Journey back 325 million years with our mammalian forebears, who persevered in the shadow of the dinosaurs, survived the worst day in the history of Earth, and then rapidly diversified to claim the world as their own. Watch the Q&A here: https://youtu.be/VpiGl8sUSmg
Steve's book "The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us" is available to purchase now: https://geni.us/DyMef
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Steve, who was a consultant on 'Jurassic World: Dominion', reveals the new fossil finds and technologies that are allowing us to understand the evolution of mammals in unprecedented detail - from woolly mammoths; sabre-toothed tigers; and countless spectacular, but extinct, species; to the 6000+ species of mammals that rule the Earth today, including ourselves.
By doing so, Steve uncovers how one single species of mammal - humans - are affecting the world line no mammal before. And, if things continue at the current pace, more than half of all mammal species may succumb to extinction.
Now at the most perilous point in mammal history since our ancestors stared down the asteroid, this lecture will help build an understanding of our history, enabling us to make a better future.
This livestream was recorded by the Royal Institution on 21 June 2022.
0:00 Introduction and background to book
1:58 The origin story of mammals
8:00 Our distant relative the Dimetrodon
10:31 The mega volcanoes responsible for mass extinction
13:24 The age of dinosaurs and mammals
18:11 Fossils on the Isle of Skye
20:14 Feathered dinosaur fossils in China
24:44 The Asteroid
29:10 The mammals that survived the asteroid
34:55 The Eocene - the first recognisable mammals
43:07 The Oligocene meets Charles Darwin
48:40 The Australian rainforest and marsupials
50:13 The ice age
53:06 The human age
Steve Brusatte is a palaeontologist on the faculty of the School of GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh and is widely recognised as one of the leading palaeontologists of his generation.
Among Steve's particular research interests are the evolutionary transition between dinosaurs and birds and the rise of placental mammals. He is a noted specialist on the anatomy, genealogy and evolution of the carnivorous dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptor and was the science consultant for 'Jurassic World: Dominion', the latest film in the Jurassic Park franchise which was released in June 2022.
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