'Life oasis' in China: Fossil site reveals plants survived Earth's deadliest extinction 252 million years ago
A newly discovered fossil site in China’s Turpan-Hami Basin challenges the belief that the end-Permian mass extinction wiped out all terrestrial ecosystems. Researchers found evidence of resilient plant life, suggesting some regions acted as ecological refuges, enabling survival and recovery.
FollowA groundbreaking discovery in China's Turpan-Hami Basin suggests that some terrestrial ecosystems remained largely unaffected by the catastrophic end-Permian mass extinction, offering fresh insight into the resilience of life in Earth's darkest period.
The end-Permian mass extinction, which occurred around 252 million years ago, wiped out over 80% of marine species, marking the worst biological catastrophe in Earth’s history. Scientists have long believed that terrestrial ecosystems suffered a similar fate due to massive volcanic eruptions in Siberia, which triggered wildfires, acidic rainfall, and toxic gas emissions.
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This perspective has been supported by the disappearance of evergreen trees like Gigantopteris in southern China and Glossopteris across the entire Gondwana region.
However, new fossil evidence uncovered by a research team from Nanjing University, led by Professor Liu Feng of the Institute of Geology and Palaeontology (NIGPAS), contradicts this prevailing view. Their findings reveal that certain regions served as ecological refuges, allowing plant life to persist despite global devastation.
Fossil evidence of survival
Extensive studies of the South Taodonggou Geological Formation in Xinjiang show that coniferous forests and fern meadows thrived before, during, and after the extinction event. Unlike previous assumptions that these remains had been transported from elsewhere, the presence of intact tree trunks and fern stems confirms that these were local, living vegetation.
Professor Wan Mingli, one of the study's authors, emphasized, “The presence of intact tree trunks and fern stems further confirms that these microfossils represent local vegetation, not transported remnants.”
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Using advanced dating techniques, including a Bayesian age model, researchers were able to track an uninterrupted record of vegetation spanning 320,000 years—160,000 years before the extinction began and 160,000 years after it ended. This revealed that while some species did vanish, the local extinction rate of pollen and spore taxa was only around 21%, significantly lower than the marine extinction rate.
This discovery challenges the long-held belief that land ecosystems suffered a complete collapse. Instead, it suggests that some areas acted as biological sanctuaries, allowing life to endure and recover much faster than previously thought. These "life oases" highlight the resilience of ecosystems and provide crucial insights into how life can persist even in the face of extreme environmental crises.
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