by Betty Carew

Created on: April 04, 2009   Last Updated: April 21, 2009

It is common knowledge that dinosaurs vanished off the face of the earth approximately 65 million years ago. It was a mass annihilation that still leaves peoples imagination wondering how they lived, how they ate and especially how they became extinct. Geologist and paleontologist are still trying to work out the details so is there any wonder we listen to what the popular myths are about dinosaurs.

Myth-All Dinosaurs died at the same time

When we apply the knowledge that's available today the popular belief is that the dinosaur extinction was caused by a meteor that hit the Earth in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico sixty five million years ago and wiped out all the dinosaurs at the same time. But does this mean that they all died from that impact? Even though it was a fiery death for some it doesn't mean that they were all wiped out at that time. Let's imagine for a moment that some of them did survive the blast then they would have faced starvation situations that would have wiped them out. This meteor would also have produced a huge cloud of dust that would have blotted out the sun which in turn would have killed the plants that the herbivores lived on, and then keep in mind that the carnivores fed on the herbivores. This process of extinction could have taken thousands of years but what is thousands of years compared to 65 million.

Myth- Dinosaurs the only animal to go extinct

The dinosaur, the pterosaurs and aquatic reptiles did become extinct after the blast of the asteroid which caused energy equivalent to millions of thermonuclear bombs today. They would not have been the only life forms to be eradicated from the face of the Earth. The difference is that though mammals, birds, plants and invertebrate followed the same fate as the dinosaur there was enough of other species that made it through and went on to repopulate the Earth and sea after it was all over. So there was life after the blast that wiped out the dinosaurs. This can be substantiated by some birds and reptiles that are still with us today.

Myth- Dinosaurs were victims of the first mass destruction

Dinosaurs were not the first to be exterminated by an asteroid. Another worldwide disaster took place more than 200 million years ago and may have been caused by a meteor impact. This was before the K/T extinction and was known as the Permian-Triassic Extinct Event. This event was responsible for the extinction of 70% of the land animals on Earth at that time and 95% of the sea life. The survivors of

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>