Article: "That asteroid theory is only partly right"

Selections from the article...

The first bit of the story [asteroid impact 65 million years ago], about the dinosaurs, is still right. But a new 10-year study tracing the family history of almost all the 4500 species of mammals alive today provides a very different picture of what happened before and just after the asteroid hit.

It shows that the ancestors of most modern groups of mammals, including apes, rats and hoofed animals, began to emerge earlier than thought, as long as 80 million to 100 million years ago.

While they existed when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth, and survived the asteroid impact, their numbers and variety were low.

After the demise of the dinosaurs, there was a small group of mammals that immediately benefitted. But those that flourished 65 million years ago, including an aggressive wolf-like cow, were not closely related to today's species and eventually died out.

It wasn't until about 15 million years after the dinosaurs were gone that the ancestors of modern mammals came into their heyday, and exploded into the diverse array of species we now know.

"That asteroid theory is only partly right"
March 29, 2007
Sydney Morning Herald

Link: Sydney Morning Herald Article