Ask Me Help Desk - What Killed off the Dinosaurs

What Killed off the Dinosaurs

I don't know if I put this in the right category but me and my husband were arguing about what killed off the dinosaurs he says the ICEAGE and I say an ASTROID... Now what killed them off?

Here you go, all theories in one place:
Dinosaur - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ahhh if we only knew the REAL answer there... good link above BTW

I want to know what you guys think or what you guys were told in school

I remember (barely) being taught that an environmental change killed them but they don't know the cause of that change.

Quote:

Originally Posted by eljay1103

I want to know what you guys think or what you guys were told in school

I guess it depends when you went to school.

In the 60's and 70's the prevailing thought was that the extinction was due to some sort of climate change, most likely excessive volcanic activity, which would have shot a lot of ash and dust into the air resulting in a "nuclear winter." The prime suspect for this were the large volcanic deposit in Asia (the Deccan Trapps) which appear to be about the right age (65 million years old). Scientists had witnessed how volcanic activity can seriously affect the world's climate before - for example, the year that Krakatoa erupted was the coldest on record. So it seemed logical to assume that perhaps a larger volcanic event could have killed off the dinosaurs. Luis Alvarez proposed his asteroid collision theory in the 1970's, but it really didn't gain much acceptance until data on the Iridium layer started coming through, and then further evidence of a massive impact near Cancun Mexico came forward in the 1980's. This was the "smoking gun" that convinced most (though not all) that the extinction was due to an asteroid.

Actually, my brother did a study of the geology of the area, and showed that high concentrations of sulfur that are in the area would have created sulphuric acid particles in the atmosphere that would be particularly effective at reflecting sunlight back into space, thus lowering the earth's temperature for several years. Here's an article from Time Magazine that mentions this:
A DOUBLE WHAMMY? - TIME

Everyone is right. It was environmental for sure. Of course what caused that environmental change is what no one knows for sure...

I was taught multiple theories, although the asteroid was most common...

If I'm not mistaken, the asteroid is heading toward being in the minority for theories on what caused the environmental change.

Umm I thought it wαs α virus?

K first it wαs the αstroid then the ice αge then the virus killed off the rest!:)

I heard it had something to do with some kind of virus or plague as well... no one knows... but the virus one makes sense... happens in the world still..

Quote:

Originally Posted by eljay1103

I dont know if I put this in the right category but me and my husband were arguing about what killed off the dinosaurs he says the ICEAGE and I say an ASTROID.... Now what killed them off??

We've still got one , called maggie thatcher

From what I have watched on documentaries,
It is not one thing, as others have said on this thread it is many factors...

There was a volcano eruption which changed the world climate,which was due to the ash blocking the sun.
This in turn would have led to a HUGE climatic change,no sunlight so probably many plant life would have died which would have killed the herbivores and which in turn would spread diseases due to mass death.
Now the Carnivores will have little to eat and being diseased might have killed the last of them if the cold climates did not.

There are evidences of asteroids falling to earth,but most think that it may not have killed all of the dinosaurs.

I am no expert, it is just a scenario I built around the info I had come across from different sources.:)

Any theory will have to account for not only the extinction of the dinosaurs but also 70% of all other species as well. I don't see how a virus could do that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by alkalineangel

i heard it had something to do with some kind of virus or plague as well...no one knows...but the virus one makes sense...happens in the world still..

Al
I agree with the" happens in the world still" part.

Just recently in the news I read about the Ebola virus rearing its ugly head in Angola (if I remember right).

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Originally Posted by firmbeliever

Al

Just recently in the news I read about the Ebola virus rearing its ugly head in Angola (if I remember right).

Yes, but as deadly as ebola might be it only affects humans (and perhaps apes? Not sure). Like most viruses it afflicts only a very narrow range of organisms - not birds, cats, fish, worms, etc etc. How would a virus afflict 70% of the world's species, across virtually all animal families?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebaines

Yes, but as deadly as ebola might be it only affects humans (and perhaps apes? not sure). Like most viruses it afflicts only a very narrow range of organisms - not birds, cats, fish, worms, etc etc. How would a virus afflict 70% of the world's species, across virtually all animal families?

Do read my previous answer in this thread on what killed the dinosaurs:)

There are centimeter thick layers of meteorite dust found in many places on the earth precisely on the level that was exposed 65 million years ago, when earth's big environmental changes began happening. Research teams run into them all of the time when looking for dinosaur fossils.

I believe that BOTH schools of thought are correct. I theorize that the dinosaurs became extinct from a meteor impact, and that the meteor was carrying bacteria or a virus. The dinosaurs, in their already weakened state from the consequences of the comet impact, fell victim to a disease their immune systems were unable to overcome. See Panspermia and the possibility of bacterial and viral matter from space. Panspermia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Google (1918 flu epidemic) for examples of this. Dr. Chandra Wickramasinghe has been quoted on Red Orbit.com. 29 Jun 2006: Conference on Cosmic Dust and Panspermia, Cardiff University, Cardiff UK, 5-8 Sep 2006
It's all very fascinating

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikemcewen

I theorize that the dinosaurs became extinct from a meteor impact, and that the meteor was carrying bacteria or a virus. The dinosaurs, in their already weakened state from the consequences of the comet impact,

Comet or meteor?

Or maybe some sort of ancient global warming:confused: :confused: :confused:

The most recent revelations are planetbX or some asteroids effect not speaking of pole reversals or earths crust slipping or planet earth growing like 10 times larger in mass or thar haven been enough time in eternitys existence for the dinasaurs to have evolved or
There desolation of populace many times over
Recent sceintists have suggested that not only dinasaurs are big but that thar were giant
Humans ? To along with fowls and
Little knowledge has been passed to elert
Public awareness to the vastness of creation
On earth let alone elsewhere

Probably more than one thing. There was a major impact, in fact more than one.
Yucatan Asteroid Didn't Kill Dinosaurs, Study Says

But the climate had been changing even before that and there's evidence that extinctions were beginning even before the asteroid sealed the deal. The asteroid was more like the final nail in the coffin, but NOT irrelevant.

This extinction was a massive one in which MANY species were dying off. So it's easy to imagine that different things--like infections--might have affected some species more while lack of food could have been the major problem for others. BIG CHANGES are what kill species and destroy ecosystems. Asteroid impacts are obviously destructive, but it isn't just getting hit by rocks that kills things. The after effects that altered global climate are what got the most species. Same for other causes of global climate change.

But change also leads to new species--over millions of years. The colder dryer climate led to the evolution of grasses and grass eating mammals such as cattle, deer, horses etc.

I agree it could have been more than one thing. Asteroids are the more common reason people accept.

Not all dinosaurs are extinct. There are dinosaurs still alive today, though they are very rare. There are creatures recorded in an animal encyclopedia from the 1500s that the evolutionary religious fanatics would say are dinosaurs and have been extinct for millions of years. Dinosaurs were called dragons before the word dinosaur was coined. Even today there are large lizards that are well known the monitor lizards on Komodo island, are these not called dragons? In new south Wales in the 1950s cattle farmers had to move when they found their cattle were being killed. One saw a twenty-five foot bipedal lizard, sounds like a therapod. There is a painting of a group of Australian aboriginal hunters around a plesiosaur. The Australian aboriginal people also have named a creature the burrungor whose description matches an allosaurus. The description of Grendal in the Beowulf epic sounds like a tyrannosaur. People say Grendal was a troll, but the people who first recorded the epic had a word for troll which does not appear in the epic. Look onn the sight dinos_and_man1 and see the evidence presented there. There are also lots of web sites that have good information.

Hello big-B. The only dinosaurs alive today are birds. The Kimodo dragon is a lizard. Dinosuars were NOT lizards - for one thing, lizards are cold-blooded, whereas dinosaurs are known to have been warm blooded. I can show you lots of pictures from ancient times of unicorns, fire-breathing dragons, and creatures that are half goat & half human - which means you believe that these creatures actually exist too, right?

OK, anybody see this? BBC News - Dinosaur extinction link to crater confirmed

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyYakker

OK, anybody see this? BBC News - Dinosaur extinction link to crater confirmed

Thanks for posting this. The Deccan Traps versus Chicxulub debate had been ongoing for years, so it's good to see some progress towards a stronger general consensus. I have always been partial to the meteor theory over vulcanism, but I suspect that the vulcanists will continue to find and put forth evidence for their side.

There's no arguing with a meteor that size. (Thanks FlyYakker)

But isn't it also true that a lot of groups of organisms were going extinct even before the meteor hit? (I'm forgetting and too busy to go research this.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by asking

There's no arguing with a meteor that size. (Thanks FlyYakker)

But isn't it also true that a lot of groups of organisms were going extinct even before the meteor hit? (I'm forgetting and too busy to go research this.)

Possibly... I've seen such discussions myself. I'm unsure of the present school of thought. But - Whatever else may have been happening, the meteor is most likely the thing that supplied the coupe de grace from which there could have been no recovery. Given it's effects, I doubt any prior history would have made much difference either way.

Hi ebaines,
I had a real good laugh at your reply to me. You said, "The only dinosaurs alive today are birds" When I show my 2 year old daughter a picture of a dinosaur or a bird she never gets them mixed up whatsoever. If a 2 year old can tell the difference between birds and dinosaurs I'm sure anyone can. It is strange that people say birds evolved from dinosaurs, then put archeopteryx (which they say existed at the time of dinosaurs) as proof yet fail to mention that fully formed birds have been discovered that are claimed to be 70 million years older than archeopteryx.

Is there anyone in the world who believes in the THEORY (funny how it has called a theory and not a fact for about a century and a half) of evolution who can show everyone all the millions of intermediate fossil species that should be there if dinosaurs really evolved into birds, I think not. They will say what Darwin said in the 1800s, "There are missing links that will be found" A cop out if you ask me. Out of all the millions of 'missing links' out there I wonder why not one has been found. Did compsognathus become a sparrow, tyranosaurus a crow and brachiosaurus an ostrich?

I didn't say komodo dragons are dinosaurs. What I said was, "Dinosaurs were called dragons before the word dinosaur was coined. Even today there are large lizards that are well known the monitor lizards on Komodo island, are these not called dragons?" What I meant was that ancient people who say dinosaurs would call them dragons just the same as people who first saw the lizards on komodo island called them dragons.

You also said, "I can show you lots of pictures from ancient times of unicorns, fire-breathing dragons, and creatures that are half goat & half human- which means you believe that these creatures actually exist too, right?" To have lots of these pictures must mean that you believe they exist? Otherwise you wouldn't have them, right? As I have not mentioned any creatures like this I fail to see the relevance in you mentioning them, Are you serious about learning truth or are you arbitrarily posting these comments to antagonize?

If evolutionists are right then the coelacanth should have evolved legs as they say and became an amphibian. This didn't happen as there are coelacanths alive, well and unevolved today showing absolutely no inclination or desire to move onto land. What would make them right about the dinosaur-bird link?

Big-B: The original question posed here two years ago was "what killed off the dinosaurs," and you responded with the incredible assertion that there are still dinosaurs around today. My response that birds are the only living dinosurs was a bit facetious - clearly birds are not dinosaurs, but they are the closest living relatives today. And unless someone comes up with credible natural evidence to the contrary, the theory that no dinosaurs have walked the earth in the past 65 milllion years - and certainly never at the same time as man - will continue to hold sway. By credible evidence I mean something like a dinosaur skeleton from the past 10,000 years, for example.

As for the theory of evolution - you are a bit off topic from what the OP originally asked. I suggest that you start a new thread to pose a question or two about evolution. I'm sure there are plenty of experts here who will be glad to answer whatever questions you may have about it.