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Glite Dictionary
Permian period

Permian period

8.1
A time about 299 to 251 million years ago when many new reptiles appear and a mass extinction happens
  • noun
  • /ˈpɜrmiən ˈpɪərɪəd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : período pérmico
  • During the Permian period, reptiles began to diversify into many distinct forms.
  • Permian period, 250 million

Examples

  • The trilobite line stretches from the Cambrian, along more than 300 million years of evolution, extinctions, and radiations, to the late Permian period, about 250 million years ago.

    Academic text (1992)

  • Other developments included hard-shelled eggs and seeds, reptile evolution, and the great Permian Period extinction.

    Academic text (1995)

  • The mass extinction at the end of the Permian period happened much faster than previously thought.

  • At the close of the Permian period some 252 million years ago, more than 90 percent of all marine species vanished.

Synonyms

Permian
vsPermian period
  • Specialized
9.3

A period about 298 to 252 million years ago when reptiles spread and many animals died

has identical meaning but is the longer or more formal written name

Surface Forms

Permian period singular
Permian periods plural

Morphology

Permian + period

The phrase is compositionally transparent: 'Permian' names a specific geological time and 'period' means a measured interval, so together they denote the time interval called the Permian. If a learner knows the term 'Permian' and the noun 'period', the meaning is directly derivable (this naming pattern for geological periods is cross-linguistically common).

Etymology

Permian period comes from the area called Perm in Russia, where scientists first studied rocks made in that time. Those rocks show life from about 250 million years ago, including many early reptiles and a huge 'mass extinction', so today Permian period refers to that very old time and its big changes.