Evolution didn’t wait long after the dinosaurs died

Evolution didn’t wait long after the dinosaurs died Skip to content Subscribe today Every print subscription comes with full digital access Subscribe Now Menu All Topics Health Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology View All Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes View All Earth Agriculture Climate Oceans Environment View All Physics Materials Science Quantum Physics Particle Physics View All Space Astronomy Planetary Science Cosmology View All Magazine Menu All Stories Multimedia Reviews Puzzles Collections Educator Portal Century of Science Unsung characters Coronavirus Outbreak Newsletters Investors Lab About SN Explores Our Store SIGN IN Donate Home INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM SINCE 1921 SIGN IN Search Open search Close search Home INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM SINCE 1921 All Topics Earth Agriculture Climate Oceans Environment Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes Physics Materials Science Quantum Physics Particle Physics Space Astronomy Planetary Science Cosmology Tech Computing Artificial Intelligence Chemistry Math Science & Society All Topics Health Humans Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology Recent posts in Humans Health & Medicine A simple shift in schedule could make cancer immunotherapy work better By Elie DolginFebruary 12, 2026 Health & Medicine This baby sling turns sunlight into treatment for newborn jaundice By Elie DolginFebruary 12, 2026 Health & Medicine Antibiotics can treat appendicitis for many patients, no surgery needed By Laura DattaroFebruary 10, 2026 Life Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes Recent posts in Life Oceans Evolution didn’t wait long after the dinosaurs died By Elie Dolgin8 hours ago Animals A sea turtle boom may be hiding a population collapse By Melissa Hobson10 hours ago Ecosystems Food chains in Caribbean coral reefs are getting shorter By Erin Garcia de JesúsFebruary 11, 2026 Earth Earth Agriculture Climate Oceans Environment Recent posts in Earth Oceans Evolution didn’t wait long after the dinosaurs died By Elie Dolgin8 hours ago Earth Earth’s core may hide dozens of oceans of hydrogen By Nikk OgasaFebruary 10, 2026 Animals Some dung beetles dig deep to keep their eggs cool By Elizabeth PennisiFebruary 4, 2026 Physics Physics Materials Science Quantum Physics Particle Physics Recent posts in Physics Physics A precise proton measurement helps put a core theory of physics to the test By Emily ConoverFebruary 11, 2026 Physics The only U.S. particle collider shuts down – so a new one may rise By Emily ConoverFebruary 6, 2026 Physics A Greek star catalog from the dawn of astronomy, revealed By Adam MannJanuary 30, 2026 Space Space Astronomy Planetary Science Cosmology Recent posts in Space Astronomy This inside-out planetary system has astronomers scratching their heads By Adam MannFebruary 12, 2026 Space Artemis II is returning humans to the moon with science riding shotgun By Lisa GrossmanFebruary 4, 2026 Physics A Greek star catalog from the dawn of astronomy, revealed By Adam MannJanuary 30, 2026 News Oceans Evolution didn’t wait long after the dinosaurs died Marine ecosystems began recovering within just a few thousand years after the asteroid strike This artist’s rendition depicts three forms of new plankton species (top left) and algae (middle left) that arose within a few thousand years after the Chicxulub asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, represented by marine reptile bones. The University of Texas at Austin Jackson School of Geosciences/John Maisano By Elie Dolgin 8 hours ago Share this:Share Share via email (Opens in new window) Email Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X Click to print (Opens in new window) Print In the long shadow of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, life appears to have bounced back with surprising speed. A new analysis of sedimentation rates suggests that the first wave of marine species emerged within a few thousand years of the mass extinction event, many millennia quicker than many scientists assumed. The findings, reported January 21 in Geology, invite a rethink of how rapidly evolution can rebuild biological diversity — not just as it did after the Chicxulub asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago, but perhaps also today and into the future as climate change and other human pressures accelerate the pace of ecological upheaval. Sign up for our newsletter We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday. “This really helps us understand how quickly species can evolve,” says Christopher Lowery, a paleoceanographer at the University of Texas at Austin, adding that it provides a rare “opportunity in the geological past to understand how ecosystems can recover from these quick, severe changes.” The evidence comes from marine fossils known as planktonic foraminifera, microscopic single-celled denizens of the ancient oceans encased in tiny mineral shells. The first appearance of one such organism — with the tongue-twisting name Parvularugoglobigerina eugubina — is an established geological time stamp marking the dawn of life’s recovery after the asteroid. A scanning electron micrograph of Parvularugoglobigerina eugubina, a marker species of life’s recovery after the Chicxulub impact.Chris LoweryA scanning electron micrograph of Parvularugoglobigerina eugubina, a marker species of life’s recovery after the Chicxulub impact.Chris Lowery A widely cited 2011 estimate placed that time stamp at roughly 30,000 years after the Chicxulub impact, in what is today the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. That estimate came from measuring the thickness of rock layers between the extinction horizon and the first appearance of P. eugubina, then projecting the elapsed time using average sedimentation rates derived from far longer geological intervals. Lowery himself never questioned that figure. That is, until it began to clash with evidence he was seeing elsewhere. Working on sediment cores drilled from the Chicxulub crater, Lowery and colleagues used helium-3 — a rare form of the balloon-filling gas that is delivered to Earth at a nearly constant rate by interplanetary dust — to calculate how quickly sediments accumulated in the immediate aftermath of the impact. Curiously, the cosmic dust indicated that P. eugubina evolved within just 6,000 years of the dino-killing catastrophe, but Lowery hesitated to trust the result. He and his colleagues then turned to published data from elsewhere in the world, focusing on sites where researchers had measured helium-3 and identified the first post-extinction foraminifera, but had never used those measurements together to revise evolutionary timelines. Averaging ac