Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs code enormity for us, even though most were not enormous; they are the key cultural locus for puerile sublimity (huge! monsters!). Hence we find ourselves fascinated by the impact event theory of their extinction, because an even bigger monster event devouring our huge monsters compacts our awe at the sheer scale of these beasts. We crave vastness, in life, in death. But say the dinosaurs were not wiped out in a single catastrophe, but faded, eroded over time by the predations of virus, bacteria and changing environment. Something is lost.