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The Asteroid-in-Spring Hypothesis Two paleontologists have turned on each other, each claiming to have found new evidence about the worst day on Earth. By Kerry Howley, Intelligencer, August 27, 2024 Yours, Paul H.

There is a very interesting paper about the tracks of footprints of birds, pterosaurs, dinosaurs found just below the K/Pg boundary in the Las Encinas Formation, State of Coahuila, Mexico. Although the PDF is in Spanish, a more or less usable translation can be obtained using document option of Goggle Translate. The open access paper is: Serrano-Brañas, C., Espinosa-Chávez, B., Flores-Ventura, J., Barrera-Guevara, D., Torres-Rodríguez, E., Cadena-González, D., and Vega, F.J., 2024. Huellas de aves, pterosaurios, dinosaurios y el límite K/Pg en Coahuila, México (Footprints of birds, pterosaurs, dinosaurs and the K/Pg limit in Coahuila, Mexico). Revista-Maya-Geociencias, Febrero 2024. pp. 96-105. LInks to PDFs of Febrero 2024 and other issues of Revista Maya Geociencia A related paper is: Serrano-Brañas, C.I., Espinosa-Chávez, B., Ventura, J.F., Barrera-Guevara, D., Torres-Rodríguez, E. and Vega, F.J., 2022. New insights on the avian trace fossil record from NE Mexico: evidences on the diversity of latest Maastrichtian web-footed bird tracks. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 113, p.103686. Yours, Paul H.

“Chill Factor” – The Volcanic Plot Twist in Dinosaur Extinction SciTechDaily, December 4, 2023 The open access paper is: Callegaro, S., Baker, D.R., Renne, P.R., Melluso, L., Geraki, K., Whitehouse, M.J., De Min, A. and Marzoli, A., 2023. Recurring volcanic winters during the latest Cretaceous: Sulfur and fluorine budgets of Deccan Traps lavas. Science Advances, 9(40), p.eadg8284. Yours, Paul H.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220812-dinosaur-extinction-why-did-mammals-survive

New open access paper about mass extinctions. Pankhurst, M.J., Stevenson, C.J. and Coldwell, B.C., 2021. Meteorites that produce K-feldspar-rich ejecta blankets correspond to mass extinctions. Journal of the Geological Society. 179, jgs2021-055, 1 December 2021 Yours,

How the Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Spurred the Evolution of the Modern Rainforest New evidence from fossil plants shows today’s South American rainforests arose in the wake of Earth’s fifth mass extinction. Smithsonian Magazine Prior to the Chicxulub impact, rainforests looked very different Plant fossils from Colombia show a turnover from conifers to today's forests. by Doug Johnson, Ars Technica, April 1, 2021 Paper Carvalho, M.R., Jaramillo, C., de la Parra, F. et al. 2021. Extinction at the end-Cretaceous and the origin of modern Neotropical rainforests. Science. Vol. 372, Issue 6537, pp. 63-68 Related papers Wing, S.L., Herrera, F., Jaramillo, C.A., Gómez-Navarro, C., Wilf, P. and Labandeira, C.C., 2009. Late Paleocene fossils from the Cerrejón Formation, Colombia, are the earliest record of Neotropical rainforest. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(44), pp.18627-18632. Graham, H.V., Herrera, F., Jaramillo, C., Wing, S.L. and Freeman, K.H., 2019. Canopy structure in Late Cretaceous and Paleocene forests as reconstructed from carbon isotope analyses of fossil leaves. Geology, 47(10), pp.977-981. Yours, Paul H.

Patagonian fossil leaves reveal rapid recovery from dinosaur extinction event, November 7, 2016 http://phys.org/news/2016-11-patagonian-fossil-reveal-rapid-recovery.html Ancient insect bite sheds light on mass extinction event that killed dinosaurs: Insect damage on fossilised leaves suggest biodiversity recovered quicker in the Southern hemisphere. by Léa Surugue, November 7, 2016 http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ancient-insect-bite-sheds-light-mass-extinction-event-that-killed-dinosaurs-1590317 outhern Hemisphere bouced back TWICE as fast as the North from the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3906280/Southern-Hemisphere-recovered-TWICE-fast-North-asteroid-wiped-dinosaurs.html Fossilized Leaves Reveal How Earth Recovered After Mass Extinction by Jen Viegas, Seeker, November 7, 2016 http://www.seeker.com/fossilized-leaves-reveal-how-earth-recovered-after-mass-extinction-2083544755.html Southern Hemisphere recovered faster from dino strike BBC News, http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37872115 After Dinosaur Extinction, Some Insects Recovered More Quickly, Trilobites Blog, by Nicholas St. Fleur. NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/08/science/fossilized-leaves-insect-bites-patagonia.html?_r=0 The paper is: Donovan, M. P., A. Iglesias, P. Wilf, C. C. Labandeira, and N. R. Cúneo, 2016, Rapid recovery of Patagonian plant–insect associations after the end-Cretaceous extinction, Nature Ecology & Evolution. (2016). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-016-0012 http://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-016-0012 Yours, Paul H.

Meteorite Killed Off Lizards & Snakes Along With Dinosaurs, K-T Extinction Research Suggests Huffingtn Post, December 10, 2012 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/10/meteorite-lizards-dinosaur-k-t-extinction_n_2274123.html Asteroid That Killed the Dinosaurs Also Wiped out the 'Obamadon', Space Daily, Decemebr 10, 2012 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121210160842.htm The paper is: Longricha, N. R., B.-A. S. Bhullarb, And J. A. Gauthiera, 2012, Mass extinction of lizards and snakes at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Published online before print December 10, 2012 http://www.pnas.org/content/109/52/21396 Happy New Year Paul H.