PERMIAN PERIOD

1. PERMIAN PERIOD STUDENTS: ISABELLA FLORES LEONARDO BARAHONA

2. WHAT IS THE PERMIAN PERIOD?

3. ThePermianis a geologicperiod and systemwhichextendsfrom 298.9 to 252.2 (Millionyearsago).Itisthelastperiod of thePaleozoic Era, followingtheCarboniferousPeriod and precedingtheTriassicPeriod of theMesozoic Era. Itwasfirstintroduced in 1841 bygeologist Sir RoderickMurchison, and isnamedaftertheancientkingdom of Permia.

4. PERMIALOCATION

6. Species Affected The Permian mass extinction occurred about 248 million years ago and was the greatest mass extinction ever recorded in earth history; even larger than the previously discussed Ordovician and Devonian crises and the better known End Cretaceous extinction that felled the dinosaurs. Ninety to ninety-five percent of marine species were eliminated as a result of this Permian event. The primary marine and terrestrial victims included the fusulinid foraminifera, trilobites, rugoseand tabulate corals, blastoids, acanthodians, placoderms, and pelycosaurs, which did not survive beyond the Permian boundary. Other groups that were substantially reduced included the bryozoans, brachiopods, ammonoids, sharks, bony fish, crinoids, eurypterids, ostracodes, and echinoderms.

7. FusulinidForaminifera Trilobites

8. T R I L O B I T E S

9. It affected many groups of organisms in many different environments, but it affected marine communities the most by far, causing the extinction of most of the marine invertebrates of the time. Some groups survived the Permian mass extinction in greatly diminished numbers, but they never again reached the ecological dominance they once had, clearing the way for another group of sea life. On land, a relatively smaller extinction of diapsids and synapsids cleared the way for other forms to dominate, and led to what has been called the "Age of Dinosaurs." Also, the great forests of fern-like plants shifted to gymnosperms, plants with their offspring enclosed within seeds. Modern conifers, the most familiar gymnosperms of today, first appear in the fossil record of the Permian. The Permian was a time of great changes and life on Earth was never the same again.

10. Fishes

11. Diapsids Synapsids

12. Gymnosperms

13. WHAT IS THE FOSSIL RECORD?

14. The fossil record is the collective accumulation of artifacts which have been fossilized all over the world. When viewed as a whole, the fossil record can provide interesting information about the evolution of life on Earth, with examples of organisms ranging from ancient ginkgo trees to stromatolites. Scientists can choose to study the fossil record as a whole, or to look at a specific period.

15. Gingotrees Stromatolites

16. GEOLOGICAL SETTING

17. With the formation of the super-continent Pangea in the Permian, continental area exceeded that of oceanic area for the first time in geological history. The result of this new global configuration was the extensive development and diversification of Permian terrestrial vertebrate fauna and accompanying reduction of Permian marine communities. Among terrestrial fauna affected included insects, amphibians, reptiles (which evolved during the Carboniferous), as well as the dominant terrestrial group, the therapsids (mammal-like reptiles). The terrestrial flora was predominantly composed of gymnosperms, including the conifers. Life in the seas was similar to that found in middle Devonian communities following the late Devonian crisis. Common groups included the brachiopods, ammonoids, gastropods, crinoids, bony fish, sharks, and fusulinid foraminifera. Corals and trilobites were also present, but were exceedingly rare.