An educational parody of the song "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz
Annotation (in progress): ...
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LYRICS (by Dan Reed):
I came to date.
Give evidence, tectonic plates.
Learn just how he met his fate.
Don't like deep time? Try not to hate.
Deep time.
And it goes on and on and on...
I mean eon, eon, eon...
We used to wonder when these things lived life.
Like, "I don't know. It's way too old."
Radiometrics tell us when they died.
Now we know, two-fifty mil' ago.
Relatively date this rock.
It'll shed some light.
Index fossils talk.
Use this trilobite.
Because they went extinct.
Half-lives measured right.
Find that missing link.
Use this trilobite.
Now let's advance.
Look back into Earth's deep time spans.
Evolution of birds and plants.
Deny the proof, I know you can't.
Deep time.
And it goes on and on and on...
I mean eon, eon, eon...
You can deny deep time if you choose.
You'll be alone, here's how we know.
Radioactive decay is what we use.
Atoms throw, a small neutrino.
Relatively date this rock.
It'll shed some light.
Index fossils talk.
Use this trilobite.
Because they went extinct.
Half-lives measured right.
Find that missing link.
Use this trilobite.
For years they were so great.
But then quickly their shells were sinkin'.
How'd he meet his fate?
Volcanoes caused a mass extinction.
Cause I, I, I can see it.
And I want you to see it too.
Can you see it too?
Ecosystems got bad there.
Trilobites got rare.
There was ash in the air.
We used to wonder when these things lived life.
Now we know, two-fifty mil' ago.
Extinction's not always a part of life.
Don't be too slow, let's adapt yo'.
Relatively date this rock.
It'll shed some light.
Index fossils talk.
Use this trilobite.
Because they went extinct.
Half-lives measured right.
Find that missing link.
Use this trilobite.
Artistic license: I'm not so concerned about making minor inaccuracies in the effort to make a fun song, but since it's public, I should amend.
The image of potassium-40 decaying to Argon-40 is messed up. Argon-40 doesn't add up to 40. It should have 22 neutrons since one of potassium's protons combines with an electron to create a neutron and a neutrino.
To my understanding, there were several separate causes of the P-T extinction event, each exacerbating the effect of the rest. The fossil record shows trilobites were already decreasing in diversity by the time of the event.
Extinction really is a part of life on Earth, due to rare catastrophes, competition and natural selection.
I think that's it!
Additional credit: I used photos found on Google Images and educational websites.
Final photo by fourmapleleaf.deviantart.com