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The Rise And Fall Of The Dinosaurs
''The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World'' is a 2018 book by paleontologist Steve L. Brusatte. The book chronicles the evolution of dinosaurs, their rise as the dominant clade, and ends with an account of the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs from the Chicxulub asteroid. It also includes a discussion of the evolution of feathered dinosaurs and the recognition of birds as dinosaurs, and an epilogue of sorts discussing the post-dinosaur emergence of mammals. Brusatte includes anecdotes from his own dinosaur-obsessed childhood and his fieldwork and research, as well as descriptions of other historical and modern paleontologists responsible for various discoveries. It received strongly positive reviews, praising the author's enthusiasm, vivid writing, and up-to-date research. A few reviewers criticized the focus on big-name dinosaurs such as ''Tyrannosaurus'' at the expense of breadth and the focus on anecdotes from Brusatte's life. Background and pu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evolution Of Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is a subject of active research. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201.3 mya and their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record shows that birds are feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from earlier theropods during the Late Jurassic epoch, and are the only dinosaur lineage known to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event approximately 66 mya. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs—birds—and the extinct non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds. Dinosaurs are varied from taxonomic, morphological and ecological standpoints. Birds, at over 11,000 living species, are amo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Systematic Biology
Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phylogenies have two components: branching order (showing group relationships, graphically represented in cladograms) and branch length (showing amount of evolution). Phylogenetic trees of species and higher taxa are used to study the evolution of traits (e.g., anatomical or molecular characteristics) and the distribution of organisms (biogeography). Systematics, in other words, is used to understand the evolutionary history of life on Earth. The word systematics is derived from the Latin word of Ancient Greek origin '' systema,'' which means systematic arrangement of organisms. Carl Linnaeus used 'Systema Naturae' as the title of his book. Branches and applications In the study of biological systematics, researchers use the different branch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian Science Monitor
''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper by Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the new religious movement Christian Science, Church of Christ, Scientist. Since its founding, the newspaper has been based in Boston. Over its existence, seven ''Monitor'' journalists have been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, including Edmund Stevens (1950), John Hughes (1968), Howard James (1968), Robert Cahn (1969), Richard Strout (1978), David S. Rohde (1996), and Clay Bennett (2002)."Pulitzer Prizes" at ''The Christian Science Monitor'' official website History 20th century [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The New York Times Best Seller List
''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times bestsellers since the first list, 50 years ago'', Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1992. '' The New York Times Book Review'' has published the list weekly since October 12, 1931. In the 21st century, it has evolved into multiple lists, grouped by genre and format, including fiction and nonfiction, hardcover, paperback and e-books. The list is based on a proprietary method that uses sales figures, other data and internal guidelines that are unpublished—how the ''Times'' compiles the list is a trade secret. In 1983, during a legal case in which the ''Times'' was being sued, the ''Times'' argued that the list is not mathematically objective but rather an editorial product, an argument that prevailed in the courts. In 2017, a ''Times'' represent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Modern Climate Change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to Earth's climate. The current rise in global temperatures is driven by human activities, especially fossil fuel burning since the Industrial Revolution. Fossil fuel use, deforestation, and some agricultural and industrial practices release greenhouse gases. These gases absorb some of the heat that the Earth radiates after it warms from sunlight, warming the lower atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, the primary gas driving global warming, has increased in concentration by about 50% since the pre-industrial era to levels not seen for millions of years. Climate change has an increasingly large impact on the environment. Deserts are expanding, while heat waves and wildfires are becoming more common. Amplified warming in the Arctic has contr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Rise And Reign Of The Mammals
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pronoun ''thee'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evolution Of Mammals
The evolution of mammals has passed through many stages since the first appearance of their synapsid ancestors in the Pennsylvanian (geology), Pennsylvanian sub-period of the late Carboniferous period. By the mid-Triassic, there were many synapsid species that looked like mammals. The lineage leading to today's mammals split up in the Jurassic; synapsids from this period include ''Dryolestes'', more closely related to extant placentals and marsupials than to monotremes, as well as ''Ambondro mahabo, Ambondro'', more closely related to monotremes. Later on, the eutherian and metatherian lineages separated; the metatherians are the animals more closely related to the marsupials, while the eutherians are those more closely related to the placentals. Since ''Juramaia'', the earliest known eutherian, lived 160 million years ago in the Jurassic, this divergence must have occurred in the same period. After the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs (bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cretaceous–Paleogene Extinction Event
The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event, also known as the K–T extinction, was the extinction event, mass extinction of three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth approximately 66 million years ago. The event caused the extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs. Most other tetrapods weighing more than also became extinct, with the exception of some ectothermic species such as sea turtles and crocodilians. It marked the end of the Cretaceous period, and with it the Mesozoic era, while heralding the beginning of the current era, the Cenozoic. In the geologic record, the K–Pg event is marked by a thin layer of sediment called the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, K–Pg boundary or K–T boundary, which can be found throughout the world in marine and terrestrial rocks. The boundary clay shows unusually high levels of the metal iridium, which is more common in asteroids than in the Earth's crust. As originally proposed in 1980 by a team of scientists le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evolution Of Flight
Around 350 BCE, Aristotle and other philosophers of the time attempted to explain the aerodynamics of avian flight. Even after the discovery of the ancestral bird ''Archaeopteryx'' which lived over 150 million years ago, debates still persist regarding the evolution of flight. There are three leading hypotheses pertaining to avian flight. In the Pouncing Proavis model, it is assumed to have evolved from ambush predators pouncing on prey from above. The Cursorial model assumes that flight started with running dinosaurs making short leaps and evolving proto-wings for greater control over those leaps. The third hypothesis, the Arboreal model, assumes birds evolved from tree-dwelling gliders, who gradually increased their control and flight distance. In March 2018, scientists reported that ''Archaeopteryx'' was likely capable of flight, but in a manner substantially different from that of modern birds. Flight characteristics For flight to occur, four physical forces (thrust and d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evolution Of Birds
The evolution of birds began in the Jurassic Period, with the earliest birds derived from a clade of theropod dinosaurs named Paraves. Birds are categorized as a Class (biology), biological class, Aves. For more than a century, the small theropod dinosaur ''Archaeopteryx, Archaeopteryx lithographica'' from the Late Jurassic period was considered to have been the earliest bird. Modern phylogenies place birds in the dinosaur clade Theropoda. According to the current consensus, Aves and a sister group, the Order (biology), order Crocodilia, together are the sole living members of an unranked reptile clade, the Archosauria. Four distinct lineages of bird survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago, giving rise to ostriches and relatives (Palaeognathae), waterfowl (Anseriformes), ground-living fowl (Galliformes), and "modern birds" (Neoaves). Phylogenetics, Phylogenetically, Aves is usually defined as all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tyrannosaurus Rex
''Tyrannosaurus'' () is a genus of large theropoda, theropod dinosaur. The type species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' ( meaning 'king' in Latin), often shortened to ''T. rex'' or colloquially t-rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It lived throughout what is now western North America, on what was then an island continent known as Laramidia. ''Tyrannosaurus'' had a much wider range than other Tyrannosauridae, tyrannosaurids. Fossils are found in a variety of geological formations dating to the latest Campanian-Maastrichtian Age (geology), ages of the late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, 72.7 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago, with isolated specimens possibly indicating an earlier origin in the middle Campanian. It was the last known member of the tyrannosaurids and among the last non-Bird, avian dinosaurs to exist before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Like other tyrannosaurids, ''Tyrannosaurus'' was a bipedal carnivore with a massive skull balanced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
