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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, February 13 2013 @ 06:19 PM EST |
Wol,
Just had a quick look at reptiles wiki entry to refresh my first year biology
memories (from 30 years ago)...
The graph of energy output for a reptile shows almost NO output at 5 degrees C;
and an operating range from 5 to 37 degrees - way too small for Chicago now, and
a bit small for Sydney and London.
Of course the curve varies depending on the niche the animal is adapted for..
But after the asteroid hit, months of darkness leads to extremes of cold
[compared to the local winter] which could easily put the reptiles outside their
genetically selected for climatic conditions..
Whereas a furred mammal with some food - is quite active at minus 10 degrees C
and colder.. the common chicago winter day temp.
Of course, if sun is blocked for years, famine for the grazers would lead to
starvation for the peak predators; and quick death for largest warm blooded
animals.
Smaller mammals would be able to eat well of a single slow-mostly dead large
reptile for some time...
Plants might survive as seeds, fungi as spores...
Amphibians are closer to fish and ocean temperature changes more slowly, perhaps
sufficiently slowly for the population to undergo natural selection to the
cold...
Of course ALL of the above is idle speculation...
It just seems that the large dino's died out, and the small mammals spread out
into many eco niches..
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