Open AccessThe demise of dinosaurs and learned taste aversions: The biotic revenge hypothesis
Author(s) -
Michael J. Frederick,
Gordon G. Gallup
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
ideas in ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1918-3178
DOI - 10.4033/iee.2017.10.9.c
Subject(s) - demise , extinction (optical mineralogy) , taste , extinction event , psychology , cognitive psychology , biology , ecology , neuroscience , paleontology , sociology , population , demography , biological dispersal , political science , law
Numerous hypotheses have been advanced to explain the worldwide extinction event that led to the disappearance of the dinosaurs. There is considerable empirical support for the well-known asteroid impact hypothesis, and volcanic eruptions in the Deccan Traps have also been implicated. Increasingly, theories involving multiple causes are being considered, yet few of these consider how the cognitive and behavioral abilities of certain classes of animals may have differed in ways that allowed some to survive while others perished. Here we advance the hypothesis along with supporting evidence that the emergence of toxic plants coupled with an inability to form learned taste aversions may have contributed to the extinction of dinosaurs.