A team of scientists has discoveredthe youngest dinosaur preserved in the fossil record before a meteor struck65 million years ago on Earth causing the extinction of these large reptiles.
Specifically, researchers from Yale University (USA) discovered the fossilized horn of aceratopsiano, similar to the Triceratops, in the hills of Montana last year. The fossil was buried just 13 centimeters below the KT geological limit, which marks the transition from the Cretaceous to the Tertiary period, that is, the time when they are believed to be extinct. The location of the fossil indicates thatwas alive when the asteroid hit Earth, reinforcing the theory that it was the impact that led to their extinction, according to Tyler Lyson, co-author of the study published in the journalBiology Letters.
There are multiple theories about the death of dinosaurs. The main one is that they disappeared due to the fall of a meteorite 15 kilometers long in Chibxulub, Yucatan Peninsula. Another theory does not deny the fall of the meteorite, but suggests that the dinosaurswere extinguished earlier due to climate changeoccurred because of large volcanic eruptions in India. Although Lyson agrees that his new study does not entirely rule out a more gradual process of extinction, he insists that it is a strong argument against one of the fundamental tenets of the opponents hypothesis: that the dinosaurs were extinct before. of the asteroid hitting.
