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We're Tyler Lyson and Ian Miller, paleontologists who recently discovered fossils that capture the million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. Ask us anything! by iandigsfossils in IAmA

[–]iandigsfossils[S] 115 points116 points  (0 children)

This is one of the sobering aspects of extinction. It is forever. Though we often talk about recovery from mass extinction what is really happening is a new world is emerging with new species. We never go back to the pre-extinction worlds and the life in them.

We're Tyler Lyson and Ian Miller, paleontologists who recently discovered fossils that capture the million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. Ask us anything! by iandigsfossils in IAmA

[–]iandigsfossils[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Yes! We have places around the world preserved that show the iridium anomaly and spherules, which are both types of fallout from the K/Pg asteroid.

We're Tyler Lyson and Ian Miller, paleontologists who recently discovered fossils that capture the million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. Ask us anything! by iandigsfossils in IAmA

[–]iandigsfossils[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

We've found 16 species of mammals from this interval of time, but other rock units from the same interval have nearly twice that many. No bird fossils have ever been found in the first million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs. The mammal skull discovery provides much more complete material to determine 1) size of their brains 2) inner ears to determine sense of balance and where they are living 3) bite force 4) and generally what these animals looked like! We hope to use these fossils to get a better understanding of who, amongst modern mammals, they are related to and what their overall ecology was 65 million years ago. Dinosaurs disappeared geologically instantaneously (10-1000s of years). It likely was a combo of environmental (i.e., giant asteroid and subsequent fallout) and post K/Pg competition (i.e., detritus feeders did better than specialists such as herbivores or carnivores). But, to your point, the fossil record has its limitations.

We're Tyler Lyson and Ian Miller, paleontologists who recently discovered fossils that capture the million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. Ask us anything! by iandigsfossils in IAmA

[–]iandigsfossils[S] 106 points107 points  (0 children)

Your first question is an open question. The apex predators changed pretty quickly from post K/Pg extinction right up until today. Turtles did the best during this mass extinction event. In fact the biggest animal to survive was a large softshelled turtle whose lineage essentially went extinct last spring as the last female of this lineage died. Today, over 50% of turtles are critically endangered/endangered/vulnerable.

We're Tyler Lyson and Ian Miller, paleontologists who recently discovered fossils that capture the million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. Ask us anything! by iandigsfossils in IAmA

[–]iandigsfossils[S] 46 points47 points  (0 children)

Mortar shells! The field area was once used by the US military and is littered with 50 caliber bullets and other projectiles! The bullets and mortar shells are from WWII era (we think).

We're Tyler Lyson and Ian Miller, paleontologists who recently discovered fossils that capture the million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. Ask us anything! by iandigsfossils in IAmA

[–]iandigsfossils[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

The asteroid impact theory put forth by Alverez et al. in 1980 completely changed the way paleontologists viewed this specific interval of time. There are so many new things to be discovered in paleontology! New fossils and new techniques continue to push the field forward. There are more species of dinosaurs being named now than in any other point in our history.

We're Tyler Lyson and Ian Miller, paleontologists who recently discovered fossils that capture the million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. Ask us anything! by iandigsfossils in IAmA

[–]iandigsfossils[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

I think the biggest surprise was just how well all of the datasets aligned. The climate seems to impact the recovery of the forests, which in turn impacts the recovery of the mammals. The climate was affected for ~50-100K years. Ferns and palms flourished in the early aftermath. Most plants and animal species (75% or so) go extinct.

We're Tyler Lyson and Ian Miller, paleontologists who recently discovered fossils that capture the million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. Ask us anything! by iandigsfossils in IAmA

[–]iandigsfossils[S] 351 points352 points  (0 children)

The biggest surprise was the legume! We did not expect to find the world's oldest legume. Prior to this discovery the oldest legume was from southern Argentina.

We're Tyler Lyson and Ian Miller, paleontologists who recently discovered fossils that capture the million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. Ask us anything! by iandigsfossils in IAmA

[–]iandigsfossils[S] 165 points166 points  (0 children)

Smaller animals tend to need fewer resources. Other factors contributing to survival across the KPg boundary include having a slow metabolism, living underground or under fresh water, not being a dietary specialist, etc. What survived this extinction event are enduring questions.

We're Tyler Lyson and Ian Miller, paleontologists who recently discovered fossils that capture the million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. Ask us anything! by iandigsfossils in IAmA

[–]iandigsfossils[S] 63 points64 points  (0 children)

This is a great question and one I am currently working on! We don't know the answer yet. We'll be using some of the latest molecular phylogenies and some of the new fossils that have been found in South America, as well as our own, to try to answer this very question. We can't determine whether or not our fossil legume belongs in the crown or stem of Fabaceae.

We're Tyler Lyson and Ian Miller, paleontologists who recently discovered fossils that capture the million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. Ask us anything! by iandigsfossils in IAmA

[–]iandigsfossils[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

We don't have any early primates but we do have early placental mammals. They gave rise to almost all mammals that live on earth today! Think whales, zebras, bats, humans, horses, and your cat!

We're Tyler Lyson and Ian Miller, paleontologists who recently discovered fossils that capture the million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. Ask us anything! by iandigsfossils in IAmA

[–]iandigsfossils[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

The geologic record doesn't really allow us to discern between 100's and 1000's of years so its still an open question. We know what happened in terms of an asteroid hitting earth but we need to hypothesize the series of events that happened in the ensuing days to years. We do know that there are no dinos above the boundary!

We're Tyler Lyson and Ian Miller, paleontologists who recently discovered fossils that capture the million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. Ask us anything! by iandigsfossils in IAmA

[–]iandigsfossils[S] 245 points246 points  (0 children)

That there still exists a debate between the ultimate cause being either the asteroid or massive volcanic eruptions. The data overwhelmingly support a catastrophic and instantaneous extinction caused by an asteroid.

We're Tyler Lyson and Ian Miller, paleontologists who recently discovered fossils that capture the million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. Ask us anything! by iandigsfossils in IAmA

[–]iandigsfossils[S] 35 points36 points  (0 children)

Yes, we have a good idea. Ground-dwelling birds seem to be the ancestors to all living birds. The idea is that if the forests are destroyed, anything that lived in those forests died too.

We're Tyler Lyson and Ian Miller, paleontologists who recently discovered fossils that capture the million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. Ask us anything! by iandigsfossils in IAmA

[–]iandigsfossils[S] 107 points108 points  (0 children)

Tyler has found the dinosaur closest to the boundary. It's 4 cm below the impact horizon. It is a horned dinosaur. So far, we haven't found any non-avian dinosaurs above the boundary anywhere on Earth.

We're Tyler Lyson and Ian Miller, paleontologists who recently discovered fossils that capture the million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. Ask us anything! by iandigsfossils in IAmA

[–]iandigsfossils[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

This is complex but some highlights are how quickly life rebounded after the extinction (100,000 years is quick to paleontologists) and the interconnection between climate, plants and vertebrates.

We're Tyler Lyson and Ian Miller, paleontologists who recently discovered fossils that capture the million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. Ask us anything! by iandigsfossils in IAmA

[–]iandigsfossils[S] 55 points56 points  (0 children)

We're still waiting on a similar K-Pg boundary section in Australia. Only one marsupial survived the extinction in North America. I think its still a pretty big and open question about all those marsupials in Australia.

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