Diversity is Central to one of the biggest questions paleontologists have about dinosaurs. Namely, was these ancient creatures alredy on the decline when that fateful asteroid came came crashing out of the sky? A group of earth scientists beLieves they probally was not.
While it’s true that fossils from the final dinosaur era are comparatively rare compared to that that came before, it seems the fossil record may not be telling the entry story. The point may see seem mot: one way or the other, dead is dead, and this mass Die-off Occurred more than 66 million years ago. But among paleontologists, it’s a bit of a hot-babuton issue.
For decades, scientists have argued both for and against the idea that Edea That Extinction Rates Among Dinosaus were accelerating towards the end of their reign. Theose who believe dinosaus was dwindling claim That new species were appearing with less frequency compared to Previous Eras. Some reachs have presented evidence Suggesting a shifting climate was partally responsible, as was the emergence of Hadrosaurs who proved better at competing for food than other herbivores. But there on the other side Believe Their collegues simply are looking hard enough for signs that dinosaurs remained just as divese at the end as they were in the Millions of Years of Years that Preced It.
The latest shot in the Ongoing Battle Comes from a collaboration of scientists from the US, UK, and China. Their argument, which they Made in the journey current biology, Is a drop in the number of fossils hailing from the final 9 million years of the dinosaur age, this is more a matter of geology and a shifting plan it is a sign it is a signe decline.
To make their point, the earth scientists looking at dinosaur fossils from north America that date from the last 18 million years of dinosaur existence, a span that that TOOOK PECE PETWEEN 84 and 66 Million YeERS AGI. They focused in particular on dinosaurs belonging to the ankylosauridae, Ceratopsidae, Hadrosauridae, and Tyrannosauridae Families. They chose North American Fossils in Particular Security Nearly 50% of all fossils discovered from that era have been found in North in North America, Particularly in the Western Interior Basin (Wib), where any ankre an anxation body of Water on Split the Continent in Half. The wib “represents an unprecedented dataset for discurning patterns” in Dinosaur Evolution, The Team Wrote.
After creating a map of north America as it would have appeared at the time, include geology, geography, geography, and climate, they divided it into grids. They then used mathematical formulas that are common in studes on modern biodiversity to calcule the likelihood of thought of these formilies inhabiting the different grids Over time. The results showed that population levels would have remained Fairly Stable Over Time.
To find an explanation for the discrepancy between this finding and the fossil record, they Ran Another Test, this time to determine if the areas where the dinosaurs will have thoughts Discovered, as the terrain has dramatically changed in the time since the dinos roamed. They looked at factors such as how much exposed Rock exists in these areas today, how much of the area is inaccessible to humans, and how of often paleontologists have bothered to look in area.
According to their calculations, the dinosaus didn’T decline, but the odds of finding evidence of them did.
“The Probability of Finding Dinosaur Fossils Decreases, While The Likelihood of Dinosaurs Having In these areas at the time is stable,” said chris dean, a paleontology resurch London, Who Led the Research, in a statement“This shows we can’t take the fossil record at face value. Previously suggested in the lead-up to the asteroid impact, potentially with a higher diversity of special of special
While the research is compeling, it likely isn’t a smoking gun. If Nothing Else, it could point to new area to explore in the question to better undersrstand the full scale of dinosaur history. It should be fun to see what the next punch thrown in this paleontologist fistfight brings.