Eons: Surviving Deep Time

In the ocean, the Cambrian Period was one of startling evolutionary innovations, but on land, it was barren, with no vegetation of any kind. In this strange world before plants made their way onto land… could you survive?

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By the end of the Devonian Period, the land had exploded with plant life and ancient invertebrates. There was also Tiktaalik - one of the first known vertebrates able and willing to move from the water to land. Our distant relative figured out how to survive in this dramatically different environment, can you? 

--

Eons is a production of Complexly for PBS Digital Studios.

If you'd like to support the show, head over to Patreon and pledge for some cool rewards!

Want to follow Eons elsewhere on the internet?
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Introducing Eons: Surviving Deep Time! Season 2 of the Eons podcast is a longform exploration of a question we’re often asked: how long could a human survive if they were dropped into a particular period of the geologic past? 

--

Eons is a production of Complexly for PBS Digital Studios.

If you'd like to support the show, head over to Patreon and pledge for some cool rewards!

Want to follow Eons elsewhere on the internet?
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Season 2 of the Eons podcast is coming soon! This season will be a longform exploration of a question we’re often asked: how long could a human survive if they were dropped into a particular period of the geologic past? 

Studies have found Neandertal DNA in people living in - and descended from - populations in Europe, Asia, and, most recently, Africa. So, in a way, these ancient relatives of ours are somehow both here and gone. We know we shared the planet with them in the not-so-distant past… But what happened to them?

Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time is produced by Complexly for PBS.

© 2022 PBS. All rights reserved.

The Denisovans are a human relative discovered just over a decade ago. The DNA from the very small number of fossils found suggest they were around as long as the Neanderthals. Yet anthropologists have gathered way more evidence for Neanderthals. Where are the Denisovans hiding?

Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time is produced by Complexly for PBS.

How do we start to reconstruct the soundscapes of the past? Using modern environments, living representatives of ancient groups, and fossil anatomy, paleontologists have attempted to figure out what the past sounded like. And so far we’ve found the lead singers change, but the backup singers remain familiar.

Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time is produced by Complexly for PBS.

Between 1927 and 1937, paleontologists excavated fossils from about 40 members of the species that today we call Homo erectus from a site in China known as Dragon Bone Hill. And then World War II broke out and the fossils were lost. In this episode, we trace their path as far as the historical record will take us and explore what might’ve happened to them after their last sighting in early December, 1941.

Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time is produced by Complexly for PBS.

Former host of Eons and our current boss Hank Green joins Kallie, Michelle, and Blake for a Q&A episode where we discuss everything from why all this matters to what specifically did sauropods taste like?

Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time is produced by Complexly for PBS.

There's something strange about the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry. The fossils found there date back to the Late Jurassic Period and one species accounts for roughly two-thirds of all the bones: Allosaurus fragilis. But what killed all these big predators? Was the site itself a deadly trap, like the La Brea Tar Pits? Or was it a poisoned spring? Or was it simply a watering hole? This episode will dig into the mystery of this dinosaur graveyard.

Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time is produced by Complexly for PBS.