The World of Emperor Gon of Carthage
"Jurassic Mystery"
Emperor Gon of Carthage
April 16, 2001
Part 5
Revealing the truth of why dinosaurs became extinct
Chapter 7: What decided their fates
 Only one thing is certain: the environment changed drastically some 65 million years ago. This violent environmental upheaval, mainly an increase in gravity, caused the dinosaurs and other life forms to die out because they became unable to support their own weight. Mouse-sized mammals that were crawling around beneath the dinosaurs were able to survive because this gravitational change did not affect them as much.
However, crocodiles and some other reptiles of that age were also known to be fairly large. How were they able to survive?
The answer lies in the difference between modern reptiles and dinosaurs. In their limb structure to be precise. The legs of reptiles are projected to the sides and level with the body. So when reptiles walk they use their stomachs to support their weight, whereas dinosaurs and mammals must place all their weight on their legs. It is much easier and faster to move using this method, rather than on the stomach. In that sense dinosaurs were more evolved, but it would contribute to their demise when their weight increased dramatically. While large crocodiles and other reptiles moved around while dragging their stomach were able to support its increased weight with the whole body, dinosaurs could only use its legs due to its skeletal structure.
Furthermore, they could not lie down to rest as they had ribs that extended all the way to their stomachs. This was a disadvantage for, if they fell, they probably could not themselves up again.
These are the reasons why the more evolved dinosaurs died out while many reptiles survived.
But all the dinosaurs became extinct. At the end of the Cretaceous, some dinosaurs had evolved into birds and were able to overcome the effects of the gravitational change because their body structure had changed as they became smaller and lighter. If gravity had not changed, we might have had 10 meter long birds flying in the skies.
Chapter 8: The Mystery of the Cretaceous
One of the recent arguments against the asteroid-impact hypothesis points to the possibility that the dinosaurs may not have died out at the end of the Cretaceous. According to Dr. Jack Horner of Montana State University, dinosaurs reached at their peak during the Cretaceous some 75 million years ago, then a million years after that the number of species declined at a rapid pace. This cannot be explained by the asteroid-impact hypothesis so there must be other reasons for the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. One explanation could be that gravity suddenly increased at the end of the Cretaceous.
Dinosaurs reached their peak during the Cretaceous which was also a period known for its unusually active volcanoes and rising sea levels. The sea level then was 300 meters higher than today. It is true that the climate was warmer then and all the ice in the polar regions had melted. But even if all the polar ice had melted the rise in the sea level would have been several tens of meters at the most, certainly not 300. And where has all that water gone since? The answer is that it has not gone anywhere. As gravity increased, the weight of the water also increased. Therefore, the sea level simply went down due to its own weight.
The vulcanism can then also be explained by the lower weight of the land masses.
Thus, gigantic coniferous forests like meta-sequoia covering the Earth, active volcanoes and earth movements, and the high sea level can all be explained by low gravity.
However, it is also a fact that 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs became extinct, a large asteroid crashed into the Earth.
Could this be a coincidence?
Translated by Rie Ishida
| 
