Two Phases of the End-Permian Mass Extinction

Abstract The end-Permian extinction, once regarded as an event spanning the Guadalupian to the Lopingian, actually occurred in two distinct phases. The first, a pre-Lopingian event associated with a major regression, appeared in the latest Guadalupian. Victims of this event were mostly endemic forms eliminated by closing of epicontinental seas around Pangea and dominant inhabitants of open seas in the Paleotethys. During the Lopingian Epoch marine faunas were well developed in limited shelf seas of the Paleotethys, but suffered no dramatic change. The collapse of marine ecosystems at the end of the Lopingian was most likely triggered by a sudden and widespread flooding over all relict shelves, following maximum emergence of epicontinental seas around Pangea.