Listen to Episode 162 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!
Slimy, worm-shaped, and poorly-understood, they’re the most mysterious of the modern amphibians, and they’re full of bizarre surprises from their heads to their butts. This episode, we explore Caecilians.
Listen to Episode 161 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!
We all do it. Well, all of us humans do it. When it comes to other organisms, it gets complicated. Actually, it’s complicated for humans, too. This episode, we discuss the whos, hows, and mysterious whys of Sleep.
Listen to Episode 160 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!
One of the best fossil sites in the world is a former mining site in Germany. It preserves an exceptional record of an Eocene ecosystem, including thousands of exquisitely preserved fossil specimens. This episode, we discuss the history and discoveries of The Messel Pit.
Listen to Episode 159 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!
Some animals are so familiar and famous that it’s easy to forget how utterly strange they are. This episode, we discuss the relatives, ancient history, and big questions surrounding the evolution of Giraffes.
Listen to Episode 158 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!
There was a time when artwork depicting ancient animals was uncommon and even unexpected. The modern world of paleoart owes its existence in large part to an animal artist who became perhaps the most influential paleoartist of all time: Charles R. Knight.
Listen to Episode 157 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!
Earth is full of glowing organisms. Some glow in the light of the sun, while others produce their own light in the darkest parts of the planet. This episode, we look at the incredible phenomena of Bioluminescence and Biofluorescence.
Listen to Episode 156 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!
During the Paleozoic, the so-called “sea scorpions” were among the most successful carnivores in the world’s waters. This episode, we explore the ancient history and claims-to-fame of Eurypterids.
Listen to Episode 155 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!
For many millions of years, cone-bearing plants and their relatives were among the most successful and important plants on Earth. In some places, they still are, such as the coniferous forests of the Northern Hemisphere. This episode, Aly joins us again to discuss the diversity and history of Gymnosperms.
Listen to Episode 154 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!
Not all embryos develop inside eggs. In many animals, embryos develop fully inside the parent’s body. This habit has evolved numerous times and in numerous styles. This episode, we discuss the complex and fascinating evolution of Live Birth.
Listen to Episode 153 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!
Body armor is a rarity among mammals, and yet this particular group has made it work in modest modern species and gigantic ancient ones. This episode, we discuss the past and present of Armadillos.
Listen to Episode 152 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!
For the last few decades, a seemingly non-stop stream of famous fossils have been produced by excavations in China, and most of them are coming from the same region. This episode, we discuss the deep history, the incredible fossils, and the abundant research opportunities of the Jehol Biota.
Listen to Episode 151 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!
For most animals, the body doesn’t end at the hips! That final stretch of anatomy comes in many shapes and sizes suitable to a wide variety of lifestyles. This episode, we discuss the diversity and biological importance – past and present – of Tails.
The Common Descent Podcast 