A research team at Memorial University has discovered that the first animal extinction event on Earth was even bigger than the meteor-impact that ended the age of dinosaurs.
New data published in geology by MUN researchers suggests that the first mass extinction event – known as the Kotlin Crisis – occurred 550 million years ago.
It was the first such event that animals had ever experienced, the supporting evidence for which was collected in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Previously, it was long believed that the number of species lost during the Kotlin Crisis was less than the minimum criteria needed to formally consider it a mass extinction event.
The fossil site in Upper Island Cove (submitted by Duncan McIlroy)
However, the work of Drs. Steven Denyszyn and Duncan McIlroy indicates otherwise.
The evidence was collected from a well-preserved and “highly diverse” fossil site in Upper Island Cove. Volcanic ash covering the fossils was dated to 551 million years ago – 13 million years younger than other fossil finds in the Avalon region.
Dr. Denyszyn says they were surprised by the discovery, and that 80 per cent of the organisms preserved in the rock appear to have disappeared during the Kotlin Crisis.
The survivors set the stage for the proliferation of modern type animals.
Dr. McIlroy is hosting a public lecture on their findings at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday April 15th at the Johnson Geo Centre.
