While an asteroid was the responsible party for ending the age of the dinosaurs, meteorites are what we call parts of asteroids that have survived their trip to Earth\u2019s surface. <\/p>\n
When the six-mile-wide \u201cChicxulub\u201d asteroid<\/a> hit the planet, it disintegrated, leaving a major crater and shards thousands of miles away<\/a>.<\/p>\n Using traces of Chicxulub, scientists found that the world-shattering chondrite \u2013 a term for the oldest known rocks<\/a> \u2013 was made of carbon monoxide<\/a>.<\/p>\n These types of meteorites make up only five percent of meteorites sampled on Earth and are some of the most primitive materials in our solar system, according to new research<\/a> published Friday by scientists at the University of British Columbia.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing impacted by such a rare, distant projectile really underscores how unlucky the dinosaurs were,\u201d Dr. Philippe Claeys, a visiting professor at the school, explained in a statement<\/a>. <\/p>\n The findings don\u2019t change the theory of what happened when Chicxulub struck Earth at what is now the Yucat\u00e1n Peninsula in Mexico, he noted. <\/p>\n But it does make it less likely that sulfur in the meteorite \u2013 an element that can be combustible \u2013 is responsible for wiping out 75 percent of living species.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fine debris thrown into the atmosphere would have been the primary factor,\u201d said Claeys.<\/p>\n Claeys partnered with other researchers in Europe, including some at the Parisian Institut de Physique du Globe and Universit\u00e9 de Paris.<\/p>\n These researchers measured trace elements in samples collected from a thin layer of clay created by the meteorite.<\/p>\n Chicxulub may have been coming from the outer area of the asteroid belt near Jupiter<\/a>, or the distant reaches of the solar system, the team said.<\/p>\n Many questions remain about the asteroid and its impact, and what wiped out life on Earth is still being studied.<\/p>\n Some researchers have suggested that climate change may have played a role<\/a> long before the impact and others point to volcanoes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Either way, what could have happened sounds bad. <\/p>\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/iStock-1160635394.jpeg\")
New research identifies what class of meteorite hit Earth 66 million years ago, killing the majority of life and ending the age of the dinosaurs (Getty Images\/iStock)<\/p>\n![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Low-Res_claeys-PME1.jpeg\")
Dr. Philippe Claeys, a visiting professor at the University of British Columbia, was one of the researchers who made the discovery (Credit: University of British Columbia)<\/p>\n![\"Residue](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Low-Res_clay-layer-sample.jpeg\")
Residue of the crater\u2019s impact was found in a thin layer of clay (Credit: Dr. Philippe Claeys)<\/p>\n