Causes Of The Extinction Of Dinosaurs

The Road to Extinction Dinosaurs have captured the whole world’s attention and curiosity. How did they come to be extinct? What factors led to this downfall? Are they completely extinct? All these questions additional to several others have aroused among many scientists. Although the extinction of the dinosaurs was the smallest one it seems to be the most discussed (Meyer, 2016, personal communication). So what was the cause of the end of these grand creatures? In the article “The ‘Great Extinction’ That Never Happened: the demise of the dinosaurs considered”, Sarjeant and Currie discuss various explanations that have risen about the extinction of the dinosaurs and what caused it. Major topics among these are iridium layers, dust clouds, extraterrestrial impact, and drastic changes in climate. It is questioned whether the iridium layer was formed from the extraterrestrial impact or from volcanic activity. If the iridium layer formed due to volcanic activity it would have done so through dust clouds. This theory supports that oxygen levels would have been extremely low which would have suffocated the dinosaurs. Not enough evidence is presented in order to prove if the extinction was owed to the extraterrestrial impact or not. There were …show more content…
Since the only trace of iridium is near the impact location it seems that it would have affected the immediate area solely, therefore it would not be enough to eliminate the entire species across the earth. There must be additional causes. A combination of temperature fluctuations, competition between species, scarce resources for any of the reasons discussed, along with many other factors must have contributed to the slow declination of this species. Yet, there is not enough evidence to conclude a concrete answer leaving scientists to continue asking and