Fig. 3: Conceptual illustration of the ‘Dinosaurs as Ecosystem Engineers’ hypothesis. | Communications Earth & Environment

Fig. 3: Conceptual illustration of the ‘Dinosaurs as Ecosystem Engineers’ hypothesis.

From: Dinosaur extinction can explain continental facies shifts at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary

Fig. 3

Large-bodied dinosaurs likely promoted an open vegetation structure that permitted frequent fluvial avulsion and clastic sediment input to distal floodplains. After the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, dense, closed-canopy forests could take root, stabilizing meander belts and starving the distal floodplain of clastic sediment, promoting the accumulation of organic-rich strata.

Back to article page