Welcome ... to Spookulative Evolution.

October is here, and that means it’s time for Spook-E! Each episode throughout this month, we’re choosing a monster and discussing how it – or something like it – might evolve under the rules of evolution and natural selection, pulling inspiration from organisms of the real world. This year’s theme: monsters of Dungeons and Dragons.

This episode, we gaze upon something truly alien. Can we formulate an evolutionary path to produce a malicious floating orb creature that stares at the world through many eyes? Our creatures to create this time: Beholders.

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The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome.

Stegosaurus is one of the all-time most famous and recognizable dinosaurs, but it wasn’t alone! Its whole extended family, the stegosaurs, were medium- to large-sized herbivorous dinosaurs sporting an array of plates and spikes. This episode, we discuss the diversity and deep history of stegosaurs, what we know of their lifestyles, and of course the big questions: just what were they doing with that ridiculous armor?

In the news: Moon impacts, bird brains, Jurassic vomit, and super-old algae.

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The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome.

Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Welcome ... to Spookulative Evolution.

October is here, and that means it’s time for Spook-E! Each episode throughout this month, we’re choosing a monster and discussing how it – or something like it – might evolve under the rules of evolution and natural selection, pulling inspiration from organisms of the real world. This year’s theme: monsters of Dungeons and Dragons.

This episode, we roll out a monster that’s tough to get grasp on. From where on the tree of life might we develop a many-limbed predator with a knack for fooling the eye? Our creatures to create this time: Displacer beasts.

Join the Common Descent Discord server for more Spook-E discussion! https://discord.gg/CwPBxdh9Ev

And share your Spook-E musings on social media with the hashtag #SpookE

Check out our blog for podcast info, fan art, and more!

Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast 

Or make a one-time donation via PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/4c68u4hp

Follow and Support us on:

You can email us at commondescentpodcast(at)gmail.com

The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome.

Welcome ... to Spookulative Evolution.

October is here, and that means it’s time for Spook-E! Each episode throughout this month, we’re choosing a monster and discussing how it – or something like it – might evolve under the rules of evolution and natural selection, pulling inspiration from organisms of the real world. This year’s theme: monsters of Dungeons and Dragons.

This episode, we play with a classic chimera. How might nature select for a beast that combines the fierce features of a bear and a bird of prey? Our creatures to create this time: Owlbears.

Join the Common Descent Discord server for more Spook-E discussion! https://discord.gg/CwPBxdh9Ev

And share your Spook-E musings on social media with the hashtag #SpookE

Check out our blog for podcast info, fan art, and more!

Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast 

Or make a one-time donation via PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/4c68u4hp

Follow and Support us on:

You can email us at commondescentpodcast(at)gmail.com

The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome.

In our modern world, ants are so ubiquitous that it’s difficult to image our planet without them, so successful that they shape the environments around them despite their tiny size, and so diverse that we couldn’t possibly discuss even a small fraction of their diversity in this one podcast episode. We’ll touch on some of what makes ants unique, list a few of our favorite examples of modern ant lifestyles, and dive into what is known about their ancient history and evolution. Get ready for fire ants, bullet ants, dinosaur ants, hell ants, and more.

In the news: mysterious maybe-molluscs, giant otters, tuatara cousins, and fossil fish organs.

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Follow this link for a 30 day free trial to Audible!

Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast 

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Find merch at the Common Descent Store! http://zazzle.com/common_descent

Join the Common Descent Discord server! https://discord.gg/CwPBxdh9Ev

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You can email us at commondescentpodcast(at)gmail.com

The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome.

Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Powered flight is hard, and evolution has only produced it a few times. Gliding, however, is much easier and much more common. In fact, there is an astonishing diversity of gliding organisms to be found in our modern world as well as in the fossil record, with an incredible variety in the adaptations they use to sail through the sky. This episode, we’ll explore what it takes to glide and what patterns we see in gliding evolution, and we’ll also geek out about all the amazing sizes, shapes, and strategies of gliders.

In the news: coral mutations, African dinosaurs, croc brains, and ancient amputation.

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The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome.

Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

For many years, scientists pondered the question: how and why do offspring inherit traits from their parents? And key to the answer to that question is another question: what determines an organism’s traits in the first place? The pursuit of these answers ultimately led to the modern field of genetics, which itself is crucial to the study of evolution. This episode, we address just a few key points on this vast topic, with a focus on how our understanding of genetics allows us to interpret the history of evolution on our planet.

In the news: early fruit-eating, giant Australian birds, beaver evolution, and human speech.

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The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome.

Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Every period of geologic time is distinguished by its own environmental and ecological features, and every boundary between time periods is characterized by change. The boundary between the Jurassic Period and the Cretaceous Period is mostly marked by mystery. Was there a mass extinction? Were there catastrophic changes? Where even is the boundary exactly? In this episode, we’ll discuss the answers – or lack thereof – to these questions and more as we explore this surprisingly enigmatic time in Earth history.

In the news: croc conservation, diving whales, aquatic mammal-cousins, and sauropod feet.

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We recently appeared on the Juras-Sick-Park-Cast!

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Join the Common Descent Discord server! https://discord.gg/CwPBxdh9Ev

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The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome.

Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

We live in a solar-powered world. Photosynthesis is the process by which some organisms (notably plants and cyanobacteria) harness the energy of sunlight to power their own metabolism, in the process creating the sugars (food) which provide a source of energy for all sorts of other organisms, not to mention releasing oxygen as well. Photosynthesis is the reason our planet is the way it is, from the diversity of life to the composition of the atmosphere. In this episode, we discuss the diversity of photosynthesis and photosynthesizers, what we know about the evolutionary history of the process, and how it has profoundly changed the world.

In the news: freshwater plesiosaurs, endothermy evolution, whale shark diets, and bone-crushing dogs.

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We recently appeared on the Juras-Sick-Park-Cast!

Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures:

Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast 

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Join the Common Descent Discord server! https://discord.gg/CwPBxdh9Ev

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You can email us at commondescentpodcast(at)gmail.com

The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome.

Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

The history of evolution is full of species of unusual size, big and small. But the factors that lead to evolutionary miniaturization or embiggening can be quite varied and are not all fully agreed-upon by scientists. This episode, we discuss what it means for life to evolve huge or tiny, what trends researchers have identified in body size evolution, and which of those trends actually holds up to further scrutiny.

In the news: krait venom, a frozen pup, parental water bugs, and giant storks.

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IT’S SNAKE MONTH! Check out our Snake Month activities on our social media, Discord, and Patreon!

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Join the Common Descent Discord server! https://discord.gg/CwPBxdh9Ev

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You can email us at commondescentpodcast(at)gmail.com

The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome.

Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0