Listen to Episode 45 on PodBean, Spotify, YouTube, or other podcast providers.
252 million years ago, there was an event so dramatic that it wiped out almost all life on the planet; so dramatic that it brought an end to the entire 300-million-year-long Paleozoic Era; so dramatic that it has come to be known as “The Great Dying.” In this episode, we discuss Earth history’s worst mass extinction: The Permian Extinction.
Will and David took a trip to St. Louis for SciFest: Rock, Fossil, Quake on September 22nd!
You can listen to us discuss the event and to our interviews with paleontologists on PodBean Spotify, YouTube, and other podcast places.
The paleontologists we spoke with were:
Dr. Ashley Morhardt, Washington University
Dr. Andy Farke, Raymond Alf Museum
Dr. Denver Fowler, Badlands Dinosaur Museum
Dr. Casey Holliday, University of Missouri
Dr. Liz Freedman Fowler, Dickinson State University
Josh Matthews, Burpee Museum
Listen to Episode 44 on PodBean, Spotify, YouTube, or other podcast providers near you.
In today’s episode we discuss the weird world of hybrids. The fact that different species of organisms sometimes breed has thrown a wrench into the scientific understanding of species and how they function for centuries. We won’t be solving that problem in this episode but we will cover how hybrids are made, why they’re made, how species stay separate, and what can happen when species (or other groups) interbreed.
Listen to Episode 43 on PodBean, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever podcasts are sold (just kidding, it’s free!).
For tens of millions of years, North and South America were separate sisters across the sea, each with their own unique ecosystems. That is, until around 3 million years ago, when tectonic activity birthed the Isthmus of Panama and allowed an incredible mass migration of life across the bridge: The Great American Biotic Interchange.
Welcome to our Spotlight Series!
Listen to Spotlight on PodBean, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you catch pods!
We’re talking paleo-science with some paleo-people! Across this 5-part series, you’ll get to know some paleontologists as we interview them about their research and their lives as scientists.
Our theme for this series is Invertebrate Paleontology
Here on this blog post, we’ll collect information on our guests, ways you can find them on the internet, and some photos of what we discussed in the episodes!
We’ll be updating this post as we release our Spotlight episodes throughout September!
(more…)Listen to Episode 42 on PodBean, Spotify, YouTube, or a podcast app near you!
This episode we’re back on the subject of dinosaurs! Specifically, a very popular, very bizarre group of theropod dinosaurs known for their croc-like faces, ridiculous ornamentation, and a whole lot of scientific argument: the Spinosaurs.
Listen to Episode 41 on PodBean, Spotify, YouTube, or your preferred podcast place!
This episode – the second most requested topic to date – deals with some of the largest and cleverest animals our planet has ever seen. We discuss how one group of mammals developed and moved from land to the sea as we explore the Evolution of Whales.
Listen to Episode 40 on PodBean, Spotify, YouTube, or your preferred podcast place!
In this episode, we’re zooming in on one of the world’s most diverse and fascinating locales – the island of Madagascar! You may know that Madagascar is home to a variety of fascinating ecosystems today, but the geologic and fossil history of the island is just as exciting!
Listen to Episode 39 on PodBean, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast source!
Our subject for this episode is a bit more abstract than our typical topics. Here we discuss the subject of speculative evolution. This concept covers everything from imaging what the future of life will look like to figuring out how movie monsters might have actually functioned. Here we’ll visit some of the ideas that are commonly explored in these thought experiments and look at how speculation contributes to real science.
Listen to Episode 38 on PodBean, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast source!
In this episode, we are joined by our friend Aly Baumgartner, who tells us all about one of the world’s most successful – and influential – groups of plants, including how they’ve evolved, spread, and changed the world. Our very first plant-dedicated topic: Grass!
Listen to Episode 37 on PodBean, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast source!
This episode, our topic is one of the most detailed and exciting stories of evolutionary origin in the fossil record, one of the most historically fascinating questions in paleontology, and the single most requested topic from our listeners: The story of the Evolution of Birds.
Listen to Episode 36 on PodBean, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast source!
In this episode we dive into the concept of reefs. Reefs today are one of the most crucial environments in the oceans. They promote extremely high biodiversity and protect coast lines. Today we are accustomed to coral reefs, but throughout history many organisms have built reefs that proved just as important to ancient ocean life.
The Common Descent Podcast 