The 'Big Five' mass extinctions
Las cinco grandes extinciones masivas
- Date
- 1982 · confidence high
- Place
- University of Chicago, United States
- Credited to
- Jack Sepkoski and David Raup; precedents from Cuvier (catastrophism) and Phillips
- People
- 👤 David M. Raup1933–2015👤 Jack Sepkoski1948–1999
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Statistically analysing the marine fossil record, Raup and Sepkoski identified five mass extinctions (Ordovician, Devonian, Permian, Triassic and Cretaceous) that wiped out up to 96% of species. They showed that the history of life is punctuated by catastrophes.
Place where Raup and Sepkoski worked. The Permian extinction (252 million years ago) was the largest, linked to the Siberian Traps.
What it led to
- Concept of a sixth, anthropogenic extinction
- Study of the causes: volcanism, impacts, climate change
- Macroevolution and quantitative palaeobiology
Built on
Made possible
- Palaeontological databases (Paleobiology Database)