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.
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