New study: dinosaurs were already extinct before an asteroid hit Earth | Abroad

The study shows that the dinosaurs were already in oppression 10 million years before the asteroid impacted what is now Mexcio. Researchers analyzed 1,600 fossils from 247 different species of dinosaurs. In the end, we were able to calculate the diversity and extinction rates of six families of dinosaurs.

“We looked at the six largest families of the entire era, which spanned 150 to 66 million years. There, we saw that all six were doing quite well, ”explains Fabien Condamine from the Institute of Evolutionary Sciences in Montpellier. “But 76 million years ago, there was a reversal: more species disappeared and new species in some cases did not appear.”

Cooler climate

The researchers used computer models to arrive at the most likely results. “In the analyzes, we looked at several causes of the dinosaur decline,” said Mike Benton, co-author of the study. “Obviously there were two big factors. First, the climate became noticeably cooler, which made life more difficult for the dinosaurs as they were used to warming themselves. This was followed by a discrete decline in herbivores, making ecosystems more unstable and affecting other dinosaur species. The species that lived the longest were the most likely to disappear, perhaps because they were unable to adapt to the new conditions. “