Comments on: New in Paperback Book on Permian Mass Extinction

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:19:12 +0000

William: Yes, and this post is one of a handful of reposts of book notices or reviews that I’m doing for Back to School Month.

By: william e emba

william e emba — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:10:05 +0000

Benton’s book was “now out in paperback” in 2005.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 03:11:13 +0000

“”big impact creates the Siberian Traps (antipodal)”.”

I just want to put on record that when that hypothesis was first proposed some time ago, I immediately loved it. Just sayin’

By: travc

travc — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 01:24:48 +0000

Yeah, that description of the book has some whoppers in it. Though the Permian Crash (at least that is the name I learned for it back in the day) really was pretty damn catastrophic.

A few quibbles…

Um, will vertebrate paleo folks (and many other people) please realize that by far most species are single celled. Even among the multicellular, the majority fossilize at rates far far lower than the bony few. 90% of species which we know of from fossils went extinct at the end of the Permian, but that does not mean 90% of all species!

Also, the Permian almost certainly wasn’t the greatest mass extinction event… it was the greatest that fossil forming life actually survived. Farther back there were almost certainly “world killer” events which wiped everything out. The relevant phrase is “impact frustration of the origin of life”.

Oh, and for the Permian ending event, I particularly like the “big impact creates the Siberian Traps (antipodal)”. Seems to be the theory which best survives Occam’s razor at this point.

By: MadScientist

MadScientist — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 23:43:39 +0000

No air? None of this nitrogen or oxygen? Well, I’ll have to see the evidence for that.

By: Omega Centauri

Omega Centauri — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 22:39:57 +0000

I gotta second Kris. “Airless” ? Yes we can count fossil species before/after, but still having 10% of species left is still a living planet. And X percent of species in no way implies that net biomass was also at X percent. This sounds more like sensationalism, rather than sober science.

By: Kris Rhodes

Kris Rhodes — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:19:21 +0000

Erwin’s book isn’t particularly dynamic, but it is informative. Worth reading if you’re interested in the end Permian.

On the other hand, the number of wild inaccuracies and mistruths in this press release make me want to never read the book in question.

By: Markk

Markk — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 18:42:26 +0000

Douglas Erwin’s book “Extinction” about this event I have always considered one of the great descriptions of the back and forth of scientific theories to be written. It is aimed at an adult and informed reader. I’ve never read Benton but I thought I would plug another wonderful book about the same subject.

By: stripey_cat

stripey_cat — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 18:35:10 +0000

How the heck do we know what was happening to the bacteria and archaea of the period? Damn Eukaryote prejudices!

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 17:49:47 +0000

Chris, I was thinking the same thing… what an obvious mistake.