Study shows Climate change led to steep decline of Dinosaurs long before asteroid strike

Several researchers have pointed out that dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago due to an asteroid impact. However, a new study has suggested that dinosaurs were witnessing a decline from 10 million years before the asteroid strike. Researchers noted that some species like the ankylosaurs, ceratopsians declined sharply and only troodontids showed a very small decline. Researchers analysed six families of dinosaurs and found that the species appeared and disappeared between 160 and 66 million years ago. 

Dinosaurs were on the decline due to climate change

The study conducted on dinosaurs has been published in the journal Nature. The study investigated the influence of ecological and physical factors that caused the decline of dinosaurs. Researchers found that the decline of dinosaurs was driven by global climate cooling. They noted that the herbivorous declined before the carnivorous. According to a press release of the University of Montpellier, researchers mentioned that dinosaurs needed a warm climate for their metabolism to function properly. The decrease in temperature may have impacted the lives of dinosaurs. Researchers found that some species like the ankylosaurs and ceratopsians declined sharply and only the troodontids showed a very small decline. According to the researchers, the decline took place in the last five million years of dinosaurs' existence. 

The researchers analysed dinosaur families of Ankylosauridae (armoured dinosaurs), Ceratopsidae (horned dinosaurs), Dromaeosauridae (feathered theropod dinosaurs), Hadrosauridae (duck-billed dinosaurs), Troodontidae (bird-like theropod dinosaurs) and Tyrannosauridae (tyrant dinosaurs). These six families were divided into two datasets based on their diets, carnivorous and herbivorous. The carnivorous dinosaurs (Theropoda) included the three families Dromaeosauridae, Troodontidae and Tyrannosauridae. The herbivorous dinosaurs (Ornithischia) included three families Ankylosauridae, Ceratopsidae and Hadrosauridae. Scientists compiled all the information on these dinosaur families for five years. Researchers used a statistical model to estimate the number of species that evolved over time for each family. 

Meanwhile, a new species of giant dinosaur has been discovered in southwest Queensland in Australia. Australotitan cooperensis belonged to a group of dinosaurs known as the titanosaurians, which were the last surviving group of long-necked dinosaurs. Researchers at the Eromanga Natural History Museum (ENHM) and the Queensland Museum published their findings in the PeerJ scientific journal.

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