Dragonflies and damselflies are incredible insects. They are arguably the world’s most skilled fliers, arguably the world’s most successful predators, and arguably the best insects (so says David). Not only that, they and their ancient cousins have been abundant and successful aerial predators for over 300 million years. This episode, we discuss what sets these bugs apart from all the rest, we explore what’s known of their evolution from their surprisingly good fossil record, and of course we highlight their most famous extinct cousins: the giant griffenflies.
In the news: croc habitats, tyrannosaur food, elephant trunks, and early mosquitos.
Time markers:
Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00
News: 00:04:30
Main discussion, Part 1: 00:34:15
Main discussion, Part 2: 01:13:15
Patron question: 01:53:45
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http://commondescentpodcast.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 108 - Penguins
Episode 107 – Tusks
Episode 106 - Franz Nopcsa
Episode 105 - Carnivorous Plants
Episode 104 - Pinnipeds
End of the Year Q&A 2020
Episode 103 – The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
Episode 102 - Parasites
Episode 101 - Sauropods
100 Episodes: A Look Back
Episode 100 - the Origin of Life
Episode 99 - Evolution of Insects
Spook-E - the Sirens
Spook-E - the Leviathan
Episode 98 - Species and Speciation
Spook-E - Sea Serpents
Spook-E - the Kraken
Episode 97 - Venom and Poison
Episode 96 - Marsupials
Episode 95 – The Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse
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