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Re: Gene: Meteor May Not Have Destroyed Dinosaurs Afterall?
- To: <meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com>
- Subject: Re: Gene: Meteor May Not Have Destroyed Dinosaurs Afterall?
- From: "Phil Bagnall" <phil@ticetboo.demon.co.uk>
- Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1999 06:01:12 +0100
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- Reply-To: "Phil Bagnall" <phil@ticetboo.demon.co.uk>
- Resent-Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 08:18:44 -0400 (EDT)
- Resent-From: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
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> The metabolism of small burrowing mammals is not
>dependent on sunlight, and they feed on vegetation.
I think one of the problems with the K-T and other mass extinction events is
that everyone knows the basic scenario but the devil, as they say, is in the
detail.
For example, there is a good chance that a lot of creatures that survived
the initial blast and impact winter would have died from nickel poisoning.
Nickel is highly toxic and can readily be absorbed from the soil by plants,
thus entering the food web. It is only when you start looking at the details
do you begin to realise that the "Great Dying" was far more complex that is
often portrayed in popular science magazines and programmes.
Phil Bagnall
www.ticetboo.demon.co.uk
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