Feathers May Have Helped Dinosaurs Survive Their First Apocalypse
Dinosaurs ruled the earth during the Jurassic period. But first, they had to make it through the end of the world.
Most geologists suspect enormous volcanic eruptions were to blame for the mass extinction event at the end of the preceding Triassic period. This cataclysm spewed huge amounts of gases that geologists suspect altered the global climate and led to the extinction of nearly 80 percent of life on the planet—though the dinosaurs somehow survived and later thrived. Scientists know most extinctions took place among…