Dinosaurs ‘on way out’ 50m years before meteor

Dinosaurs were plodding down the path to extinction millions of years before the meteor impact that is widely believed to have wiped them out, say scientists.

Until now, most experts have believed dinosaurs were flourishing just before disaster struck in the form of a huge asteroid or comet that smashed into the Earth.

New research suggests more dinosaur species were vanishing than new ones were emerging up to 50m years earlier.