Asteroid barrage, ancient marine life boom not linked
New dating debunks idea that bombardment created eco-niches needed to diversify
![trilobites](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/012317_TS_ordovician_main.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
OUT OF SYNC The rapid diversification of marine animals, including trilobites (fossils shown), around 471 million years ago probably wasn’t prompted by impacts from asteroid debris.
Peter Eimon/Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)