The Paleocene Epoch occurred 65 to 57 million years ago, preceding the Eocene Epoch. It followed the ultimate extinction of the dinosaurs and other large vertebrates when a large asteroid crashed into what is presently known as the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. It initiated many forest fires and caused an immense cloud of dust to rise so high it blocked the sun, sending the earth and surviving organisms into a period of darkness and cold, fatal temperatures. These frigid condition killed various plants essential to the organisms’ food source and once the dust settled, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases were released, worsening the temperature levels on earth. At the beginning of the Paleocene Epoch, the earth was still recuperating from the mass extinction; however, some life forms continued to flourish and strive. Although many of the aquatic and terrestrial plant life was unable to survive due to the absence of sunlight, new plants …show more content…
Despite the disappearance of dinosaurs and other reptiles, these small mammals were able to escape the large rise of temperature caused by the asteroid’s impact by burrowing underground while others hid away in marine environments. Also, their diet did not rely entirely on terrestrial plant life unlike the herbivorous dinosaurs and were able to live off of insects and aquatic plants. Some Paleocene mammals consisted of marsupials and herbivorous, rodent-like animals known as multituberculates that had previously lived in the Cretaceous period. One of the largest mammals at the time were primitive herbivores called Pantolambda; other animals present were hoofed animals called condylarths, ancestral rodents that appeared later in the epoch, creodents which resembled cats and dogs, and primates that proliferated in abundance. Besides mammals, insects and birds continued to survive in the Paleocene
Ceratopsians and Pachycephalosaurs Around 144 million years ago, began the emergence of the Ornithischian dinosaurs during the Cretaceous period and diversified into North America and Asia. Ornithischians were classified as having a hip structure similar to that of birds, although they are not the descendants of birds. Marginocephalians, meaning "fringed heads" are a group of Ornithischians that have a distinctive skull structure, consisting of a slight shelf or bony frill on the back of the skull, a unique palate, and a short hip structure. These herbivores include two major groups: the Ceratopsians and the Pachcephalosaurians. These plant-eaters include the Ceratopsians, horned dinosaurs such as the Triceratops, Styrachosaurus, Pentaceratops, and the Protoceratops.
The disaster theory, Gould claims, is an example of good science. It has testable evidence and has an impact on studies in other fields of science, it develops further and explains why the extinction of dinosaurs occurred simultaneously with other events. This theory suggests that a large comet hit the Earth sixty five million years ago, causing the cloud of dust to rise into the sky and to block sunlight. As a result, world temperatures went down significantly, the ice age bega...
It's hard to say that humans haven't had an impact on their environment. Climate change, for example, has been a hot issue in the developed world ever since evidence proving the existence of human-caused global warming was unleashed leading to an onslaught of theories regarding its potential effect on our future. But what impact did humans have thousands of years ago when they were first colonizing North America?
The Permian-Triassic Extinction is a mass extinction that occurred between the Permian and Triassic geologic time periods approximately 250 million years ago; it is the deadliest of all extinctions that have occurred on Earth. In addition, during the Permian-Triassic extinction the continents of today existed as one supercontinent known as Pangaea. This was the first time in history where continental or land mass exceeded that of the ocean. This was also before dinosaurs of the Triassic period roamed Earth, during this time animals such as the therapsids, and Synapsids such as the Pelycosaurs, insects and amphibians also occupied Earth. Fauna that existed during the Permian period includes Gymnosperms, or seed producing plants such as the Conifers. Other animals that existed during this time include marine life such as brachiopods (clams), bryozoans (coral-like skeletons), bony fish and sharks, as well as crinoids (sea urchin like creatures). According to National Geographic, about 90 percent of all the animals and fauna of this period perished, the marine life was hit the hardest wi...
The New World, in the minds and descriptions of European explorers and settlers during the sixteenth century, was comparable to a paradise on earth. The landscape was so vast and indescribably beautiful that even Columbus had trouble articulating its splendor. However, lacking a consciousness of conservation, Europeans felt little remorse in exploiting the land and subjugating its people. From the beginning Europeans set out to transform as much of the New World into the Old World as possible. As a result, the New World, over the course of two centuries, was overtaken by foreign plant and animal species, leveled by deforestation, and devastated by disease. This imposition of Old World values significantly impacted the ecology of the New World.
Mountain building and climate changes happened often in this period, as well as the breakup of Pangaea. Mammals were very popular and they were very different and everywhere. The climate was much colder now. The animals adapted to their environment and diets; meat eaters had sharp teeth for cutting and ripping, rodents had self-sharpening front teeth for gnawing and plant eaters had molars for grazing plants.
Neanderthal Extinction Neanderthals and modern humans coexisted for well over 100,000 years. Then suddenly Homo neandertalensis began to die out and surrender the earth to Homo sapiens. Paleontologists and anthropologists have entertained several possibilities for the causes of this event: interbreeding among Neanderthals and humans, competition for natural resources, and Darwin’s theory of “survival of the fittest.” What the real cause has been has plagued scientists for years. Now, due to an international research team from Germany, those possibilities have been even further deduced, making it easier to pinpoint the exact reason Homo neandertalensis became extinct.
Throughout Earth’s history there have been many changes. These changes have consisted of temperature fluctuations, atmospheric differentiations, extinctions of various plant and animal life, etc. Over time everything seems to have evolved in some way form or fashion. However, the Permian Era extinction was different from all the rest. This extinction affected every form of life, but especially the marine life. Researchers have stated that 93-97% of all Earths species went extinct during this period of time. This essay will explain how a once blossoming progressive era turned into Earths most catastrophic event.
The most significant event of the Cretaceous era came at its end. Nearly 65 million years ago, the second most severe mass extinction in earth’s history occurred. This resulted in the loss of around 80% of species living at the time. Though nowhere near as severe as the end-Permian mass extinction, the end-Cretaceous extinction is the most well known mass extinction event. This is due to the violent event that caused it the extinction, as well as the chapter of earth’s history that it closed: the Dinosaurs. The Cretaceous Event ( often shortened to K-T event) Of the animals that were killed off were the flying reptiles (pterosaurs) and the last few mosasaurs and plesiosaurs, both early marine reptiles. Many mollusks and species of microscopic plankton were killed. Terrestrial plants suffered mass extinction as well. Almost 60% of terrestrial plants were lost. This led to high extinction rates among insect populations, especially insects that were highly specialized to feed on just a few types of plants had it the worst. It took approximately 9 million years for the global insect populations to recover from the Cretaceous extinction. Immediately after the extinction, the earth saw an explosion of short term species who respond well to fire, or other external disturbance. Evidence of the catastrophe comes from a thin rock layer deposited worldwide just after the impact. It is dominated by fossil plants whose descendants recover quickly after fires of other disturbances, such as Fire Weed in Alaska. The causes of the Cretaceous extinction are still being debated by paleontologists. Scientists agree that the main cause of the extinction was a...
Several mass extinctions have occurred during the Earth’s history. The Cretaceous – Tertiary Boundary (K-T) Extinction caused the loss of at least three-quarters of all species known at that time including the dinosaurs. The cause of this mass extinction is a controversial subject among scientists but the fossil evidence of it’s occurrence is abundant.
Approximately 250 million years ago, the earth underwent the most catastrophic extinction event in its entire history. The mass extinction occurred on the Permian-Triassic border on the geological timescale, and is appropriately nicknamed, “The Great Dying”. It has resulted in the most extinction occurrences, expressed in a %, than any of the other mass extinctions in geological time, as seen in FIGURE 1. The Permian Extinction created a huge setback for Earth’s fauna and its diversity. During the short duration of this event, the earth lost 90-96% of all species (Stanley, 2016).
Earth has gone through five fully major extinctions before. We currently are in the process of Earth’s sixth mass extinction. This mass extinction is closely related in severity to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Earth’s extinctions are broken into three different areas. The first area was the large number of animals caught by hunter-gathers. The discovery of agriculture led to the second area of extinction, wildlife habitats. These wildlife habitats were destroyed due to humans starting to stay in one area.
Extinction of Dinosaurs Many different theories exist as to why the dinosaurs went extinct. We know for sure most dinosaurs died around 65 million years ago. The majority of scientists agree on a number of theories as to what brought the end of the dinosaurs. The most popular theory is that an asteroid ended the reign of the dinosaurs. Another theory, massive climate change in the pre-historic atmosphere, caused all the dinosaurs to die.
In the song Confessions Part ll by Usher, he is talking about saying sorry to his wife that while he was away he got a girl pregnant and is apologizing to her. In the song Usher says, “‘bout that chick and part 1 that I was creepin with,creepin with, say she three months pregnant and she’s keepin it”. In this quote usher is telling the listener that he was hanging out with a girl and she told him that she was pregnant and he is the father. Usher then goes on to say “Third thing I was me wishin’ that I never did what I did, how I ain’t ready for no kid and bye bye to our relationship.” In this he is talking about how he is regretting his decisions and loves his girlfriend more than the other girl. He then doesn’t know how he is going to tell
Animals that could adapt to the freezing temperatures survived. Some of these animals included: Crocodilians, birds, small mammals, and most ocean creatures because of habitats that protected them from the chilling temperatures. Some of the theories about what really caused the dinosaurs extinction vary. One theory suggests that a volcanic eruption of some sort would have added a significant amount of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. The increase of carbon dioxide in the air would have resulted in higher