The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: From the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us

The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us by paleontologist Steve Brusatte (Mariner Books, 2022) is our book for this study group. Brusatte is a star of modern paleontology who received rave reviews for his first book The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs. He returns with the promised sequel, which is a sweeping and revelatory history of mammals, illuminating the lost story of the extraordinary family tree that led to us. Picking up the narrative in the ashes of the extinction event that doomed T-rex and its kind, Brusatte explores the remarkable story of the family of animals that inherited the Earth—mammals. Our study group will participate in discussions on the evolution of mammals as we accompany Illinois native, University of Chicago graduate, and now Edinburgh University professor Brusatte from the earliest days of our mammal lineage some 325 million years ago, through survival after the asteroid, to the astonishingly diverse range of animals, including us, that dominate today’s Earth. Together, we will also explore continental movement, terrestrial and non-terrestrial driven extinctions, and the impact on mammals of climate change.