THIS Asteroid killed dinosaurs 66 million years ago, changed marine life forever, it wiped out species like...

Do you know the asteroid Chicxulub that made dinosaurs extinct and wiped out about 70% of life on the planet when it collided with the Earth about 66 million years ago? The cataclysmic asteroid hit the Earth with a catastrophic impact, it obliterated the biggest and heaviest living organism on the planet and caused the calamity in the ocean equally intriguing. It had a huge impact on the ocean and marine life also and changed them, even wiping out many species, that could not adapt to the changes brought out by the impact. Huge dinosaurs dominated the till about 200 million years. It is believed that the Chicxulub impactor changed all that, leading to the dinosaur's eventual extinction.

Impact on marine life: species lost

According to a study published in 'Science Advances', researchers have found that about 70% of bivalve species were lost, while almost all the diverse ecological roles these creatures played within their ecosystems remained intact. After studying thousands of bivalve fossils to track their survival through the extinction event the scientists have said that statistically, that shouldn’t have happened. Bivalves are aquatic mollusks with two shells, called valves, connected by a hinge. These include oysters, mussels, and scallops. 

How did bivalves survive?

Researchers believe these organisms still exist because of the unique ways in which some bivalves interacted with their environments. Some of these bivalve organisms have adapted to more specialised survival strategies, while some others depend on sunlight and phytoplankton for nutrition. Some of them are chemosymbionts and photosymbionts—bacteria and algae that produce nutrients for the bivalves and create a symbiotic relationship. Some others like mussels adapted differently and developed the ability to anchor themselves to rocks by secreting strong silken threads.

Impact of asteroid

It has been found in the research that many bivalves survived the impact of the collision of the asteroid, the aftermath of the extinction event didn’t simply restore life to its former state. While some bivalves found success, others failed to capitalise on the ecological space left open by extinct species. Some of the living organisms like reef-building bivalves were wiped out entirely. The giant clams and other species replaced them and took their roles in shallow, tropical seas.