▁M eth anos arc ina ' s ▁m eth ane ▁production ▁may ▁have ▁been ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁causes ▁of ▁the ▁Perm ian – Tri ass ic ▁ext inction ▁event . ▁It ▁is ▁estimated ▁that ▁ 7 0 % ▁of ▁shell ▁cre atures ▁died ▁from ▁ocean ▁acid ification , ▁due ▁to ▁over - pop ulated ▁M eth anos arc ina . ▁A ▁study ▁conducted ▁by ▁Chinese ▁and ▁American ▁research ers ▁supports ▁that ▁hypothesis . ▁ ▁Using ▁gen etic ▁analysis ▁of ▁about ▁ 5 0 ▁M eth anos arc ina ▁genom es , ▁the ▁team ▁concluded ▁that ▁the ▁micro be ▁likely ▁acquired ▁the ▁ability ▁to ▁efficiently ▁consume ▁ac et ate ▁using ▁ac et ate ▁kin ase ▁and ▁ph osph o ac et yl ▁transfer ase ▁roughly ▁ 2 4 0 ▁ ± ▁ 4 1 ▁million ▁years ▁ago , ▁about ▁the ▁time ▁of ▁the ▁ext inction ▁event ▁ 2 5 2 ▁million ▁years ▁ago . ▁The ▁gen es ▁for ▁these ▁en zym es ▁may ▁have ▁been ▁acquired ▁from ▁a ▁cell ul ose - de grad ing ▁b acter ium ▁via ▁gene ▁transfer . ▁ ▁The ▁scient ists ▁concluded ▁that ▁these ▁new ▁gen es , ▁combined ▁with ▁widely ▁available ▁organ ic ▁carbon ▁depos its ▁in ▁the ▁ocean ▁and ▁a ▁pl ent iful ▁supply ▁of ▁nick el , ▁allowed ▁M eth anos arc ina ▁populations ▁to ▁increase ▁dram atically . ▁ ▁Under ▁their ▁theory , ▁this ▁led ▁to ▁the ▁release ▁of ▁abund ant ▁m eth ane ▁as ▁waste . ▁ ▁Then , ▁some ▁of ▁the ▁m eth