Dinosaurs Extinction - Essay Example

Dinosaurs Extinction Over the times, scientists and historians have attempted to explore the exact cause or a chain of causes that led to the extinction of dinosaurs. A study by Michael (1) focused on a range of theories that sought to expand the understanding and points of linkages between the theories and the many school of thought that attempt to explore the depths of this historical and scientific phenomenon. The meteorite theory and the scientific theory remain some of the two most compelling explanations of the precise cause that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. The author explores both the strengths and weaknesses of these theories with the objective of achieving some form of synthesis that would unite the various points of view into the most viable explanation. The meteorite theory involves the explanation of how a massive strike by a meteorite of an asteroid on the earth surface touched off a series of devastating events that culminated into significant disruptions in the food chain (Michael 2). The meteorite event is believed to have occurred near the Yucatan Peninsula nearly 65 million years ago. The nature of disruption was such that the bigger animals, which in essence are the end users, were the most affected. In this case, the dinosaurs, which were nearly the biggest organisms, could not survive the adverse shortages in the food chain that resulted from the crash. It remains a subject of deep scientific analysis to determine the precise range of time within, which the shortages in the food chain began affecting the dinosaurs. The theory also fails to explain some of the issues that relative nature of damage as it occurred on other organisms around the universe. It is important to consider the fact that the major happenings of the time were locked up within a space of 10,000 years. Variations in the time range of activities often render the theory somewhat problematic. However, the theory provides some important insights that attend to issues relating to meteorite activity in relation to the extinction of the dinosaurs. The explanation weaves into other scientific explanations such as the Darwinian Theory of survival for the fittest in order to expand the understanding of the nature of impact as it affected the survival of various animal species following the massive disruption of the food chain (Michael 1). In this regard, the weight of this theory could be assessed from the perspective of some of the issues that attend to the relationship between organisms and nature. This study assigned significant focus on the theory of volcanism in order to provide alternative points of view to the causal relationship between the theory and the other attendant factors that affected species in various ways. The theory of volcanism is based on the relationship between climate change and the extinction of species. In general, terms the volcanic activities that happened within the Cretaceous period in regions of western India. According to those who hold onto the theory of volcanism, the heavy volcanic activities resulted in the emission of massive amounts of sulfur and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Therefore, processes such as photosynthesis were significantly affected (Michael 2). The result was shortage of food that led to the extinction of vulnerable species such as dinosaurs. However, the study points out one challenge that relates to the difficulty in pinpointing the exact point in time when these volcanic activities took place. The concerns raised in the study are consistent with other refutations that have established a problematic relationship between the action and consequence of the activity. Fastovan and Sheekan (4) study the extinction of the dinosaurs with special focus on North America. The two authors argued that the event took place in an instantaneous fashion. This study explores multiple other perspectives that attempt to situate the dinosaur extinction phenomenon within definite geographical and historical setting. Fastovan and Sheekan contend that the evolution of these mammals was significantly affected by a range of issues that attempt to establish some kind of a relationship between evolutionary processes and environmental agents that effectively led to the extinction of the mammals. By focusing on the behavioral and evolutionary processes of mammals, the study invents a comprehensive focus on the range of activities and phenomena, which worked together to lead to the extinction of the dinosaurs. The dinosaurs’ extinction is studies through an analysis of its gradual depletion of the mammals, which took place across different periods. However, much of the focus of the study id concentrated on the activities that took place 65 million years ago. The study attempts to reconstruct the phenomena of extinction in a manner that aligns with the historical evolutionary processes and geographical changes, which influenced significantly on the study. It is important to determine a range of activities that are often tied together with multiple influences that determine the nature of extinction as it occurred within the different periods. A noticeable strength of this study is that it explores the relationship between the extinction of other species with that of the dinosaurs in order to establish the pattern of activities that shaped the processes in question. According to Saier (2) focusses on the phenomena of dinosaurs extinction from the dimension of the various species in which they occur. According to the author, the extinction process of the dinosaurs should not be regarded as a singular occurrence that happened in the course of time. Instead, the author argues that the process took place in five major stages that were separated by the time interval of about 100 million each. According to this study, the dinosaur extinction should be studied within the period of 65.5 million years ago. This period is associated with the major activity of the meteorite, which many scholars believe was primarily linked to the historical phenomena of dinosaurs’ extinction. In essence, the process of extinction could be studied from the perspective of a natural force that affected all organisms. Saier attempts to determine the origin of evolution from the time of the extinction of the multi-cellular organisms in such a way that shed light on the general processes that attend to the phenomena. A comprehensive phenomenon explores the various events that seek to establish the occurrence of activities and the precedent and antecedent forces that connect to the same activities. As such, the extinction of the dinosaurs is tied to the multiple influences that have attempted to establish some kind of a causal relationship between the events and other factors that could be identified with the same. In this manner, the research opens up a broad analysis of the evolutionary processes by situating it within the discourses of environmental determinism and biological causes of the phenomenon. Sarjeant and Philip (4), offer a radically refutation of the meteorite theory instead questioning the viability and possibility of dinosaur extinction. According to their study, the extinction of the dinosaur remains questionable. His evidence appears to suggest that the mammals only underwent some form of evolution into smaller organisms that exist even in the present day. They contend that the supposed extinction, if it happened at all, is a consequence of natural causes and not a result of some instantaneous extraterrestrial occurrence as explained in the meteorite theory. The impact of the meteorite, they argue, could only have affected the dinosaurs in the Americas and not the other parts of the world. The study argues that an isolated and instantaneous event could not have any far-reaching effect on the process of evolution. This study takes a different view from the rest in a way that expands the imagination of the possible causes of extinction as understood within some of the most dominant scientific explanations that have been presented in the modern day. As a result, it becomes necessary to develop an informed critique question some of the issues that have been tied on a range of theories, which attempt to explain the evolutionary process of the dinosaur. However, the various theories and approaches to the question of extinction have to be assessed from the perspective of some of the dominant discourses that attend to the extinction of mammals as understood from the dimension of various theories and perspectives. A comprehensive analysis of the various theories and perspectives offers some elaborate understanding of the phenomenon in ways that could lead to tenable theses about the same. Works Cited Fastovsky, David and Sheehan, Peter. The Extinction of the Dinosaurs in North America. GSA Today: v. 15, no. 3, 2005. Pdf Oard, Michael. The Extinction of the Dinosaurs. CEN Tech. J., vol. 11, no. 2, 1997. Pdf Saier, Milton. "Species Extinction." Environmentalist 26.2 (2006): 135-47. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. Sarjeant, William AS, and Philip J Currie. "The "Great Extinction" That Never Happened: The Demise of the Dinosaurs Considered." Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 38.2 (2001): 239-247. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. Read More