Snakes started eating birds and mammals after dinosaurs went extinct

Shutterstock: A snake eating a bird
After the mass extinction event that decimated non-bird dinosaurs in the early 20th century, the diets of snakes changed dramatically. This led to the existence today of 4000 snake species.

Three quarters of all species on Earth, including all dinosaurs, were extinct in the K-T extinction event, which occurred 66 million years ago. The event caused drastic changes in the environment and less competition for food. The event caused extreme changes in the environment and less competition for food and living space.