"Fungus Feasted Off the World's Worst Extinction"

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to show that there is more than one theory about the KT extinction and also that the asteriod was not the only factor that contributed to the mass extinction.

Key Ideas:

• A fungus spread across the world that consumed many dead trees and plants that were an outcome of the asteroid impact.
• The fungus was able to spread because of the single contient: Pangea.
• Carbon isotopes inside the fossil of this organism showed that it ate wood, therefore scientists found that it was a fungus.
• If scientists can find the type of fungus, they will be able to find what the environment was during the Permian - Triassic Period
• Because of the harsh conditions from volcanoes and acid rain created from the asteroid, thousands of animals couldn't survive, but the fungus could.

Key Conclusion:

This article teaches a key lesson in any field of science. Anything can be proven wrong. As time goes on and new technologies are invented which allows for new discoveries. Because of these discoveries; hypothesis, theories, etc. can all be proven wrong with the new information that we gather. In this case, because of new technologies to examine fossils, scientists have found a key part of the KT-extinction. With even more reasearch I am sure that there will be new information about the extinction and we will know so much more. People have had misconceptions about the asteroid and how the dinosaurs died, many people believe that the asteroid was responsible for killing the dinosaurs directly, but the theory is that the asteroid caused an environmental collapse that ultimately killed the dinosaurs. With this new discovery the main theory could be wrong, and that is why I think that no theory is final and new evidence may arise to disprove it.

"Discovery Channel :: Interstitial." Discovery Channel : Science, History, Space, Tech, Sharks, News. Web. 12 Apr. 2010. .

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