Introduction
It is well documented that something catastrophic happened at the end of the Cretaceous period. What precisely happened in these last years of dinosaur dominance is still being vigorously debated, and every theory ferociously analyzed and questioned. But one thing is certain, Dinosaurs are extinct.
The most popular theory is that which describes a large asteroid, 6 miles in diameter, crashing into the Yucatan Peninsula roughly around the time of the Great Extinction. It wasn’t the only thing that was assaulting our world. The Deccan Traps in India, as well as the proliferation of volcanoes, all seemed to suggest the extinction may have been caused by volcanic activity.
Volcanic activity is believed to have started the Permian Mass Extinction almost 185 million years earlier, but there is strong evidence this extinction was caused by an asteroid. The discovery of large traces of iridium, an element rare on Earth but common in asteroids, precisely around the time of the K-T Extinction seems to suggest it was indeed extraterrestrial.
Regardless of the cause, the result was obvious, the complete and utter extinction of all the world’s dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and plesiosaurs. But what if it had gone differently?
What if the asteroid was only half as big, and crashed in the oceans of the Pacific, near the Philippines? The effects would have been far smaller, though still disastrous. A great dust cloud would envelop the earth, causing the plants to die off. However, certain areas of the world would be less affected then others.
The dust cloud might be just a little bit less thick, for example, and perhaps herbivores could survive a little longer. In turn, predators like Tyrannosaurus Rex and Dakotaraptor would be capable of surviving as well.
By the time the extinction ebbed away, dinosaurs would be extinct in Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, Antarctica. Yet, in the Americas, the population is able to scrape by. However, things are different. Only a few groups of predators, and the numerous and adaptable hadrosaurs survive.
Yet as the world recovers, the vacuum allows mammals to rise. The few groups of dinosaurs that continue, the Tyrannosaurs, raptors, and hadrosaurs of the north, and the Abelisaurs and Titanosaurs of the South struggle.
The extinction necessitates changes. The size of the larger dinosaurs dramatically changes. Within roughly 10 million years, it is likely they would be only half as big. Hadrosaurs would gradually be outcompeted by mammal grazers due to their ability to protect their young in their bodies due to pregnancy and their ability to eat less. By roughly 30 Million BC, with the rise of large mammalian herbivores, Hadrosaurs would most likely be extinct.
However, it is unlikely the same fate would befall the carnivorous dinosaurs. The sheer size and strength of Tyrannosaurs, and Abelisaurs, as well as the cunning and speed of raptors would allow them to continue to rule as Apex predators, and with the return of large prey, they could again grow to greater size.
Over the next twenty million years, these dinosaurs would proliferate and diversify. However, they would likely not return to Eurasia and Africa due to the lack of connectivity between continents until the ice ages.
The ice ages would be both a blessing and a struggle for the dinosaurian predators. The cold could be fought if they were warm blooded, which an active predator like T-rex or its hypothetical descendants would likely be. In addition, the arrival of enormous prey like Mammoths would give them better access to food.
However, hardier, and more aggressive prey would also be dangerous.
In addition, the arrival of another creature, would change everything. The arrival, of humanity…
This is just the introduction setting up a story I am writing. Let me know what you think.
