The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

The dinosaurs ruled the Earth for over 150 million years--evolving from small shadow dwellers into spectacular giants like Brontosaurus and T. rex. Sixty-six million years ago, the Earth’s most fearsome creatures vanished. Today they remain one of our planet’s great mysteries. Paleontologist Steve Brusatte, will recount the complete story of where dinosaurs came from, how they rose up to dominance, how most of them went extinct when a giant asteroid hit, and how some of them lived on as today's birds. 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.

Steve Brusatte is a paleontologist who hunts and writes about dinosaurs. He is currently a Reader in Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, but grew up in the Midwestern USA. Steve has traveled around the world digging up dinosaurs and, working with many international colleagues, has named more than 15 new species, including the tyrannosaur 'Pinocchio rex' (Qianzhousaurus) and the raptor Zhenyuanlong. He has written several books for kids and adults, most notably the popular science book The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs (2018), which was a New York Times bestseller in the USA, Sunday Times bestseller in the UK, and Globe & Mail bestseller in Canada.

Due to travel restrictions, Steve Brusatte can't travel to The Netherlands. Therefore, this lecture will be held online.