Explaining Dinosaurs' Extintion

So what killed the dinosaurs? Without having any background education in science it is hard for the general public to comprehend such matters and they rely on the knowledge of the scientists in this field. Although there has been much research on the subject nobody has come up with a conclusive answer. And we are left to read the countless articles, all having their own opinions as to the mass extinction. One such theory is that a shift in the solar system could have caused the mass destruction. According to an article published in Nature magazine,

“Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs” is written by Stephen Jay Gould, professor of geology and zoology at Harvard. This essay is one of more than a hundred articles on evolution, zoology, and paleontology published by Gould in national magazines and journals. It tells about scientific proposals for the extinction of dinosaurs – a confusing but an exciting problem that humanity tries to solve. By analyzing and describing each of the claims for the reptiles’ demise – sex, drugs, and disasters – Gould differentiates bad science from good science and explains what makes some theories silly speculations, while the other, a testable hypothesis.

Stephen Gould’s essay “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of the Dinosaurs” completely agrees with Joseph Williams and Gregory Colomb’s essay “Argument, Critical Thinking, and Rationality.” Gould’s essay deals with three theories for the extinction of the dinosaurs, two of which he argues are entirely invalid because they are not in accordance with the basic rules of argument laid out by Williams and Colomb in their essay. Gould also states that the third theory of dinosaur extinction, natural disaster, follows all the rules that Williams and Colomb espouse, and thus is a sound argument. Gould, Williams, and Colomb all state that the world has a problem with irrational arguments being shoved down people’s throats, and call for a

The scientists believe that the herbivores ran out of plants, and trees and so all of the herbivores died and after all of the herbivores died, all of the Carnivores died as well. Another theory is that a big asteroid hit the Earth, and the asteroid caused a global extinction.. The final theory that the scientists thought of happening was a disease. Disease may of happened from one dinosaur getting sick and then it just passed on from dinosaur to dinosaur.

Nobody knows for sure exactly how the dinosaurs became extinct. However scientists have speculated for decades about possible events that caused the dinosaurs to die out. Possibilities range from asteroids, to volcanoes, to climate changes. One of the more popular or well-known extinction theories involves the belief that an asteroid struck the Earth, causing devastating effects, and triggering mass extinctions around the end of the Cretaceous period.

It is said that there has been rare and precious Dinosaur bones discovered in the Eromanga sea, this almost proves that Dinosaurs once roamed around the shores. Also many of the significant events in Geological history, over the past 600 million years can be observed at Hallett Cove. Some of the oldest rocks have been found in these seas. The finding of the Ediacaran could potentially mean that there can be dinosaur fossils found in the ocean, or even that relatives of the ediacaran could be considered fossils and could be found in the sea.

It is difficult to envision that one of the greatest impact craters on Earth that measures up to 180km wide and 900m deep could just vanish just from sight. There have been many different dinosaur extinction theories offered in the recent decades. These range from poisonous plants to mass suicide by dinosaur herds. Although one concept as to how the dinosaurs became extinct has gained a wide acceptance since the 1980’s, involving a major earth impact by a meteor or comet (Icr.org, 2014). This horrific catastrophic event is thought to have extinguished up to two thirds of all animal and plant species, leaving behind a large crater found in Chicxulub, Mexico (LiveScience.com, 2014).

He narrowed his hunt down to a location in Denmark, where he had sent a colleague to perform an iridium analysis test at ("Asteroids and Dinosaurs: Unexpected Twists and an Unfinished Story," n.d.). When the results came back, Alvarez knew that whatever happened had not been a small-scale disaster. Once again, Alvarez was back to asking questions. What caused the increased iridium levels at the KT boundary? Except this time, he realized that his observations supported the ten year old hypothesis that had been proposed by paleontologist Dale Russell and physicist Wallace Tucker ("Asteroids and Dinosaurs: Unexpected Twists and an Unfinished Story," n.d.). They brought up the possibility of a supernova being the cause of dinosaur extinction. Supernovas are known to release high amounts of iridium, so such a hypothesis fit perfectly with Alvarez’s team’s discovery. However, the hope of having found a conclusion was short-lived. Luis Alvarez had mentioned that if said supernova had occurred that it would have released amounts of plutonium which would have been found alongside the iridium; no plutonium was found at either site. After more digging, the team came up with a new hypothesis ("Asteroids and Dinosaurs: Unexpected Twists and an Unfinished Story," n.d.). Perhaps an asteroid had struck Earth towards the end of the Cretaceous period, blowing enough dust into the atmosphere to

Dinosaurs ruled the earth for over 65 million years and thankfully for the human race, they became extinct. Ultimately, only a major catastrophe could completely wipe out an entire species, let alone an entity of dinosaurs and the debacle on the causes of dinosaur extinction have flooded the minds of paleontologists for centuries. Geologist and zoologist Stephen Jay Gould published “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs,” to compare scientific and speculative causes of dinosaur decimation. Personally, I found this passage very informational and enjoyed reading it. Gould provides three theories that capture the reader’s curiosity, allowing room for pondering in one’s mind.

The question of what caused the extinction of megafauna during the Late Pleistocene period is one that archaeologists have struggled to answer for decades, but why should it matter? Discovering with certainty the cause of megafaunal extinction would

In Stephen Jay Gould’s “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs”, Gould investigates three possible theories hypothesizing the reason behind the extinction of dinosaurs. The first theory suggests that dinosaurs became extinct due to a rise in temperature, which caused sperm to die, leading to the sterilization of male dinosaurs. The second hypothesis offer that many dinosaurs consumed bitter plants that contained psychoactive agents which their lives could not detoxify out of their systems. The last speculation about the dinosaur’s extinction is that a large cloud of dust formed in the atmosphere after an asteroid hit Earth’s surface. This dust cloud blocked out the sunlight, causing temperatures to drop and made photosynthesis impossible. Gould uses these three theories to lead to his central claim that science isn’t just about making fascinating claims, but should have a well developed hypothesis.

The extinction of the dinosaurs, absolutely a thrilling topic. In Steven Gould’s persuasive article he goes into great detail to describe the nature of science and it’s profound nature to help us in the pursuit of knowledge when used correctly. He then begins to describe three scenarios in which could’ve led to the extinction of the dinosaurs in which two while seemingly plausible at first glance are in actuality simply speculation. Thus, just like a good hypothesis using evidence to support his critiques and support of the hypotheses. Which is why I agree with Gould’s statement on how out of the three hypotheses, the extinction of the dinosaurs

Dinosaur extinction: An analysis of events and theories that possibly led to the dinosaurs' demise.

Nobody can really say what actually eliminated the species, although everyone has their very own idea. Asteroid impact, atmospheric changes (hot to cold), catastrophic eruptions and astronomical events (supernovas etc.). Some have ventured that early mammal inhabitation slowly “pushed” the dinosaurs to extinction. The most favored theory in the scientific field is that of the meteor impact. As always though, knowing when is part of discovering how and why.

Rapid climate change also ends up on the suspect list of possible dinosaur extinction events. During the latter part of the Cretaceous Period continents broke up causing volcanoes to erupt and fill the sky with gas and ash resulting in a drastic climate change (“Dinosaurs Climate Change and Biodiversity”). The shifting of continents changed the Earth’s landscape, altering weather patterns and overall climate (“Dinosaur Extinction Theories”). Also, over a long period of time, climate gradually changed. Ocean habits changed, temperatures grew much more extreme causing scorching summers and frigid winters (Norell, Dingus, and Gaffney). Radical temperature changes like these led to a green-house effect, making life for the dinosaurs a lot