James Fodor
speaker
3,084 appearances
4 recordings
1 series
first heard Jun 2026
last heard 30 Aug
James Fodor’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 4 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 2.
Appearances
Cynodont and then later mammalian skulls where you have an increase in the robustness of the jaw muscles, which are adapted for chewing, and you also see a
characteristic development called the sagittal skull crest, which is a essentially a like a ridge that runs along the center of the skull, uh found in many mammals, and that's thought to be
Um primarily for the attachment of jaw muscles for for chewing.
So this uh skull crest is sort of a sign that we're seeing a development of a wider range of diets and a more adaptation for uh for chewing of food.
So this is something that's characteristic of the sign or dot line.
Uh I think I also mentioned in the previous episode there were also changes in the vertebrae and the pelvis associated with allowing
cynodonts to adapt their posture from the sprawling to erect.
This also happened in the Archosaurus I talked about that previously, the movement from kind of the lizard like sprawling posture to the posture where the legs are straight down under the the torso, which allows for more efficient motion and also allows for breathing at the same time as walking, which is a obviously an important adaptation for for terrestrial life.
and and a more active lifestyle.
Uh Cynodons are also thought to have been warm blooded.
That developed progressively, I think, during the Triassic, around the same time that also the Archosaurs were developing um uh were developing warm bloodedness.
Uh and again that's associated with a more active lifestyle.
The uh evolution of fur is also thought to be uh linked to that because thur obviously fur obviously provides for uh insulation, which helps to reduce heat loss and therefore reduce caloric requirements when you're maintaining a body temperature that's higher than the ambient temperatures.
Um another adaptation associated with chewing is the development of dental occlusion, which refers to the fact that the teeth properly link up and uh interface with each other when the the jaw is closed.
Um this is not something that you actually see in most reptiles.
It it was also developed in ortificient dinosaurs, which were also adapted for a uh many of them were adapted for uh a wider range of diets.
plant-based diets as well.
And uh this is an adaption associated for chewing.
It allows for much more efficient
crushing of the the food particles in between the teeth.
Showing 1261–1280 of 3,084 · page 64 of 155
← Previous
Next →