As a young meerkat I, like a lot of kids, was fascinating by dinosaurs. These powerful, imposing beasts dominated our planet for millions of years, and then, as though someone snapped their fingers, they were gone. From the sheer variety of them, to their violent demise, dinosaurs have never been far away from the public imagination, ever since they were recognised for what they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I say that, because dinosaur fossils have been dug up for centuries, but for a long time people didn’t know what they were looking at. In some parts of the world bones were considered to be dragon remains, whilst in other locations people thought they’d found the remains of literal giants. It wasn’t until the early 19th century that people began to recognise a pattern, and develop an understanding that these fossils were in fact, from several creatures of various shapes and sizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As discoveries continued, more and more species were unearthed, and they were found all around the world. Naturally this prompted questions. Myths of dragons and other legendary creatures might not have been true, but might there have been something to inspire these tales? With the development of scientific methods and advancements to technology, people put the pieces together – literally and figuratively – and learned that these animals had lived and died not merely several thousand years ago, but millions of years ago. Not only that, scientists learned that dinosaurs had walked the earth for millions of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first dinosaurs evolved in the late Triassic period, emerging some 237 million years ago. As a group, they survived the Triassic\/Jurassic extinction event, and thrived during the Jurassic period, becoming the dominant group of animals until the end of the Cretaceous period, some 66 million years ago. In other words, for 171 million years, dinosaurs ruled the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this time, iconic creatures emerged. Everyone has heard of the tyrannosaurus rex, initially noted for being a predator, though some experts believe the t-rex might have been a scavenger. The Jurassic Park<\/em> films made the velociraptor famous for being an intelligent, fast pack hunter, though some of the behaviours attributed to the velociraptor can actually be attributed to the deninonychus (you can thank Michael Crichton for the confusion; he wanted a dramatic name for his chief dino antagonists).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dinosaurs reigned supreme, right up until they suddenly didn’t. The fossil records showed an abrupt end to their time on earth, which led to a lot of speculation. Climate change was suggested as an option, brought on by volcanic activity. Others theorised about an asteroid impact. The discovery of a masssive impact crater off the coast of Mexico heightened interest in the impact theory, and studies of the crater – which had been stumbled upon by accident – revealed the blast that made it occurred around the same time of the dinosaurs’ extinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additional evidence has been found across the world, in the form of material ejected from the asteroid. This material formed the K-Pg boundary, a thin line of rock containing a lot more iridium than found in other bands. The iridium was either present in the asteroid or produced as a product of the impact, but either way, dating methods showed it tied into the timing of the dinosaurs’ demise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In recent years, scientists have suggested that there might have been various factors that hastened the end of the dinosaur. The impact theory has plenty of evidence to support it, but it’s possible the dinosaurs faced multiple<\/strong> threats. The release of large quantities of volcanic material from the Deccan Traps (a large region in what is now India) was thought to be a contributing cause, as these erupted over the span of a few million years, overlapping with the impact. This idea has taken a backward step of late; it’s known the traps erupted, but whether they actually contributed to a meaningful degree is disputed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They held sway over the world for over one hundred and seventy million<\/strong> years, and in some respects, dinosaurs hold sway now. Their story continues to captivate the imagination. How they lived, hunted and survived in a world very different to what we see now is the subject of numerous documentaries and stories. How they perished is equally as fascinating. They are truly amazing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n