The Common Descent Podcast

How odd that one of the world’s richest and most famous fossil sites isn’t on a mountain or in a desert, but in the heart of one of the world’s largest cities. In this episode, we’ll dive into the history of the La Brea Tar Pits, explore how the site came to be, and give just a taste of the staggering diversity of fossil finds that fuel research into the latest chapters of the Ice Age. Also, we’ll explain why “tar pits” isn’t really a great name for them.

In the news: a Cambrian Millennium Falcon, turtle bones, mammal ancestors, and a whale with a twist.

Don’t miss our Bonus Episode: Voices of La Brea, including interviews with a bunch of the crew!

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We're going to be at DragonCon 2019!

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

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

This episode, we take a deep dive into the evolutionary story of Earth’s largest land mammals. Extinction has left us with only three elephant species today, but for tens of millions of years their extended family, the proboscideans, came in many weird and wondrous forms, from mammoths to mastodons to shovel-tuskers and more.

In the news: clam secrets, weird bird feet, surprise Greek humans, and early hominin breastfeeding.

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

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

It’s Episode 65, and you know what that means … extinction! This time, we address the ancient and confusing Late Devonian extinction. This is traditionally considered one of the “Big 5,” but it doesn’t seem to be “one” extinction at all. Geologists and paleontologists continue to work at piecing together the various causes and consequences that create an extended series – several millions years long – of very unfortunate events that altogether comprise one of the worst biological crises in Earth history.

In the news: tyrannosaur smells, peccary behavior, and a talk (by us) about our podcast!

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

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

Featuring paleoartist and herpetologist Gabriel Ugueto!

Can you picture paleontology without … pictures? For about as long as people have been digging up fossils, some have tried to recreate ancient organisms through art. Paleoartists combine artistic talents with detailed knowledge of life past and present to create their best hypotheses about the appearance of ancient species and ecosystems. Their work shows in the many images, animations, and sculptures that accompany research, museum displays, books, documentaries, and more. Paleoart is an inextricable piece of paleontology, and it’s all around us!

In the news: Arctic hyenas, dinosaur bone bacteria, a croc climate clock, and a big trilobite.

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

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

Part 5 of 5 in this month’s series: KaiJune!

There’s a new Godzilla movie, and that means it’s time for more movie science! All June, we’ll be exploring giant monster movies, specifically looking at two of the most famous examples of all time: King Kong and Godzilla. How do these movies handle such subjects as prehistoric creatures, the science of paleontology, and the portrayal of scientists?

This episode, the latest installments: Godzilla (2014) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

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

Part 4 of 5 in this month’s series: KaiJune!

There’s a new Godzilla movie, and that means it’s time for more movie science! All June, we’ll be exploring giant monster movies, specifically looking at two of the most famous examples of all time: King Kong and Godzilla. How do these movies handle such subjects as prehistoric creatures, the science of paleontology, and the portrayal of scientists?

This episode, Kong in the 21st century: King Kong (2005) and Kong: Skull Island (2017)

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

The history of animal life on Earth has been shaped by sex. The struggle to reproduce puts unique evolutionary pressures on species which affect their behavior and even their physical form. Sexual selection is immensely important but trying to sort out the side effects of sex in the fossil record is notoriously tricky.

In the news: giant beavers, croc metabolism, schooling fish, and another new croc.

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

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

Part 3 of 5 in this month’s series: KaiJune!

There’s a new Godzilla movie, and that means it’s time for more movie science! All June, we’ll be exploring giant monster movies, specifically looking at two of the most famous examples of all time: King Kong and Godzilla. How do these movies handle such subjects as prehistoric creatures, the science of paleontology, and the portrayal of scientists?

This episode, we’re talking about kaiju in general, with special focus on Cloverfield (2008) and Pacific Rim (2013).

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

Part 2 of 5 in this month’s series: KaiJune!

There’s a new Godzilla movie, and that means it’s time for more movie science! All June, we’ll be exploring giant monster movies, specifically looking at two of the most famous examples of all time: King Kong and Godzilla. How do these movies handle such subjects as prehistoric creatures, the science of paleontology, and the portrayal of scientists?

This episode, a new monster is born: Gojira (1954)

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

When it comes to exceptional forms of preservation, it’s hard to beat amber. These fossilized chunks of tree resin have provided some of the most incredible ancient remains ever found. In this episode, we’ll discuss how amber forms and where the most famous amber deposits are, and we'll just scratch the surface of the astonishing diversity of amber-enclosed treasures that teach us so much about ancient ecosystems.

In the news: dinosaur baby steps, ancient red mice, tip-toeing sauropods, and really old fungus.

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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