Palaeo After Dark

The gang discusses two papers that describe the root systems of the first "tree-like" plants, the giant lycopsids from the Carboniferous. Also, Amanda's cat finds a brand new toy, James over commits to a bit, and Curt pulls the strings behind the scene.

References:

Thomas, Barry A., and Leyla J. Seyfullah. "Stigmaria Brongniart: a new specimen from Duckmantian (Lower Pennsylvanian) Brymbo (Wrexham, North Wales) together with a review of known casts and how they were preserved." Geological Magazine 152.05 (2015): 858-870.

Hetherington, Alexander J., Christopher M. Berry, and Liam Dolan. "Networks of highly branched stigmarian rootlets developed on the first giant trees." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2016): 201514427.

The gang discusses two papers that describe the root systems of the first "tree-like" plants, the giant lycopsids from the Carboniferous. Also, Amanda's cat finds a brand new toy, James over commits to a bit, and Curt pulls the strings behind the scene.

References:

Thomas, Barry A., and Leyla J. Seyfullah. "Stigmaria Brongniart: a new specimen from Duckmantian (Lower Pennsylvanian) Brymbo (Wrexham, North Wales) together with a review of known casts and how they were preserved." Geological Magazine 152.05 (2015): 858-870.

Hetherington, Alexander J., Christopher M. Berry, and Liam Dolan. "Networks of highly branched stigmarian rootlets developed on the first giant trees." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2016): 201514427.

The gang discusses two papers that study how human beings have affected the evolutionary trajectories of other organisms. Meanwhile, Amanda paints an imaginative scene, James describes the perfect human world, and Curt wins the most obscure movie reference.

Music: "Central Park" by Charles Ives, used in accordance with Fair Use.

References:

LaZerte, Stefanie E., Hans Slabbekoorn, and Ken A. Otter. "Learning to cope: vocal adjustment to urban noise is correlated with prior experience in black-capped chickadees." Proc. R. Soc. B. Vol. 283. No. 1833. The Royal Society, 2016.

The gang discusses two papers that study how human beings have affected the evolutionary trajectories of other organisms. Meanwhile, Amanda paints an imaginative scene, James describes the perfect human world, and Curt wins the most obscure movie reference. 

Music: "Central Park" by Charles Ives, used in accordance with Fair Use.

References:

LaZerte, Stefanie E., Hans Slabbekoorn, and Ken A. Otter. "Learning to cope: vocal adjustment to urban noise is correlated with prior experience in black-capped chickadees." Proc. R. Soc. B. Vol. 283. No. 1833. The Royal Society, 2016.

The gang discusses two papers that look at the evolutionary history of cats. Is there a trend towards an optimal cat size in evolution? Meanwhile, Curt admits to an embarrassing lack of 80's knowledge, Amanda wants to expand her cat menagerie, and James demonstrates his vocal range. WARNING TO HEADPHONE USERS LOUD NOISE DURING THE FIRST MINUTE OF THE PODCAST.

References:

Tseng, Z. Jack, et al. "Himalayan fossils of the oldest known pantherine establish ancient origin of big cats." Proc. R. Soc. B. Vol. 281. No. 1774. The Royal Society, 2014.

Cuff, A. R., et al. "Big cat, small cat: reconstructing body size evolution in living and extinct Felidae." Journal of evolutionary biology 28.8 (2015): 1516-1525.

The gang discusses two papers that look at the evolutionary history of cats. Is there a trend towards an optimal cat size in evolution? Meanwhile, Curt admits to an embarrassing lack of 80's knowledge, Amanda wants to expand her cat menagerie, and James demonstrates his vocal range. WARNING TO HEADPHONE USERS LOUD NOISE DURING THE FIRST MINUTE OF THE PODCAST.

References:

Tseng, Z. Jack, et al. "Himalayan fossils of the oldest known pantherine establish ancient origin of big cats." Proc. R. Soc. B. Vol. 281. No. 1774. The Royal Society, 2014.

Cuff, A. R., et al. "Big cat, small cat: reconstructing body size evolution in living and extinct Felidae." Journal of evolutionary biology 28.8 (2015): 1516-1525.

The gang discusses two examples of cool animals trapped in amber. Meanwhile, James draws a line in the sand concerning food, Amanda can't decide which fictional animal is the cutest, Curt lies, and the gang gets dark while discussing children's fantasy fiction.

References:

Perrichot, Vincent, Bo Wang, and Michael S. Engel. "Extreme Morphogenesis and Ecological Specialization among Cretaceous Basal Ants." Current Biology 26.11 (2016): 1468-1472.

Xing, Lida, et al. "Mummified precocial bird wings in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber." Nature Communications 7 (2016).

The gang discusses two examples of cool animals trapped in amber. Meanwhile, James draws a line in the sand concerning food, Amanda can't decide which fictional animal is the cutest, Curt lies, and the gang gets dark while discussing children's fantasy fiction.

References:

Perrichot, Vincent, Bo Wang, and Michael S. Engel. "Extreme Morphogenesis and Ecological Specialization among Cretaceous Basal Ants." Current Biology 26.11 (2016): 1468-1472.

Xing, Lida, et al. "Mummified precocial bird wings in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber." Nature Communications 7 (2016).

The gang don their deerstalkers and dive into some palaeontological cold cases. Mystery and murder abound as they explore evidence for predation in the fossil record, with a supporting cast of stingrays, crabs, and some of Earth's oldest organisms. Also, James explains how terrifying the world is, Curtis reminds everyone that Deep Blue Sea is a thing, and Amanda puts the cat centre stage.

References:

Calderwood, J. & Sigwart, J. D. "Broken pieces: can variable ecological interactions be deduced from the remains of crab attacks on bivalve shells?" Lethaia (2016): 10.1111/let.12178.

Grun, T. B.. "Echinoid test damage by a stingray predator" Lethaia (2015): 10.1111/let.12165.

Porter, S. M. "TIny vampires in ancient seas: evidence for predation via perforation in fossils from the 780–740 million-year-old Chuar Group, Grand Canyon, USA." Proceedings of the Royal Society B (2016): 10.1098/rspb.2016.0221.

The gang don their deerstalkers and dive into some palaeontological cold cases. Mystery and murder abound as they explore evidence for predation in the fossil record, with a supporting cast of stingrays, crabs, and some of Earth's oldest organisms. Also, James explains how terrifying the world is, Curtis reminds everyone that Deep Blue Sea is a thing, and Amanda puts the cat centre stage.

References:

Calderwood, J. & Sigwart, J. D. "Broken pieces: can variable ecological interactions be deduced from the remains of crab attacks on bivalve shells?" Lethaia (2016): 10.1111/let.12178.

Grun, T. B.. "Echinoid test damage by a stingray predator" Lethaia (2015): 10.1111/let.12165.

Porter, S. M. "TIny vampires in ancient seas: evidence for predation via perforation in fossils from the 780–740 million-year-old Chuar Group, Grand Canyon, USA." Proceedings of the Royal Society B (2016): 10.1098/rspb.2016.0221.