The Common Descent Podcast

Evolution loves to plagiarize. You might be surprised at just how useful it can be for an organism to copy the signals, sights, sounds, and smells of others. Mimicry is all about making use of miscommunication. In this episode we’ll discuss the astounding diversity of modern mimics, the rare examples of fossil mimics, and the complex and confusing evolution patterns of mimicry.

In the news: Cambrian bryozoans, early tusks, hermit worms, and parthenogenetic condors.

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We're now taking questions for our End of the Year Q&A! Submit your question here: https://forms.gle/Q3jHtLSp5CdFuAuL9

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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

Orchids are among the most diverse and widespread group of plants on Earth today, not to mention one of the most popular among plant enthusiasts. This episode, we discuss what makes orchids so unique and strange, as well as the many mysteries surrounding their evolution and deep history. As with all our plant episodes, Aly is on hand to tell us all about why orchids are so fascinating.

Featuring special guest, Dr. Aly Baumgartner, our favorite paleobotanist!

In the news: Permian gliders, social dinosaurs, amber crab, and snake diets.

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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

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

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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

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 famous 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: monster plants.

This episode, we face a more modern monster, star of page and screen. Can we invoke natural processes to develop a plant that haunts humans and strikes with a deadly lash? Our creatures to create this time: triffids. 

Featuring special guest, Dr. Aly Baumgartner, our favorite paleobotanist! 

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

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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 famous 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: monster plants.

This episode, we evaluate a famous and deadly monster favored by healers and witches. How can we use nature’s toolkit to evolve a baby-shaped root with a fatal scream? Our creatures to create this time: mandrakes.

Featuring special guest, Dr. Aly Baumgartner, our favorite paleobotanist!

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

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

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

An Earth covered in ice might sound far-fetched, but there’s reason to think it has actually happened in the past – more than once. In this episode, we examine the Snowball Earth hypothesis and the geologic evidence and climate models that back it up, as well as some of the major lingering questions: Just how snowy is the snowball? How could this start? How could it end? And how did life fare on a frozen planet?

In the news: ancient tardigrades, meat-eating sloths, shark communities, and relict mangroves.

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

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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 famous 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: monster plants.

This episode, we ponder a familiar favorite of myths, media, and Middle Earth. What evolutionary path might result in a towering woody plant that walks and talks? Our creatures to create this time: animated trees.

Featuring special guest, Dr. Aly Baumgartner, our favorite paleobotanist!

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

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

Follow and Support us on:

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 famous 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: monster plants.

This episode, we consider a classic category of plants-turned-monsters. How might natural selection produce a predatory plant with a taste for humans? Our creatures to create this time: people-eating plants.

Featuring special guest, Dr. Aly Baumgartner, our favorite paleobotanist!

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

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

Follow and Support us on:

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

Spiders are among the most diverse, successful, and famous living groups of invertebrates. Today, they’re a worldwide assortment of fascinating predators, and their scarce fossil record provides hints of a history over 300 million years old. In this episode, we discuss the diversity and evolution of spiders, their varied lifestyles, and their most versatile and famous tool, silk.

In the news: snake evolution, giant penguins, early American humans, and spider parents.

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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 

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

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

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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

The Earth is in motion beneath our feet. The shifting and grinding of the tectonic plates is responsible for the shape of our planet’s surface and – directly or indirectly – nearly all the activity that happens upon it. Plate tectonics has a deep and fascinating history, both as a force that has shaped the Earth for billions of years and as a surprisingly recent foundational scientific theory.

In the news: shark teeth, Cambrian predators, Carnotaurus skin, and teratorns.

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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 

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

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

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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

Nearly all animals have some form of nervous system, and this system is often monitored and regulated by a brain. We humans are particularly proud of our enormous brains, but these organs come in all shapes and sizes across the animal kingdom, past and present. In this episode, we discuss brain diversity, the sometimes roundabout ways we explore brains in the fossil record, and what we’ve come to learn about the evolution of brains.

In the news: turtle embryo, frog-legged leaf beetle, early lizard cousin, and tyrannosaur brains.

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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 

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

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

Follow and Support us on:

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