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Science and Space
Main Health and Human Body Earth Space Prehistoric World A-Z

Butterloch Canyon

Scientists studying the Permian extinctions scale the loose rocks of Butterloch Canyon in Italy's Dolomites. Exposed fossil beds here offer relatively easy access to the transition point from the Permian to the Triassic. Rock layers at this boundary contain large amounts of fossilized wood-eating fungi, strongly suggesting that a massive die-off of trees occurred during this time.

Photograph by Jonathan Blair/Corbis