mass extinction

The mass extinction event resulted from the impact of a giant space rock that smashed into the Earth around 66 million years ago.

A discovery suggests that an ancient species acquired a key evolutionary innovation before a mass extinction event, enabling related creatures to dominate the Earth for millions of years.

The two fossilized eggs, which were filled with clusters of calcite crystals, are from a new species of dinosaur.

The fossilized remains of a new species ancient mosasaur, a giant marine reptile from the dinosaur age, has been discovered.

The endangered dolphin is known for its expressive face and association with fishing boats, but it faces many threats.

Dortoka vremiri's aquatic environment and home in the relatively sheltered Hateg Basin helped it pull through the mass extinction.

The previously undiscovered landmass can offer clues into a mysterious mass extinction event that happened around 34 million years ago

Supernovae are cataclysmic explosions that occur during the last evolutionary stages in the life of massive stars.

Latest study supports the idea that the asteroid impact 66 million years ago was the main driver of dinosaur extinction, not intense volcanic activity as some have suggested.

The largest of these prehistoric species was 10 times the length of anchovies living today.

Scientists say the environmental changes that took place in the end-Triassic extinction event could be similar to what is predicted for the near future.

The extinct animal may reveal how modern birds survived the asteroid that wiped out large dinosaurs.

"We are beginning to transition and go through the extinction," study author David Gruber said. "Who comes out the other side is up for grabs."

"People still don't realise how bad the world's climate and natural environment have become. Misperceptions about climate change and the ecological crisis are all too clear."

248 million-year-old fossils discovered in Russia almost 60 years ago re-examined by scientists.

Scientists from the Deep Carbon Observatory have provided results from a decade-long study into the world's carbon reservoirs.

Scientists believe that the Earth is currently going through its sixth mass extinction event.

A study has reconstructed the immediate aftermath of the asteroid 66 million years ago to learn more about the impact of the momentous event.

Huge changes to the oxygen levels on our planet caused the mega die-off, researchers found.

The Earth is in the grips of what scientists have dubbed the "Sixth Mass Extinction" with the global rate of species extinction at least "tens to hundreds of times higher" than the average over the past 10 million years.

Plant extinctions endanger other organisms, ecosystems and the ability of humans to survive on our planet.

Study suggests weakening of the field resulted in reduced protection from UV rays, leading to mammalian extinctions on Earth.

The research could help scientists understand natural disasters like landslides.

But if we act now, conservation efforts could save "billions of years of unique evolutionary history," scientists say.

The Great Dying mass extinction saw 90 percent of life disappear in just 30,000 years.

The eruption may have wiped out the ozone layer.

The finding fills in the gap between volcanic eruptions and marine extinctions that had been bugging scientists.

The latest subject revealing our Earth's past: bonsai-like pine trees.

Time is running out, these experts say.

U.S. scientists find fossil fragments from 13 trees locked away on the Transantarctic Mountains.