Dead dinos no help to emerging mammals The triumphant rise of the mammals had nothing to do with the extinction of the dinosaurs, according to new research, published in the journal Nature. The paper's co-author, Kate Jones, told BBC Radio 4: "The meteor impact that killed off the dinosaurs has traditionally been thought to have given mammals the edge they needed …
It would be nice to know more about the kind of of evidence this paper is based on. ... Or actually see the paper, rather than the BBC report.
Here's another view of the debate about Mamalian and Avian evolution:
http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Benton/reprints/1999BioEssays.pdf
Sure, mammals existed before the big thump, but did they exist in the same numbers, in the same environments?
No, I dont think so.
The meteor impact had the effect of knocking the top off the food chain, leaving room for more adaptable creatures to fill in the gaps. Already being covered in hair, mammals succeeded where the majority of lizards failed once the "nuclear winter" effect kicked in. The sudden increase in global temp would have come about as a result of the dust in the atmosphere finally settlnig back to earth, allowing the suns rays to get back to warming us up.
If you apply this logic to the modern day, its like saying that Californias Zero Emission Policy has absolutely nothing to do with the increase use of bio-fuel, fuel-cell, and electric vehicles in that state.
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