Re: Dinosaurs survived in Antarctica? (Was: Re: "Dinosaurs Died Within Hours After Asteroid Hit Earth...")

[David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

> IIRC mammals reached Antarctica from South
> America around K-T time, and went on to Australia.

Marsupials reached South America from North America around K-Pg time, and
are present in the early Palaeocene of Australia. So, yes, I'd expect
nonavian dinosaurs all over Outer Gondwana had any survived in Antarctica.

> > And if there were a global fire why not in Antarctica?

Perhaps because the ejecta weren't distributed evenly over the planet.

>   I don't think lizards were much affected, nor turtles.

Lizards suffered mightily!

Gregory J. Retallack: End-Cretaceous Acid Rain as a Selective Extinction
Mechanism between Birds and Dinosaurs, 35 -- 64 = chapter 2 of Philip J.
Currie, Eva B. Koppelhus, Martin A. Shugar & Joanna L. Wright (eds):
Feathered Dragons. Studies on the Transition from Dinosaurs to Birds,
Indiana University 2004

p. 48
"Table 2.3
End-Cretaceous extinctions of fossil species from the upper Hell Creek
Formation of Montana and adjacent states

Taxon                Number of                    Percent of Species
                Late Cretaceous Species            Extinct at K/T Boundary

Plant leaves (ferns, horsetails, conifers, angiosperms)    40    79

Pteridophtye [sic] spores (ferns, horsetails)    36    25

Gymnosperm pollen (seed ferns, cycadeoids, conifers)    14    36

Angiosperm pollen (flowering plants)    149    51

[...]
Insecta (damage types to leaves)    51    27

[...]
Crocodylia (alligators)    5    40

Testudines (turtles)    17    12

Squamata (lizards, snakes)    10    70"

Because this is just Montana, e. g. Asia's many, many endemic turtle clades
(Sinemydidae, Lindtholmemydidae, etc. etc.) are not included, nor are many
obscure and less obscure crocodile groups. Goniopholididae has to be counted
among the victims.

> > -    leaving crocodiles nearly untouched
> > at the K-T border.

Not at all. Especially if you include the terrestrial crocs -- the
Baurusuchidae of Outer Gondwana bought the farm, too.

> > What happened to the other sea fauna,

Ammonites: gone. Mosasaurs: gone. Belemnites: gone. Rudists: gone.
Inoceramids: gone. And if we leave the fauna... lots of haptophytes
(coccolithophorids): gone. It is noteworthy that ammonites had planktonic
larvae (which are known as fossils) and died out, while nautilids lay
yolk-rich eggs and survived. Haptophytes are entirely planktonic, as are
most bivalve larvae.

> > insects or flora?

See above.

Take-home message: Everyone must buy all the expensive books. :-)