Can you imagine what it would have been like to be on Earth 66 million years ago during the aftermath of the asteroid impact that caused the extinction of an estimated 75% of all species, including the non-avian dinosaurs? An asteroid, 7.5 miles in diameter, traveling at over 44,000 miles per hour, struck the Earth along the northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. The impact caused earthquakes, tsunamis, a global infrared heat pulse hotter than an oven on broil, and global firestorms that pumped soot into the atmosphere blocking out a significant amount of sunlight for an extended period.

In The Last Days of the Dinosaurs, science writer Riley Black employs her extensive knowledge of paleontology and vivid imagination to take the reader on a tour of the Cretaceous ecosystem around Hell Creek in Montana at a time just before the impact, then describes the likely aftereffects. In each...

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