The dinosaurs had a good run and a brutal end that, according to new research, somehow got even more brutal after they died. Because while the asteroid that slammed into Earth 66 million years ago wiped out most large life on the planet, it apparently created ideal conditions for fungi to inherit the Earth, feeding on the global buffet of dead dinos.
According to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers found evidence that massive fungal blooms spread across the globe in the aftermath of the Chicxulub asteroid impact that ended the reign of the dinosaurs, essentially turning the planet into a giant heap of compost that gave fungi plenty to eat.
Researchers Rosanna Baker and Arturo Casadevall from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health examined ancient sediment samples from sites in Colorado and North Dakota, looking for fossilized fungal spores around the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction boundary.
The Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Created Ideal Conditions for Fungus
Often, in these kinds of experiments, researchers use harsh acid treatments that can kill off the delicate fungal remains. To keep the ancient fungi intact, they instead used sodium hexametaphosphate, a non-acidic compound that allowed them to identify two major fungal spikes.
One started tens of thousands of years before the asteroid strike, which they suspect was likely tied to the volcanic eruptions of the Deccan Traps in what is now India. Those eruptions filled the Earth’s atmosphere with sulfur dioxide, ash, and tons of climate-altering debris that ravaged the global ecosystem way before the asteroid delivered the final blow.
The second, even larger fungal bloom happened after the impact. The asteroid kicked off an “impact winter,” which filled the atmosphere with dust and soot, blocked sunlight, and collapsed the global food chain, resulting in a planet filled with dead organic matter. It created the perfect conditions for massive fungal blooms that munched their way across the planet.
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