NASA artist’s depiction of the asteroid impact linked to the dinosaur extinction. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
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Non-bird dinosaurs dominated many land ecosystems for millions of years. About 66 million years ago, a large asteroid struck near what is now Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. The impact released enormous energy and threw dust and other material into the atmosphere. Sunlight was reduced, temperatures and food chains changed, and many species died. Scientists have found a huge impact crater called Chicxulub and a worldwide layer rich in iridium, an element associated with asteroids. Birds, which evolved from dinosaurs, survived and remain with us today.
