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The Mesozoic terminated in boreal spring
During, M.A.D.; Smit, J.; Voeten, D.F.A.E.; Berruyer, C.; Tafforeau, P.; Sanchez, S.; Stein, K.H.W.; Verdegaal-Warmerdam, D.J.A.; van der Lubbe, J.H.J.L. (2022). The Mesozoic terminated in boreal spring. Nature (Lond.) 603(7899): 91-94. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04446-1
In: Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science. Nature Publishing Group: London. ISSN 0028-0836; e-ISSN 1476-4687
Peer reviewed article  
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Keyword
    Marine/Coastal
Authors  Top 
  • During, M.A.D.
  • Smit, J.
  • Voeten, D.F.A.E.
  • Berruyer, C.
  • Tafforeau, P.
  • Sanchez, S.
  • Stein, K.H.W.
  • Verdegaal-Warmerdam, D.J.A.
  • van der Lubbe, J.H.J.L.
Abstract
    The Cretaceous–Palaeogene mass extinction around 66 million years ago was triggered by the Chicxulub asteroid impact on the present-day Yucatán Peninsula. This event caused the highly selective extinction that eliminated about 76% of species including all non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs, ammonites, rudists and most marine reptiles. The timing of the impact and its aftermath have been studied mainly on millennial timescales, leaving the season of the impact unconstrained. Here, by studying fishes that died on the day the Mesozoic era ended, we demonstrate that the impact that caused the Cretaceous–Palaeogene mass extinction took place during boreal spring. Osteohistology together with stable isotope records of exceptionally preserved perichondral and dermal bones in acipenseriform fishes from the Tanis impact-induced seiche deposits reveal annual cyclicity across the final years of the Cretaceous period. Annual life cycles, including seasonal timing and duration of reproduction, feeding, hibernation and aestivation, vary strongly across latest Cretaceous biotic clades. We postulate that the timing of the Chicxulub impact in boreal spring and austral autumn was a major influence on selective biotic survival across the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary.
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STARDUST II is a project funded by the INTERREG III A programme (France/Walloon Region/Flanders French-Flemish subprogramme) of the European Community's Regional Development Fund.
Hosted by the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)