Refugium amidst ruins: Unearthing the lost flora that escaped the end-Permian mass extinction

doi:10.1126/sciadv.ads5614

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	Refugium amidst ruins: Unearthing the lost flora that escaped the end-Permian mass extinction
	Peng, Huiping 1; Yang, Wan 2; Wan, Mingli 1; Liu, Jun3,4 ; Liu, Feng 1,5
	2025-03-12
发表期刊	SCIENCE ADVANCES
ISSN	2375-2548
卷号	11 期号:11 页码:10
通讯作者	Liu, Feng(liufeng@nigpas.ac.cn)
摘要	Searching for land refugia becomes imperative for human survival during the hypothetical sixth mass extinction. Studying past comparable crises can offer insights, but there is no fossil evidence of diverse megafloral ecosystems surviving the largest Phanerozoic biodiversity crisis. Here, we investigated palynomorphs, plant, and tetrapod fossils from the Permian-Triassic South Taodonggou Section in Xinjiang, China. Our fossil records, calibrated by a high-resolution age model, reveal the presence of vibrant regional gymnospermous forests and fern fields, while marine organisms experienced mass extinction. This refugial vegetation was crucial for nourishing the substantial influx of surviving animals, thereby establishing a diverse terrestrial ecosystem approximately 75,000 years after the mass extinction. Our findings contradict the widely held belief that restoring terrestrial ecosystem functional diversity to pre-extinction levels would take millions of years. Our research indicates that moderate hydrological fluctuations throughout the crisis sustained this refugium, likely making it one of the sources for the rapid radiation of terrestrial life in the early Mesozoic.
DOI	10.1126/sciadv.ads5614
关键词[WOS]	TRIASSIC BOUNDARY ; EVENT ; TRANSITION ; MOUNTAINS ; RECOVERY ; TURNOVER ; XINJIANG ; HISTORY ; INDUAN
收录类别	SCI
语种	英语
资助项目	National Natural Science Foundation of China[42172023] ; National Key R&D Program of China[2022YFF0800200] ; Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research grant[2019QZKK0706] ; US National Science Foundation[EAR 1714749]
项目资助者	National Natural Science Foundation of China ; National Key R&D Program of China ; Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research grant ; US National Science Foundation
WOS研究方向	Science & Technology - Other Topics
WOS类目	Multidisciplinary Sciences
WOS记录号	WOS:001442696800003
出版者	AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
引用统计
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.205/handle/311034/24306
专题	中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所
通讯作者	Liu, Feng
作者单位	1.Chinese Acad Sci, State Key Lab Palaeobiol & Stratig, Nanjing Inst Geol & Palaeontol, Nanjing 210008, Peoples R China 2.Missouri Univ Sci & Technol, Geol & Geophys Program, Rolla, MO 65409 USA 3.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Vertebrate Paleontol & Paleoanthropol, Beijing 100044, Peoples R China 4.Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Coll Earth & Planetary Sci, Beijing 100049, Peoples R China 5.Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Nanjing 211135, Peoples R China
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Peng, Huiping,Yang, Wan,Wan, Mingli,et al. Refugium amidst ruins: Unearthing the lost flora that escaped the end-Permian mass extinction[J]. SCIENCE ADVANCES,2025,11(11):10.
APA	Peng, Huiping,Yang, Wan,Wan, Mingli,Liu, Jun,&Liu, Feng.(2025).Refugium amidst ruins: Unearthing the lost flora that escaped the end-Permian mass extinction.SCIENCE ADVANCES,11(11),10.
MLA	Peng, Huiping,et al."Refugium amidst ruins: Unearthing the lost flora that escaped the end-Permian mass extinction".SCIENCE ADVANCES 11.11(2025):10.