2006-08-28 08:06:16 · 15 answers · asked by Kevin H. 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
When the alleged meteorite hit the Yucatan Peninsula many millions of years ago, small mammals wre already present on this earth. When the atmosphere changed due to the volcanic and seismic activity triggered by the meteorite, the smaller animals, mammals and other life such as dinosaurs were able to adapt and hide under ground. When the skies cleared, these surviving mammals (more of them than other kinds of life) were able to reproduce and dominate, but there were still other dinosaurs and kinds of animals that roamed the earth
2006-08-28 08:12:05 · answer #1 · answered by glazeddonut27 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
A couple subtleties some of the responders above are missing - first, the mass extinction which killed off the dinosaurs wasn't the only mass extinction in Earth's history, it wasn't even the worst. It's just the most popular because of the dinosaurs (and the one that allowed mammals, and hence people, to flourish). Some other extinctions are also thought to have been caused by impacts (or a series of impacts), but not all of them
Second, mass extinctions don't happen over night. They happen over the course of thousands of years - which is still a blink of the eye in geologic terms. Sure, some animals died when the asteroid/comet struck, but not all of them died right away, some species stayed on for quite a while, and the fossil record shows this.
2006-08-28 16:36:29 · answer #2 · answered by kris 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Previous respondant does not know what a fossil is.
Dinosaur fossils are not bones. The bones disappeared not long after burial, then mud fills gaps left and eventually turn to stone, making a fossil.
Also, wrong. Only creatures in the blast zone would get burned. there are those that say the atmospehric heat produced would set fire to trees all over the world, but that one is speculation.
The impact scenario assumes a series of cold dark years followed, and that is what is is supposed to have finished off the Dinosaurs. So, most would not have been burned.
2006-08-28 16:18:56 · answer #3 · answered by nick s 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, why else would they have all died? The animals couldn't have killed each other to the point of extinction and there was enough food so something must have happened in order to either destroy them or the food they were eating. If the Astroid hit land and all the dust blocked the sun then all the plants die, then the animals that eat the plants die, the animals that eat those animals die, and so forth.
2006-08-28 15:22:01 · answer #4 · answered by midnight_holocaust 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What I think doest count for much. There are several craters on earth that could of done it ,stop and look at the possibilities. U take a dinosaur that needed a couple hundred pounds of plants to eat per day. If just that crop of plants were killed most all the large animals would probably die.
Good luck
2006-08-28 15:14:25 · answer #5 · answered by JOHNNIE B 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, I beleive that a meteorite killed 95% of all animals at the time, though it started the rise of mammals, yes. We have found a huge amount of a specific mineral in south-western US area that is found very often in meteorites that is insanely rare on earth, which leads up to the theory.
2006-08-28 15:33:29 · answer #6 · answered by iam"A"godofsheep 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Not only do I believe that an asteroid destroyed a majority of life on earth, but I also believe that global warming only exists because the planet is returning to it's normal temperatures prior to that asteroid hitting.
2006-08-28 16:07:03 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
those who did not perish in the collision just happened to be small mammals and such. they lived underground away from most of the climate affects the asteroid caused on the earth. without the overabundance of predators, these small creatures had plenty of opportunities to evolve into the animals we see today.
2006-08-28 15:12:14 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes i do
what i've always dreamed of, though, would be to have access to a proper (fast) space ship, and to be able to travel to various planets where there may not have been asteroid incidents to allow the rise of the mammals - i.e. where the intelligent race is reptiles. Just out of curiosity.
a
2006-08-28 15:11:11 · answer #9 · answered by AntoineBachmann 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
if the asteroid destroyed all life on earth, nothing would be here. it would be a wasteland. but yes, i do believe that an asteroid was at least one of the main causes of the last (pre-human) mass extinction
2006-08-28 15:12:05 · answer #10 · answered by supremelorderik 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋