Meteorites Changed Earth's Evolution

Major meteorite collisions caused massive extinctions, but new species appeared too

American scientists discovered the evidence to prove that planet Earth collided with a space body 380 million years ago. The collision killed 40 percent of living beings in the ocean. A group of researchers chaired by Brooks Ellwood of Louisiana State University said, a space body might have been a comet or an asteroid. A space rock slammed into Earth in the area, where the Moroccan part of Sahara desert is presently situated.

This discovery is another evidence to prove the theory that the evolutionary development of the planet was very much influenced with comets and asteroids. Some creatures would die and others would appear as a result of such collisions. Scientists believe, major meteor collisions happened on several occasions in the history of planet Earth - 251 million, 200 million and 65 million years ago, Itar-Tass reports.

Sixty-five million years ago, an asteroid crashed down on Earth in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. The collision killed about 75 percent of all living beings, including dinosaurs. Brooks Ellwood said, the discovery had been done during research works in the Moroccan desert, when a group of scientists examined layers of rock laid down about 380 million years ago. The fossils gave the impression that those species had appeared on Earth after the disaster.