Where's our Jeff Goldblum?

Compsognathus in a handbag. Microraptor as a pet crow. Sauropod methane energy. You're welcome. We sit down with Professor Amy Brock-Hon from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga — Alyssa's old alma mater — to talk caves, karst, and why a good geology degree might be the most versatile qualification you've never considered. Then we dig into a 2025 paper claiming scientists have found original collagen inside a 66-million-year-old Edmontosaurus hip bone — and ask what that means for the long-running soft tissue debate. Which leads us, naturally, to de-extinction — what we'd bring back, why, and whether Colossal Biosciences hatching chickens from synthetic eggs means we're closer to an answer than we'd like to admit. Tuinstra et al. (2025), "Evidence for Endogenous Collagen in Edmontosaurus Fossil Bone," Analytical Chemistry. DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.4c03115 Fossils and Fiction is kept ad-free by our members. Join The Fossil Record via our website, or grab some merch from our Fourthwall store. Fossils and Fiction is a production of Extinction Media.