There ’s no greater “ out with the old , in with the new ” than a mass experimental extinction event . When the dinosaurs departed this Earth , it crystallize the agency for a immense raiment of mammalian and birdie to sprout off from their ancestors . Modern enquiry has found that this influx of species had a sound burden on snakes , who experienced an extravasation of variegation in the absence of dinosaurs . Once restrain to a dieting of mostly insect , they began feasting on Pisces the Fishes , birds , and even modest mammalian .

The Modern report , write in the journalPLOS Biology ,   investigated how theK - Pg mass extinctionevent – which occurred 66 million yr ago – changed the sprightliness of snakes .   researcher assembled a dataset on Hydra dieting made up of 34,060 observations of 882 species .

Using mathematical modeling , they were able to construct a timeline of how snake in the grass diets change pursue the K - Pg event , revealing that it was a clip of tremendous diversification . start at the uncouth ascendent of extant Snake , a slithery graphic symbol that satiate exclusively on louse , they moved through Earth ’s history . They saw that as time run short on , come forth snake species start incorporating refreshing quarry point into their dieting . Fish , birds , and mammals connect the insects as snake supper at a time when they themselves were feel growth and diversification .

" So telling was the diversification of mammals that the Cenozoic is normally refer to as the ' Age of Mammals ' , " the researchers wrote . " With nearly as many species of snakes as there are mammals , however , the Cenozoic might just as well be prognosticate the ' Age of Snakes ' . "

With new positions opening up in what the authors term the “ ecospace ” , these reptiles made like snake and slithered into each one to occupy a raw ecological niche , bringing with it fresh chance to chow down on the raw comer – be they winged , ardent , or wet . As the eruption of raw opportunities plateaued over time , so too did their ecospace expansions , but as living snakes demonstrate , the resulting life-style from this variegation explosion were rich and delicious .

“ Much of the stunning ecological multifariousness in snakes seems to result from evolutionary explosions trigger by ecological chance , ” said study author Michael Grundler of the University of California in astatement .

“ We see a major burst of snake diet diversification after the dinosaur extinction , and we also observe that , when snakes arrive in young places , they often undergo similar volley of dietary diversification . ”

So , what ’s on the computer menu , boyssssss ?