The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: Four Surprising New Discoveries
Professor Steve Brusatte is a paleontologist at the School of GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He holds a BS in Geophysical Sciences from the University of Chicago, an MSc in Paleobiology from the University of Bristol, and a PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Columbia University. A noted specialist on the anatomy, genealogy, and evolution of the carnivorous dinosaurs, like Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptor, Steve has named and described over a dozen new species of dinosaurs and mammals and has written over one hundred and fifty scientific papers. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, and the science consultant for Jurassic World 3: Dominion, the forthcoming film in the Jurassic Park franchise.
Overview
The dinosaurs ruled the Earth for over 150 million years–evolving into spectacular giants, like Brontosaurus and T. rex. Over the last two decades, we have learned more about dinosaurs than ever before, thanks to a blistering pace of new fossil discoveries that have produced around 50 new dinosaur species per year, on average. This lecture will recount the story of where dinosaurs came from, how they rose to dominance, how most of them went extinct when a giant asteroid hit, and how some of them lived on as today’s birds. Professor Brusatte will highlight four intriguing new discoveries from his research: footprints of the oldest dinosaur antecedents from Poland; fossils of some of the first enormous dinosaurs from Scotland; new small-bodied tyrannosaur ancestors from Uzbekistan and China; and feathered and winged raptors closely related to birds from China. At a time when Homo sapiens has existed for less than 200,000 years–and we are already talking about planetary extinction–dinosaurs are a timely reminder of what humans can learn from the magnificent creatures that ruled the earth before us.
Recommended Reading:
Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World, by Steve Brusatte
Dinosaur Paleobiology, by Stephen L. Brusatte
Dinosaurs Rediscovered: The Scientific Revolution in Paleontology, by Michael J. Benton
Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved, by Darren Naish and Paul Barrett
Discussion Questions:
- What factors contributed to the rise of dinosaurs in the Triassic period?
- Why were some dinosaurs able to get so large?
- How did the earliest tyrannosaurs differ from the largest, last-surviving species like T. rex?
- How did evolution produce a bird from a dinosaur?
The professor is very impressive. His knowledge of the topic helped me to better understand dinosaurs. His presentation style was very energetic, unassuming and friendly. Very enjoyable!