Latest articles by Vasika Udurawane

fossils
over 3 years ago by Vasika Udurawane

Mosasaurs: Last of the great marine reptiles

Mosasaurs were the real leviathans of the Mesozoic Era, gigantic marine lizards that grew as large as whales. Some were wide-ranging hunters of large prey while others snacked on shellfish at the bottom of shallow seas. They became the biggest predators of the Cretaceous oceans in just 25 million years, a short period in geologic time.
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fossils
over 3 years ago by Vasika Udurawane

The evolution of plants part 5: The grassland empire

We live on a green planet. Today we may take them for granted, but plants are the most important living things on Earth. Their colonization of land made it possible for all animal life to survive, from the smallest ants to the biggest dinosaurs. Their landscape once again changed when the grasses appeared, an incredible revolution in the history of life. How did they rise to dominance and conquer the Earth? And how did they manage to engineer the lives of the animals around them, ourselves included?
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fossils
over 3 years ago by Vasika Udurawane

The evolution of plants part 4: A tale of flowers and seeds

We live on a green planet. Today we may take them for granted, but plants are the most important living things on Earth. Their colonization of land made it possible for all animal life to survive, from the smallest ants to the biggest dinosaurs. After evolving into green-topped giants, how would plants ensure that their future generations were protected? What new ingenious systems of reproduction would they use?
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fossils
almost 4 years ago by Vasika Udurawane

The evolution of plants part 3: The Age of Coal

We live on a green planet. Today we may take them for granted, but plants are the most important living things on Earth. Their initial colonization of land made it possible for all animal life to survive, and once the Devonian ended, the forests grew bigger and stranger. How would plants change their own bodies and the environment in this golden age?
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fossils
almost 4 years ago by Vasika Udurawane

The evolution of plants part 2: Birth of the forests

We live on a green planet. Today we may take them for granted, but plants are the most important living things on Earth. Their colonization of land made it possible for all animal life to survive, from the smallest ants to the biggest dinosaurs. After their first foray onto land, how did they turn into nature’s skyscrapers?
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Vasika
Udurawane

Writer