We are all familiar with the extinction that occurred 65 million years ago, causing the demise of the Dinosaurs and many other creatures on earth at that time, but there have been many extinctions over the ages. Of these extinctions, five of them stand out as being much more severe than the others, with the damage from each extinction ranging from 50% to 95% of all life on earth being wiped out.
Extinctions are in essence wiping the slate clean, removing the old biodiverisity and making way for new forms of life to evolve. For this reason, these extinctions have shaped the world we live in today. Without the major extinctions of the past, life as we know it would be very different, and we would likely not exist.
Below are listed the top 5 extinctions on earth in order of most recent, to least recent.
