Abstract
Searching for land refugia becomes imperative for human survival during the hypothetical sixth mass extinction. Studying past comparable crises can offer insights, but there is no fossil evidence of diverse megafloral ecosystems surviving the largest Phanerozoic biodiversity crisis. Here, we investigated palynomorphs, plant, and tetrapod fossils from the Permian-Triassic South Taodonggou Section in Xinjiang, China. Our fossil records, calibrated by a high-resolution age model, reveal the presence of vibrant regional gymnospermous forests and fern fields, while marine organisms experienced mass extinction. This refugial vegetation was crucial for nourishing the substantial influx of surviving animals, thereby establishing a diverse terrestrial ecosystem approximately 75,000 years after the mass extinction. Our findings contradict the widely held belief that restoring terrestrial ecosystem functional diversity to pre-extinction levels would take millions of years. Our research indicates that moderate hydrological fluctuations throughout the crisis sustained this refugium, likely making it one of the sources for the rapid radiation of terrestrial life in the early Mesozoic.
Recommended Citation
H. Peng et al., "Refugium Amidst Ruins: Unearthing The Lost Flora That Escaped the End-Permian Mass Extinction," Science Advances, vol. 11, no. 11, article no. eads5614, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Mar 2025.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ads5614
Department(s)
Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering
Publication Status
Open Access
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
2375-2548
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2025 The Authors, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Publication Date
14 Mar 2025
Comments
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant 42172023