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Nothing Like Oxygen For That Evolutionary Boost Paul Falkowski says that from an evolutionary point of view, the absence of dinosaurs has been a very good thing for large placental mammals - less competition and fewer nasty predators. But it is not the only reason large mammals, including humans, evolved: A sharp rise in the Earth`s atmospheric oxygen, about 15 million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs, gave mammals the evolutionary boost they needed to survive, thrive and, finally, dominate the planet, according to Falkowski, professor of geological and marine science, and lead author of a study published Sept. 30 in the journal Science.
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