Dinosaurs Were Not In Decline By The Time Asteroid Hit And Wiped Them, Study Finds

Dinosaurs could have “thrived” on Earth for many years without the huge asteroid that struck the planet and wiped them out, according to a new study.

Research from the University of Bath and the Natural History Museum claims to shed new light on the extinction of monstrous reptiles, which has fascinated humans for hundreds of years.

Previous studies have suggested that dinosaur populations were already in sharp decline around 66 million years ago when the asteroid struck, ending any chance of recovery.

But now, researchers say dinosaurs could have continued to rule the planet for much longer if the extraordinary celestial event had not taken place.

The science team put together a set of different dinosaur family trees and used statistical modeling to assess whether major groups of dinosaurs were still able to produce new species at that time.

They concluded that they were, and that the dinosaur could have continued to be the “dominant group of land animals on the planet” and “thrived” if the asteroid’s impact had not been so devastating.

“Previous studies by others have used various methods to draw the conclusion that dinosaurs would have died anyway, as they were in decline towards the end of the Cretaceous,” said Joe Bonsor, the study’s first author at university.

However, if the dataset is expanded to include more recent dinosaur family trees and a larger set of dinosaur types, the results contradict previous findings, he adds.

Research indicates that it is difficult to assess the diversity of dinosaurs due to gaps in the fossil record.

In the study, the researchers used statistical methods to overcome these sampling biases by examining rates of evolution among dinosaur families, rather than counting the number of species belonging to the family.

“The main point of our article is that it’s not as easy as looking at a few trees and making a decision. The inevitable large biases in the fossil record and the lack of data can often show a decline in species, but this may not be a reflection of reality at the time, ”said Bonsor.

Previously, research from University College London also suggested that such a species extinction could only have resulted from the impact of a massive asteroid hitting Earth, after analyzing various extinction scenarios.

Scientists believe that the massive asteroid that hit the planet 66 million years ago triggered a series of earthquakes, giant tsunamis and volcanic eruptions that ultimately led to the extinction of dinosaurs and many other species, in what is now called Earth’s Fifth Mass Extinction.