In this episode, the gang tries desperately to talk about a really interesting plant paper and fails miserably. Meanwhile, James stops caring, Amanda relishes in being right, and Curt really tries to keep this one together (he fails). Also, despite the podcast not being about it at all, James has to talk about the new gliding dinosaur.

References:

Stevenson, Robert A., Dennis Evangelista, and Cindy V. Looy. "When conifers took flight: a biomechanical evaluation of an imperfect evolutionary takeoff."Paleobiology 41.02 (2015): 205-225.

Hughes, Martin, Sylvain Gerber, and Matthew Albion Wills. "Clades reach highest morphological disparity early in their evolution." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110.34 (2013): 13875-13879.

The gang attempts to discuss the Ringo Starr of mass extinctions, the End Triassic. And much like the actual extinction event, the discussion is long, broad, and not focused on any one thing in particular. Meanwhile, Amanda learns the joys of screen sharing, Curt makes some dubious shopping decisions, and James “wins” (play along at home and count how many times James “wins” the podcast).

References

Benton, Michael J. "More than one event in the late Triassic mass extinction."Nature 321.6073 (1986): 857-861.

Tanner, L. H., S. G. Lucas, and M. G. Chapman. "Assessing the record and causes of Late Triassic extinctions." Earth-Science Reviews 65.1 (2004): 103-139.

Kasprak, Alex H., et al. "Episodic photic zone euxinia in the northeastern Panthalassic Ocean during the end-Triassic extinction." Geology 43.4 (2015): 307-310.

 The gang attempts to discuss the Ringo Starr of mass extinctions, the End Triassic. And much like the actual extinction event, the discussion is long, broad, and not focused on any one thing in particular. Meanwhile, Amanda learns the joys of screen sharing, Curt makes some dubious shopping decisions, and James “wins” (play along at home and count how many times James “wins” the podcast).

References

Benton, Michael J. "More than one event in the late Triassic mass extinction."Nature 321.6073 (1986): 857-861.

Tanner, L. H., S. G. Lucas, and M. G. Chapman. "Assessing the record and causes of Late Triassic extinctions." Earth-Science Reviews 65.1 (2004): 103-139. 

Kasprak, Alex H., et al. "Episodic photic zone euxinia in the northeastern Panthalassic Ocean during the end-Triassic extinction." Geology 43.4 (2015): 307-310.

In this episode the gang discusses mimicry in the fossil record, which James uses as an excuse to introduce everyone to one of his “favorite” papers. And as they stare into the gaping maw of mimicry in slack-jawed disbelief, grim smiling lips float back to them flashing pearly teeth in the dark and whispering one word.... mouths.

References

http://www.edinburghgeolsoc.org/edingeologist/z_42_08.html

Lamont, A. "Prolegomena to aggressive mimicry and protective resemblance in early fishes, chelicerates, trilobites and brachiopods." Scottish Journal of Science 1.2 (1969): 75-103.

Topper, Timothy P., et al. "Competition and mimicry: the curious case of chaetae in brachiopods from the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale." BMC evolutionary biology 15.1 (2015): 42

In this episode the gang discusses mimicry in the fossil record, which James uses as an excuse to introduce everyone to one of his “favorite” papers.  And as they stare into the gaping maw of mimicry in slack-jawed disbelief, grim smiling lips float back to them flashing pearly teeth in the dark and whispering one word.... mouths.

References

http://www.edinburghgeolsoc.org/edingeologist/z_42_08.html

Lamont, A. "Prolegomena to aggressive mimicry and protective resemblance in early fishes, chelicerates, trilobites and brachiopods." Scottish Journal of Science 1.2 (1969): 75-103.

Topper, Timothy P., et al. "Competition and mimicry: the curious case of chaetae in brachiopods from the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale." BMC evolutionary biology 15.1 (2015): 42

The gang attempts to talk about the coral gap, but instead Amanda spends nearly 40 minutes trying to explain why Petoskey Stones are cool, and James tries to sidetrack her at every turn. Meanwhile, Curt is too drunk to care. Our sincerest apologies to all of the coral workers out there.

References:

Robinson, George W., and Donald Reed. "Pink Petoskey Stones from Northern Michigan." Rocks & Minerals 88.3 (2013): 244-249.

Stanley, George D. "The evolution of modern corals and their early history."Earth-Science Reviews 60.3 (2003): 195-225.

Stolarski, Jarosław, et al. "The ancient evolutionary origins of Scleractinia revealed by azooxanthellate corals." BMC evolutionary biology 11.1 (2011): 316.

The gang attempts to talk about the coral gap, but instead Amanda spends nearly 40 minutes trying to explain why Petoskey Stones are cool, and James tries to sidetrack her at every turn. Meanwhile, Curt is too drunk to care. Our sincerest apologies to all of the coral workers out there.

References:

Robinson, George W., and Donald Reed. "Pink Petoskey Stones from Northern Michigan." Rocks & Minerals 88.3 (2013): 244-249.

Stanley, George D. "The evolution of modern corals and their early history."Earth-Science Reviews 60.3 (2003): 195-225.

Stolarski, JarosÅ‚aw, et al. "The ancient evolutionary origins of Scleractinia revealed by azooxanthellate corals." BMC evolutionary biology 11.1 (2011): 316.

The gang celebrates their second birthday podcast by discussing two papers that deal with large evolutionary trends through time in the marine realm. Also, Amanda describes her ideal skull throne, and James and Curt detail their recent pear related experiments.

References

Heim, Noel A., et al. "Cope’s rule in the evolution of marine animals." Science347.6224 (2015): 867-870.

Kelley, Neil P., and Ryosuke Motani. "Trophic convergence drives morphological convergence in marine tetrapods." Biology letters 11.1 (2015): 20140709.

The gang celebrates their second birthday podcast by discussing two papers that deal with large evolutionary trends through time in the marine realm. Also, Amanda describes her ideal skull throne, and James and Curt detail their recent pear related experiments.

References

Heim, Noel A., et al. "Cope’s rule in the evolution of marine animals." Science347.6224 (2015): 867-870.

Kelley, Neil P., and Ryosuke Motani. "Trophic convergence drives morphological convergence in marine tetrapods." Biology letters 11.1 (2015): 20140709.

In this episode we revisit the topic of taphonomy by discussing two papers that deal with actualistic taphonomy studies. Also, Amanda butchers potatoes, Curt becomes morbid, and James’s humor gets progressively bluer as the night goes on to the surprise of no one.

References

Briggs, Derek EG. "The role of decay and mineralization in the preservation of soft-bodied fossils." Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 31.1 (2003): 275-301.

Bartley, Julie K. "Actualistic taphonomy of cyanobacteria: implications for the Precambrian fossil record." Palaios (1996): 571-586.