Palaeocast

Burmese amber is well known for preserving fossils in exquisite details. This amber is dated to around 100 million years old, representing the Albian - Cenomanian ages of the Cretaceous period, so would have been deposited whilst non-avian dinosaurs still walked the land.

Fossils preserved in this amber include representatives from numerous different groups including arachnids, insects, vertebrates, and plants. Whilst the amber itself (as fossilised tree sap/resin) is produced in a terrestrial environment, some marine species have been caught up in amber. This includes such animals as ostracods, snails and surprisingly even an ammonite!

In the first part of this series, we speak to Dr Javier Luque, Harvard University, about the discovery of a crab in amber. We put this discovery in context by first examining what crabs are, before turning our attention to their fossil record. In the next episode, we'll take a look at the details of the discovery.

Following on from this, we will discuss the political situation in Myanmar and question whether or not working with Burmese amber is currently ethical.

Direct download: Ep132.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:19am UTC

Burmese amber is well known for preserving fossils in exquisite details. This amber is dated to around 100 million years old, representing the Albian - Cenomanian ages of the Cretaceous period, so would have been deposited whilst non-avian dinosaurs still walked the land.

Fossils preserved in this amber include representatives from numerous different groups including arachnids, insects, vertebrates, and plants. Whilst the amber itself (as fossilised tree sap/resin) is produced in a terrestrial environment, some marine species have been caught up in amber. This includes such animals as ostracods, snails and surprisingly even an ammonite!

In the first part of this series, we speak to Dr Javier Luque, Harvard University, about the discovery of a crab in amber. We put this discovery in context by first examining what crabs are, before turning our attention to their fossil record. In the next episode, we'll take a look at the details of the discovery.

Following on from this, we will discuss the political situation in Myanmar and question whether or not working with Burmese amber is currently ethical.

Direct download: Ep131.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:50pm UTC

After rodents, bats are the second largest group of mammals, representing a staggering 20% of all mammal species. They can be found all over the world, with the exception of cold climates, where they often play incredibly important ecological roles. Their ecologies (ways in which they live) go well beyond the cave-hanging, moth-eating stereotypes and diets can also be based on fruits, nectar or even blood. In fact, some tropical plants rely solely upon bats for pollination!

But when did bats evolve and who are their closest relatives? Do they have a good fossil record? Is vampirism an effective feeding strategy?

In this episode, we're joined by Dr Nancy Simmons, Curator-In-Charge of Mammalogy at the American Museum of Natural History, who introduces us to the wonderful world of bats and their fossil record.

Direct download: Ep130.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:34am UTC

Whether it be because of their unique shape, comical walking or extreme ecology, there can be no denying that penguins are incredibly popular and charismatic animals. But what actually makes a penguin a penguin and how are they different from other birds? Have penguins always been, well, 'penguiny'?

Joining us for this interview are Simone Giovanardi and Daniel Thomas who have just described a new species of giant penguin from New Zealand. Together, we explore penguin evolution and how their new species Kairuku waewaeroa fits into this story.

Direct download: Ep129.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:30pm UTC

One of the factors that makes palaeontology such a popular science is its constant ability to surprise us. It seems almost every week that a new study is released that significantly adds to our understanding of ancient life. This could be in relation to a new species, a new analysis or new fossil locality. In this episode, we discuss a new discovery that not only yields a new species, but also provides direct dietary evidence and has us re-evaluating the potential for food to be preserved in coprolites (fossilised droppings).

Joining us for this interview are Drs Martin Qvarnström and Martin Fikáček of Uppsala University and National Sun Yat-sen University, respectively. Both were part of a team that identified and described a new species of beetle preserved within a dinosaur coprolite!

In this second part of this interview, we take a look at both the coprolite and the beetle in closer detail and ask what is the significance of this association for the study of both? We also consider the potential for coprolites to be micro-lagerstätten.

Direct download: Ep128.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:46pm UTC

One of the factors that makes palaeontology such a popular science is its constant ability to surprise us. It seems almost every week that a new study is released that significantly adds to our understanding of ancient life. This could be in relation to a new species, a new analysis or new fossil locality. In this episode, we discuss a new discovery that not only yields a new species, but also provides direct dietary evidence and has us re-evaluating the potential for food to be preserved in coprolites (fossilised droppings).

Joining us for this interview are Drs Martin Qvarnström and Martin Fikáček of Uppsala University and National Sun Yat-sen University, respectively. Both were part of a team that identified and described a new species of beetle preserved within a dinosaur coprolite!

In this first part of the interview, we provide the context for the discovery, discussing the study of coprolites and of beetles. Part 2 of the interview will be released soon.

Direct download: Ep127.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:49pm UTC

In this episode, we talk to our very own Dr Elsa Panciroli about her new book Beasts Before Us. In it, she tells the untold story of mammalian evolution, tracing the origin of synapsids back to the Carboniferous. You’ll be taken to fossil sites around the world to meet some of these pioneering animals and some of the palaeontologists that discovered them.

For this interview, we’ll give you an overview of the early evolution of synapsids and dispel many of the misconceptions about what our ancestors were really like.

We’ve got a couple of copies of the book to give away, so look out on our social media channels for details of the competition! For everyone else, Beasts Before Us is available to buy online and in all good book shops.

Direct download: Ep126.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:48am UTC

Crocodiles are often referred to as “living fossils”, but if we compare modern and ancient species, does that label hold up? What different kind of morphologies (shapes) did past crocs have and how did they live? How quickly did this past diversity arise and why are we left with so few species today? What’s to stop them from diversifying again?

In this episode, we speak to Dr Tom Stubbs, University of Bristol, about his recent work analysing changes in crocodylomorph disparity through time. We look at some of the weird and wonderful crocs of the past and work through his methods for calculating their rates of evolutionary innovation. Part 2 of 2

Direct download: Ep125.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:05pm UTC

Crocodiles are often referred to as “living fossils”, but if we compare modern and ancient species, does that label hold up? What different kind of morphologies (shapes) did past crocs have and how did they live? How quickly did this past diversity arise and why are we left with so few species today? What’s to stop them from diversifying again?

In this episode, we speak to Dr Tom Stubbs, University of Bristol, about his recent work analysing changes in crocodylomorph disparity through time. We look at some of the weird and wonderful crocs of the past and work through his methods for calculating their rates of evolutionary innovation.

Part 1 of 2

Direct download: Ep124.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:06pm UTC

Terrestrial life as we know it couldn’t exist without soil. Soil, as we know it today, is a layer of minerals, organic matter, liquids, gasses and organisms that not only provides a medium for plant growth, but also modifies the atmosphere, provides a habitat for animals and retains and purifies water.

This kind of soil hasn’t always existed, so in order to understand early conditions on land, we first need to understand what can be constituted as a soil and when these first appeared. Is there soil on the Moon? Can soil fossilise?

Since most terrestrial ecosystems are rooted in soil, if we want to understand how life established itself on land, we first need to know how soils form, how they have changed over geological time and which kinds of plants and fungi can live without it.

Joining us in this episode is Dr Ria Mitchell, Experimental Officer in X-ray Computed Tomography at the University of Sheffield, UK.

Direct download: Ep123.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:12pm UTC

Part two of our interview with Dr Larisa DeSantis of Vanderbilt University on the 'dietary ecology' of Smilodon.

Smilodon is probably one of the most iconic mammalian apex predators with its extended upper canines and robustly-built forearms. In fact, when we compare Smilodon to modern cats (felids), we don't see these same characteristics. So what were they used for? Was Smilodon specialised for any particular behaviour?

Owing to the unique preservation of the tar seeps at Rancho La Brea, Los Angeles, USA, we can find an overabundance of predators, including Smilodon fatalis, Canis dirus, Panthera atrox and Puma concolor. This allows researchers to reconstruct the predatory landscape of the area in the Pleistocene. Who was eating what? Was there any competition between predators?

Direct download: Ep122.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:48pm UTC

Smilodon is probably one of the most iconic mammalian apex predators with its extended upper canines and robustly-built forearms. In fact, when we compare Smilodon to modern cats (felids), we don’t see these same characteristics. So what were they used for? Was Smilodon specialised for any particular behaviour?

Owing to the unique preservation of the tar seeps at Rancho La Brea, Los Angeles, USA, we can find an overabundance of predators, including Smilodon fatalis, Canis dirus, Panthera atrox and Puma concolor. This allows researchers to reconstruct the predatory landscape of the area in the Pleistocene. Who was eating what? Was there any competition between predators?

All of these questions feed in to the ‘dietary ecology’ of Smilodon and here to discuss that, and more, is Dr Larisa DeSantis of Vanderbilt University.

Direct download: Ep121.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:17pm UTC

It wouldn’t be outlandish to state that many a fossil collection has started with the acquisition of an ammonite. Their planispiral shells (termed a conch) are instantly recognisable and since that conch was originally composed of the relatively hard mineral aragonite, they better lend themselves to the fossilisation process.

But how much do we actually know about the animal that produces the conch? We might be able to make superficial inferences based on comparisons with the modern Nautilus, but ammonites are actually closer related to squid and octopuses.

So could you recognise an ammonite without its shell?

Prof. Christian Klug of the University of Zurich has recently described just that: a naked ammonite. In this episode, we learn about ammonite soft body anatomy and sink our teeth into the mystery of how this ammonite lost its shell.

Direct download: Ep120.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:52pm UTC

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