[Animals] The kingdom of the dinosaurs began after the frosts of a mass extinction

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Before the great extinction of the kingdom of the dinosaurs, a wave of cold brought these animals to the top of the Earth 202 million years ago.
66 million years ago, the Earth experienced one of the most catastrophic events in its history: the impact of the Chicxulub asteroid in the area of what is now the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. This celestial body of 12 kilometers in length caused, among other things, the kingdom of the dinosaurs to come to an end.

The strong blow that the Earth received gave rise to a global winter, due to all the matter that darkened the planet's atmosphere for years. Few species survived this event. However, this is not the first extinction of its kind. There are others that are known and, curiously, one of them favored the rise of the kingdom of the dinosaurs.

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The extinction that gave rise to the kingdom of the dinosaurs
The Triassic-Jurassic extinction is an event that took place approximately 202 million years ago. This caused the disappearance of species that, during the Triassic period, dominated the seas and land spaces of the planet. The estimate is that 20% of marine biological families, large amphibians and most archosaurs became extinct. All this opened the way to a new reign: that of the dinosaurs. Today, thanks to recent studies, there is more certainty as to why this happened.

After this extinction happened, and ended with the great reptiles that inhabited the Earth during the Triassic, the dinosaurs managed to adapt to the frigid temperatures that came after this cataclysm. This is what is explained in a study, from Columbia University, recently published in the journal Science Advances.

The study explains that dinosaurs, not birds, had already developed an adaptation to the low temperatures that came after this mass extinction. Many of these had previously lived isolated in frigid environments.

This not only put these animals to the test, but also led them to experience rapid adaptive power and ecological expansion in the Jurassic. With this they managed to occupy regions that were po[CENSORED]ted by the great reptiles of the Triassic.

“DINOSAURS WERE IN THE COLDEST AREAS DURING THE TRIASSIC; THE KEY TO THEIR SUCCESS WAS VERY SIMPLE: THEY WERE ANIMALS ADAPTED TO THE COLD. WHEN TEMPERATURES FALLEN AROUND THE WORLD, THEY WERE READY AND OTHER ANIMALS WERE NOT,” MENTIONED PAUL OLSEN, A GEOLOGIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLUMBIA AND LEAD AUTHOR OF THE STUDY.

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Volcanic activity: cause of the long Triassic-Jurassic winters
The study was developed thanks to the deep excavations that were made in the desert of the Junggar basin, in northwestern China. Something that caught the attention of scientists was discovering that atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, at that time, were around 2 thousand parts per million or more, five times the current average.

This led the team of scientists to conclude that, throughout that period, temperatures must have been very high. Despite this, other models propose that the great elevations of the Earth must have experienced severe frosts.

Another observation of the scientists had to do with volcanic activity. According to them, the sulfur aerosols expelled during the many volcanic eruptions got in the way of sunlight. This caused a large buildup of greenhouse gases, which in turn led to long global winters. Given these conditions, the extinction of this period occurred, ending the great reptiles and other species.

Feathers and their role in survival
There are studies that assert that most non-avian dinosaurs had feathers. One of these, for example, was the one published by the journal Science in 2014. It talks about a discovery made in Siberia, in which they found a dinosaur (Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus) described with these characteristics. What was interesting here was to see that this specimen did not belong to the groups already identified with plumage.

Experts point out that this condition, coupled with the fact of a previous adaptation, played an important role in the survival of the dinosaurs. Even in the tropics, where there was not as much isolation as in other areas. This, in large part, was how they were able to survive in areas where they were already used to higher temperatures.

https://www.ngenespanol.com/animales/reino-de-los-dinosaurios-comenzo-tras-ola-de-frio/