How Did the Dinosaurs Die and Will It Affect Humans in the Future
Four and a half billion years ago, the debris and dust left from the formation of the sun coalesced to form our home planet. 3.5 billion years ago, the first living organisms appeared on Earth. About 230 million years ago, Dinosaurs diverged from their Archosaurs ancestors during the middle to late Triassic period. For 160 million years they have dominated our planet. They are dubbed the most successful species to have lived on Earth. However, 65 million years ago, the most recent mass extinction seemed to have caused all of them to die-off. What caused the demise of the dinosaurs and 60% of life on Earth at the time? How did it affect life on Earth afterwards? Are all of the Dinosaurs dead? Will this happen to humans in the near future?
The Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, or the K-T event, is the name given to the mass extinction of the dinosaurs and other species that took place about 65 million years ago. For many years, paleontologists believed this event was caused by climate and geological changes that interrupted the dinosaurs' food supply. However, in the 1980s, father-and-son scientists Luis (1911-88) and Walter Alvarez (1940- ) discovered in the geological record, a distinct layer of iridium (an element found in abundance only in space) that corresponds to the precise time the dinosaurs died. This suggests that a comet, asteroid or meteor impact event may have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. In the 1990s, scientists located the massive Chicxulub Crater at the tip of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, which dates to the period in question.
Dinosaurs roamed the earth for 160 million years until their sudden demise approximately 65 million years ago, in an event now known as the Cretaceous-Tertiary, or K-T, extinction event. ("K" is the abbreviation for Cretaceous, which is associated with the German word "Kreidezeit."). Besides dinosaurs, many other species of mammals, amphibians and plants died out at the same time. Over the years,
The Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, or the K-T event, is the name given to the mass extinction of the dinosaurs and other species that took place about 65 million years ago. For many years, paleontologists believed this event was caused by climate and geological changes that interrupted the dinosaurs' food supply. However, in the 1980s, father-and-son scientists Luis (1911-88) and Walter Alvarez (1940- ) discovered in the geological record, a distinct layer of iridium (an element found in abundance only in space) that corresponds to the precise time the dinosaurs died. This suggests that a comet, asteroid or meteor impact event may have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. In the 1990s, scientists located the massive Chicxulub Crater at the tip of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, which dates to the period in question.
Dinosaurs roamed the earth for 160 million years until their sudden demise approximately 65 million years ago, in an event now known as the Cretaceous-Tertiary, or K-T, extinction event. ("K" is the abbreviation for Cretaceous, which is associated with the German word "Kreidezeit."). Besides dinosaurs, many other species of mammals, amphibians and plants died out at the same time. Over the years,