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How did dinosaurs go extinct?

How did dinosaurs go extinct?

John Rafferty, associate editor of Earth sciences of Encyclopædia Britannica, discussing the extinction of dinosaurs by the impact of a meteorite or comet.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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News •

This may be the best evidence yet that dinosaur blood can fossilize • Nov. 6, 2026, 11:00 AM ET (Science News)
Scientists say they’ve found the strongest evidence yet of red blood cells in a dinosaur bone • Nov. 3, 2026, 1:16 PM ET (CTV News)
Traces of ancient blood found in 115 million-year-old dinosaur fossil, new study claims • Nov. 2, 2026, 4:01 PM ET (Live Science)
Strange beaked ‘hell chicken’ is the first fruit-eating dinosaur • Oct. 30, 2026, 11:06 AM ET (CTV News)
Meet the 'hell chicken,' a feisty little dinosaur who feasted on fruit • Oct. 27, 2026, 6:01 PM ET (CBC)

Transcript

There are several theories that attempt to explain how the dinosaurs became extinct. I think that the most viable theory for the extinction of dinosaurs has to do with the impact of a large meteorite or a large comet in the vicinity of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. When the meteorite or comet hit it threw up a massive amount of dust and debris into the atmosphere, which stayed in the atmosphere for at least several months. And during that time it reduced the amount of sunlight that hit the Earth, and so there was less sunlight available for plants. Now, as the plant-eating dinosaurs died off, meat-eating dinosaurs also died off because there was less food to eat. 65.5 million years ago not all dinosaurs went extinct. A branch of the dinosaurs produced descendants that we know today as birds.
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