The first pterosaur to be scientifically identified was Pterodactylus, more than 200 years ago. Since then, scientists have grappled with understanding these bizarre and fantastic animals, aided by inspired science and incredible discoveries. In this episode, we’ll discuss what we know – and what we don’t know – about how these animals evolved, survived, and ruled the skies in the Age of Reptiles.
In the news: cassowary evolution, the oldest scorpions, sea floor taphonomy, and Neanderthal shells.
Time markers:
Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00
News: 00:08:30
Main discussion, Part 1: 00:38:30
Main discussion, Part 2: 01:22:00
Patron question: 02:10:00
We’ve donated our December 2019 Patreon earnings to WIRES to help with wildlife recovery in Australia. Learn more here: https://www.wires.org.au/
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http://commondescentpodcast.wordpress.com/
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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 71 - The Western Interior Seaway
Spook-E - Harpies
Episode 70 - Convergent Evolution
Episode 69 - Ankylosaurs
Episode 68 - Evolution of Eyes
Voices of La Brea - Bonus Episode
Episode 67 - The La Brea Tar Pits
Episode 66 - Elephants
Episode 65 - The Late Devonian Extinction(s)
Episode 64 - Paleoart
Silver Screen Science – Godzilla (2014) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
Silver Screen Science – King Kong (2005) and Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Episode 63 - Sexual Selection
Silver Screen Science – Kaiju Concepts
Silver Screen Science - Gojira (1954)
Episode 62 – Amber
Silver Screen Science - King Kong (1933)
Episode 61 - Behavior in the Fossil Record
Episode 60 - Turtles
Episode 59 - Bats
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