How the Universe Works: From the Death of the Dinosaurs to Us

About this event

Adults. Nearly 66 million years ago, a ten kilometre wide asteroid struck the Earth just off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. This was the worst day in the history of our planet, kicking off a series of global-scale natural disasters, including rapid global cooling and heating, massive tsunamis, and forest fires. The entire planet changed in an instant, and all the non-avian dinosaurs which had ruled the Earth for millions of years went extinct. One of the survivors of this mass extinction event was a little burrowing creature no bigger than a rat, an ancient mammal that once lived underfoot of the dinosaurs, marking the beginning of the Age of Mammals. In this talk, we’ll learn about what happened after the dinosaurs went extinct and how these little creatures would evolve into the many incredible mammals that we see around us today, including us. Presenter: Dr. Chritz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of British Columbia. She is also the head of the light stable isotope facility housed within the Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research (PCIGR) at UBC and the Director of the fossil collections at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum. Dr. Chritz’s research focuses on mammalian diet and food webs through time, tracing the evolutionary path of mammals that survived the extinction of the dinosaurs all the way to our own species. Accessibility Information VPL is committed to making our programs accessible for all. If you have an access need that we have not addressed here, please email us at [email protected]. • Flexible seating options may be available upon request • The expected noise level is moderate • Participants may leave the room at any time For more information on physical access, view the Accessibility information on the Central Library page.