RE: K/T extinction probably global (was Re: K/T birds)

["Williams, Tim" <TiJaWi@agron.iastate.edu>]

John Bois wrote:

>On Wed, 19 Dec 2001, Williams, Tim wrote:

> > authors infer a combination of wildfires (which may have come first),
> > prolonged winter, and acid rain, were to blame for NZ's dramatic
> > change in flora.  As the title implies, ferns (and ground mosses) 
> > were the winners;
> > gymnosperms and angiosperms (which disappear completely) were the big
> > losers.

>Could we then challenge them to explain the mass survival of tender
>little birdies?  Bunkers? Caves?  Asbestos nests?  

Luck, maybe?  You know, you only new a few individuals to carry a species to
the other side of a cataclysmic faunal extinction.

I much prefer the Bolide Impact Hypothesis for the *global* K/T
deforestation than any other explanation one might come up with - e.g. that
the little mammals embarked on a planet-wide deforestation campaign.  Unless
end-Cretaceous primatomorphs had invented Agent Orange by then.  That
wouldn't explain the iridium spike though. 


Tim