For millions of years, giant dinosaurs acted as ecosystem engineers, preventing the rise of fruit. When an asteroid wiped them out, forests grew dense and dark, forcing plants to evolve a new strategy for survival. They developed large seeds and fleshy coatings to attract animal allies, creating a fruity world that would eventually fuel the evolution of primates—and ultimately, us.
How Dinosaur Extinction Led to a World Full of Fruit
The cascade of changes that followed the extinction of the dinosaurs may have had one surprising effect: the evolution of a world teeming with fruit.
Related Posts
Toxic alligators serve as a warning for southeastern US ecosystems
New research reveals that the place an alligator lives determines its toxic mercury load, with some populations carrying levels eight times higher than others.
June 20, 2025
Reindeer: ancient migration routes disrupted by roads, dams – and now wind farms
Ilona Kater, Author provided Ilona Kater, Durham University; Robert Baxter, Durham University, and Simone Abram, Durham University Reindeer,…
December 29, 2022
Wildlife wonders of Britain and Ireland before the industrial revolution – my research reveals all the biodiversity we’ve lost
The extinction of the wolf in Britain was widely celebrated as an achievement towards the creation of a…
August 3, 2023
Smell is the crucial sense that holds ant society together, helping the insects recognize, communicate and cooperate with one another
Ants from different colonies will fight based on smell alone. Joseph Howell, Vanderbilt University, CC BY-ND Laurence Zwiebel,…
April 19, 2023
