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Volcanic gas bursts probably didn’t kill off the dinosaurs

A new timeline exonerates the Deccan Traps eruptions in a mass extinction 66 million years ago

Westerb Ghats mountains

The Deccan Traps eruptions blanketed much of India’s Western Ghats mountains (shown) in lava about 66 million years ago. But the toxic gases emitted by the eruptions probably weren’t what killed the dinosaurs, new research suggests.

Dinodia Photos/Alamy Stock Photo

By Carolyn Gramling

- More than 2 years ago

Read another version of this article at Science News Explores

Massive gas bursts emitted by volcanoes about 66 million years ago probably couldn’t have caused a mass extinction event that spelled doom for all nonbird dinosaurs, new research suggests.