Introduction

The extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous Period, about 65 million
years ago, is a complex and widely debated topic. It was most likely caused by brief
but planet wide environmental changes resulting from the impact of a comet or an
asteroid on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Perhaps the most harmful effect of the
impact was a global blockage of sunlight caused by huge quantities of ash blown from
the impact crater. That was bad enough, but there were other harmful effects as well.
These included widespread forest fires, acid rain, and frosts.

There were two articles by two authors that I was impressed. The first article
wrote by Dale Alan Russell. He wrote the article about Dinosaur Extinctions. The
second article from David George Gordon. He did not write about dinosaur extinction
but wrote about temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD). He said that when
the extinction occurs most likely the dinosaurs there were all-male or all-female.
Here, the two article that I have summarized.

Dinosaur Extinctions by Dale Alan Russell

Controversy surrounds the extinction of the dinosaurs. According to one theory,
dinosaurs were slowly driven to extinction by environmental changes linked to the
gradual withdrawal of shallow seas from the continents at the end of the dinosaurian
era. Proponents of this theory postulate that dinosaurs dwindled in number and variety
over several million years.

An opposing theory proposes that the impact of an asteroid or comet caused

catastrophic destruction of the environment, leading to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Evidence to support this theory includes the discovery of a buried impact crater
(thought to be the result of a large comet striking the earth) that is 200 km (124 mi) in
diameter in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. A spray of debris, called an ejecta
sheet, which was blown from the edge of the crater, has been found over vast regions
of North America. Comet-enriched material from the impact’s fiery explosion was
distributed all over the world. With radiometric dating scientists have used the decay
rates of certain atoms to date the crater, ejecta sheet, and fireball layer. Using similar
techniques to date the dramatic changes in the record of microscopic fossils, they have
found that the impact and the dinosaur extinction occurred nearly simultaneously.
 Although large amounts of ash suggest that most of North and South America
was devastated by fire from the impact, the longer-term planet wide environmental
effects of the impact were ultimately more lethal to life than the fire. Dust blocked
sunlight from the earth’s surface for many months. Scorched sulfur from the impact
site, water vapor and chlorine from the oceans, and nitrogen from the air combined to
produce worldwide fallout of intensely acidic rain. Scientists postulate that darkness
and acid rain caused plant growth to cease. As a result, both the herbivorous
dinosaurs, which were dependent on plants for food, as well as the carnivorous
dinosaurs, which fed on the herbivores, were exterminated. On the other hand,
animals such as frogs, lizards, and small insect-eating turtles and mammals, which
were dependent on organisms that fed on decaying plant material, were more likely to
survive. Their survival indicates that, in most areas, the surface of Earth did not
freeze.

Most scientists believe that an asteroid collision with Earth was the key event
that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous Period about
65 million years ago. Other scientists, however, argue that the asteroid impact was
merely the final blow and that other factors were at work long before the collision.
Science writer David George Gordon, a columnist for Encarta.com, examines the
theory that climate change and a phenomenon known as temperature-dependent sex
determination (TSD) was the real culprit behind the dinosaurs’ demise.

What Really Killed the Dinosaurs?

By David George Gordon
Most scientists believe that an asteroid collision with Earth was the key event that
caused the extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous Period about 65
million years ago. Other scientists, however, argue that the asteroid impact was
merely the final blow and that other factors were at work long before the collision.

There may have been a potential culprit, temperature dependent sex

determination (TSD) that ultimately caused the demise of these giant reptiles. We
believe that dinosaurs were probably much like their modern counterparts: alligators,
crocodiles, and sea turtles. All of these animals today exhibit some form of TSD. For
many reptiles, the incubation temperature of eggs often determines the sex of the
hatchlings. A shift of a few degrees is all it takes for the eggs to yield all-female or
all-male offspring. Take alligator eggs, these leathery-shelled ova are incubated at 86
degrees Fahrenheit during the middle stages of development, only females will hatch.
If the same eggs are incubated at 93 degrees, only males will emerge. At temperatures
between these extremes, a mixed litter of males and females will be born.

ii) TSD in a nut (or turtle) shell

There are three separate TSD strategies exist among the world’s turtles. In some turtle
species, eggs incubated above a certain temperature produce all-female hatchlings. In
others, elevated temperatures produce only males. In a third group, females are
produced at relatively warmer or cooler temperatures, while males are born at more
moderate temperatures. Several species of fish, including the intensively farmed
channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), also rely on temperature to determine their
offspring’s gender.

i) The upside of TSD

The advantage of TSD is that it allows mothers to bring “pre-adapted” young into the
world. What does this mean? Well, for the sake of discussion, let’s say that female
offspring grow faster and mature earlier under warmer conditions. Then it’s to the
advantage, genetically speaking, of mothers to produce more females, thereby
increasing the odds of passing their genes to subsequent generations. If, on the other
hand, male offspring will do better in cooler environments, then it’s a good thing to
give birth to more baby boys.

TSD enables the mother to match the sex of her youngsters with the conditions
of the environment into which they will be born. Sounds good on paper, right? But
while survival of the individual is a worthy goal, this gender-unbalanced method
doesn't exactly perpetuate the species as a whole.

This may have been the problem with TSD's effect on the dinosaurs. For about
50 million years, Earth’s climate was very stable. The TSD mechanism worked well
enough to ensure that the sex ratio for offspring was roughly one to one. However, as
the climate changed and Earth became more of a seasonal planet, that mechanism no
longer worked so well. TSD was effective only for dinosaur that lived in coastal areas,
where temperatures remained stable because of the ocean’s moderating effect on the
climate. Other creatures might have beaten the TSD system by migrating great
distances to egg-laying areas with more stable temperatures.

Follow the sun and build a warm home. That’s what today’s sea turtles do
(Dermochelys coriacea) a real throwback to the days of the dinosaurs. The
leatherback spends some of its time in the chilly waters off Newfoundland,
Greenland, and Iceland. But when it’s time for this giant-sized reptile to reproduce, it
heads for more hospitable climes, coming ashore to lay its eggs in the warm sand of
tropical beaches throughout the world. The ancestors of modern alligators and
crocodiles may have survived by building nests of decaying plant matter, a tactic their
descendants continue to this day. When a female alligator is ready to lay eggs, she
first clears away the vegetation from a 13- to 18-foot circle. Then she carefully
constructs a pile of rotting grass, other plants, and mud. That pile may be 3.5 to 6 feet
across and 1 to 2 feet high. Like a gardener’s compost pile, it can generate heat,
matching the pivotal temperature for TSD of alligator eggs.

Some dinosaurs may have built similar nests, probably to regulate the
temperature of their eggs. Dinosaur hunters periodically find such nests filled with
eggs, their precious cargo often arranged in a spiraling pattern. In at least one
instance, a nest’s builder, a late Cretaceous era critter called an oviraptor, was
discovered sitting atop such a nest.

While the demise of the dinosaurs is nowadays routinely blamed on a huge

asteroid that slammed into Earth, it is believes this was just the final blow to a
population already suffering from gender inequalities because of climate changes.
Thus, it’s likely that the Cretaceous period ended not with a bang but with a whimper
—most likely from all-male or all-female choruses of dinosaurs.

Conclusion
There are others theory about the dinosaur extinction with their own research and
explanation. But, they are still unsure about the truth. All their only main source was
rock layers and fossils. Unfortunately, samples from the late Permian and early
Triassic are notoriously difficult to come by. The fossil record across the boundary is
plagued by poor preservation, a lack of rock to sample and other problems, including
access. If we cannot make a dimensional time machine, the secret of the dinosaur
extinction will remain mystery.

References
Dale Alan 2004, Dinosaur Extinctions, Russell, Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia.
© 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation.
David George Gordon 2004, What Really Killed the Dinosaurs? Microsoft ® Encarta
® Encyclopedia © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation.