The Permian is a geologic perio that extends from 299.0 ± 0.8 Ma to 251.0 ± 0.4 Ma (million years before the present) (ICS, 2004). It is the last period of the Paleozoic Era. The Permian period was named after the city of Perm, Russia by Scottish geologist Roderick Murchison in 1841.