Earth’s worst extinction was followed by a shockingly fast ocean comeback
Earliest oceanic tetrapod ecosystem from 249 million years ago. A pod of the small-bodied ichthyopterygian ('fish-lizard') Grippia longirostris hunting squid-like ammonoids (centre).
A school of the bony fish Boreosomus and Saurichthys feed in the distance. Fossil of these ancient marine reptiles and fishes are today preserved on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago. Credit: Robert Back
A spectacular fossil trove on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen shows that marine life made a stunning comeback after Earth’s greatest extinction.
Tens of thousands of fossils reveal fully aquatic reptiles and complex food chains thriving just three million years later.
Some predators grew over five meters long, challenging the idea of a slow, step-by-step recovery. The find rewrites the early history of ocean ecosystems....
