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No. By the time the dinosaurs went extinct mammals still played a relatively minor role ecologically. It is generally accepted that an asteroid or comet struck the earth, causing ecosystems to collapse worldwide and resulting the extinction of many groups of animals including the dinosaurs.
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SteveNo, early mammals did not cause the extinction of dinosaurs. The extinction of dinosaurs is believed to have been caused by a combination of factors, such as a large asteroid impact and volcanic activity, which led to drastic environmental changes that the dinosaurs could not survive. Mammals actually flourished and diversified after the extinction of the dinosaurs.
In the Mesozoic era, most ecological niches for higher animals were filled by reptiles. With their extinction around 66 million years ago, most of the niches were available for mammals, including herbivores, carnivores, and insectivores. Mammals, which create their own body heat, were better prepared to exist in temperate and cold climates than cold-blooded reptiles.
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Is it possible the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs has any connection with the existence of humans?
It is possible that the asteroid impact that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs created conditions that allowed mammals, including early human ancestors, to thrive and evolve. The elimination of dominant dinosaur species may have opened up ecological niches that mammals were then able to occupy and evolve into various forms, eventually leading to the emergence of humans.
What are mammals in mesozoic era?
Mammals in the Mesozoic era were small, mostly nocturnal creatures that lived alongside dinosaurs. They evolved from reptiles and were characterized by their fur, ability to produce milk, and differentiated teeth. These early mammals played a crucial role in the evolution of the mammalian lineage that eventually led to the diverse group we see today.
What are the dominant organisms or the tertiary period?
During the Tertiary period, dominant organisms included mammals such as early primates, rodents, horses, and whales. These mammals diversified and expanded in various environments as the climate changed, leading to the rise of new species and the extinction of others. Birds also continued to diversify during this time.
251 million years ago what dominated the earth?
251 million years ago was the time of the Permian Extinction, the single largest extinction of biological life in the history of Earth. Before the extinction the dominant animals were probably therapsids, mammal like animals that were either mammals or the ancestors of mammals.
What major animal group replaced the dinosaurs and reptiles in the Cenozoic Era?
mammals The mass extinction that occurred at the end of the Cretaceous period left a lot of empty spaces for the surviving animals to fill. Lizards and crocodilians were around, but in general, land life in the earliest millennia of the Cenozoic was sparse. No animals really replaced the dinosaurs in the early years of the Paleocene epoch, but if you're asking which of the tetrapods eventually took over, I think it's a tossup between the birds and the mammals, depending on which continent you're considering and how a many millions of years you wish to traverse. In presumptive South America and Europe, the mammals were primarily small insectivores and/or herbivores; based on the fossil evidence, none had teeth that were designed for cutting meat. The birds that survived the extinction pulses vied with the mammals for dominance and the issue swung back and forth for millennia. By the late Paleocene, in Europe and South America, huge, very obnoxious-looking birds - some as tall as 7-8 feet with huge, very aggressive bills - became the dominant meat-eaters. In Asia, this seems not to have been the case. .
