Page 6 - Devonian Period News Today

The evolution of tree roots may have been the cause of mass extinction.

The evolution of tree roots may have triggered a series of mass extinctions that rocked the Earth’s oceans during the Devonian Period.

The evolution of tree roots may have triggered a series of mass extinctions that rocked the Earth's oceans over 300 million years ago.

An IUPUI-led study finds that the same chemical processes caused by modern pollution likely drove mass extinction events over 300 million years ago.

Get latest articles and stories on Science at LatestLY. The evolution of tree roots may have triggered a series of mass extinctions that rocked the Earths oceans during the Devonian Period over 300 million years ago, according to a study led by scientists at IUPUI, along with colleagues in the United Kingdom. Science News | Research: Evolution of Tree Roots May Have Driven Mass Extinction.

According to a study conducted by scientists at IUPUI and colleagues in the United Kingdom, the emergence of tree roots may have set off a sequence of major extinctions that shook the Earths waters around 300 million years ago.

Five hundred million years ago, soft-bodied sea animals used phosphate to build elaborate, protective armor. Then their resource dried up, and evolution moved on.

Deep in the oceans dwell creatures that can evade many of the evolutionary drivers of life on land – and they remain seemingly unchanged through time.

Shutterstock We see evolution all around us, constantly, in every living thing. Yet in the deep oceans we find a number of “living fossils” reminiscent of creatures from prehistoric times.

New fossils are revealing the earliest jawed vertebrates — a group that encompasses 99 percent of all living vertebrates on Earth, including humans.