A new study suggesting dinosaurs could still be alive today if an asteroid had not smashed into the earth counters a previous assumption about the giant beasts. Formerly, some scientists had believed dinosaurs were already declining before the asteroid impact, apparently making them less able to withstand the collision. But other scientists have believed the dinosaur diversity was in good shape at that time.
"It's been a subject of debate for more than 30 years — were dinosaurs doomed and already on their way out before the asteroid hit?" said study lead author Chris Dean, a paleontologist at University College London. His team studied records of four families of dinosaurs (Ankylosauridae, Ceratopsidae, Hadrosauridae and Tyrannosauridae) from the Campanian age (“83.6 million to 72.1 million years ago”) and Maastrichtian age (“72.1 million to 66 million years ago”).
New research published in April in Current Biology proposes that evidence for a decline in dinosaur diversity before their extinction is due simply to a poor fossil record. The study showed that dinosaur diversity peaked around “76 million years ago” and then began shrinking until the asteroid strike wiped out the dinosaurs. The apparent trend was even more obvious in the “6 million years” before the mass extinction as fossils of all four families of dinosaurs become rarer in the fossil record during that time period.
However, the researchers say that there is nothing in the geographical record to explain why the decline should be taking place. All four of the dinosaur families were widespread and common according to their scientific models and were at low risk of extinction.
According to the scientists, the explanation for the poor fossil record may be due to poorer geological conditions for fossilization during the Maastrichtian age. Geological events may have disrupted fossilization, and some outcrops may have been covered by vegetation or otherwise not exposed, making discovery by researchers difficult.
"Dinosaurs were probably not inevitably doomed to extinction at the end of the Mesozoic [252 million to 66 million years ago]," study co-author Alfio Alessandro Chiarenza, a paleontologist at University College London, said in a statement. "If it weren't for that asteroid, they might still share this planet with mammals, lizards, and their surviving descendants: birds."
Comments: Why do scientists disagree with each other so much? Although the study reported on in this story seems to have provided a possible solution to the disagreement between researchers who believed dinosaur diversity was in decline before the asteroid impact and those who didn’t believe this, there is a bigger area of disagreement.
The big question is what caused the dinosaurs to go extinct. Dartmouth College scientists recently used computers to arrive at an answer in order to “remove bias from the debate over dinosaurs’ demise.” Their conclusion is that it was volcanism that killed off the dinosaurs, not an asteroid impact, an idea that prevailed in scientific circles before the asteroid impact theory took off. Interestingly enough, other Dartmouth College researchers in 2013 proposed that it was a comet that led to the extinction of dinosaurs, neither an asteroid nor volcanism.
When dealing with historical science, secular researchers are bound to often come to different conclusions because, obviously, no scientists were around when the historical event happened. No observations, no testing at the time, only a limited use of the scientific method possible. Thankfully, we have the Bible to tell us how it was back then, at least as much as we need to know.
Of the causes for dinosaur extinction scientists have proposed, volcanism seems to fit in best with the Bible. In an online article, Answers in Genesis first suggests that an asteroid impact could have been the event that began Noah’s Flood by breaking open the earth’s crust. Then, “increased volcanism is a natural consequence of this continental breakup event, as molten rock (magma) from the upper mantle rises into the huge rifts in the crust. This volcanism associated with Catastrophic Plate Tectonics (CPT) would have been of unprecedented magnitude and worldwide extent. At the plate boundaries, the magma rapidly rising into the fissures would push the plates apart, so that their separation accelerated to meters (tens of feet) per second. The net result would have been violent volcanic eruptive events on a massive global scale.”
Creation scientists can’t answer all the questions when it comes to historical events either, but they can explain why there is nothing that mainstream science claims that should cause us to have doubts about our faith or the Bible’s inerrancy. And they often remind us that there is a geological event coming that greatly exceeds an asteroid impact or even a global flood–an event that destroys our planet.
“Through these waters the former world perished, when it was flooded with water. And now, by that same word, the heavens and earth have been stored up for fire, since they are being kept until the day of judgment and the destruction of the ungodly.” 2 Peter 3:6-7.
For a believer in Jesus Christ as our Savior, in heaven there will be no destruction, by water, fire, or asteroid impacts. There will only be peace and joy, in living with our Savior.
by Warren Krug
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QUESTION OF THE DAY
Do ostriches bury their heads?
This is a myth which probably began because ostriches lie flat in tall grass effectively hiding themselves except for the humps of their bodies. These birds have such powerful legs and can run so fast–43 miles per hour–they really don’t need to hide from much of anything.
Source: Tez Brooks,“Truth or Tales?,” Kids Answers [April-June, 2025], page 24.
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