Palaeo After Dark
Episodes
Podcast 330 - Dinosaur Body Pillow
19 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 r...
Podcast 329 - Boom Shakalaka
05 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that use quantitative methods to investigate the biomechanical limitations of extinct organisms. The first paper models...
Podcast 238 - Fins for Days
22 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Podcast 327 - Horse or Deer?
08 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Podcast 326 - But What Is It?
22 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discuss two papers of odd fossils with exceptional preservation. The first paper looks at some Cambrian vertebrates and shows that soft tiss...
Podcast 325 - The Curse of the Not Cat
08 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 abou...
Podcast 324 - Pick Up the Pieces
25 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that use fragmentary fossils of animals to investigate the origins of major groups. The first paper describes an Early ...
Podcast 323e - "All Sales Final" Part 5 - Another Satisfied Customer
11 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The crew of the CS Perry struggle to extract themselves from their rapidly deteriorating situation. "Lightless Dawn" , "Spacial Harvest", and "C...
Podcast 323d - "All Sales Final" Part 4 - The Milk Run
04 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 ve...
Podcast 323c - "All Sales Final" Part 3 - The Hard Sell
28 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The crew of the CS Perry begin the negotiation process for CA-chip, but the sales team wants an arm and a leg for the product. "Lightless Daw...
Podcast 323b - "All Sales Final" Part 2 - A Representative Will Be With You Shortly
21 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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. Wh...
Podcast 323a - "All Sales Final" Part 1
14 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Podcast 322 - Obligatory Dinosaur Podcast 3: Dino With a Vengeance
30 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that are about dinosaurs, and that is all that connects them! The first paper investigates community structure during t...
Podcast 321 - Getting Mostly Stems Here
16 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 simula...
Podcast 320 - von Herrerasaurus
02 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that investigate injuries in fossil bones. The first paper tests hypotheses about the causes of facial injuries in herr...
Podcast 319 - CSI Crato Formation
19 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that use taphonomic experiments to test hypotheses about the paleo-environmental conditions of the Crato Formation. Mea...
Podcast 318 - Derp Fish Returns
05 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that provide nuanced information to test when key innovations in vertebrate evolution occurred. The first paper looks a...
Podcast 317 - Bring the Brain Power
21 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that deal with fossil brains. The first paper looks at a fossil arthropod from the Cambrian and uses neurological chara...
Podcast 316 - Sail Back Bros
07 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers about skin preservation in fossil tetrapods. The first paper describes skin impressions from a Permian synapsid, and th...
Podcast 315 - Final Transmission from the Black Lodge
24 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The gang ends "Wet Hot Archosaur Summer" with the final podcast recorded from our undisclosed location in the woods. For this podcast, we indulge Ama...
Podcast 314 - Weird Archosaur Summer
10 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 Archos...
Podcast 313 - Ooooo Banana
27 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Wet Hot Archosaur Summer continues as the gang discusses two papers that look at the evolution and biogeography of early archosaurs. Specifically, on...
Podcast 312 - Sick Skateboard Tricks
13 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers about the ecology of sauropods. The first paper investigates the biomechanics of the Plateosaurus tail, and the second ...
Podcast 311 - On a Wing and a Trace
29 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The gang continues "Wet Hot Archosaur Summer" with a discussion about pterosaur trace fossils. The first paper tests a method for assigning pterosaur ...
Podcast 310 - This Podcast Is Two Darth Vaders Tall
15 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Wet Hot Archosaur Summer continues as the gang discusses two papers about crocodylomorph evolution. The first paper looks at the impact mass extincti...
Podcast 309 - Wet Hot Archosaur Summer Begins
01 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The gang kicks off a summer of archosaurs by talking about crocodyliforms. The first paper describes an early Cenozoic large notosuchian, and the sec...
Podcast 308 - Failing to Talk About the K/Pg Mass Extinction
18 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 esti...
Podcast 307 - Glow in the Dark Shrew Jorts
04 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Podcast 306 - Birbs Grinding on the Edge of the Pareto Front
20 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that use morphometrics to investigate patterns of selection on bird morphology. The first paper looks at the morphology ...
Podcast 305 - Skin in the Game
06 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Podcast 304 - Getting the Timing Right
23 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look into the evolution and timing of key morphological innovations within animal groups. The first paper describe...
Podcast 303 - When Is It The Crown
09 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 sec...
Podcast 302 - A Rambling Homage to Vrba
23 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 th...
Podcast 301 - You Little Punk
09 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at some exceptional soft-tissue preservation during the Silurian. The first paper potentially identifies a un...
Podcast 300 - Shameless Dead Juvenile Specimen Joke
26 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at some exceptionally preserved juvenile fossil specimens and the interesting clues these fossils give to the...
Podcast 299 - Small Green Things
12 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 fossi...
Podcast 298c - Operation Raccoon Part 3: The Big Score
29 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Podcast 298b - Operation Raccoon Part 2: The Approach
15 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sausage, Biscuits, Eggey, and Crankshaft board the Dumpster Fire and prepare for a holiday adventure... despite the wishes of an unsuspecting popul...
Podcast 298a - Operation Raccoon Part 1: Planning the Heist
01 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
James, Amanda, Curt, and Ants all get together to plan a holiday raccoon heist. What could possibly go wrong? "Sergio's Magic Dustbin" from Kevin ...
Podcast 297 - Amanda Falk is Still a Threat
17 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at patterns of mosaic evolution, one paper looking at cat evolution and the other paper looking at bird ecomo...
Podcast 296 - An Arm and a Head
03 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that detail interesting findings about the soft tissues of extinct arthropods. The first paper does a detailed study...
Podcast 295 - EeMoo or EeMyu
20 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at examples of soft tissue preservation during the Cambrian. The first paper is a deep dive into the sedimento...
Podcast 294 - The Motherload
06 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at two Lagerstätten (fossil localities of exceptional preservation). The first Lagerstätte is a unique comp...
Podcast 293 - This Episode Doesn't Suck
22 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang looks at two papers that compare similar structures in unrelated animals to see if there might be evidence of convergence. The first paper c...
Podcast 292 - That's How You Get Ants
08 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at convergence (maybe?) in modern arthropods. The first paper looks at plant/ant symbiosis in a genus of ants,...
Podcast 291 - DoInG vErY wElL tHaNk YoU
25 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that... ok look. I'm going to level with you. No one in this podcast slept more than a few hours before we started...
Podcast 290 - Want to Get Away
11 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at modern bird migration patterns. The first paper looks at breading and migration patterns of the American...
Podcast 289 - The Brachiopod Paradox
28 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at functional morphology in extinct groups. The first paper looks at tooth replacement patterns in an Ornithis...
Podcast 288 - Some Meat on the Bone
14 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that use new fossils to add insight into the geographic origins of groups. The first paper looks at some fossil freshwa...
Podcast 287 - NAPC 2024
30 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang convenes in Ann Arbor, Michigan for the 2024 North American Paleontological Convention. We discuss the various talks we saw and highlig...
Podcast 286 - Dinosaurs, Sabertooths, and Mojitos; Oh My!
16 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that study ecological changes in the evolutionary history of some charismatic ancient animal groups. The first paper us...
Podcast 285 - All Things Big and Small
02 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look into long term trends in body size over time. The first paper looks at body size trends in corals, and the se...
Podcast 284 - How Complete Is Your Shark
19 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the shark fossil record. The first paper looks into the completeness of the record, and the second paper di...
Podcast 283 - Stolen Podcast
05 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers about an interesting locality in South America and the various body fossils and ichnofossils found in this locality. Th...
Podcast 282 - Early Fishies
21 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the morphology and ecology of early fishes. The first paper investigates a hypothesis for how the pectoral ...
Podcast 281 - Climate and Extinction
07 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the correlation between climate change and extinction risk in the fossil record. The first paper uses clim...
Podcast 280 - Just a Weird Little Guy
24 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang talks about two papers that look through existing museum collections to discover some fascinating new discoveries. Meanwhile, Curt may be ha...
Podcast 279 - Frogcast
10 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the fossil frog record. The first paper identifies fossil frogs from Antarctica, and the second paper look...
Podcast 278 - The Wrong Shapes
25 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that investigate evidence of symbiosis in the fossil record. The first paper looks at wormy organisms living inside Cam...
Podcast 277 - Bird Tracks For Fun and Profit
11 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at Mesozoic tracks that may or may not have been made by an avian archosaur. Meanwhile, Curt becomes activate...
Podcast 276c - In the Woods Somewhere Part 3
28 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A cleric, a wizard, and a paladin finally make their way into the center of the woods. What will they find at the end of their journey? "The Builder",...
Podcast 276b - In the Woods Somewhere Part 2
14 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A paladin, a wizard, and a cleric continue their trek through a totally normal nature preserve where I am sure nothing bad will happen whatsoever. "Th...
Podcast 276a - In the Woods Somewhere Part 1
31 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A cleric, a wizard, and a paladin prepare for a trip through a dangerous wood. What could go wrong? "The Builder", "Constancy Part Three" by Kevin Mac...
Podcast 275 - Big N Wormy
17 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at... well... let's be honest here... we really didn't have much of a hook. You see, James was slammed with...
Podcast 274 - Cause and Effect and Cause
03 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers about taphonomy and its influence on our understanding of the fossil record. The first paper looks at how taphonomic pr...
Podcast 273 - The Hunt for Red Plankton
19 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at plankton through time. The first paper looks at some Cambrian acritarch fossils and shows that they are li...
Podcast 272 - The Tardigrade Cast
05 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that deal with the evolution of tardigrades. The first paper looks at some fossil tardigrades in amber, and the second ...
Podcast 271 - Feel It In My Guts
22 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the gut contents and traces of ancient animals. The first paper reconstructs gut traces (or lack thereof) ...
Podcast 270 - Rafting Away
08 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the provide clues to the modern biogeographic distribution of species, specifically bees and new world m...
Podcast 269 - Baba Yaga's Whale Facts As Written By ChatGPT
24 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at fossils of the early whale group Basilosauridae. Specially, these papers describe the largest whale recove...
Podcast 268 - Tooth Hurts
10 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that investigate the feeding strategies of ancient animals, including a fossil stingray and an ancient bird. Meanwhile...
Podcast 267 - The Blender Episode
27 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that use Blender 3d modeling techniques (and other functional morphology techniques) to study arthropod morphology....
Podcast 266 - Tooth and Jaw
13 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that looks at mammal jaws and teeth. The first paper uses many different analyses to study how the mammal jaw evolved,...
Podcast 265 - Big Boy Season
30 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at examples of unusually large animals in the fossil record; one large lacewing larvae and one very large ski...
Podcast 264 - Old Elvis Taxon
16 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the ecomorphology of Mesozoic swimming reptiles. The first paper investigates swimming strategies in vario...
Podcast 263 - In the Presence of ALAN
02 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the impact of humans on bird populations. The first paper looks at the history of a condor nesting site in...
Podcast 262 - Take It To The Mat
18 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that study the paleoecology of the Ediacaran fauna. The first paper looks at environmental information that can be glea...
Podcast 261 - Bad Coping Strategies
04 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers about inferring life habit and ecology from extinct animals. The first paper summarizes the data for ichthyosaur birth ...
Podcast 260 - Making Due With What You Have
21 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two functional morphology papers. The first paper looks at eye placement and skull morphology in Thylacosmilus and the second pap...
Podcast 259 - Niche Evolution or Conservatism
07 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at patterns of niche conservatism or niche evolution in the fossil record. The first paper looks at the polle...
Podcast 258 - Problematica or Not?
23 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at some Cambrian problematic fossils and find new clues that allow us to determine what groups they might bel...
Podcast 257 - Slow Fliers
09 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that use morphometric studies to investigate patterns of ecomorphy in the fossil record. Specifically, they look at two...
Podcast 256 - The Podcast Is Coming From Inside The House
26 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the body size of ancient animals. The first paper uses new metrics to estimate the size of the ancient fis...
Podcast 255 - Wait How Long Have We Been Doing This?
12 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang celebrates their 10 year anniversary by talking about two papers on the same topic that are 10 years apart. Both papers take a critical look...
Podcast 254 - Forking Trilobites
26 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers about trilobite evolution and morphology. The first paper looks at disparity and taxonomic trends of trilobites across ...
Podcast 253 - Moving Out
12 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at how species respond to climate change. The first paper uses models to study how bird migration patterns ma...
Podcast 252 - It's A Live (Birth)
29 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at live birth in squamates. The first paper is fossil evidence of live birth in an ancient snake species, and...
Podcast 251c - D&D Part 3 - Hearts and Minds
15 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After meeting the denizens of this vast contraption and escaping the tight and claustrophobic engine our heroes have nowhere to go but up. Will th...
Podcast 251b - D&D Part 2 - Deep within the Machine
01 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After managing a precarious ascent up a magical clockwork limb we rejoin our heroes Bepo the Bard (James), Bix the Druid (Aly), Gregg the Ranger (Cu...
Podcast 251a - D&D Part 1 - In the Footsteps of Giants
18 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dispatched to pursue a giant roaming monolith laying waste wherever it walks join our heroes Bepo the Bard (James), Bix the Druid (Aly), Gregg the ...
Podcast 250 - Penguin Death Land 2; Death Harder
04 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang goes back to their favorite hypothetical deathtrap amusement park, Penguin Deathland. They discuss two papers that look at the taphonomy of ...
Podcast 249 - The Fishiest Podcast
20 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers from a new locality of early fishes that give a lot of new insights into fish evolution. Meanwhile, Curt loves new Disc...
Podcast 248 - Chucky D Facts
06 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at two papers that discuss the origin and evolution of a sessile filter feeding life habit. The first paper d...
Podcast 247 - GSA 2022 Denver Meeting
23 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
James, Curt, Carlie, and Brendan talk about the 2022 Geological Society of America Meeting in Denver.
Podcast 246 - Fossil Record of Parental Care
09 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang talks about two papers that look at evidence of parental care in the fossil record, in early synapsids and in insects. Meanwhile, Amanda is ...
Podcast 245 - The Fishopodcast
25 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the complicated path tetrapods took to getting on land. The first paper looks at a more derived stem tetra...
Podcast 244 - What is This Clade's Time to Mammal?
11 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the evolutionary changes occurring in early synapsids. The first paper suggests that some synapsids may ha...
Podcast 243 - Giving Amanda New Phobias
28 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the ecological impacts of major extinction events. The first paper looks at the ecological stability of ma...
Podcast 242 - CT Scan Your Blood Starved Beasts
14 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that analyze exceptional fossils using CT scanning. The first paper looks at an exceptionally preserved vampire squid, ...
Podcast 241 - The Shark and the Whale
31 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at what past sharks might have eaten. The first paper uses nitrogen isotopes to determine the trophic level o...