Dinosaurs – How did they become extinct?
It is a well known fact that dinosaurs roamed the Earth 65 million years ago but
many question the reasons why dinosaurs became extinct. Read on to find out
some of the explanations of what is thought happened to them…
Firstly, it is thought that an asteroid hit Earth at about the same time all
dinosaurs died. This asteroid was 10km wide and hit Earth such with an impact
causing huge amounts of dust in the air and consequently killing all plant life.
From that point on it is believed that dinosaurs had no food and unfortunately
no fresh water either, therefore dinosaurs had no way to survive.
Secondly, experts looked at how cold it was on Earth and said it was so severe
that dinosaurs became too cold to survive and therefore became extinct.
Dinosaurs would not be able to keep warm if it got a lot colder and so would
have all died. Other animals were better prepared for cold weather. They had
fur and warm blood. They could also sleep underground when it was cold.
Dinosaurs didn't have fur or warm blood and definitely could not sleep
underground!
Finally, at the end of the dinosaurs' time on earth, there were lots more
volcanoes than there are today and unfortunately the poisonous gases that
come out of these volcanoes would have made the air hard to breathe in. So, it
is thought to be the final reason why the dinosaurs died. Red hot lava pouring
out, most importantly, would have killed many dinosaurs because the plant life
would be destroyed.
In conclusion, there are many explanations for the extinction of dinosaurs but
we are still finding new answers even after 65 million years. The most
interesting thing is that we can find out things that happened on Earth such a
long time ago!
Please answer the following questions:
How long ago did dinosaurs roam the Earth?
What did the asteroid cause when it hit the Earth?
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Why could dinosaurs not survive in cold weather?
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How did the volcanoes kill the dinosaurs?
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