Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event
Check the behind the scenes section, the revision history and discussion page for additional comments on this article's title.
- You may be looking for Extinction Event.
The K-T extinction event, (PROSE: Prehistory Repeating Itself [+]Loading...["Prehistory Repeating Itself (feature)"], GAME: Dinosaurs on a Clockwork Spaceship [+]Loading...["Dinosaurs on a Clockwork Spaceship (game)"]) also simply known as the Extinction Event, (PROSE: The Whoniverse [+]Loading...["The Whoniverse (novel)"]) was a collision of a foreign object with Earth that rendered the dinosaurs extinct.
This occurred around 65 million BC, with the Third Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith acknowledging the Tyrannosaurus rex as one of the species which died out. (TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs [+]Loading...["Invasion of the Dinosaurs (TV story)"]) It marked the transition from the Cretaceous to the Paleocene. (PROSE: Prehistory Repeating Itself [+]Loading...["Prehistory Repeating Itself (feature)"])
The dinosaurs had lived on Earth for 165 million years, (PROSE: A History of Humankind [+]Loading...["A History of Humankind (novel)"])
The Twelfth Doctor once corrected a history book at Coal Hill School which had a couple of pages "giving all sorts of daft theories" including "stuff about meteors and asteroids and comets" which were "all complete rubbish". He replaced this with his own story (PROSE: A History of Humankind [+]Loading...["A History of Humankind (novel)"]) of how a space freighter filled with anti-matter was fitted with Cyber-technology in a plot by the Cybermen to destroy a peace conference on Earth in the year 2526 AD, only to drift back in time and crash on Earth 65 million years prior. (TV: Earthshock [+]Loading...["Earthshock (TV story)"])
The Sea Devils who lived on Earth during this time survived the extinction event by plunging their aquatic colonies into a state of hibernation. (COMIC: Clara Oswald and the School of Death [+]Loading...["Clara Oswald and the School of Death (comic story)"]) Madame Vastra believed that the Myrka had gone extinct during this time, but they had in fact survived and would be utilised by surviving Silurian tribes. (COMIC: The Lost Dimension [+]Loading...["The Lost Dimension (comic story)"]) She also recalled having last seen the Crimson Horror, which had plagued the Silurians during this time. After finding one in 1893, the Eleventh Doctor suggested returning it to the Jurassic era. (TV: The Crimson Horror [+]Loading...["The Crimson Horror (TV story)"])
Other accounts presented the Silurians going into hibernation in anticipation of the coming of the Moon, (COMIC: Clara Oswald and the School of Death [+]Loading...["Clara Oswald and the School of Death (comic story)"]) and in other eras preceeding the evolution of homo sapiens. Historians observed that different tribes of Silurians entered cyrogenic suspension at different times to avoid numerous disasters over the millennia. (PROSE: The Monster Vault [+]Loading...["The Monster Vault (novel)"])
Aftermath[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Main article: Palaeocene
At some point in his life, Jack Harkness had to survive on dinosaurs, which he recalled were the "only source of pre-killed food protein after the asteroid crashed". (TV: Fragments [+]Loading...["Fragments (TV story)"])
The impact cracked open the planet and released "forces, powers, things that had been trapped in the Earth since the beginning". As a result, the Earth Reptiles gained psychic powers, wild fields formed in the skies which allowed for floating islands, and the Wyrm was released from the centre of the Earth. While the Silurians and Sea Devils remained on the surface, the Chicxulub fled to the skies to avoid the Cloud which choked the planet. (AUDIO: The Adolescence of Time [+]Loading...["The Adolescence of Time (audio story)"])
Legacy[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Fifth Doctor told Tegan Jovanka that her ancestors were at a "very primitive" evolutionary stage when the dinosaurs died out. (TV: Earthshock [+]Loading...["Earthshock (TV story)"]) With the dinosaurs extinct, the creatures that would eventually become homo sapiens continued to develop and evolve. (PROSE: The Whoniverse [+]Loading...["The Whoniverse (novel)"])
In 2367, the Eleventh Doctor noted that the dinosaurs aboard the Silurian Ark, then in the possession of Solomon, would be very valuable given their supposed extinction. (TV: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship [+]Loading...["Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (TV story)"])
