The new date for the impact (66, 038, 000 years ago) narrows what's been dubbed the 'three metre gap' in the geological record between the demise of the dinosaurs and the asteroid impact to just 18, 000 years.

BBC: Keeping up with the Jinzhousauruses

The question is one of the most hotly contested in palaeontology and revolves around an apparent gap in the fossil record immediately prior to the K-T boundary - the distinct layer of geological sediments separating the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods, and associated with a massive asteroid impact and global extinction event.

BBC: Closing the 'three metre gap'