ANIMALS AFTER DINOSAURS
WHO
RULED THE WORLD AFTER THE DINOSAURS DIED OUT?
65
million years ago, a mass extinction wiped out the dinosaurs. Mammals had been
around since the Jurassic Period. Living alongside the dominant dinosaurs, they
were just a small group of tiny, rodent-like creatures. Modern humans evolved
200,000 years ago, when woolly mammoths still stalked the icy plains.
METEORITE STRIKE:
When dinosaurs
were wiped out, so were around 70% of all animals and plant species. Many scientists
believe this mass extinction was caused by a meteorite crashing into Earth. It resultant
of the impact caused:
·
SHOCK
WAVES – these waves destroyed every living thing in the immediate area.
·
HEAT
– the heat of the impact produced extensive forest fires.
·
TSUNAMIS
– it swept across low-lying lands.
·
SMOKE
– this together with ash cut out sunlight and killed plants.
·
ACID
RAIN – this rain from the clouds also destroyed many plants.
EXTINCTION WINNERS AND LOSERS:
·
REPTILES:
all species of dinosaur, pterosaur, and plesiosaur were wiped out, along with
36% of crocodilians, 27% of turtles and tortoises, and 6% of lizard and snake
species.
·
MAMMALS:
all types of mammals lost species, but the marsupials were hit the hardest,
with 75% of species wiped out.
·
BIRDS:
75% of bird species disappeared.
·
AMPHIBIANS:
the amphibians hopped off the winners, as no species were lost.
NEW COMERS:
When the
dinosaurs died, so did many of the mammals, but the survivors evolved to become
the most successful type of animal around. The new groups of animals that soon
appeared on the scene included big plant-eaters like elephants, hoofed mammals
like pigs and tapirs, sea mammals like whales and dolphins, and the first bats.
Modern-day
bowhead whales are thought to be the exact same species as certain fossilized
whales that have been found to date back to between 1.8 and 10 million years
ago. That’s some staying power!
SOME STRANGE SPECIES:
 |
| Moetherium |
1. Moetherium: a primitive elephant
with a massive body, short legs and a long thick neck.
2. Arsinotherium: a heavy, rhino-like
plant-eater with massive horns, which were oared in skin.
3. Macrauchenia: this animal had a body
like a horse, a neck like a camel, and a short trunk like a tapir.
4. Phenacodus: like a wild boar, it had
a skeleton suited to a lifestyle of running in open woodlands.
5. Mammoths:
Mammoths lived from around 4.8 million years ago until most died out in the last Ice Age, 10,000 years ago. One group of pygmy woolly mammoths still existed in the Arctic until 1650 BCE. Several woolly mammoths have been found preserved in the frozen ground of Siberia, with bits of fur, sin and even stomach contents intact.
Some species of tusks –
 |
| Mammoth |
· Phiomia: resembling an overgrown warthog, it had lower tusks like shovels for digging.
· Dienotherium: its tusks curved downwards from the lower jaw and were used as picks.
· Gomphotherium: four tusks, two at the top and two at the bottom, were used for all sorts of tasks, such as digging and scraping.
· Mammoth: this woolly creature’s long, curving tusks were used as snowploughs.
SCARY BEASTS:
 |
| Andresarchus |
1. Andresarchus: a wolf-like hoofed
animal, the largest known carnivorous land mammal ever.
2. Canis dirus: wolf-like creature with
a wide head, strong jaws, and large teeth – perfect for breaking and eating
bones.
3. Smilodon: Far-from-friendly feline
with enormous gnashers.
4. Daeodon: “Killer buffalo pig” – the name
says it all, really.
