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PODCAST

The Common Descent Podcast

Join David and Will as they explore the paleontologists’ perspective on various topics in life and earth history. Each episode features a main discussion on a topic requested by the listeners, presented as a lighthearted and educational conversation about fossils, evolution, deep time, and more. Before the main discussion, each episode also includes a news segment, covering recent research related to paleontology and evolution. Each episode ends with the answer to a question submitted by

science natural sciences

All Episodes

01:50:41

Episode 61 - Behavior in the Fossil Record

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2019/05/19

It’s easy to see how fossils can teach us what ancient animals looked like, or how they evolved. But what about the ways they moved, ate, socialized, reproduced? In this episode, we explore the innovative ways paleontologists have devised to interpret the behavior of ancient animals. From their bones, their tracks, their living relatives, and modern clever experimentation, we can come to understand more than you’d ever imagine about behavior in the fossil record. In the news: a Denisovan jaw, a new

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01:44:36

Episode 60 - Turtles

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2019/05/05

Turtles are so weird and wonderful. They're unlike any other living reptiles, mostly because they've turned their entire torso skeleton into an armor-home. A glimpse into the fossil record reveals that they've been this way for more than 200 million years. And yet, with all our data on living and extinct turtles, they remain one of the most mysterious and confusing living vertebrate groups. Here's an episode about all of that. In the news: death rolls, one huge predator, one weird crab, the Gray

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01:58:43

Episode 59 - Bats

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2019/04/21

Many groups of life have conquered the land and water, but only four times in evolutionary history has life taken to the air. The most recent group to achieve flight are bats. Their combination of flight and advanced echolocation have earned them an incredible diversity, a worldwide distribution, and a deep-seated place in human culture, but their evolutionary history is a long-standing mystery, and their fossil record is nearly non-existent. But that's not going to stop us from geeking out about

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01:57:20

Episode 58 - The Bone Wars

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2019/04/07

It was the late 1800s, and paleontology was just getting started in the Americas. Two prolific and passionate scientists, Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, among the earliest prominent fossil researchers on the continent, struck up a legendary rivalry. Their battles took place in the field and in the literature, and over three decades they engaged in some of the nastiest and most petulant quarreling in scientific history. This infamous era in early paleontology became known as The Bone

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01:54:53

Episode 57 - Evolution of Flowering Plants (Angiosperms)

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2019/03/24

Look who's back - our favorite paleobotanist, Aly Baumgartner! And that means it’s time for more plants! As you may have noticed, the world around you is absolutely full of flowers. Angiosperms have dominated nearly every terrestrial ecosystem on the planet, but the story of their early evolution is a famous conundrum. Darwin called it an “abominable mystery,” but there are some tantalizing clues as to how this group of plants got their start and then evolved to the incredible diversity we see

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01:23:27

Sloth Chat Livestream 2018

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2019/03/20

In April 2018, we hosted this Sloth Chat Livestream! Following up from Episode 24 (Sloths), we were joined by sloth scientists Ryan Haupt and Robert McAfee to answer audience questions about sloths, living and extinct! For anyone who didn't (or doesn't want to) watch it on YouTube, here it is in audio format for your listening pleasure! You can also still watch the original recording on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qirqw5ei45U Find Ryan: https://ryanhaupt.com/ Twitter: @haupt Find

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01:45:33

Episode 56 – The Evolution of Evolutionary Theory

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2019/03/10

One of the main themes of this podcast is the evolutionary history of life. This concept is familiar to all of us today, but our current understanding of evolution is the culmination of a very long history of scientific inquiry. In this episode, we’ll introduce you to some of the biggest names in this story, from Aristotle to Darwin, as we explore the evolution of evolutionary theory. In the news: tiny frogs, an ancient nesting ground, algae evolution, and a tusked sea cow. Time markers: Intro &

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02:21:03

Episode 55 - The "Sixth Extinction" (Modern...

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2019/02/24

Usually, when we talk about mass extinction, we’re referring to events long past. But scary levels of extinction are a fact of our current world, as well. So much so that current events have been labeled the "Sixth Extinction.” In this episode, we discuss just how bad our current ecological crisis is, what’s causing it, and whether or not it truly deserves to be called a mass extinction. We also discuss what’s already being done – and what we can all do – to counteract catastrophe. It’s a depressing

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02:02:24

Episode 54 - Alfred Russell Wallace

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2019/02/10

Happy Darwin Day! Last year around this time, we were joined by Dr. Sarah Bray to discuss the life and times of Charles Darwin. This time, Sarah joins us again to discuss his colleague and natural selection co-discoverer, Alfred Russell Wallace. In 1858, the year before Darwin published his famous book, he received a letter from a young, adventurous, sometimes tragic man in the throes of illness in southeast Asia. To Darwin’s shock, the letter included precisely the same biological insights he had

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01:49:13

Episode 53 - The Baculum (Penis Bone)

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2019/01/27

It's been called the most diverse of all bones. It comes in an incredible variety of shapes and sizes, living and fossil, scattered across the mammalian family tree. It's called the baculum, the os penis, and in this episode we discuss what it does, who has it, what it means for paleontologists, and the evolutionary processes that made it what it is today. In the news: whales eating whales, pregnant plesiosaurs, robo-tetrapods, and the first American dogs. Time markers: Intro & Announcements:

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01:51:36

Episode 52 – Sounds of the Past (Fossil Bioacoustics)

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2019/01/13

What did dinosaurs sound like? How did extinct animals make and use sound? Like most behaviors, noises don’t fossilize, but there is some tantalizing evidence that paleontologists have pulled together about fossil bioacoustics. In this episode, we discuss how pop-culture may have misled us, and how scientists have gathered actual clues from living animals and the fossil record – and have even made scientifically-inspired ancient audios! – to reconstruct the sounds of the past. In the news: hatchling

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02:21:16

End of the Year Q&A 2018

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2018/12/31

Happy New Year! Big thanks to everyone who's supported us throughout the year, and big thanks to everyone who submitted questions to our Q&A! Here's roughly two hours of Will and David answering YOUR questions - the silly and the science-y. See you in 2019! Follow and Support us on: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/CommonDescentPC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/commondescentpodcast/ PodBean: https://commondescentpodcast.podbean.com/

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02:00:57

Episode 51 - Mosasaurs

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2018/12/30

Many times in the history of life on Earth, reptiles have returned to the oceans. There were three famous groups of marine reptiles during the Mesozoic, and in this episode, we’re discussing the last to evolve, the shortest-lived, and the greatest (in David’s opinion, anyway) of them. We’ll tell the tale of how one group of lizards evolved to dominate waters around the world during the reign of the mosasaurs. In the news: hunting sabertooths, very strange feathers, megalodon temperature, and

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01:44:13

Episode 50 - Australia

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2018/12/16

This episode, we take a tour of the land that takes home the prizes for oldest geologic materials, most marsupials, and (arguably) biggest island! Our trip through the history of this island-continent starts nearly at the very origin of our planet, and follows a fascinating history of shifting super-continents and shuffling ecosystems. Join us on a journey Down Under, to Australia. In the news: Gray Site peccaries, a blubbery ichthyosaur, fossil fungus, and an Australian dinosaur. Time markers:

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01:51:26

Episode 49 - Fake Fossils

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2018/12/02

It’s no secret we love paleontology; it’s a fascinating field of study. But sometimes our favorite subject is polluted and perverted by fraud. In this episode, we’re talking about fake fossils: why they happen, how they happen, and what effect they have on the paleontological community as a whole. And then it’s story time, where we review some of history’s most famous fossil fakes. In the news: an early long-neck, tiny footprints, a huge dicynodont surprise, and the marsupial lion. Time markers:

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01:31:44

Episode 48 - Sharks

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2018/11/18

This episode, it’s back into the ocean, this time to discuss one of the most successful groups of predators on the planet. Sharks are famously “ancient,” but their evolutionary story is complex and fascinating, stretching back more than 400 million years, from their assorted bizarre ancestors to the incredible diversity we see today. In the news: nocturnal elephant birds, hadrosaur sounds, prehistoric protein preservation, and colorful dino eggs. Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News:

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01:40:48

Episode 47 - Early Synapsids ("Proto-Mammals")

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2018/11/04

Synapsids are a vast group of animals that includes only one living lineage: us mammals. But for about 100 million years before true mammals evolved, ancient synapsids were not only incredibly diverse, but dominant in ecosystems around the world. In this episode, we’ll explore some of this incredible variety of “proto-mammals” and track the long evolutionary transition that produced all the familiar traits that make us mammalian. In the news: a new living croc, a carnivorous herbivorous dinosaur,

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01:02:16

Spook-E - Zombies

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2018/10/27

Welcome ... to Spookulative Evolution. It's October, so we're exploring some more speculative evolution with a spooky twist! Each week this month, we'll be choosing a creepy creature and discussing how it - or something like it - might evolve biologically, pulling inspiration from the critters of the real world. In this particularly disturbing episode, we consider mindless decomposing humans and parasitic host manipulation. How can we naturally arrive at a contagion that converts people into

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01:42:59

Episode 46 - Cryptozoology

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2018/10/21

Human culture is full of stories of marvelous creatures hiding in the wilds on the fringe of our understanding. Some are the stuff of local lore while others are world-famous, and some are even thought to be relicts of the distant past. The search for these “hidden animals” can be dramatic, sometimes controversial, and often less-than-scientific. It is the fascinating field of Cryptozoology. In the news: a tiny dino skull, a fish-bitten pterosaur, evolution in darkness, and a history of

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48:43

Spook-E - Fish-People

The Common Descent Podcast ·

2018/10/20

Welcome ... to Spookulative Evolution. It's October, so we're exploring some more speculative evolution with a spooky twist! Each week this month, we'll be choosing a creepy creature and discussing how it - or something like it - might evolve biologically, pulling inspiration from the critters of the real world. This episode, we think deeply about the Creature From the Black Lagoon and other myths of amphibious humanoids. How do you evolve something with the legs and arms of a human, but the fins

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