permian period
DESCRIPTION
PERMIAN PERIOD. STUDENTS: ISABELLA FLORES LEONARDO BARAHONA. WHAT IS THE PERMIAN PERIOD?. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
PERMIAN PERIOD
STUDENTS: ISABELLA FLORES LEONARDO BARAHONA
WHAT IS THE PERMIAN PERIOD?
The Permian is a geologic period and system which extends from 298.9 to 252.2 (Million years ago).It is the last period of the Paleozoic Era, following the Carboniferous Period and preceding the Triassic Period of the Mesozoic Era. It was first introduced in 1841 by geologist Sir Roderick Murchison, and is named after the ancient kingdom of Permia.
PERMIA LOCATION
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, rugose and 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.
Fusulinid Foraminifera
Trilobites
TRILOBITES
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.
Diapsids
Synapsids
Gymnosperms
WHAT IS THE FOSSIL RECORD?
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.
Gingo trees
Stromatolites
GEOLOGICAL SETTING
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.
