Over the past 600 million years the Earth has experienced a series of massive extinction events. They’ve caused, amongst other things, the end of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, and the extinction of 95% of marine species 250 million years ago.

In part two of ‘The give and take of biodiversity’ palaeontologist Mike Hannah, from Victoria University of Wellington, will explore these events, which have forever changed the course of life on Earth. He’ll ask questions like; how many mass extinctions have there been? How devastating were they? What triggered them? And are we living through one today?

Wellington Zoo's Conservation Manager, Clare Stringer, will speak about the role of zoos (and everyone) to make a difference at this pivotal moment in time.

Associate Professor Mike Hannah is a palaeontologist at Victoria University of Wellington. He uses tiny microfossils to both date sediments and to document ancient climates. He has a long-time interest in the patterns of evolution and diversity revealed in the fossil record and firmly believes that the fossil record contains important lessons about the future of life on earth.

This lecture is part of the series Blood from a stone: A fossil history of life, death and the mayhem in between by Victoria University of Wellington and GNS Science.

Other events in this series include:

• Zealandia: down but not out! with Dr Liz Kennedy in August

• Running hot and cold: climate change over the last few million years with Dr Joe Prebble in September

• International Fossil Day field trip: Discover the fossils of the Wellington region with a field trip in October