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Permian

Adapted from Wikipedia · Explorer experience

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The Permian

The Permian was a special time in Earth's history. It lasted for 47 million years, from 298.9 million years ago to 251.902 million years ago. This was the last part of the Paleozoic Era. After the Permian came the Triassic Period, which is part of the Mesozoic Era.

A scientist named Sir Roderick Murchison first gave this time its name in 1841. He named it after the region of Perm in Russia.

During the Permian, many animals that laid eggs on land became more common. These animals could live on dry land because they did not need to lay eggs in water. The world at that time had one huge landmass called Pangaea. It was surrounded by a giant ocean called Panthalassa.

The Permian time had three parts called epochs: the Cisuralian, Guadalupian, and Lopingian. Scientists study rocks from this time to learn more about Earth’s past. They look at tiny, ancient sea creatures to help date these rocks.

The Permian ended with a very sad event where many sea creatures and land animals did not survive. It took a long time for life to recover on land. Scientists think big eruptions of lava caused problems for plants and animals.

Images

A map showing how Earth looked 275 million years ago during the Kungurian Age.
A natural rock formation showing ancient glacial patterns in South Australia.
A fossilized specimen of Hercosestria cribrosa from the Middle Permian period, found in the Glass Mountains of Texas.
Fossil examples of ancient beetles from the Permian period, showing both a real specimen and an artist’s reconstruction.
Artistic reconstruction of Weigeltisaurus jaekeli, an ancient gliding reptile.
Scientific restoration of Edaphosaurus and Platyhystrix, two ancient reptiles from the prehistoric era.
Life restoration of the ancient reptiles Dimetrodon and Eryops
Artist's reconstruction of prehistoric synapsids, Estemmenosuchus and Ivantosaurus, showing these ancient creatures in a natural setting.
Scientific reconstruction of the ancient amphibians Titanophoneus and Ulemosaurus
Ancient reptiles from the Permian period in Northern Dvina, Russia.
A model of an ancient amphibian called Eryops in a Permian forest floor diorama at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
A diagram showing the layers of rock in the Williston Basin, helpful for learning about Earth's geology.

Related articles

Earth
Paleozoic
Triassic
Mesozoic
Russia
Pangaea

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Permian, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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