when did the late devonian mass extinction occur
Late Devonian extinction Although it is clear a massive loss of biodiversity occurred in the Later Devonian, the extent of time during which these events took place is uncertain, with estimates ranging from 500,000 to 25 million years, extending from the mid-Givetian to the end-Famennian.[5][citation needed] Nor is it clear whether it concerned two sharp mass extinctions or a series of smaller extinctions, though the latest research suggests multiple causes and a series of distinct extinction pulses through an interval of some three million years.[6] Some consider the extinction to be as many as seven distinct events, spread over about 25 million years, with notable extinctions at the ends of the Givetian, Frasnian, and Famennian stages.[7]
Coral Although corals first appeared in the Cambrian period,[28] some 542Â million years ago, fossils are extremely rare until the Ordovician period, 100 million years later, when rugose and tabulate corals became widespread. Paleozoic corals often contained numerous endobiotic symbionts.[29][30]