Dinosaurs Extinction Theories

“Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries” at Boston Museum of Science

The Museum of Science , Boston has opened a new exhibit entitled “Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries,” which uses recent research to debunk theories on dinosaur movement, environment and extinction. The exhibit will be on display until Aug. 21.

The exhibit includes a stunning diorama of a forest in Mesozoic China and a cast of the Bambiraptor feinbergi, a newly discovered species that links dinosaurs more closely to the modern bird. A cast of a Tyrannosaurus rex is also on display, complete with panels that explain that the T-rex was too slow to catch many of its prey.

While much is known about dinosaurs already, “scientists are starting to learn a different story,” a display reads. The exhibit presents well-accepted ideas about dinosaurs – the T-rex was a fearsome predator, ceratopsian dinosaurs (Triceratops) used their horns to fend off attackers, long-necked creatures like the Apatosaurus (Brontosaurus) reached into trees to eat leaves – and explains how advancements in fields such as biomechanics and computer simulation help disprove these theories.

Essentially, “Jurassic Park” had it all wrong.

“The understanding of these creatures are changing rapidly as we discover new fossils and develop new forms with which to analyze them,” said Shana Hawrylchak, Senior Exhibit Production Coordinator at the Museum of Science, Boston.

“The Sauropods are a good example. When we were younger, we saw these creatures on their hind legs and reaching into trees like giraffes. With recent advancements in biomechanics, we now know they wouldn’t have been able to do that at all.”

Similarly, the image of a Triceratops using its horns as a defense is replaced with the notion that it used its frills and horns instead for display, in mating rituals.

What about the gladiator-like plates on a Stegosaurus’ back?  

“Too weak to serve as defensive features,” the exhibit explains.

A fact that may baffle some: The T-rex had feathers when it was young.

And try this theory out: “Dinosaurs are not extinct.” The virtually identical skeleton of the Bambiraptor feinbergi to birds serves as evidence that birds are modern-day dinosaurs.

Around 90 percent of the Bambiraptor’s bones were recovered, making it one of the most complete specimens ever found in North America.

In a gripping multimedia presentation, the exhibit debunks the idea that dinosaurs were killed off by an asteroid impacting the earth. True, scientists still believe in the existence of the asteroid, but it was global climate change, volcanic eruptions and change in sea levels that caused extinction.

Dinosaur Extinction Theories | Dinosaurs and Creation

There are lots of dinosaur extinction theories , ranging from the plausible to imaginative stories about why the prehistoric animals have become extinct. We as humans have progressed over time as paleontologists and geologists who work closely with two predominant theories of dinosaur extinction brought to the fore.

The first of the two primary theories of dinosaur extinction involves the explosion of a massive super volcano that would have blocked the light from the sun and plunged the Earth into a temporary ice age. Since the vast majority of dinosaur reptiles in nature, this led to a massive death leads to extinction. There is a primary factor, both of dinosaur extinction theories, but is particularly relevant for the super volcano theory. In the sediment layers, where the vast majority of dinosaur bones and fossils excavated, there is a layer of iridium. This mineral is only coming from volcanic activity or meteorite. As a massive super volcano eruption could for the spike in iridium-account, this theory has gained a following as well as support for its plausibility.

The second of the dinosaur extinction theories is also made of the presence of iridium in the sedimentary layers. But instead the source of a super volcano, it is probably from a massive meteorite falls on the face of the earth. It is assumed that a 10 km diameter meteorite hit the earth, is where the Yucatan peninsula today. Charting under magnetic and sonic charts, there is evidence of a massive crater that supports this theory. The images show that a meteorite of this area could have struck the Yukatan peninsula, triggering volcanic activity and launching a billowing cloud of super heated gases and wind that would have killed over 25% of all of the planet’s vegetation. Such as massive die off of vegetation, coupled many dinosaur casualties, would have led to a rise of carnivorous dinosaurs. As the herbivores died out, the carnivores would have lacked food, resulting in a mass die off of large species of dinosaurs.

As the explosion would have unbalanced the delicate chemistry of the oceans, marine species would have died from water temperature changes and starvation. Only avian species would have been able to forage for food beyond the blast zones.

As the meteorite explosions would have triggered volcanic activity, these are often the kind of dinosaur extinction theories that have the most widespread following and is believed to be the most plausible.

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