Ten leading universities conduct over one third of all UK animal research

Mass extinctions were followed by periods of low diversity in which certain new species dominated wide regions of the supercontinent Pangaea, reports a new study. The findings indicate that mass extinctions may have predictable consequences and provide insights into how biological communities may be expected to change in the future as a result of current high extinction rates. Mass extinctions are thought to produce 'disaster faunas', communities dominated by a small number of widespread species. However, studies to test this theory have been rare and limited in scope, such as being focused on small regions. The researchers, from the University of Birmingham (UK), North Carolina State University (USA), University of Leeds (UK) and CONICET−Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales (Argentina) assessed long-term changes in biodiversity in the supercontinent Pangaea. They analysed changes in nearly 900 animal species between approximately 260 million and 175 million years ago (spanning the late Permian to Early Jurassic). This period witnessed two mass extinctions and the origins of dinosaurs and many modern vertebrate groups.