Fossil discovery points to 'origin of modern world' after dinosaur extinction

https://www.dw.com/en/fossil-discovery-points-to-origin-of-modern-world-after-dinosaur-extinction/a-50978191

Fossil discovery points to 'origin of modern world' after dinosaur extinction

Date 24.10.2019

One of the most mysterious chapters in the Earth's history is being illuminated following the discovery of a massive trove of fossils in the US state of Colorado, researchers announced Thursday. The find paints a clearer picture of how mammals and plants expanded after an asteroid struck the planet 66 million years ago, killing off the dinosaurs and wiping out three-quarters of all living species.

The skills and bones of 16 mammal species were identified and were related to modern-day hoofed mammals like pigs, cows and deer. The fossils also contained pollen, leaf impressions and petrified wood.
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Scientists uncovered thousands of well-preserved plant and animal fossils at a site outside of Colorado Springs that show what life was like in North America before and after the asteroid struck.

Before the mass extinction, the area was a forest that was home to dinosaurs like the T. rex, while mammals were no bigger than 17 pounds (8 kilograms) or the size of small dogs.

Shortly after the asteroid hit off the coast of Mexico, the Earth entered a warming period and the area was blanketed with ferns, while the biggest animal in the post-apocalyptic landscape was the size of a rat.

Around 100,000 years after the impact, palm trees populated the forest and mammals were almost as big as they were before the asteroid hit, in what Lyson described as "a pretty rapid recovery."

With no dinosaurs around, mammals continued to grow. Some 300,000 years out, they were the size of large beavers. By 700,000 years after the mass extinction, the largest mammals were 100 times heavier than the mammals that survived the asteroid and were around the size of a wolf.
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