Paleo Bites

(image source: https://bit.ly/3nzXfXg)

Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss Glossopteris, an ancient tree that… wait, where are you going?! C’mon, not every episode can be about scary dinosaurs with big pointy teeth! From the Permian period, this 100-foot tall seed fern helped paleontologists first propose the idea of continental drift, due to being found all over the southern Gondwanan continents… yeah, you’ve already left, haven’t you? Eh, I don’t blame you, I’m just surprised you lasted nearly 150 episodes.

Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. 

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

(image source: Public domain photo from 1906. Suck it, copyright laws)

Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Stephen Curro discuss Thylacinus, the most recently extinct creature I’ll allow, as anything later would make this show far too depressing. From the Early Holocene, this 4-foot marsupial first evolved in the later parts of the Ice Age before dying an unceremonious death in a zoo in the 1930s. Ugh, it’s episodes like this that make you root for the COVID-19 virus.

Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. 

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

(image source: https://www.thoughtco.com/megatherium-giant-sloth-1093238)

Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Christina Eilert discuss Megatherium, a creature whose full scientific name literally translates to “Great American Beast” but this isn’t 4th of July-related due to it not being that America, so sorry, USA-ians. From the Late Pleistocene, this 20-foot ground sloth dope slapped some Smilodon populator to death to keep said Smilodon populator from doing too much of their namesake populating. Huh, maybe I take the meanings of these scientific names too literally.

Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. 

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

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

Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss Koparion, a really old member of its family that's known by its teeth, kind of like my great uncle from Oregon we all try to avoid. From the Late Jurassic, this 3-foot troodontid is getting paleontologists ever so close to discovering that elusive Jurassic era dromaeosaurid, but alas, we have not found it yet, just close relatives. Paleontology's like your crush sometimes: mysterious, attractive, but ultimately disappointing and leaving you with unanswered questions.

Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. 

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

(image source: https://animals.fandom.com/wiki/Paraceratherium)

Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lexi Ryan discuss Paraceratherium, a huge mammal that looked like the result of a mad scientist combining a rhino, giraffe, and elephant into one. From the Oligocene epoch, this 22-foot-tall indricothere is perhaps the largest land mammals could ever get due to their endothermy and bone density... and yet they're still nowhere near the size of the biggest dinosaurs. Once more, dinosaur superiority is confirmed! 

Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. 

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

(image source: https://bit.ly/3xmzAyh)

Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Stephen Curro discuss Stegouros, a dinosaur that decided club tails or spike tails weren't cool enough so it went with a mace tail, and let's be honest, it's pretty frigging cool. From the Late Cretaceous, this 6-foot ankylosaurid had enough of predator's crap and smashed its spikey mace-tail-thingy directly into their hearts and ruptured their internal organs... at least if this was a movie. In real life it probably just waved it back and forth to intimidate. Real life is a lot lamer, you see.

Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. 

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

(image source: https://bit.ly/3thtE8t)

Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Ben O'Regan discuss Australovenator, an Australian predatory dinosaur, which is kind of obvious when hearing its name, so I don't know why I bothered to say that. From the Early Cretaceous, this 20-foot megaraptoran theropod was retroactively added into Walking with Dinosaurs as the "dwarf allosaur" after its description in 2009, proving the BBC have the gift of foresight. They should have a crack at that whole future speculative evolution genre, then! They'd be 100% accurate! 

Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. 

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

(image source: https://bit.ly/3kssKkC)

Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Laura Owsley discuss Gastonia, a dinosaur with a French-sounding name despite being American; kind of like French fries, except those actually originated in Belgium. From the Early Cretaceous, this 18-foot nodosaurid is the source of many a Disney joke, including in this very episode, so listen to hear some! I bet you can already predict ten of them. God, this show’s so cringey.

(Apologies about the bad audio quality. There was a temporary issue with our recording that day)

Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. 

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

(image source: https://reinoanimalia.fandom.com/es/wiki/Homo_erectus)

Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lexi Ryan discuss Homo erectus, an early form of human whose name makes us all giggle hearing it, and don’t you dare deny it. From the Late Pleistocene, this 5-foot-tall hominid was the first human to speak, wield fire, develop tools, and even take on seafaring, which is all amazing and fascinating stuff… never mind, you’re still snickering about its name, aren’t you? Eh, me too. Hehe, gay boner...

Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. 

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

(image source: https://images.dinosaurpictures.org/Leaellynasaura_new_118a.jpg)

Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Ben O’Regan discuss Leaellynasaura, a genus name damn hard to spell and even harder to say due to that blasted “e-a-e” at the beginning. From the Mid Cretaceous, this 4-foot ornithopod dealt with harsh winter conditions and frozen hellscapes, which is kind of odd for a dinosaur. Then again, dinosaurs dealt with snow all the time; it wasn’t all jungles and lava back then! Only mostly.

Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. 

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