A recent study indicates that human ancestors coexisted with dinosaurs prior to the reptiles' extinction. MailOnline reported that the origins of placental mammals, including humans, dogs, and bats, have been a topic of disagreement, with some believing they lived alongside dinosaurs and others suggesting they appeared after the dinosaurs' demise.
Through a thorough examination of the fossil record, the study provides new insights. It confirms that human ancestors indeed shared the Earth with dinosaurs for a brief period before the reptiles met their extinction. Until now, fossils of placental mammals have been discovered exclusively in rocks dating younger than 66 million years, which coincides with the time when the asteroid impact occurred.
Human Ancestors Survived Asteroid Impact That Caused Dinosaur Extinction
A recent study, titled "A timescale for placental mammal diversification based on Bayesian modeling of the fossil record" published in Current Biology, uses extensive fossil data to reveal that placental mammals originated before the mass extinction event that wiped out non-avian dinosaurs.
The research suggests that placental mammals co-existed with dinosaurs for a brief period before the catastrophic asteroid impact occurred. Previous fossil findings had led to the belief that placental mammals evolved after the dinosaurs' demise, but molecular data indicated an older origin for this group.
According to Science Daily, palaeobiologists from the University of Bristol and the University of Fribourg employed statistical analysis to study the fossil record and estimate the timing of placental mammal origins.
They showed that while placental mammals existed alongside dinosaurs, it was after the asteroid impact that modern lineages of placental mammals began to evolve. That means the absence of dinosaurs allowed for the diversification of placental mammals.
The study focused on various groups of placental mammals, including primates (including humans), Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares), and Carnivora (dogs and cats). The research demonstrated that these groups originated just before the mass extinction event, indicating that their ancestors lived alongside dinosaurs.
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Fiction or Not? Humans Lived With Humans
Humans living with dinosaurs also became a topic for fictional shows, such as The Flintstone. Contrary to popular belief, as per Britannica, early humans did coexist with dinosaurs, although the dinosaurs were not massive reptiles. Most of them were modern birds, the closest natural relatives to the extinct dinosaurs. This means that humans, in a sense, still live with dinosaurs today.
Dinosaurs reigned as the dominant species for approximately 165 million years during the Mesozoic Era. Recent evidence suggests that many dinosaurs were warm-blooded, adorned with colorful feathers, and exhibited behaviors similar to contemporary birds.
However, their era came to an end with a catastrophic event at the end of the Cretaceous Period. An enormous asteroid struck Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, causing widespread devastation and resulting in the extinction of about 80% of life on Earth.
Despite the extinction of the large dinosaurs, small mammals coexisted with them during their final reign. Some of these warm-blooded creatures survived the catastrophic event and went on to evolve into various animal species.
Today, humans continue to live alongside dinosaurs, albeit in a different form. Chickens and parakeets, classified as modern birds, are the living descendants of the dinosaurs that once roamed the Earth. Life has found a way for dinosaurs to persist in our domesticated surroundings.
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