Extinction of Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs died off at the end of the Mesozoic Era- 63 million years ago. That’s a lot of years ago. The Mesozoic Era, in fact, began 240 million years ago.

For some time, scientists have debated on what actually caused all dinosaurs to die out, with some people attributing their disappearance to a climate change. The cretaceous ended with a cooling climate which probably made things tough for dinosaurs, seeing that they are cold-blooded, lack fur to protect them against the cold, and were generally too large to hibernate.

Some scientists also believe that the plant-eating dinosaurs could not eat the plants that developed during the Cretaceous period and died of starvation, which subsequently starved the meat-eating dinosaurs which depended on them to live.

Other scientists believe that a large asteroid collided with earth and led to the death of dinosaurs in its aftermath. The collision threw dust that lingered in the atmosphere for a very long time, blocking out sunlight from reaching plants and killing the dinosaurs of starvation in a process similar to that in the previous paragraph. Iridium (an element that is characteristic of asteroids) has been discovered in soil surfaces around the proposed asteroid impact point, which seemingly proves this theory.

Some years ago, I had a nightmare dinosaurs were terrorizing earth and humans, and as magnificent as dinosaurs once were, I think it is safe to say that it is a good thing that they are no longer alive. Believe me, I saw them!