Dinosaur-Killing Meteorite Also Wiped Out Lizards

The massive extinction that killed off the dinosaurs may have also decimated lizards and snakes, according to new research.

In the past, researchers believed that the K-T extinction, which occurred around 65 million years ago, wiped out dinosaurs, but mostly spared lizards and snakes. But the new findings, published on Dec. 10 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that about 83% of these reptiles went extinct.

"I think it is a pretty important piece of work," said Stephen Brusatte, a paleontologist from Columbia University who was not involved in the study. "It does a nice job of showing that extinction at the end of the Cretaceous really hit lizards and snakes…
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