Tiny plant and insect fossils provide unique insight into an ancient ecosystem that would, later, be altered by climatic shifts.
Articles on Permian period
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The analysis suggests that there was a mass extinction event at the time of the end-Permian, on land - and that it happened at the same time as the marine end-Permian extinction.
Plants, in their fossil forms, can reveal a great deal about past environments and climates.
A drying climate caused a mass extinction among plants, but paved the way for the ancestors of modern reptiles, mammals, and birds.
Australia was a different place 275 million years ago - wild storms surged through icy seas, and marine animals lived a tenuous existence. But brittle stars had a survival strategy.
Climate was the main factor that triggered the evolution of warm-bloodedness in mammals and the subsequent mammalian evolutionary success.
Despite its insidious influence on the climate and our health, coal has a lesser-known positive side to its otherwise dark soul. It has provided us with some stunning fossils.
Top contributors
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Palaeontologist, Rhodes University
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Science Guide & Visiting Researcher, Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge
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PhD student, Botany, Rhodes University
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Postdoctoral researcher, Analytical, Environmental and Geo- Chemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
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Assistant Professor in Palaeontology, Trinity College Dublin
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Emeritus Strategic Professor in Palaeontology, Flinders University
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Emeritus Fellow, Downing College, University of Cambridge
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Professor, University of the Witwatersrand