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The Age of Mutant Plants

Season 9 Episode 10 | 11m 06s

Around 252 million years ago, as the Permian Period transitioned into the Triassic, there wasn't much life on Earth left. Landscapes had been torched an entire ecosystems had collapsed. But the fossil record is full of something else, too -- mutant plants -- found worldwide and spanning thousands of years. But what was it about the Great Dying that caused a global age of mutant plants?

Aired: 09/14/26
Extras
Get ready for the all-new season, coming January 17, 2027 at 9/8c.
The cast play a game of "What's in the vet bag?" with sentimental props from the series.
Celebrate the legacy of Gene Wilder, the actor behind Willy Wonka and Young Frankenstein.
Explore the site of the Battle of Camden and its importance to the American Revolution.
Scientists race to save the historic island on the Chesapeake Bay from rising sea levels.
Tangier Island's lawns are turning into marshes. Can oyster reefs help?
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Sheléa performs "MacArthur Park" in this retrospective concert for Jimmy Webb.
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During the Permian Period many tetrapods, or four-limbed vertebrates, took to life in the trees.
Around 300 million years ago sails were all the rage, but we're still not sure what they were for.
Life begins to rebound after the destruction of the mass extinction ending the Permian Period.
An apocalypse ended the Permian Period 252 million years ago, wiping out more than 80% of species.
The first saber-teeth and tusks evolve in the Late Permian and our ancestors, the cynodonts, appear.
For millions of years after the Great Dying microbes ruled the Earth.
An extinction in the Middle Permian decimates life, from a fossil reef to our ancient relatives.
The first herbivorous vertebrates evolve on the side of the amniote family tree leading to mammals.
Seed plants and amniotes adapt to dry climates, helping them thrive on Pangea in the Permian Period.
How did Homotherium evolve to be so successful? The answer may lie in the rise of the Tibetan plate.