In this episode, we talk to our very own Dr Elsa Panciroli about her new book Beasts Before Us. In it, she tells the untold story of mammalian evolution, tracing the origin of synapsids back to the Carboniferous. You’ll be taken to fossil sites around the world to meet some of these pioneering animals and some of the palaeontologists that discovered them.

For this interview, we’ll give you an overview of the early evolution of synapsids and dispel many of the misconceptions about what our ancestors were really like.

We’ve got a couple of copies of the book to give away, so look out on our social media channels for details of the competition! For everyone else, Beasts Before Us is available to buy online and in all good book shops.