A catastrophic asteroid crashed in the spring

meteor impact by 66 million years On the ground at the end of about 76 percent of all species means to leave Chicxulub Crater in present-day Mexico. Now scientists from Uppsala University in Sweden have found evidence of the impact, that is, in the northern hemisphere The autumn I was. This may have exacerbated the extinction of the species.

deadly rain

When the asteroid hit molten rock in space thrown. There it crystallized and fell to the ground within an hour. Scientists have found some of these beads in the nostrils Fossils of paddlefish and paddlefishat the excavation site Tanis in North Dakota been excavated. Then the fish were dumped from the sediment to bury.

according to study Scientists have been able to find in certain bones of these fish, such as tree rings Understanding the seasons. This showed that the fish died in the spring. Investigations also showed changes in carbon isotopes associated with seasonal fluctuations in fish food abundance zooplankton Related.

Better chance in the south?

According to researchers, many animals north of the equator across the intense heat wave, which resulted from the collision, are particularly vulnerable. The harsh winter months were behind them. However, other animals in the south, where it was fall at the time of the collision, may have fared better, especially if they were hiding in burrows.

The subsequent drop in temperature is believed to have led to a nuclear winter, which caused the extinction of many species. “To survive this nuclear winter, you first had to survive the actual impact,” he says. Melanie during, a paleontologist at Uppsala University in Sweden. “Anything that actually found shelter in the Southern Hemisphere had a much better chance of surviving.”

High rates of extinction

Aloud Dennis Fotenco-author of the study, there is evidence that turtle In the northern hemisphere they were wiped out by the impact of asteroids and their habitats were later repopulated by turtles from the south.

If the asteroid A biologically sensitive time A year that affected many Northern Hemisphere organisms, it may have contributed to higher extinction rates than would otherwise be expected.” Daniel Fieldan assistant professor of vertebrate palaeontology at the University of Cambridge, who was not involved in the research, to the Guardian.

However I didn’t have anything Bigger than a house cat Kan, survived the asteroid collision. “It is possible that the large, non-avian dinosaurs would have become extinct no matter what time of year the asteroid hit,” he said.