The Common Descent Podcast

Episode 208 – The Karoo Supergroup

Listen to Episode 208 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!

Southern Africa is home to an extraordinary sequence of rock formations that record more than 100 million years of evolution, extinction, and an incredible diversity of ancient life. This episode, we explore the Karoo Supergroup.

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January 4, 2025

Episode 207 – Therizinosaurs

Listen to Episode 207 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!

This episode, we explore the fascinating evolutionary history – and the equally fascinating scientific history – of perhaps the strangest theropods: Therizinosaurs.

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December 21, 2024

Episode 206 – Vestigial Structures

Listen to Episode 206 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!

Evolution involves lots of innovation of new traits, and even more reduction of old traits. This episode, we explore the diversity and evolution of Vestigial Structures.

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December 7, 2024

Episode 205 – Parasitic Plants

Listen to Episode 205 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!

Not all plants rely on the sun. Some steal the nutrition they need from other photosynthesizers. This episode, we explore the diversity and evolution of Parasitic Plants.

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November 23, 2024

Episode 204 – The Messinian Salinity Crisis

Listen to Episode 204 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!

Six million years ago, the Mediterranean Sea dried up, wreaking havoc on marine life and leaving an incredible legacy in the geologic record. This episode, we tackle the Messinian Salinity Crisis.

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November 9, 2024

Episode 203 – Rodents

Listen to Episode 203 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!

They’re among the most diverse and widespread mammals in the world, ranging from itty bitty critters to huge herbivores. This episode, we explore Rodents.

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October 26, 2024

Episode 202 – Fungi & Animals

Listen to Episode 202 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!

This episode, we wrap up our fungal trilogy with an exploration of the fungal interactions that hit most close to home, that of Fungi and Animals.

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October 12, 2024

Episode 201 – Fungi and Plants

Listen to Episode 201 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!

This episode, we explore one of nature’s oldest and most important cross-Kingdom relations, that of Fungi & Plants.

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September 28, 2024

Episode 200 – Fungi

Listen to Episode 200 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!

This episode, by extremely popular demand, we explore our often-overlooked eukaryote cousins: Fungi.

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September 14, 2024

Episode 199 – Hibernation

Listen to Episode 199 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!

Many animals have the ability to enter a period of dormancy to wait out difficult times. This episode, we discuss the various forms of Hibernation.

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August 31, 2024

Episode 198 – Eels

Listen to Episode 198 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!

These are famously long-bodied fish with a knack for complex environments, an unusual life cycle, and a fascinating evolutionary past. This episode, we’re discussing Eels.

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August 17, 2024

Episode 197 – Durophagy (Eating Hard Stuff)

Listen to Episode 197 on PodBean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!

Lots of animals are specially adapted for eating tough foods: seeds, shells, bones, etc. This episode, we explore the many approaches to Duropagy.

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August 3, 2024

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