Skip to content
Episode 241 - Digestion episode artwork

Apr 12, 2026 2 hr 19 min

Episode 241 - Digestion

from The Common Descent Podcast Hosted by Common Descent

The world is full of food, but in order to make the most of it, living organisms need to be able to break it down and extract the useful nutrients. This episode, we explore the fundamental process of digestion and the many, many ways that life has adapted this process to various diets. And we’ll take a look at what the fossil record has to tell us about ancient diets and the evolutionary history of digestive systems. In the news: predator bites, coelacanth lungs, Cambrian claws, and squid evolution. Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News: 00:05:55 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:38:10 Main discussion, Part 2: 01:23:30 Patron question: 02:06:50 Check out our website for this episode’s blog post and more: http://commondescentpodcast.com/ Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast Got a topic you want to hear about? Submit your episode request here: https://commondescentpodcast.com/request-a-topic/ Lots more ways to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/common_descent 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

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

Episode 241 - Digestion

0:00 2:19:30

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of The Common Descent Podcast?

This episode is 2 hours and 19 minutes long.

When was this The Common Descent Podcast episode published?

This episode was published on April 12, 2026.

Can I download this The Common Descent Podcast episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.