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Fossil fish reveal timing of asteroid that killed the dinosaurs

The discovery is likely to reignite controversy over the US site where the fossils were found.
  1. Colin Barras
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Illustration of a dinosaur fleeing a huge wave surging downriver, bringing with it fish, dinosaurs and trees as fire rains down.

Evidence suggests an asteroid impact that killed off most dinosaurs might have happened in spring. Credit: Joschua Knüppe

Winter began in spring for many animals during the final year of the age of dinosaurs. Palaeontologists studying fossilized fish suggest that spring was in full bloom in the Northern Hemisphere when an asteroid slammed into Earth, triggering a devastating global winter and mass extinction.

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Nature 603, 17 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00511-x

References

  1. During, M. A. D. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04446-1 (2022).

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  2. DePalma, R. A. et al. Sci. Rep. 11, 23704 (2021).

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  3. DePalma, R.A. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 116, 8190–8199 (2019).

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