The researchers believe our 'ancestors', and those of all other mammals on earth now, began to radiate around the time of a sudden increase in the temperature of the planet - ten million years after the death of the dinosaurs.
Biologist Professor Andy Purvis, of Imperial College London, said: "Our research has shown for the first 10 or 15 million years after the dinosaurs were wiped out present day mammals kept a very low profile while these other types of mammals were running the show.
"It looks like a later bout of 'global warming' may have kick-started today's diversity - not the death of the dinosaurs.
I'm beginning to understand why the Al-o-saurus is worried.
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Comments
The big problem with the study is that it pretty much ignores mamalian lines that didn't survive to modern lines. The focus on mammals post Cretaceous is entirely the media's doing. BTW, with one notable exceptions (rodents) all placental mammal orders first appeared during the Jurassic or Cretaceous.
My understanding is that it was more the restoration of oxygen which allowed the synapsids (i.e, us) to return. Under low oxygen, the dinosaur lung was (and, in birds, is) far more efficient.
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
Don?t bang your head!
The big problem with the study is that it pretty much ignores mamalian lines that didn't survive to modern lines. The focus on mammals post Cretaceous is entirely the media's doing. BTW, with one notable exceptions (rodents) all placental mammal orders first appeared during the Jurassic or Cretaceous.