PODCAST · science
Palaeo After Dark
by James Lamsdell, Amanda Falk, and Curtis Congreve
A group of scientists have biweekly informal discussions about evolutionary biology and palaeontology... over beer.
Episodes
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Podcast 342 - A Bitter Pill
The gang discusses two papers that use a lot of statistics to make their arguments. The first paper looks at the argument against the existence of megalodon nurseries, and the second paper assesses the importance of biotic vs abiotic patterns in extinction. Meanwhile, James has a new button…
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Podcast 341 - The Wrong Meat
The gang discusses two papers that use comparative anatomy of bone to tell some really interesting stories about fossil animals. The first paper uses the hand bones of Stegasaurus and Camarasaurus to investigate how they walked and also the evolutionary processes by which they may have developed...
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Podcast 340 - Fun Times At Copraland
The gang discusses two papers that technically involve symbiosis. The first paper looks at fossil evidence for tape worms, and the second paper is a review of the various evolutionary hypotheses of the convergent origin of viviparity (live birth). Meanwhile, Curt imagines a new theme park, James...
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Podcast 339 - Back on Our Bullshit
The gang discusses two papers that use fossils to understand ecological interactions in the past. The first paper reports predation patterns on fossil blastoids, and the second paper finds brooding in the soft tissue of fossil bivalves. And then… the gang gets very much back on their bullshit…...
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Podcast 338 - Trilobite and Terror Bird
The gang discusses two papers that describe fossils which provide glimpses into the evolution and ecology of animals that were "late editions" to their clade. In other words, this podcast is focusing on fossils whose ages place them were close to the extinction of their respective groups. The…
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Podcast 337 - Smol Beeg Animals
The gang discusses two papers that look at early tetrapods. The first paper investigates the transition to terrestrial environments in early tetrapods, and the second paper looks at some very small Dimetrodon. Meanwhile, Amanda has a disproportionate cat, James talks smack about a dead synapsid,...
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Podcast 336 - Who Needs a Jaw?
The gang discusses two papers about jawless fishes. The first paper looks at some soft tissue preservation of early vertebrates which include preserving evidence of an ancient heart, while the second paper investigates how the fossil record of hagfish can inform the order in which characteristics...
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Podcast 335 - I Like Turtles
The gang discusses two papers that use fossil material to assess the origin of animal groups. The first paper describes a new Early Devonian fish and its implications for the evolution of jaws, and the second paper reassesses the fossil material of turtles (and possible not turtles) to determine...
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Podcast 334 - Stuck on You
The gang discusses two papers about encrusting organisms. The first paper looks at evolutionary patterns of bryozoans to infer environmental triggers for shifts in the ways bryozoans calcify. The second paper uses the distribution of encrusting organisms on spirifd brachiopods to infer the…
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Podcast 333 - Think Big
The gang discusses two papers about fossil cephalopods. The first paper uses new methods to reassess the taxonomy of what was previously considered to be the oldest octopod, and the second paper uses preserved beaks to reconstruct large body sizes of Mesozoic octopods. Meanwhile, Amanda keeps it...
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Podcast 332 - Bird Peepin'
The gang discusses two papers that investigate phenotypic plasticity. The first paper reviews the pathways by which phenotype can be plastic, and the second paper looks at plasticity of breeding times in urban vs rural bird populations. Meanwhile, James manages a basement, Amanda names the…
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Podcast 331 - Reef It Up
The gang discusses two papers that investigate ancient bioherms. The first paper looks at the formation of early Phanerozoic reefs, and the second paper investigates patterns of reef building and collapse in the late Devonian. Meanwhile, James is being advertised to, Amanda plans unique…
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Podcast 330 - Dinosaur Body Pillow
The gang discusses two papers about the functional morphology of ancient groups of animals. The first paper is a review of how the life position of rangeomorph ediacaran taxa have been reconstructed, and the second paper conducts an actualistic experiment of Oviraptor nesting strategies.…
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Podcast 329 - Boom Shakalaka
The gang discusses two papers that use quantitative methods to investigate the biomechanical limitations of extinct organisms. The first paper models the range of jumping potential for a non-avian theropod dinosaur, and the other paper tests if an extinct bird could have skimmed the ocean for…
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Podcast 238 - Fins for Days
The gang discusses two papers that are united by a fin. The first paper uses a computer algorithms to infer the shape of mosasaur tail fins, and the second paper looks at a new species of Spinosaurus with a crest. Meanwhile, James tastes flavor, Amanda tastes drink, and Curt tastes indifference....
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Podcast 327 - Horse or Deer?
The gang talk about two papers about extraordinary dinosaur fossils and the unique information that can be gleaned from them. The first paper looks at fossil skin data on a Cretaceous iguandodontian, and the second paper uses an exceptionally complete specimen to demonstrate the reality of...
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Podcast 326 - But What Is It?
The gang discuss two papers of odd fossils with exceptional preservation. The first paper looks at some Cambrian vertebrates and shows that soft tissue evidence suggests the presence of two sets of camera eyes (four eyes total), and they interpret the additional set of camera eyes as being a...
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Podcast 325 - The Curse of the Not Cat
Listeners, I'm going to level with you. This podcast is cursed. Not because of the content, which is mostly a pretty straight forward discussion about two papers that look into the fossil record of Nimravids (early cats that are not true cats). No, this podcast is cursed because the file refused…
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Podcast 324 - Pick Up the Pieces
The gang discusses two papers that use fragmentary fossils of animals to investigate the origins of major groups. The first paper describes an Early Ordovician eurypterid, and the second paper looks at mosaic evolutionary patterns in an early squamate. Meanwhile, James has bird opinions, Curt...
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Podcast 323e - "All Sales Final" Part 5 - Another Satisfied Customer
The crew of the CS Perry struggle to extract themselves from their rapidly deteriorating situation. "Lightless Dawn" , "Spacial Harvest", and "Crypto" from Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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Podcast 323d - "All Sales Final" Part 4 - The Milk Run
The crew of the CS Perry, now trapped in a space station run by multiple hostile AI, work to figure out how best to salvage a mission gone very wrong. "Lightless Dawn" and "Crypto" from Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0...
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Podcast 323c - "All Sales Final" Part 3 - The Hard Sell
The crew of the CS Perry begin the negotiation process for the CA-chip, but the sales team wants an arm and a leg for the product. "Lightless Dawn" and "Crypto" from Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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Podcast 323b - "All Sales Final" Part 2 - A Representative Will Be With You Shortly
The crew of CS Perry were offered the perfect deal, a quick stop at an abandoned spaceport to grab some mothballed tech and they'd be set for life. What could possibly go wrong? "Lightless Dawn" from Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0...
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Podcast 323a - "All Sales Final" Part 1
For our holiday episodes this year, James, Curt, Amanda, and Ants get together to play a game of the space horror tabletop RPG Mothership. Join us for our introductory episode where we discuss the setting, rules, and the main characters of our story. "Lightless Dawn" from Kevin MacLeod...
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Podcast 322 - Obligatory Dinosaur Podcast 3: Dino With a Vengeance
The gang discusses two papers that are about dinosaurs, and that is all that connects them! The first paper investigates community structure during the Cretaceous, and the second paper describes a well preserved "mummy" of a duck-billed dinosaur. Meanwhile, Amanda is doing well (really she is…
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Podcast 321 - Getting Mostly Stems Here
The gang discusses two papers that have very little in common with each except for the word "stem". The first paper uses birth death models to simulate the fossil record in order investigate if neutral models can produce patterns similar to the "crown"/"stem" evolutionary dynamics that have been...
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Podcast 320 - von Herrerasaurus
The gang discusses two papers that investigate injuries in fossil bones. The first paper tests hypotheses about the causes of facial injuries in herrarasaurids, and the second paper tests if inferred hunting strategies map onto injury patterns in predators from the La Brea Tar Pits. Meanwhile…
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Podcast 319 - CSI Crato Formation
The gang discusses two papers that use taphonomic experiments to test hypotheses about the paleo-environmental conditions of the Crato Formation. Meanwhile, Amanda has her daily requirements, James longs for the rack, Curt launched a new podcast concept, and no one on this podcast can keep to a...
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Podcast 318 - Derp Fish Returns
The gang discusses two papers that provide nuanced information to test when key innovations in vertebrate evolution occurred. The first paper looks at unique semi-terrestrial trace fossils in the early Devonian in order to determine the trace maker, and the second paper looks at fossils that…
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Podcast 317 - Bring the Brain Power
The gang discusses two papers that deal with fossil brains. The first paper looks at a fossil arthropod from the Cambrian and uses neurological characters to determine its phylogenetic placement. The second paper looks at a synapsid braincase and tries to infer why this one species has lost its...
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Podcast 316 - Sail Back Bros
The gang discusses two papers about skin preservation in fossil tetrapods. The first paper describes skin impressions from a Permian synapsid, and the second paper identifies feather-like structures in an early Triassic diapsid. Meanwhile, James considers the horse, Amanda shames extinct animals,...
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Podcast 315 - Final Transmission from the Black Lodge
The gang ends "Wet Hot Archosaur Summer" with the final podcast recorded from our undisclosed location in the woods. For this podcast, we indulge Amanda by talking about birds and trace fossils. The first paper looks at the remains of nesting sites that date back to the Cretaceous, and the second...
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Podcast 314 - Weird Archosaur Summer
The gang is all back together in one place again as they unite in an undisclosed cabin in the woods to record the last two podcasts for Wet Hot Archosaur Summer. For this episode, the gang talks about herbivorous pterosaurs and wadding T-rex. Meanwhile, James experiences relative sobriety, Curt...
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Podcast 313 - Ooooo Banana
Wet Hot Archosaur Summer continues as the gang discusses two papers that look at the evolution and biogeography of early archosaurs. Specifically, one paper describes new material from an early dinosaur group, and the other paper looks at the niche preferences of early pterosaurs and their…
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Podcast 312 - Sick Skateboard Tricks
The gang discusses two papers about the ecology of sauropods. The first paper investigates the biomechanics of the Plateosaurus tail, and the second paper looks at direct evidence of sauropod diet from gut contents. Meanwhile, James "makes it interesting", Amanda may have recorded on the wrong...
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Podcast 311 - On a Wing and a Trace
The gang continues "Wet Hot Archosaur Summer" with a discussion about pterosaur trace fossils. The first paper tests a method for assigning pterosaur traces to potential trace makers, and the second paper is a case study of actually assigning traces to a species. Meanwhile, Amanda herds cats...
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Podcast 310 - This Podcast Is Two Darth Vaders Tall
Wet Hot Archosaur Summer continues as the gang discusses two papers about crocodylomorph evolution. The first paper looks at the impact mass extinctions had on disparity within the group, and the second paper uses new phylogenetic data to revise our understanding of size trends and biogeography…
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Podcast 309 - Wet Hot Archosaur Summer Begins
The gang kicks off a summer of archosaurs by talking about crocodyliforms. The first paper describes an early Cenozoic large notosuchian, and the second paper investigates how cryptic species impacts divergence times within the clade. Meanwhile, Curt diagnoses a problem, James tries to "help"…
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Podcast 308 - Failing to Talk About the K/Pg Mass Extinction
The gang tries to discuss two papers that look at the evolutionary impacts of the K-Pg mass extinction. Specifically, they look at one paper that estimates sampling probability throughout the late Cretaceous to determine if record bias influences our understanding of the extinction, and another...
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Podcast 307 - Glow in the Dark Shrew Jorts
The gang discusses two papers that look at the evolutionary impact of shifts in habitat occupation. The first paper looks at a clade of sharks moving into the depths, and the second paper investigates habitat shifts in mammals across the Cretaceous and Paleogene. Meanwhile, Amanda has some...
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Podcast 306 - Birbs Grinding on the Edge of the Pareto Front
The gang discusses two papers that use morphometrics to investigate patterns of selection on bird morphology. The first paper looks at the morphology of feathers, while the second paper looks more broadly at various parts of the avian body. Meanwhile, James breathes new life into a classic…
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Podcast 305 - Skin in the Game
The gang discusses two papers that look at preserved skin/external tissues. The first paper shows a unique record of Cambrian molting, and the second paper looks at the first preserved samples of plesiosaur skin. Meanwhile, Amanda commits an "own goal", Curt shares some old internet fun, and…
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Podcast 304 - Getting the Timing Right
The gang discusses two papers that look into the evolution and timing of key morphological innovations within animal groups. The first paper describes possible raptorial appendages in fossil artiopods, and the second paper finds early evidence of modern bird morphologies in the Jurassic.…
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Podcast 303 - When Is It The Crown
The gang discusses two papers that look into the timing of evolution of the "crown group". The first paper looks at fossil glass sponges, and the second paper looks at the phylogeny of lampreys. Meanwhile, James gives some sound advice, Amanda has ambitious hobby plans, and Curt imagines the...
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Podcast 302 - A Rambling Homage to Vrba
The gang celebrates the research of the late Elisabeth Vrba by talking about two of her papers, as well as her research more broadly. And, despite their best efforts, they get easily distracted on tangentially related side discussions. Up-Goer Five (Curt Edition): The friends talk about two…
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Podcast 301 - You Little Punk
The gang discusses two papers that look at some exceptional soft-tissue preservation during the Silurian. The first paper potentially identifies a unique type of pterobranch, and the second paper looks at some early molluscs. Meanwhile, James has seen some movies, Amanda has a skibidi day, and...
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Podcast 300 - Shameless Dead Juvenile Specimen Joke
The gang discusses two papers that look at some exceptionally preserved juvenile fossil specimens and the interesting clues these fossils give to the ontogeny of extinct groups. The first paper is the current oldest preserved tadpole, and the second paper is an exceptionally preserved mummified...
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Podcast 299 - Small Green Things
The gang discusses two papers that look at the evolution of photosynthesis in different groups. The first paper looks at what might be the first fossil evidence of thylakoids, and the second paper finds evidence for photosynthesizing symbiotes in Devonian fossil corals. Meanwhile, Amanda is…
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Podcast 298c - Operation Raccoon Part 3: The Big Score
Sausage, Biscuits, Eggey, and Crankshaft make their way into the big mansion. Will they be able to pull off the heist of the century and deliver a perfect Christmas for the raccoons of the junkyard, or will they all go down in a blaze of glory? "Sergio's Magic Dustbin" and "Silent Night" from…
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Podcast 298b - Operation Raccoon Part 2: The Approach
Sausage, Biscuits, Eggey, and Crankshaft board the Dumpster Fire and prepare for a holiday adventure... despite the wishes of an unsuspecting populace. "Sergio's Magic Dustbin" from Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0...
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