Congratulations! By being here, alive, you are one of history's winners -- the culmination of a success story four billion years in the making. The other 99 percent of species who have ever lived on earth are dead -- killed by fire, flood, asteroids, ice, heat and the cold math of natural selection. How did we get so lucky, and will we continue to win? In this short, funny talk, paleobiologist and TED Fellow Lauren Sallan shares insights on how your ancestors' survival through mass extinction made you who you are today.

Lauren Sallan: How to win at evolution and survive a mass extinction

How to win at evolution and survive a mass extinction

Your survival through mass extinction events, shaped by ancestors' adaptability, underscores life's resilience and evolution.

Mass extinctions level the playing field, offering a clean slate for innovation, not just survival, determining evolution's winners.

Flexibility and rapid adaptation, not size or strength, have historically led to evolutionary success in the aftermath of mass extinctions.