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In Our Time
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The big ideas which form the intellectual agenda of our age are illuminated by some of the best minds. Melvyn Bragg and three guests investigate the history of ideas and debate their application in modern life. |
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BIOGRAPHY
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| "I'm fascinated by the fact that we live in a time when so many people are doing fantastic work, and thinking in areas which it's not remotely possible for me to keep up with & and these people are prepared to talk about it. They're prepared to come on In Our Time and other programmes on Radio 4 and try and talk to the rest of us ..." |
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THE RISE OF THE MAMMALS
Read an edited transcript of this edition of In Our Time.
Read audience reactions to this edition.
The Cenozoic Era of Earth's history began 65 million years ago and runs to this day. It began with the extraordinary 'KT event', a supposed asteroid impact that destroyed the dinosaurs, and incorporates the break up of Pangaea, the enormous landmass that eventually formed the continents we know today. It is known as the 'Age of the Mammals', and it is the period in which warm-blooded, lactating, often furry animals diversified rapidly and spread across the globe on land and in the sea.
According to evolutionary theory, what conditions created the opportunity for mammals to thrive? What environmental factors lead to the characteristics they share - and the features they don't? And how did they become the most intelligent class of animals on the planet?
Contributors
Richard Corfield, Senior Lecturer in Earth Sciences at the Open University
Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics at University College London
Jane Francis, Professor of Palaeoclimatology at the University of Leeds
Use our research page to find out more about this subject.
View Richard Corfield's the ascendency of mammals clock
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RELATED LINKS
Richard Corfield's The Cambrian age clock
Richard Corfield's The origins of Life clock
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