Mammals and Dinosaurs Have a Common Ancestors

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Mammals and dinosaurs have a common ancestor that they split off. From that ancestor, eventually you would get everything as diverse as dinosaurs, turtles, crocodiles, terradactles, birds and mammals. This was the coal age, the time of the first big jungles in earth history. In this weird primitive menagerie, you had this common ancestor of all these animals. It would later evolve. And so we have to go back to that ancestor to start telling the story of the mammals.

In times of turmoil, it can be useful to take a longer view of history. Like, a LOT longer. Paleontologist and author of “The Rise and Reign of the Mammals” Stephen Brusatte joins Adam to explain how mammals took over the Earth hundreds of millions of years ago, and why we survived and achieve sentience when dinosaurs died out. Stephen goes on to discuss why taking a deep look at our history can help prepare us for the crises of the near future. You can purchase Stephen’s book at http://factuallypod.com/books Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.