end of the Permian.
After setting the scene, Erwin introduces the suite of possible perpetrators and the types of evidence paleontologists seek. He then unveils the actual evidence--moving from China, where much of the best evidence is found; to a look at extinction in the oceans; to the extraordinary fossil animals of the Karoo Desert of South Africa. Erwin reviews the evidence for each of the hypotheses before presenting his own view of what happened.
Although full recovery took tens of millions of years, this most massive of mass extinctions was a powerful creative force, setting the stage for the development of the world as we know it today.
Extinction is a paleontological mystery story. Here, the world's foremost authority on the subject provides a fascinating overview of the evidence for and against a whole host of hypotheses concerning this cataclysmic event that unfolded at the end of the Permian.
After setting the scene, Erwin introduces the suite of possible perpetrators and the types of evidence paleontologists seek. He then unveils the actual evidence--moving from China, where much of the best evidence is found; to a look at extinction in the oceans; to the extraordinary fossil animals of the Karoo Desert of South Africa. Erwin reviews the evidence for each of the hypotheses before presenting his own view of what happened.
Although full recovery took tens of millions of years, this most massive of mass extinctions was a powerful creative force, setting the stage for the development of the world as we know it today.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 30, 2006
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March 7, 2021
Definitely more academic than pop-sci (this is more of a book I'd have cited for a term paper in college, rather than a casual beach read), Erwin expects a good amount of basic chemical and biological knowledge from his reader, sometimes hurtling through complex concepts quickly and with little explanation. Still, if you're someone who has read related books with similar concepts explained a bit better for the layperson, it's perfectly manageable.
Basically, Erwin has devoted his career to studying the greatest extinction in Earth's history: the one that came at the end of the Permian period (this extinction closed out the Paleozoic era-- which began with the "explosion of life" in the Cambrian period, and which also includes the fish-filled Devonian period), and introduced the Mesosoic era (the age of dinosaurs, beginning with the very slow recovery of life in the Triassic, with dinosaurs establishing dominance in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods).
Unlike the (comparatively mild) extinction of dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous, which we're pretty sure was caused by the impact of an asteroid at the Chicxulub crater in Mexico, the cause of the Permian-Triassic extinction is a little more muddied. Could it be another impact? Maybe, but there's not really a lot of evidence for that (for instance, unlike with the Cretaceous extinction, there's no unusual amount of iridium in the rock, as you might expect if the impact was big enough to scatter it across the planet).
Other theories include: the formation of the one-continent Pangaea reduced the diversity of habitats and created a limited number of biological niches to fill (unlikely, as the extinction probably happened rapidly, not gradually); formation of glaciers resulting in climate cooling and a decline in sea level (almost definitely not true, as there's evidence the sea levels actually rose, not fell); and massive volcanic basalt eruptions in Siberia (possibly triggered by asteroid impacts); the oceans becoming anoxic due to rising sea levels (but this doesn't explain the extinctions on land very well); or what the author terms the "Murder on the Orient Express" hypothesis (a combination of all of the other theories somehow coinciding).
The author doesn't tell you the answer, it's still unresolved-- rather, his goal is to present the reader with the possibilities and lets them draw their own conclusions (though he personally is inclined toward the Siberian volcano theory, or Murder on the Orient Express). Given that-- I'm really curious about how much has changed since he wrote this twenty years ago, I have to assume there have been major developments, and so I think this book is getting too dated to stand alone. It might be a good overview to read before reading a more updated book, though.
Basically, Erwin has devoted his career to studying the greatest extinction in Earth's history: the one that came at the end of the Permian period (this extinction closed out the Paleozoic era-- which began with the "explosion of life" in the Cambrian period, and which also includes the fish-filled Devonian period), and introduced the Mesosoic era (the age of dinosaurs, beginning with the very slow recovery of life in the Triassic, with dinosaurs establishing dominance in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods).
Unlike the (comparatively mild) extinction of dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous, which we're pretty sure was caused by the impact of an asteroid at the Chicxulub crater in Mexico, the cause of the Permian-Triassic extinction is a little more muddied. Could it be another impact? Maybe, but there's not really a lot of evidence for that (for instance, unlike with the Cretaceous extinction, there's no unusual amount of iridium in the rock, as you might expect if the impact was big enough to scatter it across the planet).
Other theories include: the formation of the one-continent Pangaea reduced the diversity of habitats and created a limited number of biological niches to fill (unlikely, as the extinction probably happened rapidly, not gradually); formation of glaciers resulting in climate cooling and a decline in sea level (almost definitely not true, as there's evidence the sea levels actually rose, not fell); and massive volcanic basalt eruptions in Siberia (possibly triggered by asteroid impacts); the oceans becoming anoxic due to rising sea levels (but this doesn't explain the extinctions on land very well); or what the author terms the "Murder on the Orient Express" hypothesis (a combination of all of the other theories somehow coinciding).
The author doesn't tell you the answer, it's still unresolved-- rather, his goal is to present the reader with the possibilities and lets them draw their own conclusions (though he personally is inclined toward the Siberian volcano theory, or Murder on the Orient Express). Given that-- I'm really curious about how much has changed since he wrote this twenty years ago, I have to assume there have been major developments, and so I think this book is getting too dated to stand alone. It might be a good overview to read before reading a more updated book, though.
April 22, 2014
This could easily have been a 5-star book for me if the author had done a little better job of keeping his audience in mind. Clearly it is not written just for the academics as he often does a very good job of explaining geologic concepts in layman's terms. At other times though, he leaves you straining to keep up. One suggestion is to bookmark the pages with illustrations of various stretches of the geologic timescale, because he apparently assumes that once he has introduced them you have memorized them. Unless you have your eons, eras, periods, epochs, stages, etc. memorized, you will find yourself getting lost at times when he uses the late part of an era or period synonymously with a stage.
Nevertheless, this was a very enjoyable read and--as intended by the author--reads a bit like a whodunit mystery novel. He introduces the potential "killers" in the early chapters and then follows with the evidence implicating each one commenting on the strength or weakness of the case. Finally he gives his conclusion based on the evidence to date (2006).
But there is more. He then goes into the what is known about the recovery phase that followed the extinction. It was interesting to learn that unlike the Cambrian radiation/"explosion", there was no rapid evolution of new and diverse species in the similar time span at the beginning of the Cambrian. He offers interesting theories of why this was so and he compares it to the adaptive radiation of Darwin's finches in the Galapagos.
Just recently there have been a couple of announcements of new research about the Permian mass extinction. One addresses the reduced timeframe of the event: http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/an-ext... and another adds additional evidence suggesting that one of the potential "killers" may be more likely the culprit than previously suspected: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/0...
Even with the new research however, it seems that the author is likely right that it was not one culprit acting totally alone, but more likely a chain reaction in which one culprit catalyzed the actions of another, perhaps even several others. As the author termed it, one of the best theories might be the "Murder on the Orient Express" theory.
SPOILER: Thus it may well be that extreme volcanism in the Siberian Traps made it possible for methane spewing bacteria to multiply at an abnormally high rate creating a greenhouse effect which destroyed plant life in the sea and on land leading to demise of both vegetarian and carnivorous animals around the globe. The moral here is that if it was a sudden release of greenhouse gasses caused by bacteria, under the right conditions, it could happen again and we might be powerless to do anything about it--deflecting an asteroid would not save us.
Nevertheless, this was a very enjoyable read and--as intended by the author--reads a bit like a whodunit mystery novel. He introduces the potential "killers" in the early chapters and then follows with the evidence implicating each one commenting on the strength or weakness of the case. Finally he gives his conclusion based on the evidence to date (2006).
But there is more. He then goes into the what is known about the recovery phase that followed the extinction. It was interesting to learn that unlike the Cambrian radiation/"explosion", there was no rapid evolution of new and diverse species in the similar time span at the beginning of the Cambrian. He offers interesting theories of why this was so and he compares it to the adaptive radiation of Darwin's finches in the Galapagos.
Just recently there have been a couple of announcements of new research about the Permian mass extinction. One addresses the reduced timeframe of the event: http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/an-ext... and another adds additional evidence suggesting that one of the potential "killers" may be more likely the culprit than previously suspected: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/0...
Even with the new research however, it seems that the author is likely right that it was not one culprit acting totally alone, but more likely a chain reaction in which one culprit catalyzed the actions of another, perhaps even several others. As the author termed it, one of the best theories might be the "Murder on the Orient Express" theory.
SPOILER: Thus it may well be that extreme volcanism in the Siberian Traps made it possible for methane spewing bacteria to multiply at an abnormally high rate creating a greenhouse effect which destroyed plant life in the sea and on land leading to demise of both vegetarian and carnivorous animals around the globe. The moral here is that if it was a sudden release of greenhouse gasses caused by bacteria, under the right conditions, it could happen again and we might be powerless to do anything about it--deflecting an asteroid would not save us.
dnf
July 29, 2018only after starting this did I realize it was published in 2006, and so doesn't have any of the more recent research about likely causes of the Permian extinction, especially the large amount on anoxia and acidification. So there's nothing wrong with the book: I just decided to give it a miss.
November 18, 2018
Whew, read this, will you, please?
The only reason I'm not giving it five stars is that the book really needs to be rewritten. It came out initially in 2005 I think, and was updated (via a preface, not a thorough rewrite) in 2015. There was a new breakthrough in the extinction timeline just a few weeks ago, even. The worst part about the book only being new-prefaced (in which he noted a far more rapid extinction--and now it's REALLY rapid) is that not only do you have to keep in mind throughout the new figures, you're also dealing with citations from the early 2000s and sometimes from the late 90s. Come on.
That said, the read, given that it's what we have, by the what is probably the foremost expert on the Permian extinction, is worthwhile because he takes the time to delve into WHY the things most likely responsible for the planetary near-death experience 252ish million years ago are in fact the culprits. You can't, it turns out, say oh, there were huge amounts of volcanic output at around that time, so.... even though it seems obvious that this would lead to lots of carbon in the atmosphere and therefore a reduction of oxygen in the air and ocean, not to mention a lot of acid rain. You have to prove that this would cause extinctions...because there have been some huge eruptions at other times that haven't killed everything else. Same, believe it or not, with gigantic asteroid impacts, because there have been other asteroid impacts not at the end of the dinosaur age (a different era from the one this book focuses on) that haven't destroyed the planet. (And arguments that volcanism may have been at least partly responsible for killing the dinosaurs as well as 75% of life on earth are coming again to the fore.)
So, Erwin goes into all that. And it's carbon loading in the atmosphere along with a bunch of associated effects, it seems, but really, how they may have affected the food chain... Disruptions in the food chain, along with a lack of diversity in the biotic system... and bam, good bye to the world. So, here we are today, loading the atmosphere with carbon and because we've spread species around the world, and reduced diversity...
Are we in the middle of another extinction? Well, many species have certainly gone extinct in the last, oh, 100,000 years or so. We don't really know how many species we actually have on the planet, so it's hard to say. If we're in the middle of a Permian-level extinction, it's too late to stop it, so he says we might as well assume we're not and that we can reverse the current trend. That is, stop putting carbon into the atmosphere (or find some way to take it back out) at current rates.
Because as I said in my recent reviews of other, related books by friends of Erwin's, it's not just climatologists who are worried about climate change, or this era of human participation in the history of life on earth. What some people are calling the anthropocene as if we are already a layer in the dirt. It's biologists, planetary scientists, evolutionary biologists, earth scientists, paleontologists, geologists, people with their hands in history going back millions of years.
BTW, Erwin is rumored to have consulted with Cormac McCarthy on The Road.
The only reason I'm not giving it five stars is that the book really needs to be rewritten. It came out initially in 2005 I think, and was updated (via a preface, not a thorough rewrite) in 2015. There was a new breakthrough in the extinction timeline just a few weeks ago, even. The worst part about the book only being new-prefaced (in which he noted a far more rapid extinction--and now it's REALLY rapid) is that not only do you have to keep in mind throughout the new figures, you're also dealing with citations from the early 2000s and sometimes from the late 90s. Come on.
That said, the read, given that it's what we have, by the what is probably the foremost expert on the Permian extinction, is worthwhile because he takes the time to delve into WHY the things most likely responsible for the planetary near-death experience 252ish million years ago are in fact the culprits. You can't, it turns out, say oh, there were huge amounts of volcanic output at around that time, so.... even though it seems obvious that this would lead to lots of carbon in the atmosphere and therefore a reduction of oxygen in the air and ocean, not to mention a lot of acid rain. You have to prove that this would cause extinctions...because there have been some huge eruptions at other times that haven't killed everything else. Same, believe it or not, with gigantic asteroid impacts, because there have been other asteroid impacts not at the end of the dinosaur age (a different era from the one this book focuses on) that haven't destroyed the planet. (And arguments that volcanism may have been at least partly responsible for killing the dinosaurs as well as 75% of life on earth are coming again to the fore.)
So, Erwin goes into all that. And it's carbon loading in the atmosphere along with a bunch of associated effects, it seems, but really, how they may have affected the food chain... Disruptions in the food chain, along with a lack of diversity in the biotic system... and bam, good bye to the world. So, here we are today, loading the atmosphere with carbon and because we've spread species around the world, and reduced diversity...
Are we in the middle of another extinction? Well, many species have certainly gone extinct in the last, oh, 100,000 years or so. We don't really know how many species we actually have on the planet, so it's hard to say. If we're in the middle of a Permian-level extinction, it's too late to stop it, so he says we might as well assume we're not and that we can reverse the current trend. That is, stop putting carbon into the atmosphere (or find some way to take it back out) at current rates.
Because as I said in my recent reviews of other, related books by friends of Erwin's, it's not just climatologists who are worried about climate change, or this era of human participation in the history of life on earth. What some people are calling the anthropocene as if we are already a layer in the dirt. It's biologists, planetary scientists, evolutionary biologists, earth scientists, paleontologists, geologists, people with their hands in history going back millions of years.
BTW, Erwin is rumored to have consulted with Cormac McCarthy on The Road.
December 22, 2024
A very thorough analysis of all the theories surrounding the end-Permian extinction 252-million years ago, yet When Life Nearly Died by Michael J. Benton was far easier to read and understand.
Although much of this book is truly fascinating, most of it requires a professional knowledge of geology and chemistry to understand.
Although much of this book is truly fascinating, most of it requires a professional knowledge of geology and chemistry to understand.
July 22, 2018
Everyone knows that the dinosaurs went extinct after a giant meteorite smashed into earth 65 million years ago, creating a huge dent in the planet’s surface just off the Yucatan peninsula, but did you know that there was an earlier, even more dramatic, mass extinction event? That apocalyptic event occurred approximately 252 million years ago, at the Permian-Triassic (PT) boundary, and it wiped out nearly 95% of all living species on Earth. But unlike the Cretaceous-Tertiary (KT) mass extinction, the PT mass extinction cause(s) remain mysterious. In his book,
Extinction: How Life Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago
(New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2006), Smithsonian palaeontologist and curator, Douglas Erwin, investigates the current data and the resulting hypotheses that seek to explain what happened.
This book starts with a peculiar confession, particularly coming from a palaeontologist: “Early Triassic rocks are boring. It doesn’t matter where you are, China, Europe or here in Utah; there is a certain similarity to them, and a dreadful monotony. A kind of austere beauty, but monotonous nonetheless.”
Of course, after 95% of all marine life and at least 70% of all terrestrial life on the planet had been extinguished, it only stands to reason that the rock layers corresponding to those times after this event would be boring because they hold few, if any, fossils to fascinate scientists.
After gaining the reader’s attention with that unusual admission, Erwin then focuses on the reason these rocks are so boring by describing the nature of the end-Permian mass extinction event that will be investigated throughout the book and providing a glimpse of the available evidence. Chapter two, “a cacophony of causes”, enumerates a variety of causes for this mass extinction before describing the six major hypotheses for which there is at least some supporting data: (1) an extraterrestrial impact of the same sort that caused the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction that killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago; (2) extensive volcanism that produced the Siberian flood basalts (possibly triggered by an extraterrestrial impact), that radically changed the global climate and geochemistry; (3) continental drift (plate tectonics) with the formation of Pangaea that caused a sharp reduction in biome types; (4) extensive glaciation that caused a combination of global cooling and a drop in sea levels; (5) a decrease in oxygen in shallow and deep seas due to one of several possible causes; and (6) the Murder on the Orient Express hypothesis positing that a combination of several or all of the other already described events occurred nearly simultaneously, thereby causing this, the greatest extinction that the planet has ever known.
The next five chapters are devoted to investigating each of these hypotheses and several alternate hypotheses, detailing the data that support them, and exploring the strengths and limitations of the methods used to obtain these data. In these five chapters, the reader will become familiar with the patterns of extinction — who lived, who died and what ecological or physiological characteristics do they share? Erwin also discusses important evidence gathered from both terrestrial and marine sediments, and along the way, the reader will learn the significance of a variety of studies, including; using ammonoids, conodonts and other ancient species to define the structure of the PT boundary; the presence of a putative fungal spike in the early Triassic, soon after the PT boundary, also; obtaining radiometric dates using zircons obtained from volcanic ash beds; and the shifts in carbon isotope ratios, along with sulfur and strontium isotope data.
Chapter eight, “denouement”, explores the intersections between all these data and investigates the possibility that there were multiple causes to the end-Permian extinction. Finally, the author names his favorite hypothesis for the PT mass extinction (I won’t reveal that here; you’ll just have to read the book to find out which it is) but he is careful to state that he really does not know the answer, that the evidence is incomplete so far and more data could come to light that could change everything.
Erwin then says that learning about what occurred after the PT mass extinction is more scientifically compelling for him than understanding the cause of mass extinctions themselves. In “Resurrection and Recovery”, the author describes patterns of biotic recovery, noting that early Triassic fossils were dominated by a few opportunistic (“weedy”) species and states that it took more than 4 million years before there was a demonstrable increase in speciation in the fossil record. He speculates that this long recovery phase could be due to the necessity of reconstructing entire ecosystems rather than simply repopulating empty habitats after this global disaster. Erwin also discusses the curious abundance of “Lazarus taxa”; taxa that appeared to go extinct, only to reappear much later in the fossil record after their post-apocalyptic populations had built up to significant levels once more.
The last chapter of the book explores long-term implications and modern-day effects of mass extinctions within a broad context. Erwin reveals that, contrary to popular belief, the end-Permian extinction event probably did not significantly affect the long-term outcome of evolutionary history. Indeed, the author mentions that his colleagues think those taxonomic groups that dominate the oceans today were already expanding during the Permian, that the PT mass extinction simply accelerated that process. But Erwin also goes on to say that labeling the current biodiversity crisis as “the sixth extinction” is to invite inappropriate comparisons to historic mass extinctions. Our current biodiversity crisis is very different because so far, it is primarily an event where we are losing localized or specialized species rather than common, widespread species, as was the case in the mass extinctions. However, we are not “off the hook”, so to speak, because Erwin cautions that “biotic recoveries take far longer than the recorded history of Homo sapiens, and occasionally far longer than the entire recorded history of hominids.” Do we really want to cause an extinction that will take longer than our own evolutionary history to recover from?
This book is an engagingly-written paleontological mystery, neatly summarizing the latest information that we have regarding the end-Permian mass extinction. It is extensively and meticulously researched and is filled with citations and explanatory material that will tantalize the interested reader. Each chapter is carefully argued as it sifts through the available data in an even-handed way. I found the writing to be somewhat uneven in places but overall, it was engaging and generally accessible to the average reader, nicely reflecting the author’s wit at times and focused on the science rather than the drama surrounding the science. Further, this book does more than simply offering an account of the latest knowledge surrounding this mysterious mass extinction, it does a great job revealing how scientists think about complicated issues and the evidence that supports differing hypotheses.
NOTE: Originally published at scienceblogs.com on 13 June 2006.
This book starts with a peculiar confession, particularly coming from a palaeontologist: “Early Triassic rocks are boring. It doesn’t matter where you are, China, Europe or here in Utah; there is a certain similarity to them, and a dreadful monotony. A kind of austere beauty, but monotonous nonetheless.”
Of course, after 95% of all marine life and at least 70% of all terrestrial life on the planet had been extinguished, it only stands to reason that the rock layers corresponding to those times after this event would be boring because they hold few, if any, fossils to fascinate scientists.
After gaining the reader’s attention with that unusual admission, Erwin then focuses on the reason these rocks are so boring by describing the nature of the end-Permian mass extinction event that will be investigated throughout the book and providing a glimpse of the available evidence. Chapter two, “a cacophony of causes”, enumerates a variety of causes for this mass extinction before describing the six major hypotheses for which there is at least some supporting data: (1) an extraterrestrial impact of the same sort that caused the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction that killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago; (2) extensive volcanism that produced the Siberian flood basalts (possibly triggered by an extraterrestrial impact), that radically changed the global climate and geochemistry; (3) continental drift (plate tectonics) with the formation of Pangaea that caused a sharp reduction in biome types; (4) extensive glaciation that caused a combination of global cooling and a drop in sea levels; (5) a decrease in oxygen in shallow and deep seas due to one of several possible causes; and (6) the Murder on the Orient Express hypothesis positing that a combination of several or all of the other already described events occurred nearly simultaneously, thereby causing this, the greatest extinction that the planet has ever known.
The next five chapters are devoted to investigating each of these hypotheses and several alternate hypotheses, detailing the data that support them, and exploring the strengths and limitations of the methods used to obtain these data. In these five chapters, the reader will become familiar with the patterns of extinction — who lived, who died and what ecological or physiological characteristics do they share? Erwin also discusses important evidence gathered from both terrestrial and marine sediments, and along the way, the reader will learn the significance of a variety of studies, including; using ammonoids, conodonts and other ancient species to define the structure of the PT boundary; the presence of a putative fungal spike in the early Triassic, soon after the PT boundary, also; obtaining radiometric dates using zircons obtained from volcanic ash beds; and the shifts in carbon isotope ratios, along with sulfur and strontium isotope data.
Chapter eight, “denouement”, explores the intersections between all these data and investigates the possibility that there were multiple causes to the end-Permian extinction. Finally, the author names his favorite hypothesis for the PT mass extinction (I won’t reveal that here; you’ll just have to read the book to find out which it is) but he is careful to state that he really does not know the answer, that the evidence is incomplete so far and more data could come to light that could change everything.
Erwin then says that learning about what occurred after the PT mass extinction is more scientifically compelling for him than understanding the cause of mass extinctions themselves. In “Resurrection and Recovery”, the author describes patterns of biotic recovery, noting that early Triassic fossils were dominated by a few opportunistic (“weedy”) species and states that it took more than 4 million years before there was a demonstrable increase in speciation in the fossil record. He speculates that this long recovery phase could be due to the necessity of reconstructing entire ecosystems rather than simply repopulating empty habitats after this global disaster. Erwin also discusses the curious abundance of “Lazarus taxa”; taxa that appeared to go extinct, only to reappear much later in the fossil record after their post-apocalyptic populations had built up to significant levels once more.
The last chapter of the book explores long-term implications and modern-day effects of mass extinctions within a broad context. Erwin reveals that, contrary to popular belief, the end-Permian extinction event probably did not significantly affect the long-term outcome of evolutionary history. Indeed, the author mentions that his colleagues think those taxonomic groups that dominate the oceans today were already expanding during the Permian, that the PT mass extinction simply accelerated that process. But Erwin also goes on to say that labeling the current biodiversity crisis as “the sixth extinction” is to invite inappropriate comparisons to historic mass extinctions. Our current biodiversity crisis is very different because so far, it is primarily an event where we are losing localized or specialized species rather than common, widespread species, as was the case in the mass extinctions. However, we are not “off the hook”, so to speak, because Erwin cautions that “biotic recoveries take far longer than the recorded history of Homo sapiens, and occasionally far longer than the entire recorded history of hominids.” Do we really want to cause an extinction that will take longer than our own evolutionary history to recover from?
This book is an engagingly-written paleontological mystery, neatly summarizing the latest information that we have regarding the end-Permian mass extinction. It is extensively and meticulously researched and is filled with citations and explanatory material that will tantalize the interested reader. Each chapter is carefully argued as it sifts through the available data in an even-handed way. I found the writing to be somewhat uneven in places but overall, it was engaging and generally accessible to the average reader, nicely reflecting the author’s wit at times and focused on the science rather than the drama surrounding the science. Further, this book does more than simply offering an account of the latest knowledge surrounding this mysterious mass extinction, it does a great job revealing how scientists think about complicated issues and the evidence that supports differing hypotheses.
NOTE: Originally published at scienceblogs.com on 13 June 2006.
July 5, 2019
Erwin provides us with an entertaining, informative and somewhat technical "whodunit" detective story, examining the "culprits" that may be responsible for the end-Permian mass extinction. The author examines the various geological and paleontological evidence for what happened, when and what effects this may have had; and then tries to piece together which of several hypotheses are the more likely culprites of the extinction and which are just effects.
The six major hypotheses that show some supporting data, and which Erwin focuses on, are as follows:
(1) an extraterrestrial impact of the some sort;
(2) extensive volcanism that produced the Siberian flood basalts (possibly triggered by an extraterrestrial impact), that radically changed the global climate and geochemistry;
(3) continental drift (plate tectonics) with the formation of Pangaea that caused an extensive reduction in biome types;
(4) extensive glaciation that caused a combination of global cooling and a drop in sea levels;
(5) a decrease in oxygen in shallow and deep seas due to one of several possible causes; and
(6) the "Murder on the Orient Express" hypothesis suggesting that a combination of several or all of the other already described events occurred nearly simultaneously
Erwin very helpfully comments on the strenght or weaknesses of the various hypotheses, and finally provides his conclusion based on the evidence. Erwin also takes a look at the recovery of organisms AFTER the extinction, which is something few authors do. However, the book was originally published in 2006, so some of this information is outdated or been superseededby additional information. Erwin does discuss the new findings in his 2015 preface, for an up-to-date examination of the end Pemian extinction. Despite new research into this topic, it seems like the author's "Murder on the Orient Express" hypotheses, where a variety of factors are responsible for the mass extinction, still seems to be valid.
Other useful books:
-When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time by Michael J. Benton
-The Worst of Times: How Life on Earth Survived Eighty Million Years of Extinctions by -Paul B. Wignall
-Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth by Andrew H. Knoll
-The Goldilocks Planet: The Four Billion Year Story of Earth's Climate by Jan Zalasiewicz and Mark Williams
-The Ends of the World: Supervolcanoes, Lethal Oceans, and the Search for Past Apocalypses by Peter Brannen
-The Emerald Planet: How Plants Changed Earth's History by David Beerling
The six major hypotheses that show some supporting data, and which Erwin focuses on, are as follows:
(1) an extraterrestrial impact of the some sort;
(2) extensive volcanism that produced the Siberian flood basalts (possibly triggered by an extraterrestrial impact), that radically changed the global climate and geochemistry;
(3) continental drift (plate tectonics) with the formation of Pangaea that caused an extensive reduction in biome types;
(4) extensive glaciation that caused a combination of global cooling and a drop in sea levels;
(5) a decrease in oxygen in shallow and deep seas due to one of several possible causes; and
(6) the "Murder on the Orient Express" hypothesis suggesting that a combination of several or all of the other already described events occurred nearly simultaneously
Erwin very helpfully comments on the strenght or weaknesses of the various hypotheses, and finally provides his conclusion based on the evidence. Erwin also takes a look at the recovery of organisms AFTER the extinction, which is something few authors do. However, the book was originally published in 2006, so some of this information is outdated or been superseededby additional information. Erwin does discuss the new findings in his 2015 preface, for an up-to-date examination of the end Pemian extinction. Despite new research into this topic, it seems like the author's "Murder on the Orient Express" hypotheses, where a variety of factors are responsible for the mass extinction, still seems to be valid.
Other useful books:
-When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time by Michael J. Benton
-The Worst of Times: How Life on Earth Survived Eighty Million Years of Extinctions by -Paul B. Wignall
-Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth by Andrew H. Knoll
-The Goldilocks Planet: The Four Billion Year Story of Earth's Climate by Jan Zalasiewicz and Mark Williams
-The Ends of the World: Supervolcanoes, Lethal Oceans, and the Search for Past Apocalypses by Peter Brannen
-The Emerald Planet: How Plants Changed Earth's History by David Beerling
November 21, 2018
The author presents a well written book providing the known facts(as of 2006) which he uses to develop the accepted theories which try to explain the Permian-Triassic extinction. But unfortunately, they are all theories which either lack enough evidence or have inconsistencies which make them questionable.
I read this book after reading Stephen Brusatte's 'The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs'. Thank goodness for that. Brusatte did an excellent job of presenting paleological terms and this was essential to understanding this book. This is not an easy read but it was interesting to learn how paleontologists work, investigate and develop theories. With each passing year the developments in science mean this book could be quickly outdated. However, it is well written and worth the time and effort to read, if you are interested in this subject.
I rated this book four star. If I had a better knowledge of paleontology, I would be better able to determine if this book was as outstanding as I felt it was.
I read this book after reading Stephen Brusatte's 'The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs'. Thank goodness for that. Brusatte did an excellent job of presenting paleological terms and this was essential to understanding this book. This is not an easy read but it was interesting to learn how paleontologists work, investigate and develop theories. With each passing year the developments in science mean this book could be quickly outdated. However, it is well written and worth the time and effort to read, if you are interested in this subject.
I rated this book four star. If I had a better knowledge of paleontology, I would be better able to determine if this book was as outstanding as I felt it was.
December 29, 2022
I found this book fascinating. I had a reasonable familiarity with the so called "great dying" 250+ million years ago from when I was around 12 years old. I seem to remember then the theory was massive volcanism in Siberia followed by a methane release (possibly via gas hydrates). I know this book is a little dated and probably needs a new edition but I found it most illuminating.
I'm not a scientist but the only thing I slightly struggled understanding was the section devoted to the carbon cycle and the sigma of the difference between carbon 12 and 13 which I will have to do some further study on myself. I found it all very digestible through probably not to the total layperson.
Erwin doesn't give you the answer - he goes over many of the explanations with their pros and cons. Certainly I think the Siberian traps is probably still the most likely explanation but there must have been some kind of severe secondary effects caused by one of the other candidates. I suppose the thing you always need to be prepared to admit in science is "we don't know".
I'm not a scientist but the only thing I slightly struggled understanding was the section devoted to the carbon cycle and the sigma of the difference between carbon 12 and 13 which I will have to do some further study on myself. I found it all very digestible through probably not to the total layperson.
Erwin doesn't give you the answer - he goes over many of the explanations with their pros and cons. Certainly I think the Siberian traps is probably still the most likely explanation but there must have been some kind of severe secondary effects caused by one of the other candidates. I suppose the thing you always need to be prepared to admit in science is "we don't know".
May 21, 2017
Brilliantly written book, I just wish I could have understood more of it. A majority of the concepts are explained well, however there are points in the book where I became entirely lost. For an academic, or even a self-professed science geek, Erwin's language and graphs may go right over your head. However, that doesn't mean you will walk away from this book without a greater understanding and appreciation for planet Earth.
June 20, 2017
Very interesting look at the subject of the greatest extinction the planet has ever faced and a good look at the different theories and the pros and cons of each. It would be interesting to see what the current state of thinking is with this as a background. As an introduction it is up there with the best.
September 16, 2021
parádne... vysoko vedecké, no stále pochopiteľné (pre mňa až na pasáž o masívnom uvoľňovaní uhlíka do atmosféry, príčinám som nerozumel). I keď sa výsledok tejto knihy dá zhrnúť do jedinej A4, autor neúnavne vysvetľuje, porovnáva, komentuje štúdie, dôkazy... až sa vytvára realistický obraz toho, čo spôsobilo v krátkom časovom rámci tak masívne vymieranie
Want to read
August 28, 2020As seen in The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs.
December 10, 2019
Pretty dry and dogmatically refuses to firmly stake a position, but hey, that's science.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2020
2.5 Average, confusing at points and his argument could be contradictory, but it still offered a good overview of Permian extinction
Read
March 23, 2021This took me FOREVER but the fact that the scientific jargon was peppered with hilarious side comments got me through it. The end-Permian mass extinction was wild, guys.
February 21, 2022
NF
261 pages
The mystery of extinction is still being unraveled.
261 pages
The mystery of extinction is still being unraveled.
December 7, 2016
“Extinction” is a good book, but wasn’t that helpful to me. It was way over my head. I read along as best I could, hoping to pick up something that I might be able to connect with and tie to the rest, but while I am pretty sure that this guy is REALLY smart, it was largely futile. Hey, paleontologists, this book may be for you. (For someone who isn’t a paleontologist, Under a Green Sky: Global Warming, the Mass Extinctions of the Past, and What They Can Tell Us About Our Future is the book I’d recommend on the end-Permian extinction until I can find something better.)
I read this book after reading a paper about methanosarcina, a methane-producing bacteria connected by some scientists to the end-Permian mass extinction, the biggest in Earth’s history. Even though the book is now 10 years old (2006) and precedes the discovery of methanosarcina, I though it might shed some light on this extinction — and of course I’m also trying to tie this extinction to the possible current mass extinction. I had already read “Under a Green Sky” which I am now re-reading, a more popular and more readable treatment of the end-Permian event.
Here’s a brief sample, more or less at random.
“But other features of Miocidaris made it utterly unlike any of the other seven known genera of Permian echinoids. Starfish, brittle stars, crinoids, echinoids, and almost all other echinoderms have five rays on the surface of the test, or skeleton. This pentameral symmetry is formed by the ambulacral plates that cover the tube feet (and are thus equivalent to the underside of the arms of a starfish.” (p. 246)
O. K., got that? Actually, on p. 247 there is a picture of various living sea urchins, and I think I almost understand his basic idea, which becomes slightly clearer in the succeeding paragraphs, though I couldn’t explain it myself. This isn’t quite fair to Erwin and actually there are other parts of the book which are more or less comprehensible.
BUT there was one very cool phenomenon that I found out about, the “Lazarus” phenomenon. That’s when a species seemingly goes extinct during some mass extinction event, and then millions of years later, suddenly reappears in the fossil record. Cue the “Twilight Zone” theme! What’s going on? It might just be that the fossil record got smashed, and the species was there all along, we just can’t find it. Or, it might be that there is some underlying evolutionary principle that caused this species to re-evolve! That’s what Erwin’s main interest is — not so much the mystery of what caused the end-Permian extinction, but the mystery of how (or whether) this event really affected the evolutionary process in a fundamental way.
I read this book after reading a paper about methanosarcina, a methane-producing bacteria connected by some scientists to the end-Permian mass extinction, the biggest in Earth’s history. Even though the book is now 10 years old (2006) and precedes the discovery of methanosarcina, I though it might shed some light on this extinction — and of course I’m also trying to tie this extinction to the possible current mass extinction. I had already read “Under a Green Sky” which I am now re-reading, a more popular and more readable treatment of the end-Permian event.
Here’s a brief sample, more or less at random.
“But other features of Miocidaris made it utterly unlike any of the other seven known genera of Permian echinoids. Starfish, brittle stars, crinoids, echinoids, and almost all other echinoderms have five rays on the surface of the test, or skeleton. This pentameral symmetry is formed by the ambulacral plates that cover the tube feet (and are thus equivalent to the underside of the arms of a starfish.” (p. 246)
O. K., got that? Actually, on p. 247 there is a picture of various living sea urchins, and I think I almost understand his basic idea, which becomes slightly clearer in the succeeding paragraphs, though I couldn’t explain it myself. This isn’t quite fair to Erwin and actually there are other parts of the book which are more or less comprehensible.
BUT there was one very cool phenomenon that I found out about, the “Lazarus” phenomenon. That’s when a species seemingly goes extinct during some mass extinction event, and then millions of years later, suddenly reappears in the fossil record. Cue the “Twilight Zone” theme! What’s going on? It might just be that the fossil record got smashed, and the species was there all along, we just can’t find it. Or, it might be that there is some underlying evolutionary principle that caused this species to re-evolve! That’s what Erwin’s main interest is — not so much the mystery of what caused the end-Permian extinction, but the mystery of how (or whether) this event really affected the evolutionary process in a fundamental way.
February 10, 2015
I wanted to like it more than I did. Maybe I should give it three stars, but much of it I didn't get anything out of.
The book tackles the biggest mass extinction in the fossil record - about 250 million years ago. Early on, the book goes over the fossil record basics and the main competing theories explaining why it happened. OK, after this start I expected the book to explore each of the theories in some detail.
That isn't what happened. That isn't how Erwin structured the book. Instead of focused the theories, he focused on the fossil beds and some key issues about the fossil record. There was occasional reference towards the theories, but I found it frankly frustrating. Much of the book read like a series of long, sideways tangents.
What he talks about is important - but it felt off-kilter. The book's title makes it sound like it's targeted for a general audience. But the book's delivery works better for an academic audience. It mostly mucks about the problems of the evidence and its shortcomings.
We really don't know what caused the mass extinction. Our knowledge of the period makes it difficult/impossible to give an answer to the question in the book's subtitle - how life on earth nearly ended 250 million years ago. But I do think it could've been better handled than this.
The book tackles the biggest mass extinction in the fossil record - about 250 million years ago. Early on, the book goes over the fossil record basics and the main competing theories explaining why it happened. OK, after this start I expected the book to explore each of the theories in some detail.
That isn't what happened. That isn't how Erwin structured the book. Instead of focused the theories, he focused on the fossil beds and some key issues about the fossil record. There was occasional reference towards the theories, but I found it frankly frustrating. Much of the book read like a series of long, sideways tangents.
What he talks about is important - but it felt off-kilter. The book's title makes it sound like it's targeted for a general audience. But the book's delivery works better for an academic audience. It mostly mucks about the problems of the evidence and its shortcomings.
We really don't know what caused the mass extinction. Our knowledge of the period makes it difficult/impossible to give an answer to the question in the book's subtitle - how life on earth nearly ended 250 million years ago. But I do think it could've been better handled than this.
July 4, 2015
I took an unconscionably long time to finish this book. I haven't decided whether it was the author or me who bogged down about half-way through. Up to that point, however, I was enjoying this description of the science behind what we know of the enormous extinction event at the end of the Permian era, 250 million years ago: when it happened; whether it affected both marine and terrestrial life; the impact on the carbon cycle; the contribution of ocean chemistry; the rate of recovery of biodiversity; etc.
In the final pages Erwin even has something to say about whether we are in the midst of a sixth mass extinction. His conclusion: we should be very careful about extrapolating what we know from the imperfections of the fossil and geological record to the much different data we have from looking around us today. Insofar as the major mass extinctions of the past seem to be precipitous collapses of biodiversity caused by catastrophic environmental change, it's tempting to imagine we're seeing the start of the same thing today. Perhaps we shouldn't speculate on whether we are going through another mass extinction like the ones already memorialized in the fossil history, and instead focus on the idea that loss of biodiversity at human hands is a terrible thing, regardless where it leads us.
In the final pages Erwin even has something to say about whether we are in the midst of a sixth mass extinction. His conclusion: we should be very careful about extrapolating what we know from the imperfections of the fossil and geological record to the much different data we have from looking around us today. Insofar as the major mass extinctions of the past seem to be precipitous collapses of biodiversity caused by catastrophic environmental change, it's tempting to imagine we're seeing the start of the same thing today. Perhaps we shouldn't speculate on whether we are going through another mass extinction like the ones already memorialized in the fossil history, and instead focus on the idea that loss of biodiversity at human hands is a terrible thing, regardless where it leads us.
February 7, 2009
This is a great overview of the hypotheses put forward to explain the end-Permian mass extinction. This extinction was the largest of the five mass extinctions in earth's history, and, as Erwin says in the title, nearly ended life on this planet.
Erwin is thorough and does his best to break down the fossil and geological evidence step-by-step. He also does an excellent job of explaining what we can learn from studying mass extinctions, and how important it is to integrate information from paleontology, chemistry, and physics to answer this question.
I think this is a great book for anyone interested in paleontology and understanding how our planet's biotic and abiotic environments have changed through time.
Erwin is thorough and does his best to break down the fossil and geological evidence step-by-step. He also does an excellent job of explaining what we can learn from studying mass extinctions, and how important it is to integrate information from paleontology, chemistry, and physics to answer this question.
I think this is a great book for anyone interested in paleontology and understanding how our planet's biotic and abiotic environments have changed through time.
June 10, 2010
A detailed and even-handed exploration of the events that triggered the rise of the dinosaurs. There seems to have been some consensus in the field about what triggered the mighty climate change that paved teh way for the dinos emergence, but this is an interesting snapshot into a rarified scientific discipline by one of the players in the debate. I'd like to see a more popular, less cautious and technical book about hte subject.
October 30, 2013
Excellent, balanced, and very readable review of the evidence surrounding the end-Permian mass extinction event (or events, as the author points out); Erwin deals with all the major competing theories in an even-handed manner, gracefully laying out the facts and discoveries. His writing is clear and often amusing; this book is very well suited for the lay person interested in the subject of mass extinction.
Currently reading
September 19, 2008So far, this is an excellent book. I'm taking my time getting through it, but it keeps pulling me back. He's an engaging writer and strikes a good balance between technical detail and overview. I'll update this when I finish...
May 4, 2010
This felt like a nice non-expert review article on the paleontology surrounding the Permian mass extinction of 250 Ma ago. It was a little dense at times, but I applaud the author for not dumbing down the scientific correctness of the material.
April 3, 2013
This was a very good book that did a nice, if somewhat technical, breakdown of what could have happened at the PT mass extinction. It was nice to see him credit Jack Sepkoski and David Raup, two of my old professors from the University of Rochester.
November 13, 2014
I thought that the book was very interesting but felt that at times it side tracked a little. The book didn't elaborate on some of the key points like the extinction as much as I would have liked but overall it was very informative and taught me a lot.
September 18, 2016
Brilliant. A very well written and very well organized review and comparison of the possible causes of the Great Dying.
November 21, 2016
Really interesting background on what the evidence is on the Permo-Triassic mass extinction and the recovery after
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