The Backpacker's Guide To Prehistory

Pack your raincoat, because this week we're heading to a very stormy Jurassic. As the only geological period with bona fide movie star status, the Jurassic is full of prehistoric celebrities, from the first birds and mammals to - of course - the dinosaurs. But what should you wear? And where should you visit?

Fortunately, Dr Evelyn Kustatscher of the South Tyrol Museum of Nature (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Evelyn-Kustatscher) and Dr Elsa Panciroli of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History (https://oumnh.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-elsa-panciroli; https://twitter.com/gsciencelady; https://elsapanciroli.wordpress.com/) are on hand to provide some much-needed travel advice. Be sure to check out their research!

Follow the podcast on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.

Sound effects from Zapsplat.com. Special thanks to Rachel Holmes.

Love warm, sandy beaches? Tropical azure seas? Metre-long sea scorpions? Then the Silurian is the backpacking destination for you! Join host David Mountain as he scuba dives through the Silurian period, the hidden gem of the Palaeozoic. Lasting from 444 to 419 million years again, this stretch of time sees the emergence of jawed fish, terrestrial arthropods, vascular plants and much, much more.

Providing the expert advice are Dr James Lamsdell, a palaeobiologist at West Virginia University (http://jameslamsdell.com/; https://twitter.com/FossilDetective), and Dr Sandy Hetherington, a palaeobotanist at the University of Edinburgh (https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/dr-sandy-hetherington; https://www.ed.ac.uk/biology/groups/hetherington; https://twitter.com/Sandy_Heth). If you want to find out more about the Silurian, be sure to check out their research!

Follow the podcast on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.

Sound effects from Zapsplat.com.

Wide open skies, grand horizons and the promise of adventure: the Neogene has it all. Join host David Mountain as he explores the varied environments of this time period and the plants and animals that made them up.  You might even come face-to-face with your own ancestors in the plains of East Africa!*

Providing valuable travel tips are two Neogene experts: Dr Aly Baumgartner, a palaeobotanist at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History (https://twitter.com/PaleoLorax; https://scientiaandveritas.wordpress.com/) and Dr Laurence Dumouchel, a paleoanthropologist at Wichita State University (https://twitter.com/paleolau; https://www.wichita.edu/profiles/academics/fairmount_college_of_liberal_arts_and_sciences/Anthropology/Dumouchel-Laurence.php). If you want to discover more about the Neogene, be sure to check out their research!

Follow the podcast on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.

Sound effects from Zapsplat.com.

*Hominin sightings not guaranteed.

Join host David Mountain as he ventures into the tropical world of the Palaeogene, 66-23 million years ago. If you’re looking for volatile climates, volcanic activity and some of the most remarkable mammals to have ever walked the Earth, then the Palaeogene could be the perfect getaway!

Providing the travel advice are two Palaeogene experts: Dr Monica Carvalho, a palaeobotanist with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (https://moccada.wixsite.com/paleobiology; https://twitter.com/moccada) and Dr Sergi López-Torres, a palaeontologist at the University of Warsaw (http://www.paleo.pan.pl/pracownicy/lopez_torres/lopez_torres.html; https://twitter.com/S_LopezTorres). If you want to learn more about the plants and animals of the Palaeogene world then be sure to check out their research!

Follow the podcast on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.

Sound effects from Zapsplat.com. 

For this episode of The Backpacker’s Guide To Prehistory, host David Mountain is setting his time machine for the distant Ordovician period, 485-444 million years ago. Dive into oceans teeming with long-lost wildlife, from trilobites to orthocones to the nightmarish conodonts.

Providing some much-needed travel tips are Dr Lucy McCobb, a palaeontologist at the National Museum Cardiff (https://museum.wales/staff/184/Lucy-McCobb/) and Prof Dave Harper, Professor Emeritus of Palaeontology at Durham University (https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/david-harper/). If you want to learn more about the Ordovician world then be sure to check out their research!

Follow the podcast on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.

Sound effects from Zapsplat.com.

For the first episode of The Backpacker's Guide To Prehistory season two, host David Mountain travels back to the Carboniferous period, 359-299 million years ago. In this weird world of giant horsetails and monster arthropods, what creatures should you look out for? What clothes should you pack? And is it really such a good idea to light a campfire?
 
Providing the answers are two Carboniferous experts: Dr Bill DiMichele, Curator of Palaeobotany at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (https://naturalhistory.si.edu/staff/bill-dimichele), and Dr Russell Garwood, a palaeontologist at the University of Manchester (https://russellgarwood.co.uk/; https://twitter.com/RussellGarwood). Massive thanks to Bill and Russell for sharing their travel advice. If you're interested in the plants and animals of the Carboniferous - and I know you are - then make sure to check out their research!
 
Follow the podcast on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.
 
Sound effects from Zapsplat.com.

The backpack is back!

The 17th January 2022 sees the long-awaited/half-forgotten return of The Backpacker's Guide To Prehistory - the podcast that provides top travel tips for time travellers. Across six brand new episodes, host David Mountain will be asking experts in palaeobiology about the most important, interesting and exciting aspects of our planet's past. Stay tuned for more!

This trailer features snippets from interviews with Dr Monica Carvalho, Dr James Lamsdell and Prof Dave Harper.

Follow the podcast on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.

For the season finale of The Backpacker's Guide To Prehistory, host David Mountain ventures into the Pleistocene, a time of woolly mammoths, sabretooth cats and some pretty unpleasant wombattitude. From the barren wastes of the northern tundra to the treacherous woodlands of Ice Age Australia, discover the dos and don'ts (and the don't-even-think-about-its) of Pleistocene travel.

Providing the travel advice are two Pleistocene experts: Dr Julie Meachen, a palaeontologist at Des Moines University (https://www.dmu.edu/directory/julie-meachen/; https://twitter.com/sabercatwoman) and Diana Fusco, a palaeontologist at Flinders University (https://sites.flinders.edu.au/palaeontology/home/people/research-students/diana-fusco/; https://twitter.com/HvyMetalPalaeo). If you want to find out more about Ice Age predators and marsupial megafauna - and why on earth wouldn't you? - then be sure to check out their research.

Follow us on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.

Sound effects from Zapsplat.com.

Gather round the campfire as host David Mountain prepares for an adventure through the Triassic, the Jurassic's older, cooler brother. If you can avoid being eaten by giant reptiles, falling into enormous dung beds and getting stuck in a two-million-year-long rainstorm, then the Triassic might just be the trip of your lifetime!

Providing some much-needed travel advice are Dr Emma Dunne, a palaeobiologist at the University of Birmingham (https://emmadunne.weebly.com/; https://twitter.com/emmadnn) and Prof Mike Benton, a palaeontologist at the University of Bristol (https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/michael-j-benton). If you're interested in finding out more about the Triassic then make sure to check out their research.

Follow us on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.

Sound effects from Zapsplat.com.

Set your time machines for the dawn of the Phanerozoic! In this episode host David Mountain travels all the way back to the Cambrian period and dives into an unrecognisable world of bizarre creatures and treacherous environments.

Helping to make sense of the oddest period in prehistory are Dr Martin Smith, a palaeontologist at Durham University (https://www.dur.ac.uk/directory/profile/?id=14260; https://smithlabdurham.github.io/; https://twitter.com/palaeosmith) and Dr Xiaoya Ma, a palaeontologist at the University of Exeter (https://biosciences.exeter.ac.uk/staff/profile/index.php?web_id=Xiaoya_Ma). If you want to find out more about the Cambrian and its creatures then be sure to check out their research!

Follow The Backpacker's Guide To Prehistory on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.

Sound effects from Zapsplat.com.