Overview

• The Permian-Triassic extinction event, also known as the Great Dying, wiped out over 90% of marine species and 75% of terrestrial species 252 million years ago.
• Temnospondyls, a group of primitive amphibians, survived by feeding on freshwater prey inaccessible to land-based predators and maintaining diverse body sizes and feeding strategies.
• Researchers analyzed 100 temnospondyl fossils, revealing that their body sizes and ecological roles remained stable during the crisis but briefly expanded 5 million years later before declining.
• Intense volcanic activity during the Early Triassic led to extreme global warming, creating a tropical 'dead zone' where most life could not survive, yet temnospondyls managed to cross these regions during cooler periods.
• While temnospondyls thrived temporarily after the extinction, their decline began in the Middle Triassic as mammals and dinosaurs diversified, ultimately leading to their extinction 120 million years ago.