A new study links the thousands of frog species with an asteroid strike 66 million years ago that killed the dinosaurs.
The BBC cites a report that appeared in the journal PNAS, which claims Earth's frog population increased dramatically after the apparent asteroid hit.
The team of U.S. and Chinese researchers examined the three major types of frogs and discovered that they all appeared at about the same time. There are now more than 6,700 known species of frogs, the most diverse group of vertebrates on the planet.
The study involved looking at frog fossils and DNA from current-day frogs, which eventually led to the creation of a type of frog family tree.
"Frogs have been around for well over 200 million years, but this study shows it wasn't until the extinction of the dinosaurs that we had this burst of frog diversity that resulted in the vast majority of frogs we see today," study co-author David Blackburn of the University of Florida said, the BBC reports.
It was reported last year, meanwhile, that NASA scientists are worried that a large asteroid could strike Earth and potentially wipe out civilization.
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