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Asteroid barrage, ancient marine life boom not linked

New dating debunks idea that bombardment created eco-niches needed to diversify

trilobites

OUT OF SYNC  The rapid diversification of marine animals, including trilobites (fossils shown), around 471 million years ago probably wasn’t prompted by impacts from asteroid debris.

Peter Eimon/Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

By Thomas Sumner

- More than 2 years ago

An asteroid bombardment that some say triggered an explosion of marine animal diversity around 471 million years ago actually had nothing to do with it.