Missoula’s Hank Green, UM launch YouTube series on dinosaurs
If the extinction-causing asteroid surprised the dinosaurs, imagine what they'd think of YouTube?
The largest - and often strangest - animals that ever roamed the planet will have their stories told on the popular digital channel by its equally popular host, Hank Green of Missoula, in a new collaboration with the University of Montana.
The school's Paleontology Center on Friday announced that it had partnered with Green, an Internet producer, to launch EONS – a fitting name when exploring billions of years of history.
The new new weekly YouTube series will explore the billion-year history of life on Earth. Green will serve as host of EONS alongside Paleontology Center Collections Manager Kallie Moore and science writer Blake de Pastino.
“Being able to share my enthusiasm for ancient life and getting to highlight fossils from the UMPC collection on a large scale platform is such a wonderful opportunity,” said Moore. “EONS will bring more awareness to paleontology, natural history and hopefully more recognition to the UM Paleontology Center.”
Moore said EONS will sweep viewers through the history of life on Earth, starting with the dawn of life in the Archaean Eon and up through the Mesozoic Era, when dinosaurs roamed – and vanished – from the planet.
EONS will continue through the end of the most recent Ice Age.
Along the way, Moore said, paleontology experts will explore the evolutionary history of mammals, including humans and other modern species.
Series topics will include “What Color Were Dinosaurs (And How Do We Know)?” Other segments include “The Story of Saber Teeth” and “The Biggest Thing That Ever Flew.”
“EONS will go on a deeply engaging and wildly entertaining tour of Earth’s 4-billion-year natural history, one fascinating vignette at a time,” Green said. “I’m excited to explore these topics in detail with Kallie and Blake and hope it will encourage audiences to become more interested in paleontology.”
The series premiered June 26.