New research finds extinction rates have been declining for a century, challenging assumptions of an ongoing mass extinction.

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 ...

The Jurassic Period is one of the three prehistoric geological periods of the Mesozoic Era. It spans from 145 million to 201 million years ago. This period was preceded by the Triassic Period and ...

Most people think of crocodilians as living fossils—stubbornly unchanged, prehistoric relics that have ruled the world's swampiest corners for millions of years. But their evolutionary history tells a ...

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 ...

A fire-bellied newt (Cynops ensicauda) photographed on Amami Island (Japan). A recent study suggested that the extinction of this and other genera was part of a mass extinction event that threatens ...

A mass extinction event is a term used to describe a large-scale event that wipes out species. It is usually not a short, one-time incident but rather something that occurs over thousands or millions ...

Supernova destroying planet, illustration. A rocky planet lies in the wake of its star, which has just gone supernova. The explosion shatters the planet. A complete census of massive stars in our part ...

Mass extinction events represent intervals of abrupt, large‐scale loss of biodiversity that have repeatedly reshaped life on Earth. These crises are commonly linked to dramatic environmental ...