Matthew Hawthorne 
In our series on mass extinctions, we’ve explored two significant events: the End Ordovician and Late Devonian mass extinctions. During these mass extinctions, many species disappeared. However, life showed remarkable resilience, bouncing back relatively quickly. Imagine comparing Earth’s species just before these mass extinctions to those present a few million years after each event. You might be surprised to find … Continue Reading
The Devonian period was characterized by fish diversification and the emergence of tetrapods. All this ended abruptly as various factors contributed to a radical die-off of most marine life. The consequences of this mass extinction were far-reaching, altering the evolutionary trajectory of vertebrate life and restructuring marine ecosystems. What could have triggered such a massive and targeted extinction? About 375 … Continue Reading
When most people think of mass extinction, their first thought is the end of the dinosaurs. You probably ended up here in search of a much older extinction. We’re going to discuss the first mass extinction: the End-Ordovician event. While you’re better off staying to read up on the topic, I’m sure you want to cut to the chase. What … Continue Reading
So you’ve been saving up your weekly allowance money, and have even run a lemonade stand for the past few summers to save up a bit of cash. You’ve decided it’s time to fulfill your life-long dream: to make Jurassic Park a reality. Hold up there, pardner! Not so fast. How much would it cost to build Jurassic Park? Before … Continue Reading
As any dinosaur nerd can tell you, the non-avian dinosaurs all died at the end of the Cretaceous when an asteroid struck the Earth around 66 million years ago. There are countless media references to this devastating extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs. But what about the crocodiles? Why did crocodiles survive the dinosaur extinction? The asteroid impact drove many … Continue Reading
Some of the most well-known groups of prehistoric animals from the Mesozoic Era are the so-called aquatic dinosaurs, and for good reason: they’re large, fearsome, apex predators. So how did aquatic dinosaurs die out? Some of these creatures have even starred in the recent Jurassic World franchise, further enhancing their fame. The oversized Mosasaurus from Jurassic World elevated the notoriety … Continue Reading
Most people have seen depictions of Tyrannosaurus a thousand times: they’re fearsome, likely hungry given their invariably open mouths, and covered in lizard-like scales. Some artists, however, take a different approach. These deviants show the beloved T. rex covered in feathers. While most people reject change for simply psychological reasons, others may wonder if they’ve been wrong all these years. … Continue Reading
We have all wondered this since our childhood: can dinosaurs be resurrected? As much as technology has advanced, the possibility does not seem so far-fetched. Is it possible to bring back the dinosaurs? The popular notion of dinosaur resurrection through DNA recovery is now known to be impossible. DNA degrades rapidly over time and the non-avian dinosaurs went extinct 66 … Continue Reading
When reading about dinosaurs or visiting a museum you may have wondered: how do scientists determine the age of fossils? Are they millions of years old? How do scientists know that, for example, Tyrannosaurus rex lived about 66 million years ago? Are these estimates verifiable? So, how do scientists determine the age of a fossil? Scientists use two general techniques … Continue Reading
One of the most famous Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons, “Stan” the T. rex, may also be the most well-traveled T. rex. At the moment, he currently resides in Texas, New Mexico, Washington, D.C., Kansas, Wyoming, Indiana, Wisconsin, the United Kingdom, and even Tokyo, Japan. There’s only one Stan, so how can he be in so many places at once? The answer … Continue Reading