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Here are 3 clear key points from the article:
1. The first major extinction was bigger than scientists thought
The event known as the Kotlin Crisis may have wiped out around 80% of species, not ~65% as previously believed—making it comparable in severity (by percentage lost) to the extinction that killed the dinosaurs.
2. Early complex life (Ediacaran biota) was heavily impacted
Strange, early sea organisms like Charnia brasieri—part of the Ediacaran biota—were among the victims. These organisms lived on the seafloor and represent some of the earliest complex life on Earth.
3. New fossil evidence changed the timeline and scale
New fossils from Newfoundland show these organisms survived longer than previously thought and actually died during the Kotlin Crisis. This updated timeline reveals the extinction was more widespread and significant than earlier estimates suggested.
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The Kotlin Crisis happened about 550 million years ago (near the end of the Ediacaran period).
That places it long before dinosaurs even existed, and it’s considered the first major extinction of complex animal life on Earth.
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