Since their discovery, at the beginning of the 19th century, dinosaurs
have always awakened human imagination. The past existence of such large
animals, which seemed to have left no trace in the current fauna, is quite suggestive.
In the multitudinous field of science, dinosaurs have always occupied an
extremely attractive place. Dinosaurs have appeal.
On the other hand, the mystery of the disappearance of dinosaurs was
soon posited. What could have caused their extinction? In the next century and
a half, various possible causes were proposed, such as the following:
- It was said, for example, that primitive
mammals could have caused the extinction of dinosaurs by eating
their eggs. The trouble is, both groups of animals lived together for a
hundred million years without any problem. In fact, mammals were cornered
by their giant neighbors and could not develop and spread until they
disappeared.
- It was also said that the apparition of
flowering plants (Angiosperms) during the Cretaceous period, the
last when dinosaurs lived, could have caused their extinction
by a change in their diet. The trouble is, the Cretaceous period was very
long, and flowering plants appeared thirty million years before the
extinction of the dinosaurs. If they could put up with that diet for so
long, why should it suddenly be fatal for them?
- Another reason adduced was a change of climate. During the Mesozoic Era (the age of the dinosaurs) the Earth's climate was quite warm. Then, in the Tertiary period, it was colder. The bad news is that climate changes are usually gradual, while the disappearance of dinosaurs does seem to have been quite fast. Therefore it was proposed that the cause of the extinction could have been a sudden catastrophe that would have caused a sudden climate change.
