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Dinosaurs Were Thriving in North America Before the Mass-Extinction Asteroid Strike, Study Suggests
Fossils from New Mexico's San Juan Basin reveal diverse dinosaur communities thrived until 340,000 years before the asteroid impact, challenging decline theories, researchers report.
- On October 23, the study published in Science reported new dating of the Naashoibito Member in New Mexico shows non-avian dinosaurs were thriving about 340,000 years before the Chicxulub asteroid impact.
- Scientists have long debated whether non-avian dinosaurs declined before impact, but that debate was hindered by limited, well-dated fossils from the Maastrichtian age and the Hell Creek and Fort Union Formations.
- Using magnetic flips and argon-isotope dating, the team dated the Naashoibito Member between 66.4 million and 66 million years, placing fossils within about 340,000 years of the asteroid strike.
- Distinct dinosaur communities suggest western North America hosted multiple regional dinosaur communities, with Alamosaurus returning in the south before extinction, supporting complex ecosystems cut short by the asteroid.
- Flynn urged more sampling from understudied localities, saying `This work really highlights the need to work on new, previously understudied localities across this incredibly important time in Earth's history`, while independent experts cautioned one location cannot represent a global picture.
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Dinosaurs were thriving in North America before the mass-extinction asteroid strike, study suggests
New research suggests that dinosaur populations were thriving in North America before the asteroid impact 66 million years ago that caused mass extinction.
·United States
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Total News Sources50
Leaning Left9Leaning Right3Center33Last UpdatedBias Distribution73% Center
Bias Distribution
- 73% of the sources are Center
73% Center
L 20%
C 73%
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