PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The 69-million-year-old Vegavis lived in a rich Antarctic ecosystem. © Mark Witton, 2025
The Yolo Bird Alliance presents “Birds Through the End – Cretaceous Mass Extinction”. 66 million years ago, an asteroid hit Earth and killed more than 75% of all life on the planet. That turned out to be a really good day for birds, who went on to become the world’s most diverse group of terrestrial vertebrates. In this talk, Christopher Torres, PhD will explore some surprising new stories that some incredibly old birds are telling us about why birds alone among known dinosaurs survived that mass extinction event, why the earliest divergence among living birds is marked by a 100-fold difference in species diversity, and how we might predict which species are most likely to be “extinction-proof” in the future.
The public is invited to join Yolo Bird Alliance and its members for the monthly general meeting on November 19, 2025, at the Davis Senior Center at 646 A Street in Davis. The meeting is free, and the presentation begins at 7:00 p.m. and the meeting ends 8:50 p.m. People attending in-person are welcome to mingle following the conclusion of the Q&A portion. The meeting will also be on Zoom, see below to register to attend online.
SPEAKER BIO
Chris Torres is an avian paleontologist and evolutionary morphologist. His research focuses on questions about extinction and survivorship dynamics, the evolution of beak function, and the evolution of “loss” (like the loss of flight, the loss of sensory systems, or the loss of niche space). Bird groups he works on include early pre-modern birds, the so-called ratites (and their flying relatives), rails, and flamingos (his favorites). He is an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of the Pacific.
The Yolo Bird Alliance fosters an appreciation of birds and other wildlife through educational programs and field trips, brings conservation issues to public awareness, and acts to preserve Yolo County bird life and habitat. To learn more about the Yolo Bird Alliance, visit its web page at https://yolobirdalliance.org/. You can also visit the Yolo Bird Alliance on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/YoloBirdAlliance. If you would like to join and receive the monthly newsletter, visit https://yolobirdalliance.org/join-renew-donate/.
You can attend the meeting in person at: Davis Senior Center, 646 A Street, Davis CA
Or, Register to Attend the Meeting online via Zoom.
Click here for the Zoom registration link, or you can copy & paste this link in your browser – https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/lvelMjFBQXmzjVfETcWxug
Please note: Participants may join the meeting from the Zoom desktop client downloaded on their computer or on their Apple or Android mobile phone or tablet to access the meeting. Participants may also join from a browser (Visit https://bit.ly/3hNyP8h to learn how to join a Zoom meeting).
You may email Yolo Bird Alliance Program Chair Ken Ealy before the meeting if you need assistance.