Episode 32. Ancient Amphibian Ambulation with Dr. Julia Molnar

We often think of amphibians as simple creatures who crawled out of of the primordial oceans millions of years ago and ultimately evolved into what we humans see in the mirror each morning.  However, this example is clearly not the case and there is a great deal more to the story of amphibian evolution.  Before amphibians even existed, early tetrapods evolved into limbed creatures capable of moving on land.   This crucial development took millions of years to achieve and you may be quite surprised as to how it all took place. In this episode I have the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Julia Molnar who is an expert on the mechanics of early tetrapod limbs and how they evolved. Julia is an Assistant Professor of Anatomy at NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine and also has advanced degrees in illustration from Johns Hopkins  and the Maryland College of Art.  She specializes in the studies of vertebrate locomotion and is also an accomplished illustrator.  Tonight, Julia shares her expertise with us on the subjects of early amphibians, what the word was like in the Carboniferous Period, how limb development occurred multiple times in the fossil record, and what some of the earliest amphibians looked like. For more information and to access some of Dr. Molnar's papers visit https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/4/eabd7457.abstractand:   www.juliamolnar.com