Many previous studies attribute the success of the dinosaurs to their "superiority" over other species, but a new study released Thursday now say they may have just gotten lucky.
Stephen Brusatte from Columbia University and collaborators studied the fossil record to determine the relationship between the evolution of dinosaurs alongside their main competitors, the crurotarsan archosaurs, during the Late Triassic period.
Their findings reveal that, contrary to popular belief, dinosaurs did not replace archosaurs as the dominant race on the planet through competition for niches and resources.
Instead, the researchers show that dinosaurs and archosaurs evolved side-by-side, occupying the same niches, for the first 30 million years of the dinosaurs' existence.
These conclusions imply that the archosaurs more likely died out by chance, rather than as a result of competitive replacement, and that dinosaurs were not preordained for success, as many believed, but were probably the fortunate beneficiaries of the extinction of other group.
The article of their findings will appear in the Sept. 12 issue of journal Science. |
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