"400 Million Years of Sex" – A Lecture by Paleontologist Yaroslav Popov

Life once was very simple: split, bud — and no passions involved. But then came two sexes, competition, risks, and rituals. The first “sexual revolution” happened with the emergence of internal fertilization!

It made perfect sense for land-dwelling vertebrates. But according to paleontological evidence, sexual life may stretch much further back — 400 million years ago. And the inventors of sex? Likely armored fish!

At the lecture, we’ll explore:

Why were armored fish the first Don Juans of Earth?

What fossils prove that sex existed already in the Devonian — or even earlier?

What do we know about the earliest mating methods, reproductive strategies, and how do we know it?

How did dinosaurs mate?

How has the way of reproduction influenced vertebrate evolution?

From underwater love games of placoderms to human intimacy — nearly half a billion years of reproductive evolution, requiring your full attention and scientific curiosity!