Mammals and reptiles could cope with the desert conditions better than amphibians, and so rose to dominate the Permian. Such dry conditions favored plants with seeds enclosed in a protective cover, rather than plants like ferns, that disperse spores. Modern trees like conifers, ginkgos and cycads appeared in the Permian.
On land, life included diverse plants and fungi. At first, a lot of the Carboniferous flora still flourished. But around the middle of the period, a massive desert covered the interior of Pangaea, and there are indications that the desert was devoid of vegetation. Even in areas where it wasn't such a stark desert, more advanced seed ferns and early conifers moved in. A number of types of plants and animals died out or became marginal elements. By the end of the Permian, swamps reminiscent of the Carboniferous survived only on a series of equatorial islands east of Pangaea that would later become South China.
The Permian saw the diversification of many important conifer groups, including ancestors of many present-day families. Rich forests were present in many area, with a diverse mix of plants. Southern Pangaea saw extensive seed fern forest, and oxygen levels were probably high there. The ginkgos and cycads also appeared.
Insects were very prevalent during the Permian, especially considering that 90% of the insects at the start of this period were cockroach-like insects. Primitive forms of dragonflies were the dominant aerial predators. Several insect groups appeared or flourished during this time, including beetles, true bugs and others.
Larger 'more advanced' types of animal life included reptiles and amphibians. A number of the reptiles seemed to be what I call the 'sail-backed' lizards, where they have bone ridges protruding from their spine and covered in skin. Some of these were herbivore and some were carnivore. I didn't find any indication of how large they might have gotten.
At some point, amphibians declined, and at least one family of the 'sail-backed' lizards was replaced with more advanced animals, including mammals and mammal-like animals. Towards the very end of the period, the first archosauriforms appeared. These were reptiles that possibly rose from the crocodile family and would go on in the next period to produce dinosaurs and pterosaurs. There were no flying vertebrates, although there was a family of gliding reptiles by the end of the period.
Also appearing late in the Permian were the first synodonts, which would evolve into mammals during the next period. Permian synapsids (the group that would later include mammals) thrived and included some large members, such as Dimetrodon. Their special adaptations enabled them to flourish in the drier climate, and they grew to dominate the vertebrates.
In the Permian sea, life was everywhere. You might have found mollusks, starfish, sea dollars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers if you went swimming, or animals very much like these modern versions. But as stated earlier, most of the marine life went extinct during the last days of this period. Nothing was said about the sharks or fish that were so prevalent in the previous period.
Could we live here? Plenty of plants are growing, at least, where it wasn't a desert, so maybe we could grow crops. Could we domesticate some of the herbivore sail-backed lizards? Would we want to? They're lizards, so they wouldn't give any milk. I have no idea how big their eggs might be, so that might be a reason to domesticate them. Okay, we'll leave some of us here to colonize the Permian, and the rest of us will go on to see what comes next.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emeishan_Traps
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimmeria_(continent)
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