New study: Dinosaurs already became extinct before the asteroid hit Earth | abroad

The study shows that dinosaurs were already in persecution 10 million years before the asteroid impact on what is now Mexcio. The researchers analyzed 1,600 fossils from 247 different types of dinosaurs. In the end, one can calculate the rates of diversity and extinction for six families of dinosaurs.

“We looked at the six largest families of the entire epoch, which spanned from 150 to 66 million years ago. We saw that all six did really well,” said Fabien Condamine of the Evolutionary Sciences Institute in Montpellier. “But 76 million years ago it was There is a reversal: more species have gone extinct and in some cases new species no longer appear.”

cooler climate

The researchers used computer models to arrive at the most likely outcomes. “In the analyses, we examined several reasons for the decline of the dinosaurs,” said Mike Benton, co-author of the study. “Obviously there were two big factors. First, the climate became significantly cooler, which made life more difficult for dinosaurs because they were used to heating. A quiet decline in herbivores followed, making ecosystems more turbulent and affecting other dinosaur species.” The longest-lived species were the most vulnerable to extinction, probably because they weren’t able to adapt to the new conditions.”