3. Is A 112-Mile-Wide Crater The Answer To Why Dinosaurs Were Wiped Out?
A 112-mile-wide crater in the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula, believed to have been created by a 6-mile-long meteorite, is what many scientists believe wiped out a large proportion of the dinosaurs more than 65million years ago. No land animal heavier than a large canine survived the meteorite landing, however jellyfish, sharks, scorpions, birds and crocodiles are believed to have escaped the blast. Interestingly, it is believed that dinosaurs were actually wiped out over thousands of years - with plunging global temperatures and a severe lack of vegetation caused by diminishing sunlight contributing to their slow decline.