Episode 154 - Live Birth

Viviparity is the reproductive style where embryos develop inside a parent’s body instead of inside an egg the parent lays. It’s a very familiar habit to us placental mammals, but it’s also an extremely widespread and diverse feature of life. Seriously, it’s ridiculous just how many times viviparity has evolved and just how many different ways species have found to be viviparous. In this episode we’ll answer such questions as: How and why does viviparity evolve? What features vary from one viviparous group to the next? And how do we identify viviparous animals in the fossil record? In the news: army ants, oldest lizards, beaver families, and swimming dinosaurs. Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News: 00:04:30 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:33:30 Main discussion, Part 2: 01:13:30 Patron question: 01:46:30 Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures: http://commondescentpodcast.wordpress.com/ The 2022 End of the Year Q&A Form is LIVE! Submit your question now! https://forms.gle/GTgew75GmVxAKejt6 Follow this link for a 30-day free trial to Audible! www.audibletrial.com/CommonDescent Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast  Or make a one-time donation via PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/4c68u4hp Find merch at the Common Descent Store! http://zazzle.com/common_descent Join the Common Descent Discord server! https://discord.gg/CwPBxdh9Ev Follow and Support us on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/CommonDescentPC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/commondescentpodcast Instagram: @commondescentpodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePRXHEnZmTGum2r1l2mduw PodBean: https://commondescentpodcast.podbean.com/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-common-descent-podcast/id1207586509?mt=2 You can email us at commondescentpodcast(at)gmail.com Or send us physical mail at: The Common Descent Podcast 1735 W State of Franklin Rd. Ste 5 #165 Johnson City, TN 37604 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/