Dinosaurs were thriving before the asteroid hit, new analysis suggests

A ridge of rocks in New Mexico holds a snapshot of a dinosaur heyday. Fossils of crested hadrosaurs, long-necked sauropods and a variety of plants all point to a flourishing ecosystem.

New dating of the rocks now reveals this thriving scene existed not long before an asteroid slammed into Earth 66 million years ago. The analysis bolsters evidence that dinosaurs weren’t necessarily on a slow march to extinction before the asteroid dealt the final blow, researchers report October 23 in Science.

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