Scientists have long treated mass extinctions as events locked deep in the fossil record. That framing now feels less distant. New research points to patterns that resemble earlier biological ...

Warnings that humanity is heading toward its own disappearance have shifted from the fringes of science fiction into mainstream research and public debate. Instead of vague prophecies, scientists now ...

A massive ice age wiped out ocean life 445 million years ago, reshaping ecosystems and setting the stage for jawed fish ...

(CNN) — 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” ...

Discover how the first mass extinction put jawed fishes on the map, species that would later come to dominate animal life on ...

Around 250 million years ago, one of Earth's largest known volcanic events set off The Great Dying: the planet's worst mass extinction event. The eruptions spewed large amounts of greenhouse gases ...