| Period,Trigger,Date,Probable cause | |
| ,End-Ediacaran extinction,542 Ma,Anoxic event | |
| Quaternary,Holocene extinction,"10,000 BC – Ongoing",Humans | |
| Permian,Permian–Triassic extinction event,,"volcanism, the Wilkes Land Crater, an Anoxic event, an Ice age" | |
| Cambrian,Cambrian–Ordovician extinction event,488 Ma, | |
| Permian,Olson's Extinction,,climate change | |
| Ordovician,Late Ordovician mass extinction,,"Global cooling, sea level drop, a Gamma-ray burst, global warming, volcanism, anoxia" | |
| Quaternary,Quaternary extinction event,"640,000, 74,000, and 13,000 years ago","climate changes, massive volcanic eruptions, humans" | |
| ,Middle Miocene disruption,,Climate change | |
| Cretaceous,Aptian extinction,117 Ma,volcanism | |
| Cretaceous,Cenomanian-Turonian boundary event,,"underwater volcanism, global warming, acidic oceans" | |
| Silurian,Mulde event,,Global drop in sea level | |
| Jurassic,Toarcian turnover,183 Ma,the Karoo-Ferrar Igneous Provinces | |
| Devonian,Late Devonian extinction,,"Viluy Traps, Woodleigh Impactor" | |
| Precambrian,Great Oxygenation Event,,"Rising oxygen levels, Snowball Earth event" | |
| Triassic,Triassic–Jurassic extinction event,,"climate changes, volcanism" | |
| Silurian,Ireviken event,,"Deep-ocean anoxia, Milankovitch cycles" | |
| Cretaceous,Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event,66 Ma,"Chicxulub impactor, volcanism" | |
| Triassic,Carnian Pluvial Event,,"Wrangellia flood basalts, the uplift of the Cimmerian orogeny" | |
| Permian,End-Capitanian extinction event,260 Ma,"Volcanism, global cooling" | |
| Carboniferous,Carboniferous rainforest collapse,305 Ma,"climate changes, volcanism" | |
| ,Eocene–Oligocene extinction event,33.9 Ma,"global cooling, polar glaciation, falling sea levels, the Popigai impactor" | |
| Silurian,Lau event,420 Ma,Changes in sea level and chemistry | |