Dinosaurs were in the prime when the asteroid struck, study reveals
Dinosaurs dominated the Earth millions of years ago during the Mesozoic Era. This included three consecutive geological periods - Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods, during which different species of these creatures inhabited the Earth. But how did these predatory creatures go extinct? Well, Paleontologists believe their extinction process started when an asteroid struck the Earth nearly 65 million years ago. Now, a new study has revealed that dinosaurs were in their prime when the fateful asteroid struck, sending them into extinction.
The study revealed that dinosaurs were in the prime of their lives during the late Cretaceous period when the asteroid ended their lives abruptly. According to phys.org, the study was conducted by University of Edinburgh and published in the Science Advances journal. Fossil records were studied to reconstruct the food webs of these creatures 1000 years before and after the asteroid strike. This information was used to study how some mammals and birds survived this mass extinction event. Over 1600 fossil specimens were studied which included nearly every type of animal that became food during the late Cretaceous period.
It was revealed that the dinosaurs had a stable place in the ecological web without any signs of decline of their food sources, according to lead author of the study Jorge García-Girón, an ecologist with both Finland's University of Oulu and Spain's University of León. He said, "The dinosaurs were far more stable in their ecologies. They were, of course, masters of their ecosystem. Mammals, on the other side, were diversifying and starting to colonize different habitats and different environments.”
The size of the dinosaur killing asteroid was between 10.6 and 80.9 km
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