The Common Descent Podcast

The geologic record of Earth is an archive of data on the causes and effects of changing climates. As climate changes, it impacts everything from plants and animals to rocks and rivers. The study of ancient climates is paleoclimatology, and it’s important not only for our understanding of climate in the past, but also for teasing out what’s happening with our climate today and what we can expect for the future.

In the news: tyrannosaur group, a chomped squid, horned crocs, and night dinosaurs.

This episode, we’re joined by Dr. Rachel Lupien!

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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

Subterranean passages and chambers within the Earth form eerie and incredible environments that are home to unique ecosystems of bizarre creatures and which serve as some of the most invaluable sources of fossils in the world. This episode, we discuss how caves form, what ecosystems dwell within them, and why they’re so darn important for paleontology.

In the news: pterosaur thumbs, scimitar-cat diets, counting T. rex, and ancient soil DNA.

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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

There isn’t much on Earth quite like an ant colony or a beehive. Lots of animals are social, but relatively few are eusocial. It’s a bizarre lifestyle, living in large multi-generational colonies with lots of members who don’t reproduce but instead dedicate their lives to protecting and nourishing the offspring of the few reproducers. In this episode, we discuss the many questions surrounding this phenomenon, including how many times this trait has evolved, why it’s apparently so beneficial, and exactly how natural selection could even produce such a strange lifestyle.  

In the news: venom evolution, pointy things, early rainforests, and bone origins.

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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’ve talked a lot about Godzilla and King Kong in previous Silver Screen Science episodes, and now there’s a new movie with both of them in it, so we’re going to talk about that! More monster fights, more science, more fun.

This episode, the all-star monsters are back: Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

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

Go searching in the right spots in Illinois and you’re liable to find a hard chunk of ironstone with a gorgeous fossil inside. The Mazon Creek Fossil Beds represent some of the best Carboniferous fossils in the world, yielding exceptionally preserved plants and animals from a tropical river delta over 300 million years old. This episode, we discuss the history, the geology, and some of the most famously bizarre creatures of Mazon Creek.

In the news: a “winged” shark, digging ankylosaurs, the oldest cephalopods, and a fly full of pollen.

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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

Despite their unfortunate reputation, hyenas are really impressive. Modern and fossil, they’re a diverse group with a variety of dietary and social habits, and they are the quintessential example of bone-crushing specialists. In this episode, we discuss what makes hyenas unique and interesting, and we take a look at their surprisingly varied fossil history.

In the news: lamprey larvae, octopus diets, nesting dinosaurs, and tyrannosaur bites.

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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

Penguins aren’t the only flightless birds, and they aren’t the only diving birds, but they sure are good at doing both! In this episode, we discuss modern penguins’ unique suite of adaptations that allow them to spend so much of their lives in the water, and then we address some of the most pressing questions about their past: How did they get their start? What drove their evolution? And why were some of them so disconcertingly large?

In the news: giant coelacanths, really old DNA, fossil vampire squid, and dinosaur ecology.

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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

Taking teeth to the extreme! Tusks have evolved numerous times, particularly in mammals, and they’ve come in a striking array of shapes and sizes for a variety of uses. From the monstrously huge ivory tusks of mammoths to the modest yet effective tusks of fanged deer to the bizarre and perplexing tusks of babirusas and narwhals, in this episode we discuss trends, drivers, and mysteries in the evolution of tusks.

In the news: razor-toothed mosasaurs, walk the dinosaur, sidewinder skin, and really old giant sloths.

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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

Happy Darwin Day!

Baron Franz Nopcsa was a paleontologist around the start of the 20th Century, remembered today for his innovative fossil research, his (in)famous personality, and his fantastic adventures across Eastern Europe. In this episode, we’ll discuss how this aristocrat became a paleontologist and how he contributed to our modern understanding of dinosaurs, and we’ll share some of the incredible and bizarre stories that surround him.

In the news: Parasaurolophus crests, sand striker burrows, dogs in Siberia, and life on Pinatubo.

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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

A new tradition begins! Get ready for more plants with our friend Dr. Aly Baumgartner!

Most plants are content to sit still and take in sunlight and soil nutrients, but when conditions are tough, some plants get hungry! The habit of devouring small animals has evolved in plants several times. In this episode, we discuss what counts as carnivory in plants, why they do it, the various methods plants use to murder their meals, and what little we know about the evolutionary history of this behavior.

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Follow Aly on Twitter @kyrietree or Instagram @paleolorax

Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures:

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