Articles for tag: Asteroid Impact, Cretaceous survivors, Evolutionary Biology, K–Pg extinction, Night Lizards

Madrean Tropical Night Lizard on the Rock

Survivors Beneath the Ash: How Night Lizards Outlasted the Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid

April Joy Jovita

Sixty-six million years ago, a 10-kilometer-wide asteroid struck Earth, unleashing one of the most catastrophic mass extinctions in planetary history. The event obliterated three-quarters of Earth’s species, including all non-avian dinosaurs. Yet, in a stroke of evolutionary defiance, a small, secretive group of reptiles known as night lizards (family Xantusiidae) survived in the region closest ...

Lepidophyma reticulatum

Tiny Lizards Survived the Asteroid That Killed the Dinosaurs

Jan Otte

The dinosaurs died when a huge asteroid hit Earth 66 million years ago. It caused firestorms, tsunamis, and a devastating “nuclear winter.” But, despite all chances, a population of little lizards barely bigger than a human finger lived near ground zero. These tough animals, called night lizards (family Xantusiidae), not only survived the disaster but ...