Why didn’t the asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs on Earth also lead to the extinction of all other living species?
In: Planetary Science
Also, while asteroid being the Dinosaur killer is a popular theory, a more recent alternative theory which seems plausible is that Dinosaur were already dying off due to the Deccan Traps (in modern day India) volcanoes spewing lava and greenhouse gasses and alot of sun blocking debris for a few hundred thousand years before the asteroid hit.
While the asteroid hit might have been the final nail in coffin, it’s possible about 75% of animal life had already died due to the mass volcanic event.
It very nearly did. Even in the groups that survived, like mammals and birds, most species died out. And even in the species that survived, most individuals would have died out. Quite a lot of plant species would have lost all adult individuals, and only survived thanks to buried seeds.
Remember, to make it through, only one lineage has to survive. A lot of survivors probably just got really lucky.
Try being underground. In say, concrete structure purpose built to withstand a large blast. Now get yourself nuke struck while inside of this massive underground structure built to withstand a blast. You will be alive.
The asteroid didn’t blow everything up all at once. It contributed to rapid climate change and some species managed to adapt.
Big rock hit.
Big rock go *BOOM*!!!
Big boom kill. A lot. Not so much food anymore.
Big things need big food. But big rock kill big food.
Only little food left. So only little things live.
And the big things…all die. Make big meal for little things.
TLDR: Asteroid didn’t kill everything, only lowered the total amount of food available. Anything that couldn’t live on the new lower total died. Everything else survived, more or less.
Mass extinctions are called mass extinction for a reason. It wipes out most of the species on Earth. About 76% of all species for that extinction, to be exact.
Everything that’s alive today is a descendant from one of the 24% of species that survived. Those survivors would largely be smaller organisms that didn’t need as many resources to survive. The large dinosaurs did not fit that description, but the smaller ones did and became our modern birds.
There have been 5 mass extinction events in Earth’s history, and it only takes a few species to survive to repopulate the Earth. The 2nd one, the Permian-Triassic extinction or “The Great Dying” wiped out 96% of all species, and the dinosaurs then evolved from there to rule the planet for the next few million years. Even then, Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous dinosaurs all look very different because they are all millions of years apart from each other, with many smaller extinctions in between.
Want something that will really blow your mind? Grass likely didn’t evolve until after dinosaurs went extinct.
This Radiolab episode explains it very well and simply enough for eli5.
It wiped out almost every living thing on this planet.
That being said life life finds a way.
What was left behind were the “strongest” and most adaptable creatures
Something to add, is that there were a lot of big dead animals and plants – detritus. I’ve read some papers that argue that the bacteria and fungi we have today that eats detritus wasn’t as common back then therefore plenty of potential food not rotting. There was plenty of food for smaller animals to go around for a while.
it killed almost all life but a very small percentage of life survived. And then over a very long period of time, because of evolution and mutation, that tiny percentage of life spread out and became the huge diversity of life that currently exists.
There is basically nothing that can kill ALL life, if even one single-celled organism survives, life will evolve again into a vast ecosystem, eventually.
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