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The Permian Period was the last of the Paleozoic Era and lasted from 299 to 251 million years ago. Pangea formed during this time, creating extreme temperatures and a large desert. Fauna diversified, including the emergence of large reptiles and the carnivorous Anteosaurus. The period ended with the Permian-Triassic extinction event, causing the extinction of 96% of marine genera and 70% of terrestrial genera. The cause is unknown.
The Permian Period is the last of six periods that make up the Paleozoic Era, the oldest era of multicellular life on Earth, spanning from approximately 542 to 251 million years ago. The Permian period itself spans from about 299 to 251 million years ago.
During the Permian period, all land except part of East Asia was aggregated into the supercontinent Pangea. This has minimized the amount of warm coastal habitat available and created extreme temperatures, including the largest desert in the history of the planet: the center of Pangea. So much land has favored great temperature extremes in general and terrain hostile to all but the harshest life.
Terrestrial fauna continued to diversify during the Permian, paving the way for the evolution of large reptiles. The carnivorous mammal-like reptile Anteosaurus emerged in the Early Permian Period. In some respects the animal resembles a wild boar in appearance. It had a long tail and weak limbs, suggesting a crocodile-like semi-aquatic lifestyle. He also had a bone plate on his skull, suggesting he engaged in head butting, probably over turf disputes. The hard-shelled egg, having evolved in the earlier Carboniferous period, allowed tetrapods to easily lay their eggs on the ground without them drying out.
The Permian Period opened with an ice age, but rapidly became drier and hotter, until finally it was the warmest era in about 500 million years. Beetles and flies evolved during the Permian period. Plant diversity and oxygen levels were high near the coasts, where there were extensive swamp forests. The first fully terrestrial animals evolved, including large herbivores and carnivores. The labyrinthodonts have emerged, animals that appear to be an intermediate form between bony fish and crocodilians.
The Permian period ended with the Permian-Triassic extinction event, called “the mother of all mass extinctions”. 96% of the marine genera and 70% of the terrestrial genera were exterminated. 99.5% of individual organisms are probably dead. Like most mass extinctions of old, we’re not sure exactly what caused it, though various scientists have blamed asteroid impacts, climate change, methane hydrate release, and volcanism.
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