Permian Period Overview

Formation of Pangaea

• The Earth's land areas became welded into a single land mass known as Pangaea during the Palaeozoic era.

Major Mass Extinction

• The greatest mass extinction of all time occurred at the end of the Palaeozoic era, triggered by an environmental event.

Beginning of the Mesozoic Era

• The Mesozoic era began with the formation of Pangaea, which marked the start of continental formation.

Plant Groups of the Mesozoic Era

• During the Mesozoic era, flowering plants, conifers, and cycads became major floral groups, along with ginkgos and other genera.

Life on Land

• Life first ventured onto land during the Silurian period, in the form of simple plants with a vascular system for circulating water.

Ancient Supercontinent

• The ancient supercontinent of Gondwana is mentioned in the text, which later broke up to form separate continents, including North America and Antarctica.

Shrinking of the Atlantic Ocean

• During the Jurassic period, the predecessor of the Atlantic Ocean began to shrink as the continents of that time drifted closer together.

Ordovician Period

• During the Ordovician Period, echinoderms, including corals, crinoids, bryozoans, and pelecypods, made their first appearance alongside trilobites.

Cambrian Period

• The Cambrian Period was characterized by an explosion of life in the seas, with thousands of species, but barren land areas, and wholly invertebrate animal life.

Dominant Species of the Cambrian Period

• Trilobites dominated the Cambrian Period seas, with species numbering in the thousands.

Fundamental Principles in Geology

• Principle of Uniformitarianism, Principle of Original Horizontality, and Principle of Cross-Cutting Relationships are fundamental to understanding the geological history of Earth.

Geological Process related to Pangaea

• Continental Drift is closely related to the formation of Pangaea.