Around 66 million years ago, a giant asteroid smashed into our planet, unleashing a terrible firestorm that blotted out the sun and killed the dinosaurs.

Or did it? A new study has thrown doubt on the theory that the dinosaurs were wiped out solely by a mountain-sized asteroid – instead pointing the finger at volcanoes.

Researchers believe that huge, continent-spanning ‘flood basalt’ eruptions are what caused the mass extinction – and others in Earth’s history.

The presence of an asteroid just made things worse, they said.

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Their study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), claims volcanic activity appears to have been the key driver of mass extinctions.

In fact, a particular kind of volcanic activity may also explain other mass extinctions in history, the researchers said.

Read more: yahoo