Why are Dinosaurs Extinct?

Dinosaur Extinction News for Kids

Are Dinosaurs extinct because of asteroids? Or volcanoes? Or just old age?

Find out the latest news on dinosaur extinction theories.

Dinosaur Extinction for Kids - Asteroid

Dinosaur extinction happened about 65 million years ago and scientists have been arguing why it happened since that time!

There are many different theories about why it happened. And new research and studies are being done all the time.

So here are the latest news, research and theories about what caused dinosaurs to become extinct.

News on how Dinosaurs became Extinct

July 2014

Scientists now think that the dinosaurs were already dying off before an asteroid impact. Otherwise they may have survived it.

Rising sea levels and an increase in volcanic activities had made many species more susceptible to extinction at just the time the asteroid struck.

It the asteroid had struck earlier, when the food chain was stronger, they might have survived it. 

They are not sure whether the dinosaurs would have become extinct anyway if the asteroid had not hit.

Source: BBC News

February 2013

Scientists from an international team have determined the most precise dateyet  for dinosoaur extinction.

Using dating techniques on rock and ash samples, they calculate that dinos died out about 66,038,000 years ago - give or take 11,000 years.

That date matches the date that a comet or asteroid hit the Earth

Source: BBC News.

August 2010

A new study suggests that at least two asteroid hits to the Earth may have been responsible for why the dinosaurs became extinct.

A second crater discovered in Ukraine have now led scientists to think that the dinosaurs had a "double whammy" of asteroid hits, rather than just a single blow.

Source : BBC News.

March 2010

A panel of 41 experts has reviewed over 20years worth of research into dinosaur extinction, and published their findings in a Science Journal.

They decided that the best evidence pointed at the extinction being caused by the effects of a huge asteroid hitting Earth. The meteorite hit Yuktan and caused a crater over 180km in width.

They said that the effects from the asteroid would have caused an earth-wide winter and put the planet into darkness. They agreed that most animals would not have been able to adapt to this environment.

Source : BBC News.

April 2008

New ways of dating rocks and fossils have helped scientists at Berkeley to say more exactly when dinosaurs became extinct. They now believe the date of this period to be 65.95 million years ago.

Source : Science Daily.

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