Late Devonian Extinction (375-359 million years ago)

The Late Devonian Extinction, a prolonged crisis spanning 20 million years, eliminated 75% of species and devastated reef ecosystems so thoroughly that coral reefs took 100 million years to recover. This recovery time is 50% longer than the aftermath of the Cretaceous-Paleogene event, with a slower rate of destruction that made it 10% less severe than the average extinction event on this list.