In this episode, the gang spirals into insanity while discussing a strange paper about hippo biogeography. Also, James discusses childhood cartoon trauma, Amanda graduates from beer to vodka, and Curt lowers the bar.

References:

Mazza, Paul. "If hippopotamuses cannot swim, how did they colonize islands?." Lethaia (2014).

Geer, Alexandra AE, George Anastasakis, and George A. Lyras. "If hippopotamuses cannot swim, how did they colonize islands: a reply to Mazza." Lethaia (2014).

In this episode, the gang spirals into insanity while discussing a strange paper about hippo biogeography. Also, James discusses childhood cartoon trauma, Amanda graduates from beer to vodka, and Curt lowers the bar.

References:

Mazza, Paul. "If hippopotamuses cannot swim, how did they colonize islands?." Lethaia (2014).

Geer, Alexandra AE, George Anastasakis, and George A. Lyras. "If hippopotamuses cannot swim, how did they colonize islands: a reply to Mazza." Lethaia (2014).

In this episode, the gang discusses two papers that look at the ecology of the early life forms of the Ediacaran period. Also, James discusses the American dream, Curt details the secrets of the podcast's "success", and Amanda is nearly murdered by her cat.

References:

Carbone, Calla, and Guy M. Narbonne. "When life got smart: the evolution of behavioral complexity through the Ediacaran and early Cambrian of NW Canada." Journal of Paleontology 88.2 (2014): 309-330.

Cuthill, Jennifer F. Hoyal, and Simon Conway Morris. "Fractal branching organizations of Ediacaran rangeomorph fronds reveal a lost Proterozoic body plan." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2014): 201408542.

In this episode, the gang discusses two papers that look at the ecology of the early life forms of the Ediacaran period. Also, James discusses the American dream, Curt details the secrets of the podcast's "success", and Amanda is nearly murdered by her cat.

References:

Carbone, Calla, and Guy M. Narbonne. "When life got smart: the evolution of behavioral complexity through the Ediacaran and early Cambrian of NW Canada." Journal of Paleontology 88.2 (2014): 309-330.

Cuthill, Jennifer F. Hoyal, and Simon Conway Morris. "Fractal branching organizations of Ediacaran rangeomorph fronds reveal a lost Proterozoic body plan." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2014): 201408542.

This week, instead of picking papers with a similar theme the gang decided to talk about the craziest papers they could find. The end result: yetis and airplanes... Maybe this was a mistake.

Meanwhile, James describes his theory of automobile evolution, Amanda discusses swimming polar bears, and Curt describes the life and times of the podcast gang in Tomodachi Life.

References:

Sykes, Bryan C., et al. "Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot and other anomalous primates." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281.1789 (2014): 20140161.

Miller, Webb, et al. "Sequencing the nuclear genome of the extinct woolly mammoth." Nature 456.7220 (2008): 387-390.

Barnett, Ross, et al. "Evolution of the extinct Sabretooths and the American cheetah-like cat." Current Biology 15.15 (2005): R589-R590.

Bejan, A., J. D. Charles, and S. Lorente. "The evolution of airplanes." Journal of Applied Physics 116.4 (2014): 044901.

Gould, Stephen Jay. "Entropic homogeneity isn't why no one hits. 400 any more." Discover, August (1986): 60-66.

This week, instead of picking papers with a similar theme the gang decided to talk about the craziest papers they could find. The end result: yetis and airplanes... Maybe this was a mistake.

Meanwhile, James describes his theory of automobile evolution, Amanda discusses swimming polar bears, and Curt describes the life and times of the podcast gang in Tomodachi Life.

References:

Sykes, Bryan C., et al. "Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot and other anomalous primates." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281.1789 (2014): 20140161.

Miller, Webb, et al. "Sequencing the nuclear genome of the extinct woolly mammoth." Nature 456.7220 (2008): 387-390.

Barnett, Ross, et al. "Evolution of the extinct Sabretooths and the American cheetah-like cat." Current Biology 15.15 (2005): R589-R590.

Bejan, A., J. D. Charles, and S. Lorente. "The evolution of airplanes." Journal of Applied Physics 116.4 (2014): 044901.

Gould, Stephen Jay. "Entropic homogeneity isn't why no one hits. 400 any more." Discover, August (1986): 60-66.

In this episode of Palaeo After Dark, the gang discusses two papers that use morphometric analysis to test how strongly ecology imprints on evolution, which culminates in Curt drunkenly stumbling his way through hierarchy theory. Also, James and Curt talk about the wonder that is Machete Kills, and Amanda wins an argument only using the word “meh”.

References

Mitchell, Jonathan S., and Peter J. Makovicky. "Low ecological disparity in Early Cretaceous birds." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281.1787 (2014): 20140608.

Hopkins, Melanie J. "The environmental structure of trilobite morphological disparity." Paleobiology 40.3 (2014): 352-373. 

Eldredge, Niles, and Stanley N. Salthe. "Hierarchy and evolution." Oxford surveys in evolutionary biology 1 (1984): 184-208.

In this episode of Palaeo After Dark, the gang discusses two papers that use morphometric analysis to test how strongly ecology imprints on evolution, which culminates in Curt drunkenly stumbling his way through hierarchy theory. Also, James and Curt talk about the wonder that is Machete Kills, and Amanda wins an argument only using the word “meh”.

References

Mitchell, Jonathan S., and Peter J. Makovicky. "Low ecological disparity in Early Cretaceous birds." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281.1787 (2014): 20140608.

Hopkins, Melanie J. "The environmental structure of trilobite morphological disparity." Paleobiology 40.3 (2014): 352-373. 

Eldredge, Niles, and Stanley N. Salthe. "Hierarchy and evolution." Oxford surveys in evolutionary biology 1 (1984): 184-208.

In this week's episode we discuss a paper about using paleobotany to reconstruct paleoclimate, and then spin this discussion into a longer talk about niche conservatism. Meanwhile, Curt violates Godwin's Law by comparing something that is merely horribly unethical with something that is an absolute evil, James gives the Internet and by extension the world an ultimatum, and Amanda confesses to serial herbicide. We also completely mess up our discussion of what stomatal density is used as a proxy for (hint: it’s actually CO2 concentration.... but we apparently forgot that).

References:

Utescher, T., et al. "The Coexistence Approach–theoretical background and practical considerations of using plant fossils for climate quantification."Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (2014).

Crisp, Michael D., et al. "Phylogenetic biome conservatism on a global scale."Nature 458.7239 (2009): 754-756.

In this week's episode we discuss a paper about using paleobotany to reconstruct paleoclimate, and then spin this discussion into a longer talk about niche conservatism. Meanwhile, Curt violates Godwin's Law by comparing something that is merely horribly unethical with something that is an absolute evil, James gives the Internet and by extension the world an ultimatum, and Amanda confesses to serial herbicide. We also completely mess up our discussion of what stomatal density is used as a proxy for (hint: it’s actually CO2 concentration.... but we apparently forgot that).

References:

Utescher, T., et al. "The Coexistence Approach–theoretical background and practical considerations of using plant fossils for climate quantification."Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (2014).

Crisp, Michael D., et al. "Phylogenetic biome conservatism on a global scale."Nature 458.7239 (2009): 754-756.