The Common Descent Podcast

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. Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News: 00:06:30 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:35:00 Main discussion, Part 2: 01:10:30 Patron question: 01:46:00 The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! http://zazzle.com/common_descent Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures: http://commondescentpodcast.wordpress.com/ 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/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-common-descent-podcast/id1207586509?mt=2 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePRXHEnZmTGum2r1l2mduw The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org. Muscial Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/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). The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! http://zazzle.com/common_descent Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures: http://commondescentpodcast.wordpress.com/ 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/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-common-descent-podcast/id1207586509?mt=2 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePRXHEnZmTGum2r1l2mduw The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org.

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) The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! http://zazzle.com/common_descent Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures: http://commondescentpodcast.wordpress.com/ 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/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-common-descent-podcast/id1207586509?mt=2 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePRXHEnZmTGum2r1l2mduw The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org.

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. Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News: 00:05:30 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:27:00 Main discussion, Part 2: 00:57:00 Patron question: 01:27:30 The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! http://zazzle.com/common_descent Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures: http://commondescentpodcast.wordpress.com/ 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/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-common-descent-podcast/id1207586509?mt=2 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePRXHEnZmTGum2r1l2mduw The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org. Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Part 1 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, centering around 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 begin where it began: King Kong (1933). The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! http://zazzle.com/common_descent Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures: http://commondescentpodcast.wordpress.com/ 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/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-common-descent-podcast/id1207586509?mt=2 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePRXHEnZmTGum2r1l2mduw The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org.

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 bat-winged dinosaur, a cave of wonders, and a flapping robot. Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News: 00:05:30 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:32:30 Main discussion, Part 2: 01:07:30 Patron question: 01:41:30 The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! http://zazzle.com/common_descent How do you become a paleontologist? A GREAT post by our friends at Time Scavengers! https://timescavengers.blog/2019/05/13/how-do-you-become-a-paleontologist/ Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures: http://commondescentpodcast.wordpress.com/ 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/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-common-descent-podcast/id1207586509?mt=2 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePRXHEnZmTGum2r1l2mduw The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org. Muscial Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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 Site rhino, and a poop snake. Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News: 00:03:00 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:35:30 Main discussion, Part 2: 01:07:30 Patron question: 01:36:30 The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! http://zazzle.com/common_descent Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures: http://commondescentpodcast.wordpress.com/ 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/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-common-descent-podcast/id1207586509?mt=2 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePRXHEnZmTGum2r1l2mduw The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org. Muscial Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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 them! In the news: dinosaur scales, diverging crows, a new human, seal evolution, and that butchered mastodon again! Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News: 00:04:30 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:36:00 Main discussion, Part 2: 01:09:30 Patron question: 01:49:00 The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! http://zazzle.com/common_descent Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures: http://commondescentpodcast.wordpress.com/ 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/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-common-descent-podcast/id1207586509?mt=2 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePRXHEnZmTGum2r1l2mduw The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org. Muscial Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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 Wars. In the news: an egg in an ancient bird, a new mastodon, a giant T. rex, and the day the Cretaceous ended. Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News: 00:05:00 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:39:30 Main discussion, Part 2: 01:07:30 Patron question: 01:47:30 The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! http://zazzle.com/common_descent Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures: http://commondescentpodcast.wordpress.com/ 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/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-common-descent-podcast/id1207586509?mt=2 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePRXHEnZmTGum2r1l2mduw The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org. Muscial Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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 today. In the news: new Cayman mammals, louse camouflage, a geologic orrery, and language evolution. Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News: 00:04:00 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:35:30 Main discussion, Part 2: 01:10:00 Follow Aly on Twitter: @kyrietree The Common Descent Store is open! Get merch! http://zazzle.com/common_descent Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures: http://commondescentpodcast.wordpress.com/ 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/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-common-descent-podcast/id1207586509?mt=2 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePRXHEnZmTGum2r1l2mduw The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org. Muscial Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/