Ancient sea organisms survived until a sudden extinction 550 million years ago, revealing what may be the first major mass extinction.

A massive, centuries-long drought may have driven the extinction of the “hobbits” of Flores. Climate records preserved in cave formations show rainfall plummeted just as the small human species ...

One reason for the decline in extinction rates is the growing momentum of conservation efforts. Multiple species have been ...

Stewart Edie receives funding from the Smithsonian Institution. Even groups that weathered the catastrophe, such as mammals, fishes and flowering plants, suffered severe population declines and ...