[Rockhounds] Mammals may be driven to extinction by volcanic new supercontinent Pangaea Ultima

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

Mammals will most likely be wiped from the face of the Earth by our
planet's next supercontinent, a new study has revealed.

By modeling the heat tolerance of mammals alongside Earth's climatic
conditions 250 million years into the future, scientists have discovered
that the formation of the most probable next supercontinent — called
Pangaea Ultima — will bring about the likely extinction of our animal order.

The researchers made the prediction using a climate model that factored in
the changes to land surface temperature of a new supercontinent; alongside
increases to the intensity of the sun's radiation and carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere. The study was published Sept. 25 in the journal *Nature
Geoscience*
<https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=92X1590019&xcust=livescience_us_2325520676272722000&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41561-023-01259-3&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.livescience.com%2Fplanet-earth%2Fmammals-may-be-driven-to-extinction-by-volcanic-new-supercontinent-pangaea-ultima>
.

"A supercontinent seemingly creates conditions that more easily lead to
mass extinction," first-author *Alexander Farnsworth*
<https://www.bristol.ac.uk/people/person/Alexander-Farnsworth-24da3223-4bc1-4e18-9bcb-eb02a7976395/>,
a climatologist at the University of Bristol in the U.K. told Live Science.
"[Supercontinent formation] has coincided with four of the last five mass
extinctions in the geologic past."

https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/mammals-may-be-driven-to-extinction-by-volcanic-new-supercontinent-pangaea-ultima