The mystery surrounding the mass extinction of dinosaurs has become even more mysterious after paleontologists discovered thousands of burned giant animals on April 12, 2016. On a remote plateau in South America, experts stumbled upon an unusual six-kilometer site with the burned remains of hadrosaurs, a herbivore with a duck beak. The bones of these animals - ribs, hips and spines - were badly charred.
A team of paleontologists have been excavating in Patagonia for several years trying to find out the cause of the colossal climate change that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.
“Something big happened here,” said Marcelo Leppe, chief scientist at the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH). - Thousands of animals became victims of the paleo fire. It is very strange.
Scientists believe the fossils provide new insights into what happened in South America about 70 million years ago, when an asteroid crashed into Earth, causing a dramatic climate change that ultimately wiped out the dinosaurs. Climate change has influenced the change in land and gave impetus to the development of new species. At that time, South America's sea level is believed to have dropped 25 meters in a million years.
“This startling event helps explain that the existing land bridges between continents were not only corridors through which fauna and flora exchanged, but places where species may have evolved,” Leppe said. "Therefore, not only plate tectonics, but also climate change is one of the mechanisms driving evolution in terms of new niches and species."