The Common Descent Podcast

There’s a pandemic on, and we and many of our listeners are spending lots of time at home. On the bright side, it’s a good opportunity to watch movies and record Silver Screen Science! So, we’re putting together some new episodes, to keep you – and ourselves – entertained.

This episode, we share some thoughts from our long and animal-filled journey through the James Bond films.

The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! http://zazzle.com/common_descent

Follow and Support us on:

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

There’s a pandemic on, and we and many of our listeners are spending lots of time at home. On the bright side, it’s a good opportunity to watch movies and record Silver Screen Science! So, we’re putting together some new episodes, to keep you – and ourselves – entertained.

This episode, we revisit the King of Monsters: Godzilla (1998)

The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! http://zazzle.com/common_descent

Follow and Support us on:

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

Life ain’t always easy. Injury and disease are a persistent threat for life of all sorts, and that’s been true for as long as there has been life. Fortunately for us, these threats can leave evidence in fossils, teaching us about the lives, struggles, and sometimes deaths of ancient organisms. The study of this evidence is called paleopathology, and in this episode, our friend Laura will explain the ins and outs of the field and share with us some of her favorite examples.

In the news: ancient hands, old snakes, the earliest animals, and a new dinosaur.  

Time markers:

Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures:

The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! 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

There’s a pandemic on, and we and many of our listeners are spending lots of time at home. On the bright side, it’s a good opportunity to watch movies and record Silver Screen Science! So, we’re putting together some new episodes, to keep you – and ourselves – entertained.

This episode, ca-caw ca-caw tookie tookie: Evolution (2001)

The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! http://zazzle.com/common_descent

Follow and Support us on:

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

One of the rewards we offer to our highest-level Patrons is a special mini-episode on an animal or group of their choosing. We’ve done five so far, and we’ve put them together into this compilation so you can all now enjoy them!

Special thanks to our Patrons for their generous contributions, and thanks also to our special guests, Keila and the cat.

00:04:15 Desmatosuchus for Julie

The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! 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

There’s a pandemic on, and we and many of our listeners are spending lots of time at home. On the bright side, it’s a good opportunity to watch movies and record Silver Screen Science! So, we’re putting together some new episodes, to keep you – and ourselves – entertained.

This episode, happy 30-year anniversary to: Tremors (1990)

Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures:

The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! http://zazzle.com/common_descent

Follow and Support us on:

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

In 1938, a fishing crew pulled up a fish that everyone thought had been extinct for 70 million years. Since then, coelacanths have become famous not just for their strangely incomplete fossil record, but also for their unique anatomy, their reclusive lifestyle, and their close relationship to land vertebrates. From fossils to genetics, this episode is all about what we know – and what we’re missing – of the story of coelacanths.

In the news: an old weasel, fish through time, daily bivalve growth, and cave cockroaches.

Time markers:

Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures:

The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! 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

Few fossil animals are as popular with the public, as abundant in the fossil record, or as important to the study of past life on Earth as trilobites. These ocean-dwelling arthropods came in an amazing variety of shapes, sizes, and lifestyles, with many thousands of identified species, and they persisted on our planet for more than 270 million years. And best of all, they left behind an incredible fossil record giving us insights into their evolution, life history, and ultimate extinction.

In the news: evolution of gliders, a weird worm, tiny marsupial lions, and dino DNA?

Time markers:

Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures:

The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! 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

Metamorphosis is the process that turns a caterpillar to a butterfly, a fry to a fish, and a tadpole to a frog. Animals have been metamorphosing for over 500 million years, from early crustaceans to the many fish, amphibians, and arthropods that do it today. Larvae, pupae, and adults are known in the fossil record, but the evolutionary history of this incredible life strategy is still mysterious.

In the news: a new tyrannosaur, early chameleons, giant turtles, and dinosaur temperatures.

Time markers:

Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures:

The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! 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

Happy Darwin Day!

This time around, we’re talking about Mary Anning! She was one of the earliest modern paleontologists, she helped lay the groundwork for our modern methods of uncovering and understanding fossils, and she was famously underappreciated in her time. We’re joined in our discussion by our friend Brittney Stoneburg from the Western Science Center!

Follow Brittney on Twitter and Instagram: @brittandbone

In the news: elephant evolution, pterosaur feeding, Jurassic “firewalkers”, and ancient fungi.

Time markers:

Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures:

The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! 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