Neanderthals & Other Successes

Catalog description

Ours is a planet of life. Evidence from fossils and molecules suggests that organisms have thrived on Earth for billions of years. However, less than one percent of the species that have ever existed on our planet are still alive today. What caused some species to succeed while others failed, and how did life on Earth begin in the first place? From the earliest bacteria to humans and their civilizations, this course addresses the origins, evolution, and extinction of life on earth based on evidence from chemistry, biology, geology, and related sciences.