Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event

The Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T or KT) extinction event, also known as the KT boundary, was a period of massive extinction of species, about 65.5 million years ago. It corresponds to the end of the Cretaceous Period and the beginning of the Tertiary Period. (K is the traditional abbreviation for the Cretaceous period. Cretaceous comes from the Latin for chalk, creta. The K comes from the German word for chalk kreide, or possible Greek kreta. The K is used so as to avoid confusion with the Carboniferous period which uses the letter C.)

Related Topics:
Extinction event - Million years ago - Cretaceous - Period - Tertiary - Carboniferous

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The duration of this extinction event (like others) is unknown. Many forms of life perished (embracing approximately 50% of all genera), the most often mentioned among them being those of all the families of the three orders of dinosaurs. Many explanations for this event have been proposed, the most widely-accepted being the results of an impact on the Earth of an object from space.

Related Topics:
Genera - Families - Order - Dinosaur - Impact on the Earth

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