Ape Hand Signs and Deep Time Minds

Earth before us in the Smithsonian deep time vaults

Chapter 1

The architecture of deep time

Chapter 2

Surviving the great dyings

Chapter 3

Ancient climates and changing worlds

Chapter 4

The library of 148 million secrets

Ch 2 · Surviving the great dyings

jennadecker Sign Language

Ape hand signs, we still read, deep time minds

Stony corals survived the Great Dying by retreating to the deep sea.

A squirrel-sized survivor of the dinosaur extinction evolved into primates.

Fossilized Triassic tunnels show how tiny underground survivors helped rebuild life after the Great Dying

streetspirit Winding fossilized tunnels from the early Triassic carve pathways through the ancient soil

Glossary

purgatorius (noun)
A tiny, squirrel-sized mammal that survived the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs and is considered the earliest ancestor of all primates. Discovered in Montana's Purgatory Hill, this tough little survivor reminds us that even the smallest creatures can shape the future of the entire planet.

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streetspirit The Great Dyings

The world goes on, the world goes on, Life survived before we were here.

streetspirit How ocean reefs heal after total ecosystem collapse.

The ultimate survivors of the ash

streetspirit Small mammals emerged from hiding to inherit a post-asteroid world.

Fun Fact

Dinosaur dental records: Some duck-billed dinosaurs had over 1,000 teeth packed into their jaws, which they replaced constantly throughout their lives.

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The dust that blocked the sun

streetspirit The Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary layer tells the story of the dinosaur-ending asteroid.

Glossary

mass extinction (noun)
The rapid and widespread decline in the biodiversity of Earth's species over a short geological period. The Smithsonian's fossil hall displays specimens from the planet's most devastating biological collapse 252 million years ago.

Quiz

Why do scientists study fossilized burrowing organisms from the early Triassic period?

Gossip

Which extinct creature would you bring back to life?

Earth Bounces Back? Life Bounces Back feels very toy-like)

BETA

streetspirit Match prehistoric fossils to learn how Earth bounced back from disasters before humans existed.

streetspirit The Permian-Triassic mass extinction.

Quiz

Near which modern-day country did the asteroid impact occur that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs?

streetspirit Ancient rock layers preserve the asteroid dust that blocked the sun.

Quiz

What is the name of the squirrel-sized early mammal ancestor that survived the dinosaur extinction?

streetspirit Squirrel-sized mammals survived the dinosaur extinction.

Quiz

Approximately how many million years ago did the 'Great Dying' Permian-Triassic extinction occur?