If dinosaurs wouldn't have been wiped out 66 million years ago or more, we as a species wouldn't be here today.
Before the extinction, dinosaurs ruled the planet ferociously. Other than bacteria or other tiny creatures they couldn't eat, it's unlikely another dominant species would lift off while they were still reigning.
Yet, when the time came... they were gone in the blink of an eye, compared to Earth life.
Moving a few cycles forward, we came along, and we also imposed our strong dominance over the other species, even more than dinosaurs did (we understand, at least in part, microbiology, genetics, but also cosmic events).
Their extinction left a fertile ground for many new species to evolve, among them, eventually, homo sapiens.
Many argue that for millions of years mankind has not evolved, at least not biologically, and that it's about time that we do at that level too.
Otherwise, civilizations rose and fell only to be replaced by others. Despite the fall of great civilizations mankind (or others?) created, we are the only species on Earth which can build upon the developments of previous generations. That's what gave us the strength to rise as a dominant species. Because biologically, we weren't so advanced.
Environmental and climate changes, together with cataclysmic events forced many species to either adapt or die. We don't particularly like change, not individually, nor as a species.
How many deaths and how many centuries did we need to finally accept "officially" (decisions which at the time heavily involved the Church) the heliocentric theory?
But there are visionaries and sometimes ordinary people who embrace change and lead the rest of us, who would rather stay in our comfort zones, to the next level.
How much time does an entire industry need (or even a specimen of that industry) to understand that the game is pretty simple: adapt or die?
We as a species have for quite some time adapted the environment to our needs. In a way, we changed the natural order, in which we adapt to environmental and climate changes. We haven't even began to resolve the climate changes issues yet, by the way...
Besides the changes we make because we choose to make them for the sake of comfort, and not because we are really forced to, I wonder: how adaptable are we still as a species? With all our evolution and technological advancement, would we do better than dinosaurs, faced with similar challenges?