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247 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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Life On Our Planet 1.1 - Introduction
25 oktober 2023 · 20 min
Life On Our Planet (LOOP) is a new 8-part series created for Netflix by Silverback Films and Amblin Television. This Steven Spielberg produced series, narrated by Morgan Freeman, is hugely ambitious in its scope, telling the story of life throughout the whole Phanerozoic Eon. Ancient organisms and environments are painstakingly recreated by the supremely talented Industrial Light and Magic, whilst modern natural history scenes add vital context to the story. Lees meer
This show has been worked on for six years, during which time countless papers were read and around 150 different palaeontologists contributed their time and knowledge. The whole production had culture of letting the scientific research dictate scenes, resulting in one of the most accurate on-screen representations of prehistoric life there has ever been.
And how do we know all this? Well, our very own team members Tom Fletcher and Dave Marshall have been embedded within the LOOP team since day one! We are therefore in a totally unique position to reveal to you the work that went into this series, from both the production and research side of things.
In this series, we've been granted exclusive access to many of the people responsible for creating LOOP, we explore what it takes to create a palaeontological documentary and we delve deeper into the science with some of the show's academic advisors. We will be releasing batches of interviews, each relating to an episode of LOOP.
In episode 1.1, we introduce ourselves and explain our roles in the documentary. We look forward to the release of the series and discuss the scope of episode 1 and some of the 'rules of life'.
Images courtesy of Netflix.
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Episode 156: Bird Necks
8 oktober 2023 · 1 uur 8 min
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Episode 155: The Byron Dig Pt2
1 juni 2023 · 1 uur 9 min
Following up on an initial discovery of ice-age remains in Byron, New York, in the 1950's, Dr Richard Laub took on the task of systematically excavating the 'Hiscock Site' for the Buffalo Museum of Science. Fieldwork commenced in 1983, but as more and more fossils were discovered at the site, the 'Byron Dig', as it became known, would continue for almost three decades. In that time, countless numbers of significant Late Pleistocene and Holocene discoveries were made, including those of mastodon, caribou and bird remains, as well as a rich record of Paleoindian tools. Lees meer
The Hiscock site proved to be incredibly challenging, not just in terms of physical excavation in its water-logged sediments, but also in developing an understanding of how this complex deposit had formed and evolved over the last ≈13,000 years. In many cases, it took years to figure out some of the details and whilst we have a good understanding of the site 40 years on, several questions still remain unanswered.
In the second part of this interview, Dick continues to look back at his time leading the Byron Dig. As we work our way through each distinct layer of the deposit, he reconstructs the local environment for us and paints a picture of the flora and fauna of the relatively recent past.
Further details about the Hiscock Site, the Byron Dig and the history of its study can be found in Dick's recent book: Two Acres of Time.
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Episode 154: The Byron Dig Pt1
15 mei 2023 · 1 uur 1 min
Following up on an initial discovery of ice-age remains in Byron, New York, in the 1950's, Dr Richard Laub took on the task of systematically excavating the 'Hiscock Site' for the Buffalo Museum of Science. Fieldwork commenced in 1983, but as more and more fossils were discovered at the site, the 'Byron Dig', as it became known, would continue for almost three decades. In that time, countless numbers of significant Late Pleistocene and Holocene discoveries were made, including those of mastodon, caribou and bird remains, as well as a rich record of Paleoindian tools. Lees meer
The Hiscock site proved to be incredibly challenging, not just in terms of physical excavation in its water-logged sediments, but also in developing an understanding of how this complex deposit had formed and evolved over the last ≈13,000 years. In many cases, it took years to figure out some of the details and whilst we have a good understanding of the site 40 years on, several questions still remain unanswered.
In this interview, Dick joins us to look back at his time leading the Byron Dig. As we work our way through each distinct layer of the deposit, he reconstructs the local environment for us and paints a picture of the flora and fauna of the relatively recent past.
Further details about the Hiscock Site, the Byron Dig and the history of its study can be found in Dick's recent book: Two Acres of Time.
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Episode 153: Castle Bank
1 mei 2023 · 1 uur 15 min
A new Ordovician lagerstätte (site of special fossil preservation) has just been described from Llandrindod Wells, Wales. The site contains the remains of well over 150 different species, most of which are entirely new to science. It is dated to around 461 million years old, placing it at a critical point in life's evolution: the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. This is even more significant, considering the relative sparsity of lagerstätten of this time. Lees meer
We are joined in this interview by Drs Joe Botting and Lucy Muir, who discovered the Castle Bank site a short walk from their house whilst fossil collecting during covid lockdown in 2020. From them, we're able to learn what it's like to discover a new site of international significance and we question why the fossil from this site are so small.
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Episode 152: Lissamphibian Origins Pt2
25 januari 2023 · 56 min
Part 2. Lees meer
Caecilians, sometimes known as 'blind worms', are a lesser-known group of lissamphibians (all living amphibians). Most modern caecilians are all fossorial (burrowing) and are restricted to the moist soils and leaf litter of tropical forests. Adaptation to this specific ecology has led to radical modification of their bodies, from fusion of the bones in the head and the function of the jaw, to the loss of limbs and development of unique sensory organs.
The fossil record of caecilians is incredibly poor, with only 10 specimens available for researchers to piece together their evolutionary history with. This is further problematic because without a firm understanding of caecilian evolution, we can't understand the origins of lissamphibians, which includes the ecologically significant groups of frogs and salamanders.
Published in Nature today, a new study led by Ben Kligman, Petrified Forest National Park and Virginia Tech, details numerous specimens of a new fossil caecilian. Discovered within a Triassic deposit, Funcusvermis gilmorei is not only the oldest known caecilian, but it also displays a unique combination of anatomical characteristics that helps illuminate the evolutionary origins of caecilians and all lissamphibians.
Whilst this discovery goes some way to answer some of the bigger questions, other problems that are raised, most notably why there is such an over-representation of Funcusvermis's lower right jaw.
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Episode 151: Lissamphibian Origins Pt1
25 januari 2023 · 54 min
Caecilians, sometimes known as 'blind worms', are a lesser-known group of lissamphibians (all living amphibians). Most modern caecilians are all fossorial (burrowing) and are restricted to the moist soils and leaf litter of tropical forests. Adaptation to this specific ecology has led to radical modification of their bodies, from fusion of the bones in the head and the function of the jaw, to the loss of limbs and development of unique sensory organs. Lees meer
The fossil record of caecilians is incredibly poor, with only 10 specimens available for researchers to piece together their evolutionary history with. This is further problematic because without a firm understanding of caecilian evolution, we can't understand the origins of lissamphibians, which includes the ecologically significant groups of frogs and salamanders.
Published in Nature today, a new study led by Ben Kligman, Petrified Forest National Park and Virginia Tech, details numerous specimens of a new fossil caecilian. Discovered within a Triassic deposit, Funcusvermis gilmorei is not only the oldest known caecilian, but it also displays a unique combination of anatomical characteristics that helps illuminate the evolutionary origins of caecilians and all lissamphibians.
Whilst this discovery goes some way to answer some of the bigger questions, other problems that are raised, most notably why there is such an over-representation of Funcusvermis's lower right jaw.
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Episode 150: Palaeoart in Pop Culture Pt3
19 januari 2023 · 33 min
Palaeontology (dinosaurs in particular) are incredibly well represented in nearly all forms of popular media today. From documentaries and films to computer games and even specialist podcasts. But where did the public fascination in dinosaurs come from? Has it always been there, ever since the existence of dinosaurs was first revealed, or has interest grown cumulatively with every public engagement milestone. Lees meer
This third and final part examines the need for modern films and documentaries to be able to substantiate their claims. How do we know whether or not the scenes they depict are based on palaeontological facts? The series then ends by stepping back and considering what the point of this kind of science communication is anyway.
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Episode 149: Palaeoart in Pop Culture Pt2
1 januari 2023 · 34 min
Palaeontology (dinosaurs in particular) are incredibly well represented in nearly all forms of popular media today. From documentaries and films to computer games and even specialist podcasts. But where did the public fascination in dinosaurs come from? Has it always been there, ever since the existence of dinosaurs was first revealed, or has interest grown cumulatively with every public engagement milestone. Lees meer
In this second part of a special three-part episode, Vicky Coules talks all about dinosaurs in films and animation, but examining titles from within their original historical scientific and social contexts. How have such titles been influenced by the world around them? But equally, how were these titles able to influence science?
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Episode 148: Palaeoart in Pop Culture Pt1
15 december 2022 · 36 min
Palaeontology (dinosaurs in particular) are incredibly well represented in nearly all forms of popular media today. From documentaries and films to computer games and even specialist podcasts. But where did the public fascination in dinosaurs come from? Has it always been there, ever since the existence of dinosaurs was first revealed, or has interest grown cumulatively with every public engagement milestone. Lees meer
In this special three-part episode of Palaeocast, guest host Dr Suresh Singh interviews Vicky Coules about the history of palaeontology in pop culture. Vicky is a PhD student at the University of Bristol, but has a background in art, engineering and documentary production. Her current research focuses on the interrelationship between palaeontology as a science and as an art, with a focus on late 19th and early 20th century America.
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Episode 147: Palaeo Gaming Pt2
15 november 2022 · 30 min
Computer games are a colossal industry, eclipsing those of both film and music combined. With so many people playing games, and with so many titles focussing on palaeontological themes, should we be concerned about the accuracy and quality of their content? Lees meer
Joining us for the second part of this interview are Thomas Clements and Jake Atterby, lead authors on a paper in which they address this issue as communicators of science. We discuss what some of the most common negative tropes within these games are, whether or not games should be used to teach palaeo, and why any of us should care anyway.
If you like this content and wish to see full reviews of many of these games (and lots more), please check out the Palaeocast Gaming Network channel on YouTube.
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Episode 146: Palaeo Gaming Pt1
21 oktober 2022 · 40 min
Computer games are a colossal industry, eclipsing those of both film and music combined. With so many people playing games, and with so many titles focussing on palaeontological themes, should we be concerned about the accuracy and quality of their content? Lees meer
Joining us for this episode are Thomas Clements and Jake Atterby, lead authors on a paper in which they address this issue as communicators of science. We discuss what some of the most common negative tropes within these games are, whether or not games should be used to teach palaeo, and why any of us should care anyway.
If you like this content and wish to see full reviews of many of these games (and lots more), please check out the Palaeocast Gaming Network channel on YouTube.
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Episode 145: Scleromochlus
5 oktober 2022 · 49 min
Scleromochlus is an animal that has been known for over 100 years, and has been frequently suggested as being an ancestor to pterosaurs. It hails from the Late Triassic of Scotland, and there are fewer than 10 specimens known. Unfortunately the preservation of this small reptile means that it is very difficult to interpret. However, thanks to the wonders of modern technology and CT scanning, new evidence from Scleromochlus reveals new anatomical insights, and further supports Scleromochlus as a lagerpetid, the group most closely related to pterosaurs. Lees meer
In this episode we discuss these new discoveries with the lead author of the study Dr Davide Foffa who is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Virginia Tech, though this work was part of his previous position at the National Museum of Scotland (NMS). This is part of a larger project looking at the Late Triassic 'Elgin Fauna' along with collaborators Richard Butler (University of Birmingham), Stig Walsh and Nick Fraser (NMS), Steve Brusatte (University of Edinburgh) and Paul Barrett (Natural History Museum, London).
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Episode 144: Russell's Dinosauroid
15 september 2022 · 1 uur 8 min
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Episode 143: The Palaeontographical Society Pt2
8 september 2022 · 20 min
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Episode 142: The Palaeontographical Society Pt1
16 augustus 2022 · 59 min
This year marks the 175th anniversary of The Palaeontographical Society. Having been established in 1847, PalSoc is the world's oldest Society devoted specifically to the advancement of palaeontological knowledge in existence. The primary role of Pal Soc is to promote the description and illustration of British fossils, which it does through monographs. Lees meer
In the first part of this two-part episode, we speak to Dr Victor Monin a historian of science who specialises in the history of palaeontology, especially palaeoart. How did PalSoc influence how fossils were visually represented in scientific literature?
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Episode 141: Bolca Fish
16 juli 2022 · 1 uur 1 min
Bolca is a site of exceptional preservation of fossils (termed a konservat lagerstätte) located close to Verona, Italy. This 50 million year old limestone was deposited in the Eocene Epoch and contains over 500 species of plants, arthropods terrestrial vertebrates and most notably a lot of fish! The preservation at Bolca is so detailed that even the external colouration of the skin and internal anatomy of many of these fossils can be seen. Lees meer
Exploring the taphonomy (the processes that occur to a body between death and discovery) and palaeoecology (how fossil organisms lived and interacted with other organisms and their surroundings) of some of the fish from Bolca is Dr Valentina Rossi from University College Cork, Ireland. In this episode, we look at how colour patterns are preserved in a fossil moonfish and look at what that can tell us about how the species lived.
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Episode 140: Aquatic Spinosaurids
20 juni 2022 · 1 uur 3 min
In the last few years there has been lots of new work on the iconic Spinosaurus - was it aquatic? What about its relatives? What kind of evidence can we look at to tell us this answer? In this episode we speak with Dr. Matteo Fabbri, from the Field Museum of Chicago, who has been working on Spinosaurus and other relatives and has recently published a detailed study supporting the idea that some spinosaurids were likely a swimming, aquatic dinosaur at least part of the time. He walks us through the evidence for spinosaurids being semi-aquatic and tells us why they think they could swim. Lees meer
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Episode 139: Marrellomorphs
16 mei 2022 · 53 min
Marrellomorphs are the group of early Paleozoic arthropods that get their name from the well-known Burgess Shale fossil Marrella splendens. They have for a long time been considered to be closely related to the trilobites, based on similarities in their gills, but numerous studies have since suggested they are closer related to mandibulate arthropods (crustaceans, insects & myriapods), although their strange appearance means other relationships might still be plausible. Lees meer
Since they have a soft exoskeleton, marellomorphs have a very poor fossil record and so the discovery of any new specimens outside of the Burgess Shale can be incredibly significant. In this interview, we speak to Joe Moysiuk of the University of Toronto and Royal Ontario Museum about his newly described species Tomlinsonus dimitrii.
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Episode 138: Hispaniolan Sloths
20 april 2022 · 1 uur 4 min
Sloths (or do you pronounce it "sloths"?), are a group of tree-dwelling xenarthrans from South and Central America. They are well known for their sedentary lifestyles where they just hang around and seemingly do fairly little. But has this always been the case? When we look back at the fossil record of sloths, what kinds of ecologies do we see? How far back does their fossil record actually go? Lees meer
In this episode, we speak to Dr Robert McAfee (Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine) about his research looking into the fossil record of sloths in all of its "beautiful absurdity". His work has been focussed on the island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and the remarkably rich cave deposits found there.
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Episode 137: Tanis
25 februari 2022 · 1 uur 1 min
The end-Cretaceous mass extinction was a cataclysmic asteroid impact that ushered in the end of the non-avian dinosaurs and forever changed the course of evolution on Earth. But what can we say about the timing of the event, other than it happened 66 million years ago? Lees meer
Well, it turns out that Tanis, a relatively-recently discovered fossil site in North Dakota, is full of lines of evidence that are allowing earth scientists to piece together when the impact occurred.
In this episode, we're joined by Melanie During, Uppsala University, who has been examining the details of the bones of fish to say more about the world either side of the event.
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Episode 136: Burmese Amber Pt2b
15 februari 2022 · 42 min
Continuing our mini series on Burmese Amber, we now turn our focus to the ethics of working on this fossil material. Can possessing or working on amber from Myanmar ever be considered ethical? Lees meer
In the first part of this episode, we examined the political context, work around Myanmar's fossil exportation laws and follow the money back through the trade routes. Now, in the second part, we discuss why it's currently unethical to study Burmese amber, what palaeontologists can do about that, and whether the situation might change in the future.
Joining us to guide us through this process are Nussaïbah Raja (Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg) and Dr Emma Dunne (University of Birmingham).
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Episode 135: Burmese Amber Pt2
3 februari 2022 · 48 min
Continuing our mini series on Burmese Amber, we now turn our focus to the ethics of working on this fossil material. Can possessing or working on amber from Myanmar ever be considered ethical? Lees meer
In the first part of this episode, we examine the political context, work around Myanmar's fossil exportation laws and follow the money back through the trade routes. In the second part (released in two weeks), we'll be discussing why it's currently unethical to study Burmese amber, what palaeontologists can do about that, and whether the situation might change in the future.
Joining us to guide us through this process are Nussaïbah Raja (Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg) and Dr Emma Dunne (University of Birmingham), authors of a soon-to-be-released study looking at exactly these issues.
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Episode 134: Mammal Locomotion and Ecology
16 januari 2022 · 52 min
In this episode we talk to Professor Christine Janis about mammal palaeontology, and her career. Christine is one of the world's foremost experts in mammal palaeontology and mammalogy. She has authored dozens of scientific papers, and has been co-author of the major textbook Vertebrate Life for the last 20 years. Lees meer
Christine has had a long and distinguished career, and is currently a researcher at the University of Bristol in the UK. Her work is particularly focused on mammal locomotion and ecology. We'll be talking about some of the research Christine has led, including on hoofed mammals, sabre-toothed South American 'marsupials', and Australia's extinct giant kangaroos. We'll talk about the use and limits of comparative anatomy, the importance of direct observation of specimens in the discipline of palaeontology, and how things have changed for researchers during her lifetime.
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Episode 133: Drawing and Painting Dinosaurs
2 januari 2022 · 1 uur 10 min
It can be argued that palaeoart is the single biggest hook for getting people interested in prehistoric life. It takes the complex scientific terminology and data found within the academic literature and translates it into a reconstruction of an extinct organism. It is only through palaeoart that we can visualise some extinct organisms (particularly the vertebrates, and dinosaurs in this instance, whose external tissues are rarely preserved as fossils) and show some of the behaviours they might have possessed. Any kind of reconstruction that attempts to accurately depict an extinct organism as a living one could be considered palaeoart and this covers all forms of media, from traditional painting, to animation, 3D models and even how skeletons are posed in a museum. Lees meer
In this episode, we speak to behavioural geneticist and palaeoartist and Dr Emily Willoughby, University of Minnesota. We take a look at what palaeoart is, how to go about making your own artwork and the release of her new book 'Drawing and Painting Dinosaurs'.
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Episode 132: Burmese Amber Pt1b
15 december 2021 · 42 min
Burmese amber is well known for preserving fossils in exquisite details. This amber is dated to around 100 million years old, representing the Albian - Cenomanian ages of the Cretaceous period, so would have been deposited whilst non-avian dinosaurs still walked the land. Lees meer
Fossils preserved in this amber include representatives from numerous different groups including arachnids, insects, vertebrates, and plants. Whilst the amber itself (as fossilised tree sap/resin) is produced in a terrestrial environment, some marine species have been caught up in amber. This includes such animals as ostracods, snails and surprisingly even an ammonite!
In the first part of this series, we speak to Dr Javier Luque, Harvard University, about the discovery of a crab in amber. We put this discovery in context by first examining what crabs are, before turning our attention to their fossil record. In the next episode, we'll take a look at the details of the discovery.
Following on from this, we will discuss the political situation in Myanmar and question whether or not working with Burmese amber is currently ethical.
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Episode 131: Burmese Amber Pt1
2 december 2021 · 45 min
Burmese amber is well known for preserving fossils in exquisite details. This amber is dated to around 100 million years old, representing the Albian - Cenomanian ages of the Cretaceous period, so would have been deposited whilst non-avian dinosaurs still walked the land. Lees meer
Fossils preserved in this amber include representatives from numerous different groups including arachnids, insects, vertebrates, and plants. Whilst the amber itself (as fossilised tree sap/resin) is produced in a terrestrial environment, some marine species have been caught up in amber. This includes such animals as ostracods, snails and surprisingly even an ammonite!
In the first part of this series, we speak to Dr Javier Luque, Harvard University, about the discovery of a crab in amber. We put this discovery in context by first examining what crabs are, before turning our attention to their fossil record. In the next episode, we'll take a look at the details of the discovery.
Following on from this, we will discuss the political situation in Myanmar and question whether or not working with Burmese amber is currently ethical.
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Episode 130: Bats
30 oktober 2021 · 57 min
After rodents, bats are the second largest group of mammals, representing a staggering 20% of all mammal species. They can be found all over the world, with the exception of cold climates, where they often play incredibly important ecological roles. Their ecologies (ways in which they live) go well beyond the cave-hanging, moth-eating stereotypes and diets can also be based on fruits, nectar or even blood. In fact, some tropical plants rely solely upon bats for pollination! Lees meer
But when did bats evolve and who are their closest relatives? Do they have a good fossil record? Is vampirism an effective feeding strategy?
In this episode, we're joined by Dr Nancy Simmons, Curator-In-Charge of Mammalogy at the American Museum of Natural History, who introduces us to the wonderful world of bats and their fossil record.
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Episode 129: Penguins
1 oktober 2021 · 1 uur 14 min
Whether it be because of their unique shape, comical walking or extreme ecology, there can be no denying that penguins are incredibly popular and charismatic animals. But what actually makes a penguin a penguin and how are they different from other birds? Have penguins always been, well, 'penguiny'? Lees meer
Joining us for this interview are Simone Giovanardi and Daniel Thomas who have just described a new species of giant penguin from New Zealand. Together, we explore penguin evolution and how their new species Kairuku waewaeroa fits into this story.
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Episode 128: Coprolite Inclusions Pt2
31 juli 2021 · 50 min
One of the factors that makes palaeontology such a popular science is its constant ability to surprise us. It seems almost every week that a new study is released that significantly adds to our understanding of ancient life. This could be in relation to a new species, a new analysis or new fossil locality. In this episode, we discuss a new discovery that not only yields a new species, but also provides direct dietary evidence and has us re-evaluating the potential for food to be preserved in coprolites (fossilised droppings). Lees meer
Joining us for this interview are Drs Martin Qvarnström and Martin Fikáček of Uppsala University and National Sun Yat-sen University, respectively. Both were part of a team that identified and described a new species of beetle preserved within a dinosaur coprolite!
In this second part of this interview, we take a look at both the coprolite and the beetle in closer detail and ask what is the significance of this association for the study of both? We also consider the potential for coprolites to be micro-lagerstätten.
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Episode 127: Coprolite Inclusions
19 juli 2021 · 37 min
One of the factors that makes palaeontology such a popular science is its constant ability to surprise us. It seems almost every week that a new study is released that significantly adds to our understanding of ancient life. This could be in relation to a new species, a new analysis or new fossil locality. In this episode, we discuss a new discovery that not only yields a new species, but also provides direct dietary evidence and has us re-evaluating the potential for food to be preserved in coprolites (fossilised droppings). Lees meer
Joining us for this interview are Drs Martin Qvarnström and Martin Fikáček of Uppsala University and National Sun Yat-sen University, respectively. Both were part of a team that identified and described a new species of beetle preserved within a dinosaur coprolite!
In this first part of the interview, we provide the context for the discovery, discussing the study of coprolites and of beetles. Part 2 of the interview will be released soon.
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Episode 126: Beasts Before Us
16 juni 2021 · 1 uur 1 min
In this episode, we talk to our very own Dr Elsa Panciroli about her new book Beasts Before Us. In it, she tells the untold story of mammalian evolution, tracing the origin of synapsids back to the Carboniferous. You'll be taken to fossil sites around the world to meet some of these pioneering animals and some of the palaeontologists that discovered them. Lees meer
For this interview, we'll give you an overview of the early evolution of synapsids and dispel many of the misconceptions about what our ancestors were really like.
We've got a couple of copies of the book to give away, so look out on our social media channels for details of the competition! For everyone else, Beasts Before Us is available to buy online and in all good book shops.
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Episode 125: Crocodylomorph disparity Pt2
30 april 2021 · 53 min
Crocodiles are often referred to as "living fossils", but if we compare modern and ancient species, does that label hold up? What different kind of morphologies (shapes) did past crocs have and how did they live? How quickly did this past diversity arise and why are we left with so few species today? What's to stop them from diversifying again? Lees meer
In this episode, we speak to Dr Tom Stubbs, University of Bristol, about his recent work analysing changes in crocodylomorph disparity through time. We look at some of the weird and wonderful crocs of the past and work through his methods for calculating their rates of evolutionary innovation. Part 2 of 2
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Episode 124: Crocodylomorph disparity
15 april 2021 · 36 min
Crocodiles are often referred to as "living fossils", but if we compare modern and ancient species, does that label hold up? What different kind of morphologies (shapes) did past crocs have and how did they live? How quickly did this past diversity arise and why are we left with so few species today? What's to stop them from diversifying again? Lees meer
In this episode, we speak to Dr Tom Stubbs, University of Bristol, about his recent work analysing changes in crocodylomorph disparity through time. We look at some of the weird and wonderful crocs of the past and work through his methods for calculating their rates of evolutionary innovation.
Part 1 of 2
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Episode 123: Soil
16 maart 2021 · 51 min
Terrestrial life as we know it couldn't exist without soil. Soil, as we know it today, is a layer of minerals, organic matter, liquids, gasses and organisms that not only provides a medium for plant growth, but also modifies the atmosphere, provides a habitat for animals and retains and purifies water. Lees meer
This kind of soil hasn't always existed, so in order to understand early conditions on land, we first need to understand what can be constituted as a soil and when these first appeared. Is there soil on the Moon? Can soil fossilise?
Since most terrestrial ecosystems are rooted in soil, if we want to understand how life established itself on land, we first need to know how soils form, how they have changed over geological time and which kinds of plants and fungi can live without it.
Joining us in this episode is Dr Ria Mitchell, Experimental Officer in X-ray Computed Tomography at the University of Sheffield, UK.
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Episode 122: Dietary Ecology of Smilodon fatalis pt2
1 maart 2021 · 38 min
Part two of our interview with Dr Larisa DeSantis of Vanderbilt University on the 'dietary ecology' of Smilodon. Lees meer
Smilodon is probably one of the most iconic mammalian apex predators with its extended upper canines and robustly-built forearms. In fact, when we compare Smilodon to modern cats (felids), we don't see these same characteristics. So what were they used for? Was Smilodon specialised for any particular behaviour?
Owing to the unique preservation of the tar seeps at Rancho La Brea, Los Angeles, USA, we can find an overabundance of predators, including Smilodon fatalis, Canis dirus, Panthera atrox and Puma concolor. This allows researchers to reconstruct the predatory landscape of the area in the Pleistocene. Who was eating what? Was there any competition between predators?
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Episode 121: Dietary Ecology of Smilodon fatalis Pt1
15 februari 2021 · 36 min
Smilodon is probably one of the most iconic mammalian apex predators with its extended upper canines and robustly-built forearms. In fact, when we compare Smilodon to modern cats (felids), we don't see these same characteristics. So what were they used for? Was Smilodon specialised for any particular behaviour? Lees meer
Owing to the unique preservation of the tar seeps at Rancho La Brea, Los Angeles, USA, we can find an overabundance of predators, including Smilodon fatalis, Canis dirus, Panthera atrox and Puma concolor. This allows researchers to reconstruct the predatory landscape of the area in the Pleistocene. Who was eating what? Was there any competition between predators?
All of these questions feed in to the 'dietary ecology' of Smilodon and here to discuss that, and more, is Dr Larisa DeSantis of Vanderbilt University.
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Episode 120: Naked Ammonite
1 februari 2021 · 50 min
It wouldn't be outlandish to state that many a fossil collection has started with the acquisition of an ammonite. Their planispiral shells (termed a conch) are instantly recognisable and since that conch was originally composed of the relatively hard mineral aragonite, they better lend themselves to the fossilisation process. Lees meer
But how much do we actually know about the animal that produces the conch? We might be able to make superficial inferences based on comparisons with the modern Nautilus, but ammonites are actually closer related to squid and octopuses.
So could you recognise an ammonite without its shell?
Prof. Christian Klug of the University of Zurich has recently described just that: a naked ammonite. In this episode, we learn about ammonite soft body anatomy and sink our teeth into the mystery of how this ammonite lost its shell.
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Episode 119: The Soom Shale
18 december 2020 · 59 min
The Soom Shale is an Ordovician lagerstätte in the Western Cape of South Africa. Whilst it lacks the diversity of organisms seen in other lagerstätten, such as the Burgess Shale or Chengjiang, it more than makes up for it in the fidelity of preservation. Lees meer
The taphonomic pathway to the fantastic preservation in the Soom Shale is long and complex, reliant not only on local conditions, but also ties into global climatic events. It's vitally important when interpreting fossils to understand the taphonomy as it provides so much context as to what you can see in fossils and, as equally important, what you can't.
Joining us for this episode is Prof. Sarah Gabbott, a taphonomist from the University of Leicester, UK.
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Episode 118: South African Sauropodomorphs
1 december 2020 · 36 min
Piecing together the early lives of dinosaurs is difficult due to a lack of fossils from juvenile and embryonic stages. In this episode, Elsa Panciroli talks to Dr Kimi Chappelle, a postdoctoral fellow at the Evolutionary Studies Institute, part of the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Chappelle specialises in sauropodomorphs – the precursors of the giant sauropod dinosaurs like Diplodocus. Her recent work is helping build a picture of their growth and development. Lees meer
Chappelle is a champion of South African palaeontology and nominated as one of the Mail and Guardian's top 200 young South Africans in Science and Technology. With her colleagues she has published a stunning new study of sauropodomorph embryos from a fossil nest site in South Africa. This new paper visualises and describes their tiny skulls using synchrotron scan data. These fossils provide new information on dinosaur developmental processes, and places South African fossils at the heart of our understanding of their early evolution. Chappelle also talks about the latest work she's involved with in Zimbabwe, and future research into the growth patterns of the largest dinosaurs to have ever lived.
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Episode 117: Decolonising Palaeontology
16 november 2020 · 1 uur 16 min
Lack of diversity is one of the major issues in the sciences in recent times. We've discussed diversity in palaeontology in previous podcasts, but in this episode Elsa takes a look at the legacy of racism and colonialism in palaeontology and museum collections, and what efforts are being made to address these issues. Lees meer
Colonial attitudes towards people of non-European descent have meant that their natural heritage was often plundered and sent back to Europe and the United States to fill museum shelves. Researchers continue to benefit from these resources. How should we change our scientific practice to recognise this legacy and avoid making the same mistakes now and in the future?
In the first part of the episode, Elsa speaks to Christa Kuljian, a historian of science and author of Darwin's Hunch, based at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. She'll examine the legacy of racism in science, focusing on palaeoanthropology in South Africa, including figures like Robert Broom and Raymond Dart. We'll hear how attitudes toward different races shaped the research and conclusions of past generations of scientists.
In the second part, Rob Theodore, Exhibitions and Displays Coodinator at the Sedgewick Museum in England, talks about the legacy of colonialism in museum collections. We'll find out about the ways in which specimens were collected in the past, and how this was related to contemporary events and attitudes. We'll also find out what moves being taken to decolonise museums and refocus public outreach to recognise the past and move positively into the future.
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Episode 116: Ice Age Palaeoecology
1 november 2020 · 1 uur 14 min
When we think about the Ice Age or the Pleistocene, we generally think of large animals: wooly mammoths trudging through snow, sabre-tooth tigers taking down their next meal, and big bison out on the steppes. These are really interesting things to think about, but what else can we learn from the Pleistocene other big animals and their extinction? Lees meer
We can also use the Pleistocene (which is relatively similar to the modern world in terms of continental layout, landscapes, and ecological niche availability) to explore questions of palaeoecology, biotic interactions and how changes in the environment can affect the local fauna. The relatively young age of the Pleistocene means that the available data is very different to palaeoecological studies of the Cretaceous or Eocene. This means that it is more appropriate for drawing comparisons to what's happening today or what might happen in the future with climate change.
Joining us in this interview is Dr Jacquelyn Gill, an Associate Professor at the University of Maine, who works in palaeoecology. We talk about the different data available, the importance of understanding palaeoecology, including a recent paper from her group on seabird ecology in the Falklands, and what this might mean for the future.
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Episode 115b: Diatoms of Lake Baikal
15 oktober 2020 · 54 min
Part 2. Lees meer
Diatoms are a major group of algae found in waters all around the world. As photosynthetic phytoplankton, they are hugely important 'primary producers', integral to nearly every aquatic food chain. They are responsible for a large proportion of the world's oxygen production, with estimates ranging between 20 and 50%.
Diatoms are unicellular plants that produce their cell walls, termed frustules, out of silica. These intricate frustules are what we find preserved in the fossil record and they can contain an absolute wealth of information.
In this interview, Prof. Anson Mackay, University College London, joins to discuss his work on the diatoms from Lake Baikal, Siberia. We learn why lakes are such special ecosystems and what diatoms can tell us about the world through studies of their palaeoproductivity over thousands of years.
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Episode 115a: Diatoms of Lake Baikal
1 oktober 2020 · 42 min
Diatoms are a major group of algae found in waters all around the world. As photosynthetic phytoplankton, they are hugely important 'primary producers', integral to nearly every aquatic food chain. They are responsible for a large proportion of the world's oxygen production, with estimates ranging between 20 and 50%. Lees meer
Diatoms are unicellular plants that produce their cell walls, termed frustules, out of silica. These intricate frustules are what we find preserved in the fossil record and they can contain an absolute wealth of information.
In this interview, Prof. Anson Mackay, University College London, joins to discuss his work on the diatoms from Lake Baikal, Siberia. We learn why lakes are such special ecosystems and what diatoms can tell us about the world through studies of their palaeoproductivity over thousands of years.
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Episode 114b: Horseshoe Crabs
14 augustus 2020 · 1 uur
Part 2 of 2. Lees meer
The horseshoe crabs (Xiphosura) are a group of large aquatic arthropods known from the East coast of the USA, and the Southern and Eastern coasts of Asia. Despite their name, they are not actually crabs at all, but are chelicerates (the group containing spiders and scorpions). As a group, the horseshoe crabs possess an extremely long fossil record, reaching as far back as the Ordovician Period, some 480 million years ago. Since that time, they would appear to have undergone very little change, leading the horseshoe crabs to become the archetypal 'living fossils'.
Joining us for this two-part episode is Dr Russell Bicknell, University of New England, Australia. We discuss what makes a horseshoe crab, before taking questions from our listeners as to all aspects of horseshoe crab ecology and what we can infer from them about other extinct arthropods.
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Episode 114a: Horseshoe Crabs
31 juli 2020 · 49 min
The horseshoe crabs (Xiphosura) are a group of large aquatic arthropods known from the East coast of the USA, and the Southern and Eastern coasts of Asia. Despite their name, they are not actually crabs at all, but are chelicerates (the group containing spiders and scorpions). As a group, the horseshoe crabs possess an extremely long fossil record, reaching as far back as the Ordovician Period, some 480 million years ago. Since that time, they would appear to have undergone very little change, leading the horseshoe crabs to become the archetypal 'living fossils'. Lees meer
Joining us for this two-part episode is Dr Russell Bicknell, University of New England, Australia. We discuss what makes a horseshoe crab, before taking questions from our listeners as to all aspects of horseshoe crab ecology and what we can infer from them about other extinct arthropods.
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Episode 113: PBS Eons
15 juli 2020 · 1 uur 7 min
With palaeontology as popular as it is you will never be short of content online, whether that be articles, blogs, podcasts (of which there are now many others you should also be listening to) or videos. This allows you, the public, to enjoy learning about past life on demand and in a format that best suits you. The only issue with having so many sources of information/entertainment is that the quality can be highly variable and it can be difficult to determine whether any given outlet/channel values more the accurate communication of palaeontological science or the number of viewers/ad revenue they get. Lees meer
Amongst some notable exceptions to this issue is the YouTube channel PBS Eons, who have produced a hugely successful series that also stands up to scientific scrutiny. In this interview, we're joined by Eons host Kallie Moore who discusses everything to do with the show, from how it is researched and shot, to the benefits of using YouTube for outreach.
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Episode 112: Extinction of the dinosaurs
29 juni 2020 · 38 min
The end-Cretaceous (or K-Pg) extinction is one of the best known mass extinctions in Earth's history, primarily because that is when non-avian dinosaurs disappeared. Although the popular idea is that an asteroid impact was what caused the extinction, the science hasn't actually been that clear. More recently, a second hypothesis has challenged the idea asteroid as the main culprit, suggesting that huge volcanic eruptions in what is now India called the Deccan Traps was responsible. It has also been suggested that dinosaurs were already in decline when these things happened, speeding up the inevitable. Lees meer
In this interview, we speak with Dr Alessandro Chiarenza, a research associate at University College London about his new paper published today in PNAS showing that it really was the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs. This new study, based on research he did during his PhD at Imperial College London, uses a large amount of data put into climatic models to analyse different scenarios caused by an asteroid impact, the Deccan Traps volcanism, and a combination of the two. This study showed that the asteroid caused a prolonged impact winter, causing the extinction of the dinosaurs.
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Episode 111: Diversity in Palaeontology
17 juni 2020 · 1 uur 2 min
In this episode, in conjunction with the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP), we investigate issues of diversity in palaeontology, through interviews with Jann Nassif (PhD student at Ohio University, USA) on being transgender in palaeontology; Professor Taissa Rodrigues (Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Brazil) and Dr Femke Holwerda (Dr Betsy Nicholls Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Canada) about women in palaeontology; and Gabriel-Philip Santos (Collections Manager and Outreach Coordinator at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology at The Webb Schools) about racial diversity. We also spoke with Professor Jessica Theodor (University of Calgary), the Vice President of SVP about what they are doing to increase diversity and address these issues. This episode was recorded in 2019 at the SVP meeting in Brisbane, Australia, but for several reasons has taken us a little while to complete. Given the current discussions and anti-racism activism going on around the world, we thought this was a good time to reflect on some of the issues within our science and the ways in which they are being addressed. Lees meer
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Episode 110: The Fin-Limb Transition and Early Tetrapod Biodiversity
31 mei 2020 · 1 uur 11 min
One of the great themes in palaeobiology is the water-land transition, or how and when the ancestors of today's four-legged terrestrial animals moved to land. Lines of questioning have included understanding the anatomy and biomechanics of the axial skeleton- head and vertebrae (focusing on biting and swallowing) and the appendicular skeleton (focusing on how the earliest tetrapods walked or swam). Our picture of this story has drastically changed in the last three decades, as new fossils have filled in crucial gaps in the tetrapod evolutionary tree. This changing picture really came to the fore with the work of the late Professor Jenny clack, who's work at Cambridge in early tetrapods from Greenland and elsewhere brought the water land question back in fashion. Lees meer
Joining us to discuss Jenny Clack's Legacy in this episode are Prof. Mike Coates and Ben Otoo both of the University of Chicago.