Scientists are of the opinion that a species of bees and dinosaurs were wiped out at the same time nearly 66 million years ago.
Researchers said the extinction of dinosaurs was undoubtedly due to an asteroid or comet hitting the Earth. However, the extinction was selective and affected some species more when compared to other groups.
Per the Plos One journal, the team of researchers conducted DNA analysis to showcase that at the time of collision, a particular bee group was affected and as a result became extinct.
"We know very much about the dinosaurs because they were preserved very well - they're very large animals with large remains that we can find," Sandra Rehan, a biologist at the University of New Hampshire in Dunham, U.S., told Weather.com. "This implies that perhaps there are more things that were affected in a bad way. Maybe they weren't wiped out entirely, but many things respond to environmental change. Here we're seeing evidence that even insects, bees in particular, were affected."
According to Rehan, the comparison of the bee and dinosaur extinction, while it may have a connection, is like comparing "apples and oranges" and not the moot point of the study.
"The data told us something major was happening in four different groups of bees at the same time," said Dr Rehan. "And it happened to be the same time as the dinosaurs went extinct."
While the prehistoric extinction is largely attributed to geological changes post the collision, the current bee decline issue is primarily due to human factors like use of pesticides, land use etc. However, any new information pertaining to bees is useful.
"We can use the information to understand how bees might respond or to understand how bees will be able to cope with diversity," Rehan said. "Any time we have information on how bees have evolved and survived or not would be the history of their life, the history of their speciation or extinction. We know so little about the bees."
The findings of the study can help researchers understand the effects of declines in the past and how to tackle the current global crisis relating to the decline in diversity of bees.
