The dino-killing asteroid smashed into an unfortunate spot and at the deadliest possible angle, and as a group of scientists have now concluded, it also struck Earth at a sensitive time of year—at least for animals living in the northern hemisphere.
The Chicxulub asteroid struck the Yucatan Peninsula some 66 million years ago, unleashing an impact winter that wiped out 75% of all species on Earth. It also ended the 165-million-year reign of the dinosaurs, allowing mammals to finally assert their dominance. For Cretaceous plants and animals living in what is today the western U.S. interior, the onset of this asteroid-induced winter occurred during the late spring, according to new research published in Scientific Reports.
Knowing the season during which the asteroid struck may not sound like a big whoop, but the new study deepens our understanding of this event and how it may have affected biological systems, both locally and at a the global scale.
