Mark Cocker

The catastrophe that allowed mammals to reign supreme

Only when an asteroid struck Earth, eliminating the dinosaurs, could small, furry burrow-dwellers evolve in such great diversity

An artist’s impression of Smilodon, with canines the length of sickles, attacking a giant sloth. [Getty Images]
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  • The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us

    Steve Brusatte

    Picador, pp. 512, £20

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