Episode 5: Ice Age (2002)

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Advait Jukar to discuss the 2002 classic Ice Age, the story of three unlikely Pleistocene mammals who team up to rescue a non-adult Homo sapiens, and in the process discover the value of family. If you like Cenozoic mammalian taxonomy, then you’re going to love this episode! Find Advait on Twitter @amjukar and at https://advaitjukar.weebly.com/ In this episode: We geek out over the scientific names of prehistoric mammals, including: Wooly Mammoth – Mammuthus primigenius: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolly_mammoth Sabre-toothed cat – Smilodon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smilodon Scimitar cat – Homotherium: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homotherium Ground Sloth – Megalonyx (Bonus – where are sloths’ nipples?): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalonyx Long-nosed llama – Macraucheniidae: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrauchenia Glyptodont (giant armadillo relative) – Dædicurus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doedicurus Ancient proboscidean – Moeritherium (It’s not a tapir!): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moeritherium Not actually a rhinoceros – Megacerops: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megacerops Not actually Bigfoot – Gigantopithecus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigantopithecus Dodos don’t get enough credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo Scrat was real all along! Pseudotherium argentinus: http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/pseudotherium-argentinus-07533.html We also discuss: Burrows dug by giant ground sloths: https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/get-lost-in-mega-tunnels-dug-by-south-american-megafauna GABI – Great American Biotic Interchange: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Interchange People – what a bunch of bastards! https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-happened-worlds-most-enormous-animals-180964255/