Baylor study finds dinosaurs were not in decline before extinction event

WACO, Texas — A new study published on Thursday, co-authored by researchers from Baylor University, New Mexico State University, the Smithsonian Institution and several international collaborators, suggests that dinosaurs had thriving ecosystems longer than previously believed.

For decades, scientists have theorized that dinosaur populations were already in decline before the asteroid strike that triggered their extinction. However, the new findings challenge that idea.

Researchers discovered traces of dinosaur ecosystems in the Naashoibito Member of the Kirtland Formation in northwestern New Mexico. Using high-precision dating techniques, they determined that fossils from these rocks are between 66.4 million and 66 million years old, placing them at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary.

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