The dinosaurs will all but disappear as mammals rise to claim and reshape the planet' and you will be a witness to this fantastic transformation. In the terrible mass extinction that will follow' more than half of known species will vanish seemingly overnight in both searing fire and constricting cold. As we watch' an asteroid some seven miles across is set to slam into the earth' leaving a geologic wound over fifty miles in diameter. Tyrannosaurus rex will be toppled from its throne' along with every other species of non-avian dinosaur no matter their size' diet or disposition. But in a matter of hours' everything here will be wiped away. A Triceratops horridus ambles along the edge of the forest' enjoying this endless summer of the dinosaurs. It's a sunny afternoon in the Hell Creek ecosystem of North America 66 million years ago. Picture yourself in the Cretaceous period. It’s got real dinosaurs.A fascinating exploration of the world's worst mass extinction and how it shaped all subsequent life on our planet.

Jurassic Park references certainly help as well. I anticipated there would be times where the science would bore me, but Black sidestepped all of that by creating an actual narrative about animals which went extinct millions of years ago.īlack’s love of dinosaurs truly comes through in this book and it is all the better for it.

Black focuses in on various animals and how they cope with the massive changes around the globe in a way which makes you actually feel like the dinosaurs are old friends of yours. It follows the time right before and then very long after the impact of the asteroid which killed the dinosaurs. Riley Black’s The Last Days of the Dinosaurs is like nothing I have ever read before. Well, I didn’t think a book could make me sad about dinosaurs but here we are. My Take on The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: The asteroid also threw into the air 350 billion tons of sulfur and 460 billion tons of carbon dioxide. I don’t know what that means either but I’m almost positive it’s a lot. The asteroid impact released the equivalent energy of 100 teratonnes of dynamite or 420 zettajoules. Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Last Days of the Dinosaurs:Ī look at the time right before, and then way after, the stupid asteroid killed all the dinosaurs.

The last days of the dinosaurs book