Dinosaur Evolution

Sixty-six million years ago the dinosaurs were wiped from the face of the earth. Today a new generation of dinosaur hunters, armed with cutting-edge technology, is piecing together the complete story of how the dinosaurs created a hugely successful empire that lasted for around 150 million years.

Mary Anning was only 12 years old when, in 1811, she discovered the first dinosaur skeleton - of an ichthyosaur - while fossil hunting on the cliffs of Lyme Regis, England. Until Mary's incredible discovery, it was widely believed that animals did not become extinct.  

In 1811, when the self-schooled daughter of a carpenter pulled some strange-looking bones from Britain's southern shoreline, few people dared to question that the Bible told the accurate history of the world. But Mary Anning had discovered the 'first' dinosaur, and over the next seventy-five years - as the science of palaeontology developed, as Charles Darwin posited theories of evolutionary biology, and as religious scholars identified the internal inconsistencies of the Scriptures - everything changed.

The fascinating group of animals called dinosaurs became extinct some 65 million years ago (except for their feathered descendants). In their place evolved an enormous variety of land creatures, especially mammals, which in their way were every bit as remarkable as their Mesozoic cousins. The Age of Mammals, the Cenozoic Era, has never had its Jurassic Park, but it was an amazing time in earth's history, populated by a wonderful assortment of bizarre animals. The rapid evolution of thousands of species of mammals brought forth many incredible creatures—including our own ancestors.

Palaeontologist Steve Brusatte weaves together the history and evolution of our mammal forebears with stories of the scientists whose fieldwork and discoveries underlie our knowledge, both of iconic mammals like the mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers of which we have all heard, and of fascinating species that few of us are aware of.  For what we see today is but a very limited range of the mammals that have existed; in this fascinating and groundbreaking book, Steve Brusatte tells their—and our—story.

The Mesozoic Era, which lasted from about 252 to 66 million years ago, is divided into three periods, the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. During this era, one type of life came to dominate the planet more completely and for a longer period than had been seen before or since; this was the Age of Reptiles. Beginning in the Triassic but especially in the Jurassic period, reptiles came to dominate the oceans, the land and even the skies.

A significant number of Americans, especially evangelical Christians, believe Earth and humankind were created in their present form sometime in the last 10,000 years or so - the rationale being that this is (presumably) the story told in the book of Genesis. Within that group, any threatening scientific evidence that suggests otherwise is rejected or, when possible, retrofitted into a creationist worldview.

TV scientist, Professor Ben Garrod, is proud to be a geek as he mixes top level science and humour to prove that science is for everyone. Looking at the evolutionary arms race, prey, predators, place, time, groups and species, Ben reveals new-look dinosaurs. Additional sections include: Ask an Expert, New Science and Fossil Finder as well as quizzes to test your dinosaur knowledge.

Beim Hören wirst Du verstehen, warum Dinos noch leben und was das mit der Geschichte der Erde zu tun hat. Mit Evolutionstheorie, dem Wettbewerb der Tiere und der Tatsache, dass wir besser überleben, wenn wir sehr, sehr unterschiedlich sind. Du wirst verstehen: Diese scheinbar kleine Frage ist mit der Klimakatastrophe, der Gut-Schlecht-Gleichzeitigkeit, Massensterben, T-rex-Klettergerüsten und Insel-Kiwis verbunden. Und mit uns. Mit der Frage, wie wir leben wollen. Und wie wir mit unserer Menschen-Magie die Welt verändern.

This is a summary of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World (2018), which explores how animals developed on earth before the Paleogene period, when mammals emerged as the dominant life form. The narrative begins by describing the dinosaur’s ancestor: a small, unimportant creature struggling for survival in the Permian period, more than 250 million years ago....

Two friends uncover a secret underground passageway to where dinosaurs have evolved and become intelligent. This is the first of a multi-volume series, with each book building on a new adventure.