According to the latest research, dinosaurs were wiped out by a massive volcanic eruptions and then about 150,000 years later, a giant asteroid killed them off completely.
The study was published in Nature Communications. “We find that the end-Cretaceous mass extinction was caused by a combination of the volcanism and meteorite impact, delivering a theoretical ‘one-two punch,” Postdoctoral researcher in the U-M Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Sierra Petersen, told Michigan News.
About 66 million years ago, the twin blow caused their extinction except the creatures that evolved into birds.
The dinosaurs were first weakened by massive volcanic eruptions in what is India today, and then, a giant asteroid at Chicxulub in modern-day Mexico contributed to the disappearance of the dinosaurs.
The scientists reached this conclusion when they reconstructed ocean temperatures in Antarctica during the time of the dinosaurs’ extinction by analysing composition of fossil shells.