Short answers, pulled from the story.
Sir Roderick Impey Murchison named the Permian period in 1841 after the region of Perm in Russia. He proposed the name Permian System to describe the geological beds he observed on the banks of the Ural Mountains.
The Permian period began 298 million years ago and ended 251.902 million years ago. It spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous to the beginning of the Triassic.
The Permian Triassic extinction event was caused by massive volcanic eruptions in the Siberian Traps that released over 5 teratonnes of carbon dioxide. This eruption doubled atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and triggered extreme global warming and ocean acidification.
The dominant insects during the Permian period were early representatives of Paleoptera, Polyneoptera, and Paraneoptera. Grylloblattidans reached their apex of diversity during this time, representing up to a third of all insects at some localities.
The Permian period is divided into three epochs from oldest to youngest: the Cisuralian, Guadalupian, and Lopingian. Each epoch contains specific stages defined by global boundary stratotype sections and points.