title: The extinction of the dinosaurs.
abstract: Non-avian dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago, geologically coincident with the impact of a large bolide (comet or asteroid) during an interval of massive volcanic eruptions and changes in temperature and sea level. There has long been fervent debate about how these events affected dinosaurs. We review a wealth of new data accumulated over the past two decades, provide updated and novel analyses of long-term dinosaur diversity trends during the latest Cretaceous, and discuss an emerging consensus on the extinction's tempo and causes. Little support exists for a global, long-term decline across non-avian dinosaur diversity prior to their extinction at the end of the Cretaceous. However, restructuring of latest Cretaceous dinosaur faunas in North America led to reduced diversity of large-bodied herbivores, perhaps making communities more susceptible to cascading extinctions. The abruptness of the dinosaur extinction suggests a key role for the bolide impact, although the coarseness of the fossil record makes testing the effects of Deccan volcanism difficult.
authors: School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, U.K.
authors: Stephen L
authors: SL
authors: Brusatte
authors: Richard J
authors: RJ
authors: Butler
authors: Paul M
authors: PM
authors: Barrett
authors: Matthew T
authors: MT
authors: Carrano
authors: David C
authors: DC
authors: Evans
authors: Graeme T
authors: GT
authors: Lloyd
authors: Philip D
authors: PD
authors: Mannion
authors: Mark A
authors: MA
authors: Norell
authors: Daniel J
authors: DJ
authors: Peppe
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Upchurch
authors: Thomas E
authors: TE
authors: Williamson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D025061:Dinosaurs / Q000145:classification; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D005580:Fossils
keywords: Chicxulub impact; Cretaceous-Paleogene; Deccan Traps; dinosaurs; end-Cretaceous; extinctions; global change; macroevolution; mass extinction; palaeontology