Overview of The day the dinosaurs died
This TED Radio Hour episode follows paleontologist Ken Lacovara at the Edelman Fossil Park and Museum in Mantua Township, New Jersey, where a quarry preserves an unusually rich record of the exact moment the asteroid struck 66 million years ago. The conversation blends paleontology, geology, personal origin story, and environmental urgency, showing how one fossil site can reveal both the end of the dinosaurs and lessons for the human future.
What the episode is about
- Manoush Zomorodi visits a former quarry in southern New Jersey that has become a public fossil park and museum.
- Ken Lacovara explains why the site is scientifically exceptional: it contains fossils and impact debris from the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.
- The episode explores:
- how the asteroid impact likely unfolded,
- why New Jersey is historically important in paleontology,
- Lacovara’s career and major dinosaur discoveries,
- and why “deep time” should change how we think about climate, extinction, and responsibility.
The New Jersey fossil site
- The Edelman Fossil Park sits on land that was once a marl quarry, mined for glauconite fertilizer.
- It preserves layers spanning millions of years, down to the extinction layer from 66 million years ago.
- Researchers have found:
- more than 100,000 fossils,
- over 100 species,
- shocked quartz,
- glass spherules,
- and elevated iridium, which points to an asteroid origin.
- The site is unusual because it records a “complete death assemblage” from the moment of impact, not just scattered traces.
What happened when the asteroid hit
Lacovara gives a dramatic timeline of the extinction:
- The asteroid struck near the Yucatán Peninsula, forming a crater roughly 110 miles wide.
- About 8.5 minutes later, a major earthquake would have rippled across the continent.
- Within roughly 16 minutes, material blasted into the atmosphere would have fallen back, superheating the planet’s surface.
- He argues many dinosaurs were effectively dead within an hour because they had nowhere to hide.
- Hours later, a massive tsunami likely swept across the coast, carrying carcasses out to sea and creating the fossil-rich bone beds seen in New Jersey.
Ken Lacovara’s path as a paleontologist
- Lacovara grew up near Atlantic City and became fascinated by rocks and fossils in second grade.
- He later studied geology, worked as a professor, and traveled to fossil sites around the world.
- In Patagonia, he helped discover Dreadnoughtus shranitei, one of the largest dinosaurs ever found.
- It was about 85 feet long and weighed around 65 tons.
- He named it “fears nothing,” reflecting its sheer size and power.
- He describes fieldwork as hard, uncomfortable, and sometimes dangerous, but deeply meaningful.
Why New Jersey matters in dinosaur history
The episode highlights that southern New Jersey is a major paleontological landmark:
- The world’s first nearly complete dinosaur skeleton was found in Haddonfield, New Jersey, in 1858.
- The first tyrannosaur ever discovered, Dryptosaurus, was found in Mantua Township in 1866.
- Despite this history, many people in the region don’t realize how important their local fossil record is.
Public fossil hunting and education
- Lacovara and his team chose to open the site to the public, which is rare for active paleontological digs.
- The museum offers hands-on fossil digging for visitors in a layer above the main research area.
- He emphasizes that:
- people love fossils when they can touch and discover them,
- kids especially respond to the experience,
- and public engagement is essential for conservation and science education.
- The site is designed to be both a research facility and an educational experience.
Deep time, extinction, and climate urgency
A major theme of the episode is perspective:
- Dinosaurs lived on Earth for a long time, but in geological terms their extinction was recent.
- Lacovara uses analogies like Earth history as a 1,000-page book and dinosaurs disappearing “the day after Christmas” to explain deep time.
- He argues that understanding the fossil record shows:
- Earth has already experienced five mass extinctions,
- each linked to climate crisis,
- and humanity is now driving a sixth.
- Unlike dinosaurs, humans can see the crisis coming and still have time to act.
Key takeaways
- Fossil sites can preserve not just bones, but a snapshot of a world-ending event.
- New Jersey is one of the most historically important fossil regions in North America.
- Paleontology is not only about the past; it can sharpen our understanding of the present.
- Lacovara’s central message is both sobering and hopeful:
- hope is a choice,
- and people must act now to protect the planet.
Notable insight
“I love all the other specks, and I’d like them to have a nice planet to live on.”
This captures the episode’s blend of humility, wonder, and urgency: we are small in the scale of cosmic time, but our choices still matter.