Lopingian

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Lopingian is the third of the three epoches of the Permian. The world was hot and arid. The epoch saw one the largest deserts of all time, in the middle of Pangea. Monsoons probably prevailed in the coasts or a little further inland. There were probably less glaciers than the last epoch. By the beginning of the epoch saw the extinction of the dominating Dinocephalians therapsids and many remaining pelycosaurs. They were replaced by smaller therapsids, the Gorgonopsians, Therocephalians, and the cynodonts. Other animals, such as the Pareiasaurs replaced the herbivorous dinocephalians, while many animals such as tetrapods, insects, etc., were abundant on land as small to medium sized creatures. In the seas, life was abundant. This all came to a sudden halt, when an unknown mass extinction ended Lopingian, and of course the Paleozoic Era. This was the Permian-Triassic extinction event, the greatest mass extinction of the history of earth. The K/T event pales on comparison with this event. About 90% of all species on the sea died out, and over 75% of all species on land died out. By the time the extinction stopped, life on land and sea were virtually empty, although survivors have come to fill the empty void. The era of Paleozoic is over, and the era of Mesozoic era has begun. The epoch is followed by Early Triassic Epoch.