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Presented by Dr. Steve Brusatte, Professor of Palaeontology and Evolution at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.The dinosaurs ruled the Earth for more than 150 million years — evolving into spectacular giants like Brontosaurus and T. rex, which captivate our imaginations. In this talk, University of Edinburgh professor and paleontologist Steve Brusatte will discuss the complete story of where dinosaurs came from, how they rose to dominance, how most of them went extinct when a giant asteroid hit, and how some of them live on as today's birds. In doing so, he will recount stories of digging up dinosaurs and working with colleagues around the world. At a time when Homo sapiens has existed for less than 300,000 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 Earth before us.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Steve Brusatte is Professor of Palaeontology and Evolution at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. A specialist on the anatomy, genealogy, and evolution of dinosaurs and mammals, he has written over 200 peer-reviewed papers and described more than 20 new species. A keen popularizer of science, Steve has written several books, including the pop science titles The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs (a New York Times bestseller) and The Rise and Reign of the Mammals. He serves as paleontology consultant for the Jurassic World film series, and in 2024 was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His newest book, The Story of Birds, will be published in April 2026.
ABOUT THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DINOSAURS
In this captivating narrative of natural history, Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist who has emerged as one of the foremost stars of the field — naming fifteen new species and leading groundbreaking scientific studies and fieldwork — masterfully tells the complete, surprising, and new history of the dinosaurs, drawing on cutting-edge science to dramatically bring to life their lost world and illuminate their enigmatic origins, spectacular flourishing, astonishing diversity, cataclysmic extinction, and startling living legacy. Captivating and revelatory, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is a book for the ages.
Brusatte traces the evolution of dinosaurs from their inauspicious start as small shadow dwellers—themselves the beneficiaries of a mass extinction caused by volcanic eruptions at the beginning of the Triassic period — into the dominant array of species every wide-eyed child memorizes today, T. rex, Triceratops, Brontosaurus, and more. This gifted scientist and writer re-creates the dinosaurs’ peak during the Jurassic and Cretaceous, when thousands of species thrived, and winged and feathered dinosaurs, the prehistoric ancestors of modern birds, emerged. The story continues to the end of the Cretaceous period, when a giant asteroid or comet struck the planet and nearly every dinosaur species (but not all) died out, in the most extraordinary extinction event in earth’s history, one full of lessons for today as we confront a “sixth extinction.”
Brusatte also recalls compelling stories from his globe-trotting expeditions during one of the most exciting eras in dinosaur research — which he calls “a new golden age of discovery” — and offers thrilling accounts of some of the remarkable findings he and his colleagues have made, including primitive human-sized tyrannosaurs; monstrous carnivores even larger than T. rex; and paradigm-shifting feathered raptors from China.
An electrifying scientific history that unearths the dinosaurs’ epic saga, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs will be a definitive and treasured account for decades to come.
Location:
Kane Hall 220
University of Washington
FREE and open to the public;
Registration required
UPDATE: Advance registration is fully booked. Please arrive at Kane Hall Room 220 half an hour prior to the event for standby seating, offered on a first come, first served basis.
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Event Venue
Kane Hall, 4063 Spokane Ln NE, Seattle, WA 98195, United States
Tickets
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