The first placental mammals, including ancient primates and predators, appeared on Earth even before the mass extinction of the dinosaurs after the fall of the asteroid, which means that they managed to survive there. This conclusion was made by scientists in the article, published in the journal Current Biology.
The Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction is a mass extinction of animals on Earth that occurred 66 million years ago as a result of the fall of a massive asteroid on the territory of the modern Yucatan Peninsula. This catastrophe caused the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs, other animals, and would have greatly boosted the evolution of birds and mammals.
However, there has been a long discussion among scientists whether placental animals (the largest group of mammals) existed before the asteroid impact, or whether they appeared only after the extinction of the dinosaurs. Fossilized remains of ancient animals have only been found in rocks less than 66 million years old, so this group was thought to have originated after a mass extinction. However, genetic studies on mammals have indicated that their true age is higher.
In their study, scientists from the University of Bristol used a statistical analysis of the diversity of fossil remains to estimate when placental animals appeared on Earth.
“We collected thousands of placental animal fossils and were able to see the origin and extinction patterns of various groups. Based on this, we were able to estimate when placental mammals first appeared,” explained Emily Carlyle, author of the study.
“By studying both origin and extinction, we can see more clearly the impact of events such as the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event or the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (55 million ‘years),” co-writer Phil Donahue said.
The study showed that the first primates, from which modern hominins and humans later descended, as well as lagomorphs and predatory mammals, appeared shortly before the asteroid impact, meaning they coexisted for some time with the dinosaurs.
“Our analysis showed that primates appeared 80 to 66 million years ago, that is, less than 20 million years before the mass extinction of 66 million years ago. “, explained Carlisle to Russian media. “Lagomorphs appeared closer to mass extinction, 70-66 million years ago, and predators appeared 68-65 million years ago, i.e. just before mass extinction.”
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