Earth has a long and dramatic history, and one recurring theme is extinction. Did you know that over the last 500 million years, our planet experienced five major mass extinction events? These events ...

Earth's history is marked by violent mass extinctions that have shaped life on the planet. Here's how many of these events have occurred and their impact.

Two hundred and fifty one million years ago, the worst mass extinction event Planet Earth has ever seen ruined the life of the Late Permian Period. Known as the Great Dying, this colossal extinction, ...

New reconstructions of 540 million years of climate history show the planet tumbling between icehouse and hothouse states, revealing how rare and vulnerable our temperate moment is.

concept image of a mass extinction event destroyed city with rubble and smoky air - Dezzzy/Shutterstock A mass extinction event is a term used to describe a large-scale event that wipes out species.

Humans have wiped out hundreds of species — with many more on the brink or experiencing large declines in population. Some scientists have argued that we have entered a “sixth mass extinction” event ...

We may not be living through Earth’s sixth mass extinction event ­­— at least not yet. That’s the conclusion of a new analysis of plant and animal extinctions published September 4 in PLOS Biology.

Hundreds of species have gone extinct in recent centuries, but losses are few among larger classification levels, meaning we are not witnessing a mass extinction just yet, according to a study ...

A fire-bellied newt (Cynops ensicauda) on Amami Island in Japan. Previously thought to be extinct, the newt and others in its genera are still alive. (John J. Wiens/University of Arizona) (CN) — For ...