The Worst of Times: How Life on Earth Survived Eighty Million Years of Extinctions

by Paul B. Wignall

Overview

Unraveling the mystery of the catastrophic age of extinctions

Two hundred sixty million years ago, life on Earth suffered wave after wave of cataclysmic extinctions, with the worst wiping out nearly every species on the planet. The Worst of Times delves into the mystery behind these extinctions and sheds light on the fateful role the primeval supercontinent, known as Pangea, might have played in causing these global catastrophes. Drawing on the latest discoveries as well as his own firsthand experiences conducting field expeditions to remote corners of the world, Paul Wignall reveals what scientists are only now beginning to understand about the most prolonged and calamitous period of environmental crisis in Earth's history. Wignall shows how these series of unprecedented extinction events swept across the planet, killing life on a scale more devastating than the dinosaur extinctions that would follow. The Worst of Times unravels one of the great enigmas of ancient Earth and shows how this ushered in a new age of vibrant and more resilient life on our planet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691176024
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	05/09/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Paul B. Wignall is professor of paleoenvironments at the University of Leeds.

Table of Contents

ILLUSTRATIONS ix

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi

PROLOGUE xv

CHAPTER 1 A TIME OF DYING 1

CHAPTER 2 EXTINCTION IN THE SHADOWS 12

CHAPTER 3 THE KILLING SEAS 39

CHAPTER 4 TROUBLED TIMES IN THE TRIASSIC 89

CHAPTER 5 TRIASSIC DOWNFALL 117

CHAPTER 6 PANGEA’S FINAL BLOW 137

CHAPTER 7 PANGEA’S DEATH AND THE RISE OF RESILIENCE 154

NOTES 177

REFERENCES 179

INDEX 191

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"We often think of extraterrestrial impacts, such as the one that killed off the dinosaurs, as the primary cause of mass extinction. But in this elegantly written book, Paul Wignall cites large volcanic eruptions as the most likely cause of several earlier mass extinctions, and offers a cogent analysis of why, since the Jurassic, such eruptions have posed less of a threat to life on Earth."—David J. Bottjer, University of Southern California

Editorial Reviews

"Well written and persuasive."

Choice

"One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2016"

From the Publisher

08/17/2015
Wignall, professor of paleo-environments at the University of Leeds, presents a sound examination of an 80-million-year span, which began nearly 260 million years ago, that is considered by scientists to have been the most extreme extinction event in the Earth’s history. He reveals that research into the event’s causes, which resulted in “the loss of more than 90% of all species” on Earth, points to the impact of volcanism on the supercontinent Pangaea, on a scale that is orders of magnitude beyond what humankind has experienced. He follows the pattern through the end-Permian and end-Triassic mass extinctions and four lesser crises, in each case assessing multiple theories and lines of evidence about the causes of the events. Wignall points to severe warming episodes as factors in these cataclysms, but he avoids drawing too strong a connection between these episodes and climate change today. Wignall critiques hypotheses that don’t support his own concept, but he also freely acknowledges instances when his own case is not fully proven. In sharing this story of the scientific process, he also gives credit to colleagues pursuing related research. Readers will inevitably encounter difficult terminology, but Wignall explains the relevant concepts to laypersons, making for a great example of scientific sleuthing. Illus. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly