How did dinosaurs die? Which theory is the closest to be true? Let’s have a look at some of the them.
1 Explosion of mega volcano
One of the most popular theories, on how dinosaurs became extinct, is about mega volcanoes. Volcanoes at that time were bigger
and more deadly. The theory says that multiple volcanoes exploded in a short period of time. That made not only huge lava lakes and heatwaves but it also increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and hid the sunlight behind the smoke.
Lava lakes were the least of worries. Most of the dinosaurs didn't have homes and the fire burnt food of the herbivorous dinosaurs. Adding the fact that sunlight could be gone for months, dinosaurs didn't fight only the increased temperatures but also shortage of food.
Possibility: 90% It's not that likely that enough volcanoes exploded in so short period of time.
2 Death of low temperatures
There aren’t many people who believe this theory. It’s also not so popular either. Let’s look at this theory.
When around 65 million years ago the temperature dropped rapidly, the dinosaurs, which weren’t used to low temperatures, died out. Freezing, starving or fighting for food and shelter- that was a probable scenario for them at the time.
Possibility: 45% The dinosaurs wouldn’t die out because of cold. They would adjust to the new conditions and survive.
3 Allergies
This is the most ridiculous theory. The theory says that dinosaurs died out of hay fever. Yeah... I don’t think I have to explain... “The monsters that ruled the earth for 100 million years died of hay fever. Check how!”
Possibility: 0%
4 Death of... not reproducing fast enough?
This theory doesn’t sound possible but seems to be probable.
The older the dinosaurs got, the easier they were about to kill. No carnivorous animal could just walk past a weak dinosaur and not kill it. That's why probably older dinosaurs died before reproducing or while they were protecting their eggs. Younger ones didn't want to reproduce so they could still rule the land.
Possibility: 25%
What actually happened?
The reason on why 75% of earth species died, was a meteor. It hit the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexicoone- one of a few spots, in which it caused such a huge damage. The crash not only made fire appear everywhere on the planet but also caused huge tsunamis and something that is called nuclear winter. Nuclear winter appears when the sun gets covered by dust and smoke caused by fire and the impact. Most dinosaurs weren't able to make it through this. Since most of the dinosaurs that died were herbivorous, the ones left had to fight for food, which would make the half of the remaining dinosaurs gone. There were probably also other reasons that they became extinct, but at the moment there is no information about it.
Sources:
dinoanimals.pl/forum/viewtopic.php?t=78
https://dinozaury.org/o-dinozaurach/jak-wyginely-dinozaury