Even before the asteroid impact, the number of dinosaurs decreased

new a study Accordingly, the number of dinosaurs significantly decreased even before the asteroid impact disappeared from the planet 66 million years ago, according to MTI. According to the researchers, its population was declining about 10 million years before the sudden extinction event.

“We reviewed the six largest dinosaur families of the Cretaceous period 150-66 million years ago and came to the conclusion that they evolved, spread and were clearly successful.

Then, 76 million years ago, there was a sudden decline.

Their rates of extinction have increased, and in some cases the rate of emergence of new species has decreased Fabian CondamineHe is a fellow at the French National Research Center (CNRS) and the Institute of Evolutionary Sciences in Montpellier (ISME).

The experts made their calculations using the so-called Bayesian statistical modeling and took into account any doubts that might arise during the research. Guillaume Guinot, according to the ISME expert, evidence of a pre-impact decrease was found for all factors. “We also observed how these dinosaur ecosystems worked, and it became clear that the herbivorous species began to disappear first. This made the subsequent ecosystem more unstable and prone to collapse.”

Experts have identified various possible causes for this decline. Two main factors are becoming clear: On the one hand, the climate is getting colder, which makes life more difficult for dinosaurs that prefer warmer temperatures. On the other hand, the disappearance of herbivores has led to the instability of the ecosystem. “We also observed that long-lived dinosaurs were more likely to go extinct, perhaps because they were less adaptable to changing terrestrial flashes,” he said. Mike Benton, a fellow at the University of Bristol.