<p>In "The Great Dying" <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/permian-extinction/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">About 250 million years ago, at the end of the Permian period, something killed some 90 percent of the planet's species. Less than 5 percent of the animal species in the seas survived. On land less than a third of the large animal species made it.</a></p>

<p>I presume the surviving species were reduced in number. Is there any information on by how much, or how much the total biomass was reduced?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-16T17:05:03.160Z
@Universal_learner I was thinking in terms of the fossil record, but there could be ["biosignatures"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosignature) of microbial life.
Keith McClary
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-26T05:32:37.210Z
not much you are switching from megafauna to bacteria.
John
<paleontology><mass-extinction>
"Great Dying" reduction in biomass
Keith McClary
# "Great Dying" reduction in biomass

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-04-16)

In "The Great Dying" [About 250 million years ago, at the end of the Permian period, something killed some 90 percent of the planet's species. Less than 5 percent of the animal species in the seas survived. On land less than a third of the large animal species made it.](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/permian-extinction/)

I presume the surviving species were reduced in number. Is there any information on by how much, or how much the total biomass was reduced?

**Tags:** paleontology, mass-extinction

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: @Universal_learner I was thinking in terms of the fossil record, but there could be ["biosignatures"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosignature) of microbial life.  
> **username_1**: not much you are switching from megafauna to bacteria.  

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## 0 answers

