Editing Paleozoic (section)

=== Permian Period ===
{{main|Permian}}
[[File:Dimetrodon grandis in "high walk" pose.png|thumb|Synapsid: ''[[Dimetrodon|Dimetrodon grandis]]'']]
The Permian spanned from 299–252&nbsp;million years ago and was the last period of the Paleozoic Era. At the beginning of this period, all continents joined together to form the supercontinent Pangaea, which was encircled by one ocean called [[Panthalassa]]. The land mass was very dry during this time, with harsh seasons, as the climate of the interior of Pangaea was not regulated by large bodies of water. [[Diapsid]]s and [[synapsid]]s flourished in the new dry climate. Creatures such as ''[[Dimetrodon]]'' and ''[[Edaphosaurus]]'' ruled the new continent. The first conifers evolved, and dominated the terrestrial landscape. Near the end of the Permian, however, Pangaea grew drier. The interior was desert, and new taxa such as ''[[Scutosaurus]]'' and [[Gorgonopsia|Gorgonopsids]] filled it. Eventually they disappeared, along with 95% of all life on Earth, in a cataclysm known as "[[Permian–Triassic extinction event|The Great Dying]]", the third and most severe Phanerozoic mass extinction.{{efn|name=only-counting-Phanerozoic-extinctions-note}}<ref>{{cite web |title=The Great Dying |website=www.nhm.ac.uk |place=London, UK |publisher=[[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] |url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/dinosaurs-other-extinct-creatures/mass-extinctions/end-permian-mass-extinction/ |access-date= |archive-date=2015-04-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420192109/http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/dinosaurs-other-extinct-creatures/mass-extinctions/end-permian-mass-extinction/ |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Permian Era |website=www.ucmp.berkeley.edu |place=Berkeley, CA |publisher=[[University of California Museum of Paleontology]] |url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/permian/permian.php |access-date=2015-05-24 |archive-date=2017-07-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704140229/http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/permian/permian.php |url-status=live }}</ref>