Listen to Episode 117 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever else you can find it!
Several thousand living species – and many more fossils – are called “crabs,” but they don’t all share an evolutionary history. The crab-like body plan is a repeated trend in crustacean evolution, and there are differing opinions on what exactly counts as a “crab” and why natural selection keeps making them. This episode, we talk Crabs and Carcinization.
Listen to Episode 116 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever else you can find it!
Of all the reptiles to evolve marine lifestyles, only one were so strikingly specialized to earn the name “fish reptiles.” This episode, we discuss the long evolutionary history, extraordinary adaptations, diverse lifestyles, and perplexing extinction of Ichthyosaurs.
Listen to Episode 115 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or pick your favorite place for podcasts!
The Earth is covered in ecosystems, but what lives where is dependent on the local climate and landscape. This variation creates vast patterns in the distribution of life, patterns that scientists can use to understand ecology, and patterns that have changed over time as the Earth’s surface has transformed. This episode, we discuss the modern state and ancient history of Biomes.
Listen to Episode 114 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or pick your favorite place for podcasts!
Far to the north and far to the south, conditions on Earth get weird. Cold climates and periods of perpetual night or day create some of the most unique habitats on the planet, and yet life has thrived there throughout Earth history and continues to do so today. This episode, we discuss the diversity, history, and adaptations of Polar Life.
Listen to Episode 113 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or pick your favorite place for podcasts!
Life on Earth is directly impacted by the climate, and the climate changes over time in response to the activities of tectonic plates, ocean currents, biological communities, and of course, even humans. The geologic record of our planet is an archive of data on the causes and effects of changing climates. This episode, we discuss Paleoclimate.
Listen to Episode 112 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you can dig it up!
Subterranean passages and chambers within the crust of the Earth form unique environments, often carved out over thousands of years, which create homes for rare and bizarre groups of organisms and provide valuable fossil resources. This episode, we discuss the geology, biology, and paleontology of Caves.
Listen to Episode 111 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or borrow it from a friend!
There isn’t much on Earth like an ant colony or a beehive. It’s a bizarre lifestyle, creating multi-generational groups where most members don’t reproduce but protect the offspring of others. This episode, we discuss the questions surrounding the details and evolution of Eusociality.
Listen to Episode 110 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or your favorite podcast place!
Go digging in the right place in Illinois and you’re liable to find some of the best Carboniferous fossils in the world. This episode, we discuss the history, the geology, and the incredible – and sometimes bizarre – plants and animals of the Mazon Creek Fossil Beds.
Listen to Episode 109 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or anywhere you can find it!
These carnivores might have a reputation as uncouth scavengers, but their modern and fossil history is full of a diverse array of specialized hunters. In this episode, we discuss the surprising modern diversity and the rich fossil record of Hyenas.
Listen to Episode 108 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or your favorite podcasting app!
You might think that the ocean is no place for a bird, yet one group of birds has done remarkably well as marine divers. Their success is evident in their surprising diversity and wide geographic range both in modern times and over the past 60 million years. This episode, we talk about Penguins.
Listen to Episode 106 on PodBean, Spotify, Spotify, or borrow it from a friend!
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, a Hungarian Baron became a paleontologist, traveling around Europe, excavating fossils, going on adventures, and producing innovative research on fossils, geology, and more. This episode, we discussed the life and work of Franz Nopcsa.
The Common Descent Podcast 