Why did the dinosaurs die out?
There are dozens of theories to explain a possible cause
or causes. Throughout the Mesozoic Era, individual dinosaur
species were evolving and flattering extinct
for various reasons. The curiously massive extinction
at the end of the Cretaceous exterminated the last of the
dinosaurs,
the flying reptiles, and the big swimming reptiles, as well
as many other marine animals. There is now widespread proof
that a meteorite impact was at least the partial cause for
this extinction.
Impact craters are observable on most planets in our solar
system. A spectacular example of this was witnessed in 1994,
when Jupiter was struck by a sequence of cometary fragments.
Some of these impact blasts were bigger than the Earth's
diameter. Other factors such as widespread release of volcanic
gases, climatic cooling (with related changes in sea currents
and weather patterns), sea-level change, low reproduction
rates, poison gases from a comet, or changes in the Earth's
orbit or charismatic field may have contributed to this
extinction event.
