I thought this would be about the Cambrian Explosion but that is 541m years ago, and this alleged asteroid blew up 466m years ago according to the article. Both periods, The Cambrian Explosion and the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE) are periods with strong biological radiation as can be seen on the 1st graph here: <a href="https://www.fossilhunters.xyz/fossil-classification/images/1273_191_314-climate-greenhouse-icehouse-devonian.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://www.fossilhunters.xyz/fossil-classification/images/1...</a><p>The Cambrian Explosion is replaced by the 'Cambrian Plateau' (not a canonical name), and the GOBE comes after. The Ordovician animals were the first to evolve jaws (in Gnathostomata/jawed vertebrates). This happened about 462m years ago, so perhaps we can thank a 93 mile asteroid that blew up 466m years ago for our ability to chew?<p>They found a pretty interesting dataset, it seems, relating various isotopes. It's a pitty the article don't go into details on the chemical signature that convinced the scientists that leftovers of an asteroid rained down on Earth.