Dinosaur Extinction Hit Antartica

Published: 30th May 2016

66 million years ago it was not just the naon-avian dinosaurs that became extinct, many other species also suffered the same fate. For some time it has been thought that the poles because of their distance were less susceptible to this event. However a new 6 year study in Antarctica shows that this was not the case.

A staggering 6,000 marine fossils ranging in age from 69 to 65 million years old were collected from the Antarctica. They included everything from small snails to giant marine reptiles such as mosasaurs.

The scientists saw 70 percent reduction in the number of species living in Antarctica after 66 million years ago - the date of the mass extinction event caused by the asteroid impact. There is no steady decline in species before the extinction, as was recently proposed as a contributing factor in the case of dinosaurs. The asteroid impact and resultant effects would seem to be the sole cause.

 

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