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1d ago
Dinosaurs may have faced a dying world before the asteroid hit
- New evidence shows fungal spikes in sediments indicate pre-asteroid environmental stress in the dinosaur era.
- Three separate fungal abundance periods precede the impact, pointing to ongoing ecological decay.
- Volcanic activity in the Deccan Traps likely contributed to climate change and ecosystem stress.
- A second fungal bloom coincides with the asteroid boundary, suggesting a global response to the impact.
- A final, unexplained fungal rise occurs about 10,000 years after the impact during the Paleocene.
- Researchers say recovery after mass extinctions is rarely smooth or predictable.
- Warm-blooded mammals may have had an advantage in a fungus-rich, stressful world.
- The study links fungal evidence to broader events, not just a single cause of extinction.
- The research appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
- Experts say the findings add nuance to the dinosaur extinction story by highlighting preexisting stress.
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