Why were Mesozoic toothed birds, like **enantiornithines** and *Hesperornis*, vulnerable during the impact winter?
Answer
They often relied on chasing live prey like fish, insects, or small reptiles whose populations plummeted.
The catastrophic event that ended the Cretaceous caused an impact winter which led to the near-total collapse of photosynthetic life, thereby devastating the global food webs built upon it. Toothed birds, including the diverse **enantiornithines** and specialized marine hunters such as *Hesperornis*, were highly dependent on the consistent availability of live prey, such as insects, fish, and small reptiles. When the primary producers died, the populations of these fast-moving, volatile food sources crashed, directly leading to the starvation and subsequent demise of the specialized predators that required them for sustenance.
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