How did bird dinosaurs survive the meteor?

About this episode

This episode explores how some dinosaurs survived the meteor impact that led to the extinction of many species, tracing the connection to modern birds.

Why did the dinosaurs go extinct? Many of you have learned about the meteorite that scientists say hit the earth 66 million years ago and killed off many dinosaur species. But some dinosaurs survived, and the birds you see flying around today are their direct descendants! In this episode we trace the connection between modern birds and prehistoric dinosaurs. Other questions include: Were any dinosaurs mammals? How did bird dinosaurs survive? Are crocodiles related to dinosaurs? Did dinosaurs have feathers? How do we know? Did all dinosaurs lay eggs? Our guest is Dr. Emily Bamforth, curator of the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Alberta, Canada. Download our learning guides: PDF | Google Slide | Transcript

People in this episode

Guest: Dr. Emily Bamforth

Topics covered

• dinosaurs
• bird evolution
• extinction
• meteor impact
• paleontology

Keywords

• dinosaurs
• birds
• extinction
• meteorite
• paleontology
• feathers
• eggs

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum

Places: Alberta, Canada

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