There were other effects from the asteroid impact besides wiping out the dinosaurs.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – The asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago has not only killed the large animal. The extraterrestrial object is said to have also made the forest more fertile and dense.
This was revealed in a study published in an academic journal Science. The study examined pollen and leaf fossils in Colombia to determine how the impact of an asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs affected life.
According to The Washington Post, 45 percent of all local plants went extinct when the asteroid fell. Then the flowering plants took over and made the forest denser than before.
How did this change come about? There are several possibilities. One of the ideas the researchers put forward was that the asteroid itself left behind ashes. This ash may cause fertile soil which can provide a better environment for flowering plants.
The third possibility that the researchers considered relates to the dinosaurs themselves. Trees such as conifers are known to have been the main food source for many herbivorous dinosaurs. Thus, it is possible that dinosaur migration patterns and eating habits helped to maintain the structure of the previously exposed forest.
As is known, the asteroid collision wiped out more than just dinosaurs. Experts believe that at least 75 percent of all life on Earth is completely wiped out.
The asteroid is generally thought to be the Chicxulub impactor that formed the Chicxulub crater in what is now Mexico. The impact was unprecedented, and led to this widespread extinction event. In turn, these events paved the way for new evolutionary opportunities that would forever change the world.
“A global catastrophe involving mass extinctions resulted in a world of difference,” explained the researcher.
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