Didn’t we all grow up believing that dinosaurs all died off in some sudden, climatic catastrophe?

Actually, that probably wasn’t the case.

“There are serious problems with the sudden impact theories of dinosaur extinction, not the least of which is that dinosaurs declined and disappeared over a period of hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years,” said George Poinar Jr., a courtesy professor of zoology at Oregon State University. “That time frame is just not consistent with the effects of an asteroid impact.”

So what killed them? Most likely, disease born by insects (we also all grew up believing insects would inherit the earth, didn’t we?)

“We don’t suggest that the appearance of biting insects and the spread of disease are the only things that relate to dinosaur extinction,” Poinar said. “Other geologic and catastrophic events certainly played a role. But by themselves, such events do not explain a process that in reality took a very, very long time, perhaps millions of years. Insects and diseases do provide that explanation.”

I guess the dinosaurs could have used some Wal-Mart doctors.

Book: Dinosaurus: The Complete Guide to Dinosaurs