Paleontology

It’s the rare child (or adult) who isn’t fascinated by dinosaurs. The ancient creatures capture the popular imagination in a way quite unlike anything else. Through the study of dinosaurs, students learn about what life on Earth was like long ago, and the many changes that have occurred in geography, geology, and climate since then.

There have been at least six well-documented mass extinctions on Earth over the past 500 million years, a phenomenon that has both puzzled and intrigued scientists for centuries. Various types of organisms on Earth become extinct fairly frequently, but mass extinctions are distinguished by the large numbers of species that become extinct over a relatively short period of time. The Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction, responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, is perhaps the most famous mass extinction. It’s forever branded into our brains from being the topic of feature films, artists’ paintings, and numerous books.