The fragmentation of tropical rainforests 300 million years ago helped
pave the way for the rise of the dinosaurs, a new study suggests. In the
Carboniferous period, North America and Europe lay at the equator and
were covered by steamy rainforest. Global warming is thought to have
brought about the collapse of these
tropical habitats, triggering an evolutionary burst among reptiles. The
work, by a British team, is published in the journal Geology. The
forests that
covered the ancient supercontinent of Euramerica are colloquially
referred to
as the Coal Forests.
They are so called because they accumulated a large amount of peat,
which later turned into the coal that is mined today. Towards the end of
the
Carboniferous, the Earth's climate is thought to have grown hotter and
drier.
"Climate change caused rainforests to fragment into small 'islands' of
forest," said co-author Howard Falcon-Lang, from Royal Holloway,
University of London.
Read more:
http://ow.ly/3iLVz
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