Extinction What really killed the dinosaurs
Extinction: What Really Killed the Dinosaurs? Ever since a new suborder of large extinct reptiles were recognised in 1842 man has been trying to unlock their secrets, discover the truth about their lives and find the reason behind their extinction. It is actually false to say that dinosaurs are extinct, extinction is the point at which there are no living members of a species and as birds are members of the dinosaur family and are still very much alive as we speak, the dinosaur species is not extinct. Therefore we should say non-avian dinosaurs are extinct but for simplicity I will refer to non-avian dinosaurs as dinosaurs and birds as birds. Dinosaurs, meaning fearfully great lizard, have ‘column’ like legs similar to that of mammals and unlike any other reptiles. Their fossils were found in abundance throughout rock layers corresponding to the Cretaceous period, but were not located in the rock layers of the Tertiary period, meaning the dinosaurs went extinct around 64-66 million years ago. However, the dinosaurs were not the only species that became extinct at this time, many plants, mammals and marine life also suffered in what is known as a mass extinction. One should also note that this is definitely not the largest extinction that our planet has seen, 250 million years ago 90% of the planet’s life was wiped out whereas 65 million years ago only 60% were affected. ... Fossils are only preserved in rare circumstances and only in sedimentary rock that is found under the sea, therefore there are very few fossils of land living creatures such as the dinosaurs for us to examine.