Long before T. rex, the Earth was dominated by super-carnivores stranger and more terrifying than anything dreamed up by Hollywood.

The Permian period immediately predated the dinosaurs. Ronchi said he was also “surprised by the abundance and preservation” of the fossils when he first saw the images.

The Permian period immediately predated the dinosaurs. Ronchi said he was also “surprised by the abundance and preservation” of the fossils when he first saw the images.

This period of time was when dinosaurs first evolved. The continents we live on today were part of one land mass that scientists call Pangaea. The climate was hot and dinosaurs flourished after ...

The Permian period immediately predated the dinosaurs. Ronchi said he was also “surprised by the abundance and preservation” of the fossils when he first saw the images. “It is the first time we have ...

Dinosaurs evolved from more primitive reptiles in the aftermath of Earth's biggest mass-extinction event caused by extreme volcanism at the end of the Permian Period about 252 million years ago.

Long before dinosaurs roamed the Earth, another giant predator claimed the top spot in its environment. Meet Gaiasia, a huge salamander-like creature that stalked the Permian swamps.

Paleontologists recognize five big mass extinctions in the fossil record. At the end of the Ordovician period, about 443 million years ago, an estimated 86 percent of all marine species disappeared.

The Permian began some 299 to 251 million years ago, when all the land on Earth had coalesced into a single, rabbit-shaped lump – the supercontinent Pangaea – surrounded by a vast, global ...