The continets had merged into one huge supercontinent called Pangaea.
Laurasia and Siberia-Kazakhstania and China colliding had finalize the formation of Pangea by the end of the Permian.
The supercontinent was shaped sort of like a giant 'Pacman', the mouth was at the east.
Climate:
At the beginning of the Permian earth was still in an ice age.
The polar regions were covered with deep layers of ice, the glaciers covered Gondwanland, and at the same time the tropics were covred by the swampy forests.
In the middle of the Permian the climate became warmer and milder. The glaciers melted and the center of Pangaea became drier.
It was probably arid, and had a wet and dry seasons because of the lack of a nerby body of water.
The drying and warming and cooling periods contineud through the late Permian.
Oceans:
Fig. Permian: Thermal mode, the ocean circulation scenario. THe convection is cooled at the poles.
The color represents the surface temperature.
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The ocean circulation during the Permian is dominated by strong circulation in the Southern hempisphere.
During the Permian there was one large single ocean, called Panthalassa. Zechstein Sea, a sea that covered present day Europe was a sea that was home to impoverished fauna, mainly the brachipods and bivalves. Because of the formation of Pangaea, the sea levels droped and the warm seas declined.
Atmosphere:
Dust clouds annd carbon dioxide- caused major climate changes and made it unsuitable for the organisms survive. Increase of carbon dioxide shown in fossil record. The phytoplanton and plants during this time were oxygenating the Earth, which made it close to the modern oxygen levels.
Evidence:
Scientists hypothesized that the major extintion of the Permian period was caused by climate change, gradual seafall, oceanic and volanism. Scientists had finally found fossils in CHina indicating that the mass extinction was caused by a catastrophic hit from an asteriod or comet. It exploded and then caused the most server biotic crsis in the history of life on earth. The comet or asteriod hit the ocean at the end of the Permian. This then triggerd a rapid and massive release of sulfur from the mantle to the ocean. The atmosphere system swooped up significant amount of oxygen precipitated rain and possibly set off a large scale of volcanism.
Life forms:
Amphibian
Eryops
The Eryops was an amphibian that lived in the swamps of the Permian. It had a stout body with wide ribs, strong spine, four short legs, a short tail, and a wide skull with sharp teeth used to eat meat. It was one of the largest land animals during its time, growing about 5 feet [1.5m] long.
Archegosaurus
The Archegosaurus had a mouth like a crocadile that are associated with the reptiles that hunt small fish.
Marine Life
Bryozoa
The Bryozoa is an aquatic colonial organism made of calicium carbonate. Small fanshaped colonies. It suffertd a decline of species through the Permian, 128 to 28.
Tabulata
The Tabulata is a symetrical coral with two layers of acellular layer of jelly. Simple colony of coral. They became exticnt at the Permian - Triassic boundary, 7 species were lost.
Orthacanthus
The Orthacanthus was a freshwater shark that had a long spine that grew from the back of its skull. The dorsal fin ran all along the sharks back which gave it an eel like appearance.
Land Life
Therapsid
The therapsid was probably warmblooded and a driect ancestor to mammals. Their teeth were differentiated into post canines. The early therapsids were the dinocephalians. The therapsids include the Eotitanosuchids, the herbivorous dicynodonts, and the cynodonts.
Estemmenosuchus
The Estemmenosuchus is a plant eater, it was a therapsid. It had long, sharp teeth in fromt of its mouth. a smaller cheek teeth on the sides. It walked on four legs, it grew up to about 13 ft [4m] long and up to 6.5 ft [2m] tall. It had a massive skull, a short tail, and a bulky body. The skull had 2 knobs by the nostrils, 2 in the middle of the snout, and 2 moose like horns over the eyes. It couldve had a smooth, scaless skin texture. THe fossils have been found in eastern Russia.
Moschops:
THe Moschops were large, plant-eating Therapsids. Their fossils have been found in South Africa. They had large jaws with blunt, chisel like teeth. The Moschops walked on four legs, the front legs were sprawling but the hind legs were column like. They grew up to 16ft [5m] long. They had a barrel like chest, they had a massive, thick skull which might have been there for head-butting.
Gorgonopsid
The Gorgonpsid are the earlier predators. The were mammal-like reptiles. They grew as long as 10 feet [30m] long. Their jaws were large, powerful, and square shapred, with huge saber like canine teeth that went up to 4inchs [10cm]. Their body was covered with scales and their eyes were on the side of their head.
Lycopod
Lycopods are vascular plants that are related to other land plants. They stretch back to the late Silurian. They dominate once huge forests. Theey have roots, simple stems and small spirally leaves. They are either heterosporous or homosporous.
Dimetrodon
The dimetrodon was a well known prehistoric non-dinosaur. It was a carnivorous pelycosaur during the early Permian. It was an enormous animal, known for its fin of elongate vertebral spines that ran along its back. It grew up to 3 meters and weighed 150kg. The Dimetrodon were found in Oklahoma and Texas. It remained the dominate carivore in its environment for twenty-five million years.
Temnospondyl
The tetrapods are the single most succesful group in history. The first was a cross between a salamander and a moray eel. During the Permian there was a diversity of the Tetrapods. They were a cross between crocodilain and an enormous frog, others were aquatic and had long bodies and armoured protective coating with scales. They had gills and were unable to leave the water. Because of the aridity of the late Permian the larger tetrapods did not surrive well. They were soon replaced by a larger aquatic sterospondyls, which lived in the water for their entire life, but they were probably able to climb onto land for short periods of time. They could only open their mouth by tilting back their entire head.
