Yet, around 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, every last ammonite vanished from the fossil record, snuffed out in the same cataclysmic event that eliminated the non-avian dinosaurs. Why Ammonites Were Especially Vulnerable While the K-Pg event was a global catastrophe, the reasons ammonites were hit so much harder than their distant cousins, the nautilus, lie in their specific biology and life history.
The Fall of an Apex Predator: How Catastrophe Ended Their Dominance
Their reliance on a healthy, sunlit ocean made them a canary in the coal mine, and they perished as the ecosystem they dominated collapsed. The initial blast wave and global wildfires would have been followed by a prolonged period of "impact winter.
Their mode of reproduction and development played a critical role. " Dust and soot ejected high into the atmosphere would have blocked sunlight for months, if not years, bringing photosynthesis to a grinding halt.
The Downfall of an Apex Predator: How Extinction Hit Ammonites Hard
The increased acidity can dissolve carbonate structures and makes it physiologically difficult for calcifying organisms to survive, a stress they likely could not endure on top of the collapsing food webs. Ammonites released vast numbers of tiny, free-floating larvae called "aptychi" into the water column.
More About Why did ammonites go extinct
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