In the fifteenth article in the History of Life on Earth, we discuss the last period of the Mesozoic Era- the Cretaceous period and extinction of dinosaurs. The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event, [lower-alpha 1] also known as the Cretaceous–Tertiary (K–T) extinction, [lower-alpha 2] was a mass extinction of some three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth—including all non-avian dinosaurs—that occurred over a geologically short period of time approximately 66 million years ago. K–T extinction, abbreviation of Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction, also called K–Pg extinction or Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction, a global extinction event responsible for eliminating approximately 80 percent of all species of animals at or very close to the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods, about 66 million years ago. The end-Cretaceous extinction is best known of the “Big Five” because it was the end of all dinosaurs except birds (the non-avian dinosaurs).It also created opportunities for mammals. The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event, also known as the Cretaceous–Tertiary (K–T) extinction, was a sudden mass extinction of some three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth, approximately 66 million years ago. There is also evidence to suggest that this event was preceded by another mass extinction, known as Olson's Extinction. Although the Permian Mass Extinction , also known as the "Great Dying," was much larger in the number of species that went extinct, the K-T Extinction is the one most people remember because of public fascination with dinosaurs. Since the 19th century, a significant amount of research has been conducted on the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, the mass extinction that ended the dinosaur -dominated Mesozoic Era and set the stage for the Age of Mammals, or Cenozoic Era. Dinosaurs 101 Over a thousand dinosaur species once roamed the Earth. In the fifteenth article in the History of Life on Earth, we discuss the last period of the Mesozoic Era- the Cretaceous period and extinction of dinosaurs. A chronology of this research is presented here. This was the fifth mass extinction event, called the Cretaceous-Tertiary Mass Extinction, or K-T Extinction for short. Extinction Pattern. Learn which ones were the largest and the smallest, what dinosaurs ate and … The Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event, which occurred approximately 65.5 million years ago (Ma), was a large-scale mass extinction of animal and plant species in a geologically short period of time. The Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event is the most recent mass extinction and the only one definitively connected to a major asteroid impact. Causes Of The Extinction. The Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction occurred about 65.5 million years ago. During the Mesozoic Era dinosaurs dominated all habitats on land. The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event, [a] formerly known as the Cretaceous–Tertiary (K–T) extinction, [b] was a mass extinction of some three-quarters of plant and animal species on Earth—including all non-avian dinosaurs—that occurred over a geologically short period of time, 66 million years ago. The Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction Event Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction. The Holocene extinction, otherwise referred to as the sixth mass extinction or Anthropocene extinction, is an ongoing extinction event of species during the present Holocene epoch (with the more recent time sometimes called Anthropocene) as a result of human activity.

The Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (K–Pg) occurred 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, and is best known for having wiped out non-avian dinosaurs, among many other species. It is also known as the K-T extinction event and its geological signature as the K-T boundary ("K" is the traditional abbreviation for the Cretaceous Period, to avoid confusion with the Carboniferous Period, abbreviated as "C").