How did birds survive the mass extinction event that killed off the (other) dinosaurs?
Last summer I spoke about it on Here & Now on @npr.org
And they played more of it on the radio today!
@stevebrusatte.bsky.socialSteve Brusatte
@stevebrusatte.bsky.social
Paleontologist and professor at University of Edinburgh, dinosaur enthusiast and writer. Free born man of the USA. Immigrant. Husband & father. (views mine)
@stevebrusatte.bsky.social@stevebrusatte.bsky.socialcool!!
@funstonpaleo.bsky.socialReposted by @stevebrusatte.bsky.socialSay hello to Infernogallus jamesi!
Out today in NatComm, we describe the most complete caenagnathid yet known, with an intact skull. Analysis of its biomechanics shows unique adaptations for processing food paralleled only by specialized fruit-eating parrots.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@stevebrusatte.bsky.socialDITKA. A name that will resonate through the ages. RIP.
@intofilmscotland.bsky.socialReposted by @stevebrusatte.bsky.socialOn 18 November, as part of our #IntoFilmFestival, @ODEONCinemas Dunfermline are hosting a screening of Jurassic World Dominion accompanied by a Q&A with Palaeontologist Steve Brusatte, who consulted on the film! 🎥
Book now to avoid disappointment! 👇
@stevebrusatte.bsky.socialAnd for those who want to learn more, particularly about how these giant fossil reptile discoveries challenged a traditional British culture seeped in Biblical literalism, check out the fantastic book Impossible Monsters by Michael Taylor!
@stevebrusatte.bsky.socialMegalosaurus: the first dinosaur given a formal scientific name. 20 years before the word 'dinosaur' even existed!
When discovered in 1824, it shook the core of a conservative, devoutly Christian British society.
We discuss it all on BBC In Our Time
@stevebrusatte.bsky.socialHow life on earth rebuilt itself after the extinction of (most of) the dinosaurs.
Or put another way: how our furry ancestors stared down the asteroid that killed T. rex and Triceratops!
My latest for @bigthink.com
@stevebrusatte.bsky.socialGorilla-sized penguins topped the ocean food chain, tens of millions of years ago.
So yeah. It's true. It happened. And I explain it all to my pals at The Ancients, one of my favorite podcasts:
@stevebrusatte.bsky.socialTickets and program details here:
@stevebrusatte.bsky.socialJoin me at New Scientist Live in London on Sunday October 11. For a family pop science talk.
As I attempt to tell the whole story of dinosaur origins and evolution and (almost) extinction, and the rise of birds...in about 45 minutes!
Ticket info below⤵️ @newscientist.com
@stevebrusatte.bsky.socialyeah! spent some time there today, making a pilgrimage
@stevebrusatte.bsky.socialSorry that there's a cardinal on the cover (a St. Louis one and not an Arizona one, I can assure you).
@stevebrusatte.bsky.socialDid dinosaurs evolve flight more than once?
Maybe! Not only birds, but microraptors too…
I unpack it for @newscientist.com with @rowhoop.bsky.social & @pennysarchet.bsky.social #fossilfriday
@stevebrusatte.bsky.socialglad it's good travel companion!
@stevebrusatte.bsky.socialHate is a hell of a drug. Harder and harder to get that rush. So having exhausted other groups to vilify, MAGA is now going after....us Italian-Americans whose ancestors immigrated a century ago?! Knowing my people, it's probably a fight they don't want to pick...
@stevebrusatte.bsky.social*Probably it was Mary Ann who found them. Gideon, her long-annoying husband, also claimed credit...
@stevebrusatte.bsky.socialMy Grandparents Were Dinosaurs: the story of how birds evolved from dinosaurs, for kids, with a book reading, crafts, and ask a paleontologist q&a:
@stevebrusatte.bsky.socialThe Story of Birds: how birds evolved from dinosaurs and have adapted over the last 150 million years:
@stevebrusatte.bsky.socialCuckfield, England. Where Mary Ann Mantell* found the first Iguanodon fossils in 1822... And home to the Cuckfield Book Festival! Where @annebrusatte.bsky.social and I will be speaking this Sunday, Oct 4! Talks on birds for general audiences and dinosaurs for families. Tickets below!