Vast Fossil Record Rewrites the Story of Earth’s Great Extinctions
A sweeping new fossil analysis published in Nature is challenging the long-held view that Earth’s history is defined by five cleanly separated mass extinctions. The study suggests the fossil record is more complex and uneven than the classic narrative implies, with biodiversity losses and recoveries unfolding in overlapping waves rather than neat global resets. The findings could reshape how scientists assess deep-time climate stress, ecosystem collapse and the pace of biological recovery.
