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Nicholas Longrich on Muck Rack

Nicholas Longrich

Bath, Kodiak
As seen in: MSN New Zealand, BBC, El País, The Independent (UK), Yahoo Canada, Yahoo News, Yahoo News UK, Diario ABC, Infobae, The Conversation and
Covers:  Evolution, paleontology (dinosaurs, fossil birds, pterosaurs, mosasaurs, humans), mass extinction, human evolution, biogeography, archaeology, macroevolution
Paleontologist, biologist, sometimes archaeologist from Alaska. Dinosaurs, evolution in deep time and writing. Nature is the only authority that is never wrong.

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Nicholas Longrich’s Biography

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I’m a paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and writer from Kodiak, Alaska. I work at the University of Bath, studying dinosaurs and other extinct creatures, mass extinctions, and the patterns and processes of evolution in deep time. As a writer, I'm interested in exploring complex scientific ideas in a way accessible to nonspecialists. I'm especially interested in novel ideas and perspectives, not just the conventional wisdom. Currently writing on human evolution, mass extinctions, life on o…

Nicholas Longrich’s Journalist Portfolio

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What if the dinosaurs hadn't gone extinct? Why our world might look very different

What if the dinosaurs hadn't gone extinct? Why our world might look very different

Sixty-six million years ago, an asteroid hit the Earth with the force of 10 billion atomic bombs, changing th…

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'Sea monsters' were real millions of years ago. New fossils tell about their rise and fall

'Sea monsters' were real millions of years ago. New fossils tell about their rise and fall

Sixty six million years ago, sea monsters really existed. They were mosasaurs, huge marine lizards that lived…

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Seven times people discovered the Americas - and how they got there

Seven times people discovered the Americas - and how they got there

When Columbus landed in 1492, the Americas had already been settled for tens of thousands of years. He wasn't…

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How a handful of prehistoric geniuses launched humanity's technological revolution

How a handful of prehistoric geniuses launched humanity's technological revolution

For the first few million years of human evolution, technology evolved slowly. Some three million years ago, …

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Would we still see ourselves as 'human' if other hominin species hadn't gone extinct?

Would we still see ourselves as 'human' if other hominin species hadn't gone extinct?

In our myths, there’s often a moment when we became “human”. Eve plucked the fruit of the tree of knowledge a…

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When did humans start experimenting with alcohol and drugs?

When did humans start experimenting with alcohol and drugs?

Humans constantly alter the world. We fire fields, turn forests into farms, and breed plants and animals. But…

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Articles

Morocco dinosaur discovery gives clues on why they went extinct

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By Nicholas Longrich
| The Star (Kenya) Verified
The causes of the mass extinction have been debated for two centuries. Georges Cuvier, the father of palaeontology, thought extinction was driven by catastrophes. Charles Darwin thought gradual changes in the environment and competition between species slowly drove lineages extinct. As our understanding of the fossil record improved, it became clear that the Cretaceous period (145 million years to 66 million years ago) ended with an extraordinary wave of extinction.
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Neanderthals vs Homo sapiens: How social structures affected ancient species’ ability to survive

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By Andrew Ladenheim, Nicholas Longrich
| Genetic Literacy Project
Why did humans take over the world while our closest relatives, the , became extinct? It’s possible we were just smarter, but there’s surprisingly little evidence that’s true. Neanderthals had big brains, language and sophisticated tools. They made art and jewellery. They were smart, suggesting a curious possibility. Maybe the crucial differences weren’t at the individual level, but in our societies. Two hundred and fifty thousand years ago, Europe and western Asia were Neanderthal lands.
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Why Did Modern Humans Replace The Neanderthals? The Key Might Lie In Our Social Structures

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By Nicholas Longrich
| IFL Science Verified
Why did humans take over the world while our closest relatives, the , became extinct? It’s possible we were just smarter, but there’s surprisingly little evidence that’s true. Neanderthals had big brains, language and sophisticated tools. They made art and jewellery. They were smart, suggesting a curious possibility. Maybe the crucial differences weren’t at the individual level, but in our societies. Two hundred and fifty thousand years ago, Europe and western Asia were Neanderthal lands.
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