The dinosaurs, blamed for the extinction of a giant fallen asteroid, actually fought to survive for tens of millions of years before disappearing from the face of the Earth. Paleontologists from the British University of Reading announced this, based on the results of the research.
According to Agence France-Presse, the debate about what the last days of dinosaurs were on Earth has been going on in the scientific community for a long time. Some believe that dinosaurs flourished on the eve of extinction, while others believe that their population was in decline. "While the apocalypse may have been 'the final nail in the dinosaur's coffin,' there were other reasons that prevented dinosaur species from evolving," said Manabu Sakamoto, lead author of the study, University of Reading paleontologist.
According to paleontologists, in the course of studying the remains of extinct creatures and materials contained in the archives of the National Academy of Sciences, it turned out that various types of dinosaurs available at that time were dying out at a faster rate than new ones appeared. This population decline began at least 40 million years before a huge asteroid hit our planet in the area of modern Mexico. It is this "space debris" that is traditionally blamed for the extinction of the dinosaurs. “The asteroid is still the main candidate for the title of“dinosaur killer”. But it is already clear that by that time these animals had passed their evolutionary heyday, "explained Manabu Sakamoto.
For example, sauropods - vegetarian dinosaurs with a long neck - died out faster than other species. And the disappearance of the legendary tyrannosaurs (Tyrannosaurus rex) was more gradual. Extinction, according to scientists, was also influenced by external factors, such as the disintegration of land masses and volcanic activity. The final coup de grâce was, apparently, the fall about 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous, a giant asteroid Chicxulub with a diameter of about 10 km. Recall that the impact energy, according to scientists, was then 100 teratons in TNT equivalent. The asteroid left behind an impact crater with a diameter of about 180 km and an initial depth of 17–20 km. Today it is included in the list of the largest craters on Earth. The disappearance of trees and other vegetation that served as shelter and food led to the death of dinosaurs.“For tens of millions of years before their final death, dinosaurs ceased to be the dominant species on Earth,” summed up Sakamoto.
Scientists believe that their study not only explains the extinction of dinosaurs, but also somewhat clarifies the future. Due to anthropogenic climatic changes, some species of living creatures may disappear from the face of the Earth, as was the case with dinosaurs.
“If in a group of animals the extinction is more rapid than the replacement of the species, a major catastrophe leads to complete annihilation,” added Manabu Sakamoto. We will remind, earlier, American scientists already assumed that the extinction of dinosaurs occurred systemically, but then the study concerned only flightless individuals.