PBS
When Giant Amphibians Reigned
Take an evolutionary journey as an ancient amphibian. A lesson from a PBS series describes the features and evolutionary sequence of a large amphibian group, the Temnospondyls. Although extinct over 210 million years ago, many...
PBS
Can We Get DNA from Fossils?
Just how long can a fossil preserve DNA? It seems that DNA becomes unreadable after about 6.8 million years. Learn about the science that helped make this conclusion and the mistakes made along the way in a lesson from a PBS Eons video...
PBS
Life, Sex, and Death Among the Dire Wolves
Scientists know a great deal about extinct dire wolves thanks to a large number fossilized in one geographical area. They lived in groups, hunted opportunistic or wounded prey, and were fierce in battle and sex. Learn more with an...
PBS
When Fish Wore Armor
Today very few animals exist with both an endoskeleton and exoskeleton. Yet, in the Devonian period, a large number of fish species lived with both. Scientists debate if they were for protection or mineral storage, because none of them...
Crash Course
Earth Science: Crash Course History of Science #20
How old is Earth and how do scientists know the answer? Throughout history, many researchers, scholars, and leaders answered this question with varying degrees of accuracy. The 20th episode of Crash Course History of Science introduces...
PBS
How a Supervolcano Made the Cenozoic’s Coolest Fossils
Volcanoes cause mass extinctions, climate change, and physical alterations of our planet. They also create great fossil records, time markers in layers of Earth, and an interesting way to study geology. A video describes how one...
PBS
When Birds Had Teeth
Scientists believe confuciusornis developed a beak and lost teeth as a key step in the evolutionary process. Learn more about confuciusornis and other birds, dinosaurs, and animals that evolved into the birds of today. PBS Eons walks...
Be Smart
Tuatara All the Way Down: Face to Face with a Living Fossil!
Change is good ... unless you're a tuatara! Meet Earth's oldest surviving reptile species in a fun video from an extensive science playlist. Content includes why the tuatara did not evolve and its unique anatomy.
PBS
Fossils: Rocking the Earth
Scientists learn about animals and plants living today by understanding the fossil record. A helpful resource includes a brief explanation of the process to help scholars complete the online game. It also mentions the gaps in knowledge...
PBS
The Great Snake Debate
Snakes are just lizards without legs, right? Scholars study the sensational evolutionary history of the snake with a video from a well-written biology playlist. Topics include snake fossils, theories on snake evolution, and...
PBS
The Time Terror Birds Invaded
Like something from a low-budget horror movie, terror birds ruled the roost in South America millions of years ago. Things didn't go as well when they headed north! With an intriguing video, biology scholars explore the massive migration...
PBS
When Giant Fungi Ruled
Fungi are more than fun ... they're also functional! Most everyone knows they serve as Earth's decomposers, but ancient fungi took their job to a whole new level! An entertaining video from a large biology playlist examines the giant...
PBS
Untangling the Devil's Corkscrew
How did scientists unravel the mystery of an ancient beaver species? An engaging video from a well-written biology playlist discusses the discovery of strange spiral fossils found in Nebraska farm country. Junior paleontologists examine...
PBS
What Happened to the World's Greatest Ape?
Gigantopithecus was the greatest of the great apes! Whatever became of them? Take a journey to Asia and explore the forests and grasslands that were once home to the large primate using a video from an extentsive biology playlist....
PBS
The Last Time the Globe Warmed
Global warming ... greenhouse gases ... climate change ... sounds familiar, right? What about palm trees in Wyoming, or swimming in the sea near Antarctica? Science scholars discover the unbearable conditions Earth experienced during its...
Physics Girl
Should You Go to Mars? Ft. Bill Nye
Would you move to Mars? A video discussion explores the realities of traveling and living on Mars. Characteristics of the planet, its orbit, and revolutions provide key facts to help you make your decision.
PBS
The Tully Monster and Other Problematic Creatures
Many reference mysterious fossils as belonging to monsters, but clearly they existed. A science series presents a video on problematic creatures. It specifically focuses on the tully monster, which, despite many fossils, has yet to...
PBS
The Trouble With Trilobites
Trilobites survived on Earth for longer than mammals have, so what was their secret? From their evolution to diversity, they survived multiple large changes in the environment—and even flourished. Then, in the matter of less than a...
PBS
Dimetrodon: Our Most Unlikely Ancestor
Dimetrodon lived before flowers, and people often believe it was a dinosaur. Research, however, proves a different story. An informative video teaches more about the dimetrodon, a mammal often confused for a reptile. It explains the...
PBS
The Extinction That Never Happened
How do scientists define a mass extinction event in the fossil record, and what happens when they are wrong? Scientists find living plants and animals previously believed to be extinct on almost every continent. An engaging video...
PBS
'Living Fossils' Aren't Really a Thing
Do all species evolve? A timeless video that is part of the "Eons" playlist explains the term living fossils. It presents the species that many believe haven't evolved over millions of years. It goes on to break down each assumption and...
The Brain Scoop
Fossil Meteorites
Fossils ... from space? Science scholars discover evidence in a limestone quarry that helped researchers learn about a meteor shower that lasted hundreds of thousands of years through an interesting video from Brain Scoop's Fossils and...
The Brain Scoop
The First Brachiosaurus
How do scientists know when they've discovered something new? Travel back in time to when dinosaurs roamed the earth using an interesting video, which is part of Brain Scoop's Fossils and Geology playlist. The narrator examines the...
The Brain Scoop
Bending Fossils: Experiments In Paleontology (Harvard Adventures, Part 3)
How can we bend a fossil? Junior paleontologists explore the joint movements of extinct species in Brain Scoop's Fossils and Geology series. The narrator works with a paleontology curator to show the experiments performed on the...