The Backwash Hypothesis

Steven Rinella talks with Pamela Groves, Daniel Mann, Janis Putelis, Ryan Callaghan, Brody Henderson, Phil Taylor, and Corinne Schneider.

Topics discussed: running rivers full of bones in the name of science; Mike Kunz, the Forest Gump of Archaeology; the Mesa Site; when you find a 50,000+ year old polar bear skull just sitting on the beach; the hybridization of brown and polar bears; horses as the most numerous large animal during the Ice Age; how you can't just collect paleontological artifacts from Federal Land to create your own collection; the conical ice cream cone growth of mammoth tusks; Bison Bob; interred in sediment; the most exciting find: a hand sticking out of the ground; environmental DNA; the megafaunal extinction event when 70% of large mammals went extinct globally; loess; throwing out the overkill hypothesis; genetic engineering, re-wilding and pet mammoths; Steve's future retirement pursuit of becoming a large pumpkin enthusiast; the last big flock of passenger pigeons killed near where Steve grew up; trying to cultivate that purple alder; how to donate to Pam and Dan's research at the Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (donors should note "other" as designation and enter Daniel H Mann and dhmann@alaska.edu in the comments section); and more.

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