Join David and Will as they explore the paleontologists’ perspective on various topics in life and earth history. Each episode features a main discussion on a topic requested by the listeners, presented as a lighthearted and educational conversation about fossils, evolution, deep time, and more. Before the main discussion, each episode also includes a news segment, covering recent research related to paleontology and evolution. Each episode ends with the answer to a question submitted by subscribers on Patreon. New episodes with new topics every fortnight!
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2025-01-18 | You might know them as ghost sharks, rat fish, or spook fish. Chimaeras are close cousins of sharks and rays, equipped with distinctive and unusual features in their fins, teeth, and reproductive structures. In today’s oceans, chimaeras are rare and ea... |
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2025-01-04 | Southern Africa is home to an incredible sequence of geologic formations that span more than 100 million years of Earth history. These rocks, collectively called the Karoo Supergroup, are an extraordinary resource for studying evolution and extinction ... |
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2024-12-31 | Happy New Year! Welcome back to our annual, traditional question-answering marathon! As always, a big thank you to everyone who submitted questions for this Q&A, everyone who has listened and shared and engaged with us throughout the year, and espe... |
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2024-12-21 | Most theropod dinosaurs are sleek predators built for speedy movement and efficient hunting. Therizinosaurs are unusual. They’re slow and stocky and, in many ways, more like the famous plant-eating dinosaurs. This episode, we’ll explore the diversity o... |
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2024-12-07 | Evolution involves the innovation of new features, but even more reduction of old features. Those reduced features might disappear, develop in a new direction, or just linger as a functionless evidence of deep ancestry. This episode, we explore how we ... |
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2024-12-04 | Welcome to Spotlight 2024! In this series, we’re sitting down with our fellow paleo-podcasters to discuss Science Communication. It’s the final episode! And we’re thrilled to be joined by Kallie, Gabriel, and Blake from PBS Eons and their podcast, Eons... |
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2024-11-23 | Not all plants rely on the sun for their energy. Thousands of species are adapted for stealing nutrients from other plants. This episode, Aly joins us to explore the diversity and evolution of parasitic plants, their varied lifestyles, and their impact... |
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2024-11-09 | Around six million years ago, the Mediterranean Sea dried up, wreaking havoc with local marine life and leaving a dramatic legacy in the geologic record in the form of massive salt deposits. This episode, we’ll explore the evidence for this event, why ... |
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2024-11-06 | Welcome to Spotlight 2024! In this series, we’re sitting down with our fellow paleo-podcasters to discuss Science Communication. This time, we’re hanging out with Amy and Meaghan from Weird & Dead! Find Weird & Dead here: www.weirdanddead.comww... |
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2024-11-02 | Welcome … to Cute-E! Every October during Spook-E, we have fun speculatively evolving monsters from myths and stories, but we leave out the cuddlier side of fiction. In Cute-E, we’re choosing kinder creatures and discussing how they – or something like... |
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