Overview

The history of life on Earth has involved repeated extinctions when that life was in crisis, as well as periods when it overcame extinctions to flourish once again. Five disastrous extinction events (often referred to as the ‘Big Five’) have significantly changed the course of natural history and are a key theme in this field, which researchers worldwide are currently working to understand. However, many aspects of the Big Five are still unclear, and such research is constantly advancing.

Under the supervision of the paleontology research staff at the National Museum of Nature and Science, together with volcanology researchers, this exhibition showcases the very latest research into the Big Five. With the goal of illustrating the main causes of each mass extinction and the changes in biodiversity when they occurred, it also explains climate change during the Cenozoic Era and the diversification of life on Earth since the Big Five, both of which link to the present day.