Main episodes release every two weeks, covering all sorts of topics from a paleontological perspective. All episode topics are suggested by our audience!
Looking for a particular topic? Look at our Episode Tags.
Interested in our other episodes? Check out our Side Series.
MAIN EPISODE LIST | |
Episode 190 – Cicadas | Insects famous for their noise and life cycles. |
Episode 189 – Dromaeosaurs | Predatory theropod dinosaurs with famous claws and wings. |
Episode 188 – Cannibalism | Animals eating their own species, a dietary behavior that isn’t nearly as unusual as is often portrayed. |
Episode 187 – Migration | Monumental movements of animals between habitats. |
Episode 186 – Owls | Charismatic and successful birds, among the world’s most superbly-adapted predators. |
Episode 185 – Cacti | Famous dry-adapted plants with a mysterious past. |
Episode 184 – Richard Owen | 19th Century anatomist and paleontologist. |
Episode 183 – Feathers | Diversity and evolution of integument on birds and other dinosaurs. |
Episode 182 – Camouflage | Adaptations for hiding, in the present and the fossil record. |
Episode 181 – Dragonflies | Extraordinary insects and their diverse fossil record. |
Episode 180 – Filter Feeders | Details and diversity of one of the world’s most common dietary strategies, in the oceans and beyond. |
Episode 179 – Thermoregulation | From warm- to cold-blooded creatures, how organisms manage body temperature. |
Episode 178 – Ears | Anatomical adaptations for hearing sounds, maintaining balance, and more. |
Episode 177 – Neanderthals | Our extinct hominin cousins. Guest: Bridget Alex. |
Episode 176 – Hadrosaurs | Amazing herbivorous dinosaurs. Social behavior, teeth, and crests! |
Episode 175 – Plant Defenses | Evolved defenses against herbivores, pathogens, and more. Guest: Aly Baumgartner. |
Episode 174 – The Mesozoic Marine Revolution | A major change in ocean ecology that set the stage for modern ecosystems. |
Episode 173 – Herbivores (Plant-Eaters) | Diets specialized in plants, algae, and more. Origins, evolution, and the rise of modern ecosystems. |
Episode 172 – Toothed Whales | Odontocetes! The most diverse cetaceans in our oceans. Dolphins, porpoises, orcas, and more |
Episode 171 – The Tethys Sea | Famous ancient oceans throughout Earth History. |
Episode 170 – Milk | Mammals and more have evolved substances parents use to nourish their offspring. |
Episode 169 – Sea Snakes | Snakes in the oceans! These reptiles have evolved marine lives many times. |
Episode 168 – Marine Crocs | Crocodilians of the oceans! How these reptiles adapt to aquatic lives in saltwater. |
Episode 167 – Geologic Dating | How do we date ancient rocks and fossils? Radiometric dating and beyond! |
Episode 166 – Monotremes | The egg-laying mammals: platypuses, echidnas, and their ancient cousins. |
Episode 165 – Fruit | The structures that protect seeds of flowering plants. Guest: Aly Baumgartner! |
Episode 164 – The “Boring Billion” | In the Proterozoic, a time of seemingly stagnant climate, tectonics, and life. |
Episode 163 – Claws | The anatomy, functions, and evolution of claws, nails, talons, and more. |
Episode 162 – Caecilians | Worm-like amphibians, their strange habits, and their scarce fossil record. |
Episode 161 – Sleep | The many mysteries of what sleep is, how it evolved, and why we do it. |
Episode 160 – The Messel Pit | A famous fossil site in Germany, with well-preserved Eocene fossils. |
Episode 159 – Giraffes | The tallest living mammals, their cousins (okapis and more), and how they evolved. |
Episode 158 – Charles R. Knight | Renowned paleo-artist of dinosaurs and more. Happy Darwin Day! |
Episode 157 – Bioluminescence and Biofluorescence | Many animals glow! How do they do it? And why? And how did this evolve? |
Episode 156 – Eurypterids (Sea Scorpions) | The giant arthropods of early Paleozoic oceans. |
Episode 155 – Gymnosperms | Conifers, cycads, and more: the original big deal seed plants. Guest: Aly Baumgartner! |
Episode 154 – Live Birth | Mammals, marine reptiles, and more. The varied evolution of viviparity. |
Episode 153 – Armadillos | Armored xenarthrans and their evolution. Including glyptodonts and more! |
Episode 152 – The Jehol Biota | Famous Cretaceous fossil sites in China, home to feathered dinosaurs and more. |
Episode 151 – Tails | The anatomy, evolution, and diversity of tails (and also tail-like things). |
Episode 150 – Stegosaurs | The plated dinosaurs: Stegosaurus and its cousins. |
Episode 149 – Ants | Super successful eusocial insects: their evolution, colony structure, and more. |
Episode 148 – Gliding | Not quite flight! Gliding mammals, reptiles, insects, and more. |
Episode 147 – Genetics | DNA! How it works and how we use it to understand evolution. |
Episode 146 – The Jurassic-Cretaceous Transition | A geologic boundary, a time of transition, extinction, and mystery. |
Episode 145 – Photosynthesis | Solar-powered plants, algae, and their chloroplasts. Guest: Aly Baumgartner! |
Episode 144 – Evolutionary Gigantism and Dwarfism | The evolutionary trends that lead to giant and small life. |
Episode 143 – Monitor Lizards | Komodo dragons, Megalania, and more! A charismatic group of reptiles. |
Episode 142 – Phytosaurs | Not quite crocs! Triassic reptiles highly convergent with crocodilians. |
Episode 141 – Supercontinents | Pangaea, Rodinia, and the rest. When tectonics brings the continents together. |
Episode 140 – Horns and Antlers | The anatomy, function, and evolution of headgear, especially in mammals. |
Episode 139 – Vultures | Birds dedicated to scavenging. Including the huge teratorns and other ancient species. |
Episode 138 – The Moon | From space, it influences light, tides, and so much more here on Earth. |
Episode 137 – Fossilization | How do fossils form? Principles and pitfalls in interpreting the fossil record. |
Episode 136 – Seahorses | Weird fish! Their diversity and evolution, and lots of talk of pregnancy. |
Episode 135 – Seeds | The reproductive structures of plants, and how they work. Guest: Aly Baumgartner! |
Episode 134 – Sanguivores (Blood-Eaters) | Bug, bats, birds, and more. Animals with a liquid diet of blood. |
Episode 133 – Symbiosis | Mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism in our bodies and cells. |
Episode 132 – Mary and Louis Leakey | Famous paleoanthropologists! Happy Darwin Day! Guest: Meredith Johnson! |
Episode 131 – Volcanoes | The geology of volcanism, and how it impacts life on Earth. |
Episode 130 – Sense of Smell | Scent serves a variety of functions, and animals have evolved diverse features for smelling. |
Episode 129 – Rhinos | The evolution of these famous horned mammals, and their diverse relatives. |
Episode 128 – the Deep Sea | How life evolves and thrives in the harsh habitats at the bottom of the ocean. |
Episode 127 – The Hell Creek Formation | These North American fossil sites are famous for Late Cretaceous dinosaurs and more. |
Episode 126 – Mimicry | Many plants and animals have evolved to imitate each other for various reasons. |
Episode 125 – Orchids | A famous and diverse group of flowering plants. Guest: Aly Baumgartner! |
Episode 124 – Snowball Earth | The most extreme glacial periods (Ice Ages) in Earth History, back in the Proterozoic Eon. |
Episode 123 – Spiders | The evolution and (sparse) fossil record of these diverse eight-legged arthropods. |
Episode 122 – Plate Tectonics | This key theory explains how continents move, mountains form, and all the rest of geology. |
Episode 121 – Brains | Important organs! We discuss their function and evolution within the nervous system. |
Episode 120 – Tyrannosaurs | Evolution and diversity of the most famous dinosaurs: T. rex and cousins. |
Episode 119 – India | The geology and fossil history of the Indian subcontinent of Asia. |
Episode 118 – Trace Fossils | Footprints, burrows, imprints, and more; how they fossilize and how we study them. |
Episode 117 – Crabs and Carcinization | Arthropods in the ocean have evolved crab-like shapes over and over! |
Episode 116 – Ichthyosaurs | Evolution and diversity of these famous marine reptiles of the Mesozoic oceans. |
Episode 115 – Biomes | Forests, deserts, grasslands, and more. Guest: Aly Baumgartner. |
Episode 114 – Polar Life | Evolution and adaptations of life in Arctic and Antarctic habitats. |
Episode 113 – Paleoclimate | How we study and understand climate change through time. Guest: Rachel Lupien. |
Episode 112 – Caves | Repeated evolution of life adapted to the strange conditions of cavern habitats. |
Episode 111 – Eusociality | As seen in ants, bees, and others: history and evolution of colonial organisms. |
Episode 110 – Mazon Creek Fossil Beds | Famous Carboniferous fossil sites in Illinois. |
Episode 109 – Hyenas | Evolution and lifestyle of these often misunderstood carnivoran mammals. |
Episode 108 – Penguins | Evolution and ancient cousins of these flightless ocean-going birds. |
Episode 107 – Tusks | A striking feature of anatomy: what is a tusk, and how and why do they evolve? |
Episode 106 – Franz Nopcsa | Another historical paleontologist for Darwin Day! |
Episode 105 – Carnivorous Plants | Plants that have evolved to eat animals. Guest: Aly Baumgartner. |
Episode 104 – Pinnipeds | More mammals of the oceans: seals, sea lions, walruses, and their ancient cousins. |
Episode 103 – The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum | Major warming climate event of the Early Cenozoic and its impact on life at the time. |
Episode 102 – Parasites | Lifestyle of organisms that live in and on others. Evolved over and over again. |
Episode 101 – Sauropods | The biggest dinosaurs! The evolution of their long necks, large bodies, and more. |
Episode 100 – the Origin of Life | Evidence and hypotheses for how life began on an early Earth. |
Episode 99 – Evolution of Insects | These arthropods are everywhere! Origins and major events in the history of insects. |
Episode 98 – Species and Speciation | What is a species? And how do new species come about? A core concept of evolution. |
Episode 97 – Venom and Poison | Toxic organisms and the anatomy, behavior, and evolution that make them that way. |
Episode 96 – Marsupials | Mammals with pouches: kangaroos, koalas, etc. |
Episode 95 – The Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse | Climate change and extinction, especially of plants. Guest: Aly Baumgartner. |
Episode 94 – Dogs | Canines and their cousins. Evolution and history of dogs and dog-like mammals. |
Episode 93 – Cats | Felines and their cousins. Evolution and history of cats and cat-like mammals. |
Episode 92 – Eggs | A hallmark of animal reproduction and amniote evolution. Evolution, anatomy, and functions. |
Episode 91 – Frogs | Frogs and toads, the hopping amphibians. Evolution, diversity, and fossil record. |
Episode 90 – “Living Fossils” | An often misrepresented term in evolution. Some history, definitions, and scientific debate. |
Episode 89 – The Burgess Shale | Famous Cambrian fossil site in Canada. Full of ocean invertebrates and strange animal life. |
Episode 88 – Evolution of Teeth | Origins and anatomy of teeth, so important for diets and fossil identification. |
Episode 87 – Ceratopsians (Horned Dinosaurs) | Triceratops and its many horned cousins. |
Episode 86 – New Zealand | Deep history, fossils, and modern life of the island nation. |
Episode 85 – The Ordovician Mass Extinction | Paleozoic mass extinction, the first of the “Big 5.” |
Episode 84 – Paleopathology | Signs of injury and disease in fossils. Guest: Laura Emmert |
Episode 83 – Coelacanths | Famous lobe-finned fish of modern and ancient oceans. |
Episode 82 – Trilobites | Famous fossil invertebrates of the Paleozoic oceans. |
Episode 81 – Metamorphosis | An amazing growth strategy in insects, fish, amphibians, and more. |
Episode 80 – Mary Anning | Historical pioneer paleontologist. Happy Darwin Day! Guest: Brittney Stoneburg. |
Episode 79 – Pterosaurs | The flying reptiles of the Mesozoic Era. Mysterious origins and incredible evolution. |
Episode 78 – Exaptation | The evolution of new functions for old features. |
Episode 77 – Fins to Feet: The Fish-Tetrapod Transition | The origins and evolution of land vertebrates from fish ancestors. |
Episode 76 – Horse Evolution | Origin and evolution of horses, zebras, and all their relatives. |
Episode 75 – The Great Oxidation Event | The rise of oxygen ushered a major change for Precambrian life, perhaps even an extinction. |
Episode 74 – South America | The deep history and strange fossil forms of South America. |
Episode 73 – Trees | Plants growing tall and woody! Guest: Aly Baumgartner. |
Episode 72 – Plesiosaurs | Marine reptiles, most famous for their long necks and paddle-flippers. |
Episode 71 – The Western Interior Seaway | The ocean that covered North America during the Mesozoic Era. |
Episode 70 – Convergent Evolution | The repeated evolution of similar traits for similar functions. |
Episode 69 – Ankylosaurs | The armored dinosaurs, diversity and evolution. |
Episode 68 – Evolution of Eyes | Anatomy and deep history of organs for vision. |
Episode 67 – The La Brea Tar Pits | Famous Ice Age fossils from California. |
Episode 66 – Elephants | Mammoths, mastodons, and more. Evolutionary history of massive mammals. |
Episode 65 – The Late Devonian Extinction(s) | Another “Big 5” mass extinction, this one at the end of the “Age of Fishes” |
Episode 64 – Paleoart | Where art meets paleontology, insights and history. Guest: Gabriel Ugueto. |
Episode 63 – Sexual Selection | The many ways evolution is influenced by the pressure to reproduce. |
Episode 62 – Amber | Fossilized tree resin, where it’s found, and what treasures it preserves within. |
Episode 61 – Behavior in the Fossil Record | How we examine lifestyles and behavior of ancient creatures from fossil evidence. |
Episode 60 – Turtles | Bizarre reptiles with a deep and mysterious fossil history. |
Episode 59 – Bats | The evolution and hints at the origins of these incredible flying mammals. |
Episode 58 – The Bone Wars | An infamous period in North American paleontology history. Cope vs. Marsh. |
Episode 57 – The Evolution of Flowering Plants (Angiosperms) | Around the Cretaceous, flowering plants changed the world. Guest: Aly Baumgartner. |
Episode 56 – Evolution of Evolutionary Theory | A historical look at evolution, how it started and how it’s changed. |
Episode 55 – The “Sixth Extinction” (Modern Biodiversity Crisis) | The mass extinction happening right now. Environmental change and conservation. |
Episode 54 – Alfred Russell Wallace | Co-discoverer of evolution. Happy Darwin Day! Guest: Sarah Bray. |
Episode 53 – The Baculum (Penis Bone) | A unique and fascinating bone found in some mammals. |
Episode 52 – Sounds of the Past (Fossil Bioacoustics) | What fossils tell us about adaptations for noise in ancient animals. |
Episode 51 – Mosasaurs | The aquatic lizards, Mesozoic ocean reptiles that took over the oceans. |
Episode 50 – Australia | Diversity and deep time on the island continent down under. |
Episode 49 – Fake Fossils | Frauds, forgeries, and flukes. Historical examples and their impact on paleontological science. |
Episode 48 – Sharks | The evolution and diversity of some of the most famous fish in the oceans. |
Episode 47 – Early Synapsids (“Proto-Mammals”) | Mammalian ancestors of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic. |
Episode 46 – Cryptozoology | The investigation of creatures that might or might not exist. Mixing science with speculation. |
Episode 45 – The Permian Extinction | The worst mass extinction event in Earth history. |
Episode 44 – Hybridization | When species mix. How this process ties into genetics and evolution. |
Episode 43 – The Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI) | A major event in Earth history, the joining of continents and ecological exchange. |
Episode 42 – Spinosaurs | Sail-backed carnivorous dinosaurs with many mysteries still unsolved. |
Episode 41 – The Evolution of Whales | Cetaceans, mammals that took to the oceans and left behind an amazing fossil record. |
Episode 40 – Madagascar | Biodiversity and deep history of this African island country. |
Episode 39 – Speculative Evolution | Hypothetical evolution, for fun and for science. |
Episode 38 – Grass | The evolution of these ubiquitous plants and the habitats they create. Guest: Aly Baumgartner. |
Episode 37.5 – More Birds | Some more bird discussion: flamingos, terror birds, and giant birds (teratorns and pelagornithids). |
Episode 37 – Evolution of Birds | The extensive fossil record documenting how birds emerged within the dinosaur family tree. |
Episode 36 – Reefs | Ocean habitats built on the backs of invertebrates like coral. |
Episode 35 – De-extinction | Can we undo extinction? Proposed methods, including genetic cloning and selective breeding. |
Episode 34 – Ancient DNA | Genetic material in fossils. Methods for collecting, analyzing, and utilizing. |
Episode 33 – Ontogeny | Young to adult. Changes in anatomy, physiology, and more in an organism’s development. |
Episode 32 – Naracoorte Caves, Australia | Famous fossil sites preserving Pleistocene (Ice Age) marsupials and more. |
Episode 31 – The Ediacaran Biota | A Precambrian assemblage of early animal life. Before the Cambian explosion. |
Episode 30 – Prehistoric Poop | Coprolites – fossil feces – can tell us tons about ancient lifestyles. |
Episode 29 – Placoderms, The Armored Fish | Fish from the Devonian oceans. Dunkleosteus and friends. |
Episode 28 – Charles Darwin | History of evolutionary science. Happy Darwin Day! Guest: Sarah Bray. |
Episode 27 – Domestication | Artificial selection. The process and history of the evolution of pets, livestock, and more. |
Episode 26 – Astrobiology | Life in space! Astronomy meets biology. Searching and speculating. |
Episode 25 – The Pleistocene Megafaunal Extinction | Mass extinction of large animals at the end of the Ice Age. A much-studied event. |
Episode 24 – Sloths | Strange mammals, including the tree-climbers and the giant Ice Age ground sloths. |
Episode 23 – Jurassic Park | Dinosaurs and science in movies! The impact this film has had on paleontology. |
Episode 22 – Micropaleontology | The field of science that investigates extremely small fossils. |
Episode 21 – Dinosaurs, an Introduction | The famous reptiles of the Mesozoic: diversity, evolution, overview. |
Episode 20 – The Scientific Method | The foundations of science research, analysis, experimentation, and theory. |
Episode 19 – Women in Paleontology | Some history of the science and a discussion about diversity. Guest: Michelle Barboza-Ramirez. |
Episode 18B – Human Evolution Part 2 | Our closest relatives and ancestors. Neanderthals, Denisovans, and more. |
Episode 18 – Human Evolution Part 1 | Very familiar mammals! How our lineage emerged among primates. |
Episode 17 – The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) | Reporting from the annual science conference: fossils, new research, and more. |
Episode 16 – Cephalopods | Octopus, squid, cuttlefish, ammonites, nautilus, and more. Ocean invertebrates. |
Episode 15 – The end-Triassic Mass Extinction | This event marks the border of the Triassic and Jurassic. Kicks off the “Age of Dinosaurs.” |
Episode 14 – The Gray Fossil Site | Amazing Pliocene site in Tennessee. History, discovery, major finds. |
Episode 13 – The Fossil Preparation Lab | Preserving fossils in the museum. Guests: Shawn Haugrud, Shay Maden, Davis Gunnin. |
Episode 12 – The Geologic Time Scale | How do scientists organize and understand the events in the history of the Earth? |
Episode 11 – Antarctica | Fossils and geologic history of this (currently) frozen southern continent. |
Episode 10 – The Tree of Life | How do scientists organize and understand the relationships of living things? |
Episode 9 – The Cambrian Explosion | A major boost in early animal life. Start of the Paleozoic Era. |
Episode 8 – Conservation Paleontology | Using the fossil record to help in protecting endangered species today. |
Episode 7 – Primates | Mammals like us! Monkeys, apes, and more. Guest: Ethan Fulwood. |
Episode 6 – Evolution of Flight | Insects, pterosaurs, birds, and bats. How they took wing. |
Episode 5 – The K-Pg Extinction (the “Dinosaur Extinction”) | End of the Cretaceous. Asteroid impact and global destruction. Mass extinction. |
Episode 4 – Island Evolution | Natural selection gets weird in isolation: giant and dwarf species, flightlessness, and more. |
Episode 3 – Snakes! | David’s favorite animals! Long, legless reptiles. Technically lizards. |
Episode 2 – Crocodilians Past and Present | Will’s favorite animals! Crocodiles, alligators, gharials, and the other croc-y reptiles. |
Episode 1 – The Field of Paleontology | The science of fossils, evolution, and ancient life on Earth. |