What If Dinosaurs Had Survived the Asteroids?
GROWING UNREST
By Sarah Wells | Live Science
Nonavian dinosaurs have been extinct for 66 million years, but what would have happened if they'd survived?
One fateful day 66 million years ago, the dinosaurs — which had inhabited Earth for about 165 million years — got a nasty surprise: A roughly 9-mile-wide (15 kilometers) asteroid crashed into what is now Mexico, triggering tsunamis, wildfires and acid rain and causing vast amounts of debris to block out the sun. As a result, 75% of species on Earth, including the nonavian dinosaurs, died off within months of the impact.
But what if the asteroid had never struck Earth? Would the dinosaurs have continued their reign over the planet? Could they have survived ice ages and evolved to become more intelligent?
According to paleontologists, it's possible that dinosaurs would have continued to evolve and rule Earth. After all, they'd already survived and adapted for 165 million years, which included surviving rising and falling seas, temperature spikes and volcanic eruptions, according to Steve Brusatte, a professor of paleontology at the University of Edinburgh. But this would have made it impossible for our mammal ancestors to evolve the way they did.
Some scientists think dinosaurs would have met their doom anyway because extinctions appear to have outpaced the emergence of new dinosaur species. But Brusatte isn't convinced.
"For those of us who collect fossils of the last dinosaurs, we can see quite clearly that everywhere in the world … there [was] a great diversity and abundance of dinosaurs," Brusatte told Live Science in an email. "It seems remarkably clear to me that dinosaurs were strong, successful, still diverse, [and] still at the top of their game when the asteroid hit."
[A catastrophic asteroid impact 66 million years ago wiped out 75% of species on Earth, including the nonavian dinosaurs. (Image credit: MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images)]
Dinosaurs in an Ice Age?
But could dinosaurs have lived in frigid conditions, such as ice ages? With the exception of some dinosaurs that lived in snowy climates, the majority didn't. According to Brusatte, some dinosaurs may have fared well under new extreme conditions.
"Many of them had feathers, [so] they could insulate themselves just like mammals can," Brusatte said. In addition, some dinosaurs, such as Tyrannosaurus rex, were likely warm blooded, research finds, meaning they weren't completely at the mercy of a changing climate.
It's also possible that dinosaurs would have evolved new defenses against the cold during extreme weather. Take mammoths, for example, which evolved around 5 million years ago in South Africa. About 800,000 years ago, during the last ice age, some mammoths grew woolly coats as they expanded to the much colder region of Eurasia.
Would Dinosaurs Have Become More Intelligent?
Given enough time, could dinosaurs have evolved into more intelligent creatures? In a 1982 thought experiment, American-Canadian paleontologist Dale Russell wondered whether troodontid dinosaurs could have evolved sentience had they not died in the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. He dubbed them humanoid dinosaurs, or dinosauroids. He based this idea on the fact that one species of troodontid already had a "large brain, stereoscopic vision, opposable fingers and bipedal stature," and might have evolved to have an "encephalization quotient similar to that of Homo sapiens" if it had survived. His collaborator Ron Séguin, an artist and model maker, made a reconstruction, showing a green-skinned creature.
But over the years, paleontologists have dismissed this idea, calling it unrealistic and too anthropomorphic-looking. A 2023 study found that "neither troodon nor any other dinosaur could have begun a primate-like lineage that evolved to a human level of intelligence."
That said, modern-day birds show that dinosaurs may have been fairly intelligent. "The dinosaurs that live on today — birds — are really smart," Brusatte said. "They actually have more neurons in their brains than mammals, on average. [But] could birds one day achieve human-like cognition? I don't know."
[A reconstruction of the troodontid dinosaur Stenonychosaurus inequalis behind a model of a dinosauroid, a thought experiment put forward by paleontologist Dale Russell, who wondered if some dinosaurs could have achieved sentience had they not died in the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. (Image credit: Dale Russell and Ron Seguin © Canadian Museum of Nature)]
What Would Have Happened to Mammals?
Mammal evolution would have faced a severe setback if the asteroid had not hit. Brusatte said that if large dinosaurs had survived, the small, rodent-like mammals that already existed alongside them may not have had the same opportunity to evolve and grow larger.
"I suspect that mammals would have mostly or entirely stayed small for many millions of years more," he said. "Although with cooling temperatures and the last Ice Age, that may have given small mammals — as warm-blooded furry creatures that could handle the cold — an opportunity to get larger, and maybe giant dinosaurs would have gone by the wayside."
But that doesn't mean that humans would have emerged. "While furry little mammals may have still fared okay, human beings would still likely never have evolved, Paul Sereno, a paleontologist and professor of biology at the University of Chicago, told Live Science in an email.
"We evolved in a mammalian world impossible to have taken place with large nonavian dinosaurs running around," Sereno said. "We are not inevitable."
It's the extinction of land-dwelling dinosaurs, and possibly the extinction of a competing group of mammals, that gave our primate ancestors the opportunity to thrive and evolve, a 2021 study found. If the asteroid had missed Earth, it's likely that humans, at least as we know them, never would have existed.
"History would have been totally different," Brusatte said. "Our exact ancestors surely would have never had their chance to evolve."
Coincidences?
Verne, The Visionary
One of Jules Verne’s most recognized works, From the Earth to the Moon, which was published in 1865, is about a cannon called “Columbiad,” which fires a human-crewed projectile aimed at Selene. Interestingly, 104 years later, the Apollo XI spacecraft module that completed the mission to the Moon was named “Columbia.”
The name Columbia was first suggested to Michael Collins by Julian Scheer, one of NASA’s public affairs assistants. He mentioned the name offhandedly in a telephone conversation, saying, “Some of us up here have been kicking around Columbia.” Although the name initially seemed a bit “over the top” to Collins, he eventually named the module that because he couldn’t think of a better choice. Besides, his crewmates Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong had no other suggestions. Then, Collins realized the similarity of the name to Columbiad, the cannon invented by Verne.
Striking Resemblance
The famous driver Enzo Anselmo Ferrari, founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix racing team and later of the Ferrari brand, died on August 14, 1988, after having devoted his entire life to automobiles.
Two months later, on October 15, Mesut Özil was born in Germany. He is a soccer midfielder and could pass as Ferrari’s identical twin. The resemblance is extraordinary and, moreover, the coincidence of the dates is very striking.
History of Titanic Written in Novel
The sinking of the Titanic was a historical event that shocked humankind. It was impossible to predict or even imagine, since it had been advertised as unsinkable.
However, several years earlier, in 1898, the writer Morgan Robertson published a novel called Futility. It narrated the shipwreck that occurred after the sinking of an ocean liner called “Titan,” which collided with an iceberg. The similarities were striking.
Handel-Hendrix Coincidence
The composer Georg Friedrich Händel, one of the musical geniuses of the 17th and 18th centuries, lived at number 25 Brook Street in London’s Mayfair district. In that same street, at number 23, lived another musical genius of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix.
One lived there until 1759; the other in the late 1960s. Besides this, the sound of their surnames is very similar. Today the house is a museum.
Anthony Hopkins' Long-Lost Book
Before becoming a major Hollywood actor, Antony Hopkins was offered a role in The Girl from Petrovka. Committed to his work, he searched for a copy of the original novel, written by George Feifer, so that he could play the character more faithfully. To the actor’s surprise, he could not find a copy of the book anywhere.
However, on one occasion, while walking in London, he saw an abandoned book on a park bench, and, of all the books lost in the world, it was precisely The Girl from Petrovka. But the anecdote does not end there because the actor met George Feifer himself during the filming. The writer commented that he did not have a copy of his own book, as he had once lent it to a friend who had lost it in London. So Hopkins took out his copy and showed it to him: of course, it was the same one.
Twins Reunited
In 1979, 39-year-old twins were reunited after being separated at 3 weeks of age. But their reunion was full of surprises: both were named Jim (names given to them by their foster parents), both loved math and carpentry, and both worked in security.
But even more curious was that their first wives were both named Linda. They had divorced and remarried women named Betty. Their sons were named James Allan and James Alan.
Curious Case of Eleanor Rigby
John Lennon and Paul McCartney met at St. Peter’s Church in Woolton in 1957. This friendship changed the history of music, as they would later form The Beatles. Surprisingly, in the same place where they met, a few meters away, was the grave of a woman named Eleanor Rigby.
It was 9 years later when Paul McCartney wrote “Eleanor Rigby.” According to the data, the musician named his character after the actress Eleanor Bron and a Bristol store called Rigby & Evens Ltd. He later said that perhaps the grave had something to do with the name of his song, although not directly.
Stephen Hawkings & Numbers
We know that time is relative and that coincidences exist, and Stephen Hawking’s death comes to prove that. It occurred on March 14, which is a very significant day because it coincides with Einstein’s 139th birthday and the day on which Pi is celebrated.
Fate of a Stewardness
Some people are lucky in the most mysterious ways. Young nurse Violet Jessop began working as a stewardess on the Olympic when it collided with another ship. Fortunately, there were no fatalities at the time and, despite the damage, the ship was able to return to port without sinking.
But a year later, Jessop was transferred to the Titanic, which struck an iceberg in 1912. She survived by boarding lifeboat 16 and was asked to take care of a baby. But life put her to another test when she boarded the Britannic and there was an unexpected explosion, and she survived again. In fact, she died at the age of 83 from heart disease.
Mark Twain's Birthday
Every 76 years, Halley’s comet passes by the Earth and can be seen in the sky. In 1835, one of the years in which this phenomenon occurred, Mark Twain was born. Moreover, the writer predicted that his death would occur in the same year when the comet passed by again.
“The Almighty has said, no doubt, ’Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together,’” he said. Most surprisingly, he was not wrong, he died a day after the comet reached its closest point to Earth.
Time Traveler?
Google Maps is becoming increasingly popular, and it predicts more and more eventualities that could occur on the road. And although we already know of some remarkable images that the application has given us, undoubtedly the one of Leanne Cartwright stands out.
The so-called "time traveler" has been captured in the same place, with the same pose and carrying a bag 10 years apart. However, she didn’t know it until her husband searched for the first image and then, found the second one.
Mexico & Its Earthquakes
Mexico is a country famous for its traditions, magic, and folklore. But in the last 100 years, there have been earthquakes that go beyond scientific explanation. On September 19, 1985, Mexico City woke up to one of the strongest earthquakes ever. Since then, nothing has been the same, and every year, a drill is carried out to avoid catastrophes.
What is interesting is that in 2017 and 2022, a few minutes after conducting the drills, there have been earthquakes, both higher than 7 on the Richter scale, which makes them very dangerous. Undoubtedly, September 19 is a date difficult to forget for Mexicans.
