Cosmic Queries – Dinosaur Discoveries with Kimberly Chapelle

About This Episode

What did dinosaurs really look like? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Marcia Belsky explore questions we all have about dinosaurs, fossils, feathers, and asteroids with paleontologist Kimberly Chapelle. Are the Jurassic Park movies accurate?

How did dinosaurs get so big? We discuss how these massive creatures came to be and how scientists categorize them. Find out the difference between bird-hipped dinosaurs and lizard-hipped dinosaurs. Which groups do birds come from? If a meteor killed them, could that happen to us? Kimi explains which animals we have today are descended from dinosaurs. Discover if a Brontosaurus is a real dinosaur.

Why did some animals survive the meteor and others didn’t? Learn about genetic diversity amongst the dinos and whether being underwater helped. Are there asteroid-resistant genes? We talk about the Loch Ness monster, the meteor crater in the Yucatan Peninsula, and whether dinosaurs would’ve been domesticate-able. In a different timeline, would an early human have been able to ride a dinosaur? Can reptiles even be domesticated?

How accurate is Jurassic park? We explore Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptors, and Pterodactyls. Did dinosaurs actually have feathers instead of scales? Were their brains really as small as a walnut? We dive into fossil preservation and our common ancestors with the dinosaurs. If the meteor had not stuck Earth would the dinosaurs still be around today? All that plus, the most important question: What the heck are the front limbs of  T-Rex for?

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About the prints that flank Neil in this video:
“Black Swan” & “White Swan” limited edition serigraph prints by Coast Salish artist Jane Kwatleematt Marston. For more information about this artist and her work, visit Inuit Gallery of Vancouver.