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The history of evolution is full of species of unusual size, big and small. But the factors that lead to evolutionary miniaturization or embiggening can be quite varied and are not all fully agreed-upon by scientists. This episode, we discuss what it means for life to evolve huge or tiny, what trends researchers have identified in body size evolution, and which of those trends actually holds up to further scrutiny.
In the news: krait venom, a frozen pup, parental water bugs, and giant storks.
Time markers:
IT’S SNAKE MONTH! Check out our Snake Month activities on our social media, Discord, and Patreon!
Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures:
Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast
Or make a one-time donation via PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/4c68u4hp
Find merch at the Common Descent Store! http://zazzle.com/common_descent
Join the Common Descent Discord server! https://discord.gg/CwPBxdh9Ev
Follow and Support us on:
You can email us at commondescentpodcast(at)gmail.com
The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome.
Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
By Common Descent4.8
728728 ratings
The history of evolution is full of species of unusual size, big and small. But the factors that lead to evolutionary miniaturization or embiggening can be quite varied and are not all fully agreed-upon by scientists. This episode, we discuss what it means for life to evolve huge or tiny, what trends researchers have identified in body size evolution, and which of those trends actually holds up to further scrutiny.
In the news: krait venom, a frozen pup, parental water bugs, and giant storks.
Time markers:
IT’S SNAKE MONTH! Check out our Snake Month activities on our social media, Discord, and Patreon!
Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures:
Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast
Or make a one-time donation via PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/4c68u4hp
Find merch at the Common Descent Store! http://zazzle.com/common_descent
Join the Common Descent Discord server! https://discord.gg/CwPBxdh9Ev
Follow and Support us on:
You can email us at commondescentpodcast(at)gmail.com
The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome.
Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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