(image source: https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeBeforeUs/comments/147x7b2/tullimonstrum_gregarium_the_enigmatic_tully/)

In this first episode of Paleo Paleo Bites, where the show takes a month off releasing new episodes so Matthew Donald can rebuild a backlog of episodes to release later (life is hard, yo) and digs up older episodes to rerelease and thus keep the content farm going, host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss Tullimonstrum. I mean… just look at it! It’s so crazy that this thing existed. Or maybe it didn’t. Oooooh. See you with new episodes in 2026!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(image source: https://novataxa.blogspot.com/2017/08/borealopelta.html)

Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Allen Brooks discuss Borealopelta, a stout armored bugger that would have been mediocrely notable if it weren’t for, I dunno, have literally the best preserved fossil of all time? Seriously, the mummification made it so we could even see its organs. There’s no joke here, that’s just damn cool. From the Early Cretaceous, this 18-foot nodosaur is so well preserved that we know its color, a reddish-brown built for camouflage. Seriously, what the hell did this thing need camouflage for?! Were those spikes made of taffy? This fossil seriously shocked me so much that I forgot that it lived far before Albertosaurus and kept saying in the episode that Albertosaurus could have maybe preyed on it, so sorry about that.

Want to further support the show? Subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdXnbmbdvKBVoUexcFBgMNQ for ad-free episodes, and sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can get links to follow Matthew Donald and purchase his books at https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald. His latest book, Teslamancer, just released August 27th! And mild spoiler alert... there are kind of dinosaurs in it... mwuahahaha.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(image source: https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Miragaia)

Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Stephen Curro discuss Miragaia, a long-necked stegosaur that could be mistaken for a sauropod, as long as one ignored those spikes and plates. They blend in, so I get it. From the Late Jurassic, this 20-foot stegosaur is currently in the crosshairs of big bad paleontologists like Jack Horner threatening to absorb it into the genus Dacentrurus, which look, I know it’s science and science should persist no matter our personal desires, but c’mon, Miragaia is a cool name! Don’t invalidate it! I still have difficulties pronouncing that “ruru” in Dacentrurus.

Want to further support the show? Subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdXnbmbdvKBVoUexcFBgMNQ for ad-free episodes, and sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can get links to follow Matthew Donald and purchase his books at https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald. His latest book, Teslamancer, just released August 27th! And mild spoiler alert... there are kind of dinosaurs in it... mwuahahaha.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(image source: https://dinosaurpictures.org/Hypsilophodon-pictures)

Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Allen Brooks discuss Hypsilophodon, a tiny dinosaur with an unremarkable appearance and a ridiculously convoluted taxonomical history. Just what our listeners have always wanted: a boring dinosaur with complicated info. Yay! From the Early Cretaceous, this 8 foot neornithoschian dinosaur was once thought to be related to a bunch of other boring dinosaurs that look like it, but it turns out nah, that boring plan they all came up with independently. That’s cool I guess.

Want to further support the show? Subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdXnbmbdvKBVoUexcFBgMNQ for ad-free episodes, and sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can get links to follow Matthew Donald and purchase his books at https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald. His latest book, Teslamancer, just released August 27th! And mild spoiler alert... there are kind of dinosaurs in it... mwuahahaha.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(image source: https://www.dreamstime.com/peteinosaurus-reptile-tail-was-carnivorous-flying-pterosaur-lived-italy-triassic-period-image156432121)

Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Ben O’Regan discuss Peteinosaurus, an early pterosaur that’s notable in that it’s an early pterosaur and nothing else. Have you seen a small pterosaur? Then you’ve seen Peteinosaurus. I’m really selling this episode, huh? From the Late Triassic, this 4-foot-wingspan eopterosaurid might have been an early dimorphodontid, whatever that’s worth. Man, I don’t mean to be too harsh on this guy, I’m sure he’s a lovely fellow. I’d love to have beers with him someday.

Want to further support the show? Subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdXnbmbdvKBVoUexcFBgMNQ for ad-free episodes, and sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can get links to follow Matthew Donald and purchase his books at https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald. His latest book, Teslamancer, just released August 27th! And mild spoiler alert... there are kind of dinosaurs in it... mwuahahaha.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalyia)

Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Nobody McNooneson discuss Dalyia, a creature that no one gives a damn about so it functions perfectly as doubling up as an apology and explanation for what happened to Paleo Bites-oween and why it ended early. I pity the poor singular Dalyia fan that was really excited when this popped up in their feed and were like "YEAAAAAH, finally some recognition!" I look forward to their angry email. From the Late Cambrian, this worm-like organism of an indeterminate size is also known as the Clustered One with its species name racemata, making it the perfect metaphor for my situation and me as a whole. I'm the clustered one. That's deep, guys.

Want to further support the show? Subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdXnbmbdvKBVoUexcFBgMNQ for ad-free episodes, and sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can get links to follow Matthew Donald and purchase his books at https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald. His latest book, Teslamancer, just released August 27th! And mild spoiler alert... there are kind of dinosaurs in it... mwuahahaha.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(image source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/did-ancient-primates-walk-alongside-dinosaurs-new-evidence-backs-up-theory)

Happy Paleo Bites-oween, where we will host Halloween themed episodes all week, every day! On this fourth day of Paleo Bites-oween, this one on actual Halloween (but don’t worry, the celebration of Paleo Bites-oween will last the whole week still) host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss Purgatorius, a tiny squirrel-like mammal that seems innocent enough until you learn that it eventually evolved into the most terrifying monster of all… HUMANITY. AAAAGH! Yes, humans are the real monsters. I’ve read Frankenstein. From the Early Paleocene, this 6-inch primatomorph survived the meteor that killed the dinosaurs and then kept on surviving until it became us. See, it’s Purgatorius because up until it survived and evolved into later representatives in the human ancestry, it had a choice between Heaven or Hell, and by choosing to continue to evolve into humans, it chose Hell.

Want to further support the show? Subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdXnbmbdvKBVoUexcFBgMNQ for ad-free episodes, and sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can get links to follow Matthew Donald and purchase his books at https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald. His latest book, Teslamancer, just released August 27th! And mild spoiler alert... there are kind of dinosaurs in it... mwuahahaha.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(image source: https://dinosaurpictures.org/Zuul-picture)

Happy Paleo Bites-oween, where we will host Halloween themed episodes all week, every day! On this third day of Paleo Bites-oween, host Matthew Donald unearths an older Halloween episode from years back to rerelease in all of its glory. Kind of like a fossil. Or a mummy. From the Late Cretaceous, this 20-foot ankylosaur had a really big tail club and a really funny name, based off the demon dog from Ghostbusters. And just like Ghostbusters, 100% of this episode was improvised. I can only assume that Ghostbusters had no script and was just the actors riffing, anyway.

Want to further support the show? Subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdXnbmbdvKBVoUexcFBgMNQ for ad-free episodes, and sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can get links to follow Matthew Donald and purchase his books at https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald. His latest book, Teslamancer, just released August 27th! And mild spoiler alert... there are kind of dinosaurs in it... mwuahahaha.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(image source: https://prehistoric-wiki.fandom.com/wiki/Vampyronassa)

Happy Paleo Bites-oween, where we will host Halloween themed episodes all week, every day! On this second day of Paleo Bites-oween, host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lexi Ryan discuss Vampyronassa, a fricking vampire squid… it’s not as cool as it sounds. From the Late Jurassic, this 4-inch vampyromorph cephalopod is basically the same as the one vampire squid species around today, except it lacks retractile filaments. Whatever those are. I don’t have those either, as I have retractile dysfunction. Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week. I mean, literally, as it’s Paleo Bites-oween.

Want to further support the show? Subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdXnbmbdvKBVoUexcFBgMNQ for ad-free episodes, and sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can get links to follow Matthew Donald and purchase his books at https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald. His latest book, Teslamancer, just released August 27th! And mild spoiler alert... there are kind of dinosaurs in it... mwuahahaha.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(image source: https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/how-find-desmodus-ark-survival-evolved-fjordur)

Happy Paleo Bites-oween, where we will host Halloween themed episodes all week, every day! On this first day of Paleo Bites-oween, host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss Desmodus draculae, the biggest vampire bat ever known and thus a perfect way to start off the spooky season. Except it’s not that spooky. Or that big. It’s actually kind of cute. Look at it, happily licking up that blood from the incision on the Macrauchenia. Dawwww. From the Late Pleistocene, this 2.5-foot-wingspan bat first evolved millions of years ago but might have lived all the way up to the 18th century. I guess it’s those vampire lifespans of theirs. They live forever, after all. I’ve read Twilight.

Want to further support the show? Subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdXnbmbdvKBVoUexcFBgMNQ for ad-free episodes, and sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can get links to follow Matthew Donald and purchase his books at https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald. His latest book, Teslamancer, just released August 27th! And mild spoiler alert... there are kind of dinosaurs in it... mwuahahaha.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.