Buzz
Around 66 million years ago, a colossal asteroid collided with Earth, triggering the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, also known as the K-Pg event. This disaster led to the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs and wiped out 75% of all other species. However, not all life was lost. From your daily coffee to certain non-avian dinosaurs that thrived for millennia, here are ten astonishing survivors of the Chicxulub impact.
10. Cockroaches
This one is hardly a shock. Cockroaches have earned a reputation for surviving nearly every disaster. But their survival wasn't easy. In the wake of the asteroid strike, roaches had to endure catastrophic earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, and more. When the dust finally settled, three-quarters of all life on Earth had vanished.
Cockroaches were among the fortunate few to weather both the asteroid's impact and the devastating aftermath. Their resilience stemmed from their design. While some cockroaches likely perished in the immediate aftermath of the strike, their small, flat bodies allowed many to escape to tiny, sheltered spaces, keeping them safe from the heat.
The asteroid kicked up so much dust that it darkened the sky, initiating a prolonged winter. As a result, many plants perished, and the survivors that relied on them for food starved. But cockroaches were not so unlucky. As scavengers, they could eat virtually anything. Moreover, their resilient eggs likely protected the next generation during the harsh aftermath.
9. Roses
The roses we see today are not the same as those that bloomed in the distant past. However, they belong to the Rosaceae family, which was one of the many angiosperms (flowering plants) that thrived on Earth long before the K-Pg event. The world before the asteroid strike was a paradise of flowers.
Following the impact, things actually improved for flowers. It is thought that the explosion of angiosperm growth was triggered by the disaster, resulting in the creation of today’s nearly 290,000 species of flowering plants.
The survival of these plants remains puzzling. Unlike dinosaurs, angiosperms are delicate and cannot defend themselves or flee from danger. Even the sunlight they need to survive was blocked for years after the impact. Yet, in an unexpected twist, the dinosaurs went extinct while flowers flourished.
8. Snakes
During the age of dinosaurs, vipers, cobras, boas, and pythons didn’t slither around the Earth. These snakes simply didn’t exist back then. No tree or sea snake bit anyone, nor did boas or pythons strangle their prey.
Prior to the K-Pg extinction event, snakes did exist, but they were very different. Their vertebrae, for instance, had a unique shape that modern snakes no longer possess. The fossil record indicates that these ancient snakes were hit hard by the asteroid impact, with only a small number managing to survive.
Despite the catastrophic aftermath, these early snakes thrived. They adapted quickly and filled nearly every ecological niche, ultimately giving rise to the more than 3,000 species of snakes found today.
7. Deep Sea Creatures
The K-Pg event raised numerous questions, one of the biggest being how deep-sea organisms survived the catastrophe. After all, living in the ocean offered no immunity against the asteroid's impacts, and the destruction was immense. Around 60% of marine life perished, and countless species went extinct.
However, despite the acid rain that ravaged the oceans, the darkness caused by dust blocking the sunlight, and the collapse of vital food chains for seafloor dwellers, some marine life persisted. In 2016, scientists uncovered an important discovery that challenged previous assumptions. They found strong evidence that specific bacteria and algae—key elements in the lost food chain—managed to survive the devastation.
These bacteria and algae lived near the surface of the ocean, but they frequently sank to the seafloor. This constant supply of food sustained deep-sea creatures throughout the disaster.
6. Solenodon
Few people have encountered or even heard of the solenodon. But once they do, they’re rarely disappointed. Ranging from 19 to 28 inches (49 to 72 cm), this small creature looks like a scruffy shrew with a trunk-like nose. Beneath its adorable appearance, however, lies a deadly secret—the solenodon is venomous. Its saliva is so toxic that a single bite can kill a mouse in mere minutes.
In recent times, scientists have delved into the DNA of the Hispaniolan solenodon, an endangered species native to Cuba and the island of Hispaniola, where it has lived in seclusion for millions of years. The goal of the research was to settle a long-standing debate: Did these creatures evolve before or after the asteroid impact that struck Earth?
The genetic analysis uncovered a fascinating story. It revealed that solenodons split from other mammals 73.6 million years ago—long before the asteroid’s impact. As an added discovery, the research also showed that the Hispaniolan solenodon was, in fact, two distinct species, having split into a subspecies around 300,000 years ago.
5. Honeybees
When bees were discovered preserved in amber from the age of dinosaurs, researchers found that these ancient insects were nearly identical to modern honeybees. This strongly suggested that one was the direct ancestor of the other. This connection likely placed honeybees on the list of asteroid survivors, but it also raised a controversial question.
Here’s the issue: Tropical honeybees need temperatures ranging from 88 to 93°F (31 to 34°C) to survive. Recent research indicates that the extended winter following the asteroid's impact should have wiped out any bees that managed to escape the initial devastation caused by the asteroid.
The fact that bees are buzzing around today shows that an unforeseen factor kept them from going extinct. But why is this so contentious? Since no bees should have survived the extended cold and darkness, it raises questions about the validity of the widely accepted K-Pg nuclear winter hypothesis.
4. Coffee
Had the asteroid wiped out a specific plant, espresso and cappuccino would never have come to be. This plant would eventually give rise to coffee and other important crops like potatoes, tomatoes, and mint.
The near-extinction of coffee before it even became coffee didn’t alarm caffeine-loving scientists. Why? For many years, researchers believed that the precursor to coffee only emerged after the K-Pg event. It turns out they were mistaken.
Brian Atkinson, a curator of paleobotany, recently discovered a fossilized fruit at the Sierra College Museum of Natural History in California. Upon seeing it, he immediately realized the significance of his find. It was a Cretaceous lamiid, an ancestor of coffee, that coexisted with dinosaurs.
The newly discovered species, Palaeophytocrene chicoensis, belonged to a well-known plant family that flourished after the cataclysm, yet no specimen had ever been discovered prior to the event—until now.
At 80 million years old, the fruit revealed that lamiids didn't originate after the asteroid strike. Instead, they emerged roughly 20 million years before the catastrophic event. Today, lamiids have diversified into thousands of species.
3. Non-Avian Dinosaurs
While many articles and books on the K-Pg event claim that the asteroid wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs, this popular belief is incorrect. The dinosaur era didn’t end with the impact, as one group of animals managed to survive for an astonishingly long period afterward.
A recently discovered fossilized leg bone in New Mexico belonged to a hadrosaur. Known as duck-billed dinosaurs due to their flat, toothless snouts, these creatures walked upright on strong hind legs and fed on plant material.
When the bone was analyzed, an astonishing lost chapter of history was uncovered. This hadrosaur had perished 700,000 years after the asteroid strike, meaning enough hadrosaurs survived the mass extinction to continue as a species. Dinosaurs thus roamed the Earth for nearly a million years longer than previously believed, surviving far past their supposed extinction.
2. Dog and Human Ancestors
All modern mammals are placentals, animals that develop a placenta during pregnancy. The only exceptions to this are marsupials (like kangaroos) and monotremes (such as the platypus), which do not produce placentas.
Just before the K-Pg event, several key groups of placental mammals evolved. These included primates, Lagomorpha, and Carnivora. These groups were the ancestors of humans, rabbits, and dogs, respectively. For a brief period, they coexisted with dinosaurs, but when the asteroid struck, it wiped out the dinosaurs, leaving the placental mammals to thrive.
With the ecological void left by the dinosaurs, mammals quickly adapted to occupy these open niches. They rapidly diversified into the various modern placental lineages. This raises a chilling thought: had the asteroid destroyed placentals or failed to facilitate their evolution, humans might never have come into existence.
1. Sharks
Sharks have earned the title of survivors, having weathered the most mass extinctions. Over their 400-million-year history, sharks have endured five major extinction events, with the last being the K-Pg event.
To understand the impact of the asteroid on elasmobranch species—including sharks, rays, and skates—scientists analyzed fossils from across the globe. Ultimately, they focused on 675 specimens from sharks and related species that lived during the time of the impact.
The fossil evidence revealed a harsh reality. About 62% of all elasmobranch species were wiped out. Among them, 59% of shark species vanished, while rays were hit even harder, with up to 72% of their diversity disappearing.
Interestingly, the fossils indicated that ancient shark species were less likely to survive the K-Pg event and its aftermath. On the other hand, younger shark species, particularly those that roamed the open ocean and covered vast territories, had a better chance of survival.
