Steve Brusatte on the Dinosaurs That Survived the Asteroid

About this episode

Steve Brusatte discusses the birds that survived the asteroid impact and their evolutionary transition from theropods.

Birds are the only dinosaurs that survived the asteroid impact 66 million years ago — but not all birds did. In this episode, Steve Brusatte draws on the fossil record to explain which birds came through the extinction, and what set the survivors apart from the many that perished alongside the rest of the dinosaurs. He traces the evolutionary transition from ground-living theropods to modern birds, drawing on the spectacular feathered fossils unearthed over the past three decades in northeastern China. Brusatte is Professor of Palaeontology and Evolution at the University of Edinburgh and author of The Story of Birds , published this year.

People in this episode

Host: Oliver Strimpel

Guest: Steve Brusatte

Topics covered

• dinosaurs
• birds
• extinction
• evolution
• fossil record
• theropods

Keywords

• dinosaurs
• birds
• asteroid impact
• extinction
• fossil record
• evolution
• theropods

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Edinburgh

Books & works: The Story of Birds

Places: northeastern China

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