WHAT ARE THE 'BIG FIVE' EXTINCTIONS?
But the other major mass extinctions were caused by phenomena originating entirely on Earth, and while they are less well known, we may learn something from exploring them that could shed light on our current environmental crises. Traditionally, scientists have referred to the 'Big Five' mass extinctions, including perhaps the most famous mass extinction triggered by a meteorite impact that brought about the end of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Tiny algae may have triggered a mass extinction that wiped out three quarters of marine life 445 million years ago, scientists claim Researchers from Harvard University made the finding by studying ancient ocean sediments unearthed from Nevada. A bad time to be alive': More than half of all Earth's ocean life died off 444 million years ago because it ran out of oxygen, study shows Stanford University, California experts believe that the 'Late Ordovician' mass extinction 450 million years ago was due to widespread. New forest growth may have sparked the mass extinction 360 million years ago by fueling massive plankton blooms that sucked all the oxygen.
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Sci-Five | The Hindu Science Quiz: on extinction