We may be living through a sixth mass extinction—but scientists think some of the first five never happened

New AI-powered research questions whether a majority of Earth’s mass extinctions were as abrupt as previously believed.
IFLScience on MSN

Three of the Earth’s five mass extinctions may not have been what we thought

Palaeontologists have used machine learningto organize the fossil record into potentially the most accurate timeline of Earth ...
Phys.org

How mass extinctions helped termites become essential engineers of today's tropical ecosystems

Tropical ecosystems rely on the infrastructure provided by termites. These insects supply plants with vital nutrients by breaking down organic waste, bringing water to the roots by aerating the soil ...
Nature

Vast new fossil record challenges story of Earth’s ‘big five’ mass extinctions

An artificial-intelligence model trained on nearly four million fossils suggests that three of the extinction events might ...
Phys.org

Marine volcanic plateaus tied to at least 4 Triassic extinction events

Mass extinctions are extremely catastrophic events on Earth. Throughout Earth's evolutionary history, numerous mass extinctions have occurred, with five major mass extinctions being particularly ...

[Episode 21] The Day the Earth Nearly Died! Who Survived the Greatest Mass Extinction in History?

The long-tusked gorgonopsid I met in Episode 20.It walked so majestically on land before the dinosaurs. I had just thought, ...