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” ...

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 ...

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