Palaeo After Dark
Episodes
Podcast 240 - Chibi Gar
17 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the impact of the end Cretaceous mass extinction. The first paper looks at ecomorphospace changes in mosa...
Podcast 239 - Up To Date Memes
03 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at how combining fossil and modern data can affect our understanding of evolution. The first paper looks at s...
Podcast 238 - Plants With Strong Goku Energy
19 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the co-evolution of plants and herbivores. The first paper finds the earliest evidence of a unique type of...
Podcast 237 - Day Walkers
05 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers which use morphology to infer behavior in the fossil record. The first paper looks at the origins of the "killer whale"...
Podcast 236 - Paint By Melanosome
22 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that show examples of exceptional preservation. The first paper looks at melanosome patterns in pterosaur barbules, an...
Podcast 235 - Not Easy Being Ceratopsian
08 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the function of the ceratopsian frill. One paper looks at forensic evidence to understand the cause of an ...
Podcast 234 - Cool Trackway Bro
24 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers which discuss the fascinating information which can be gleaned from studying fossil trackways, particularly the taphono...
Podcast 233 - Croc Reply Guys
10 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two sets of papers about how we study crocodylomorphs, with each of these topics being replies to previous studies. The first pape...
Podcast 232 - Obligatory Dinosaur Podcast 2: Dino Harder
27 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two taxonomy papers about dinosaurs, fulfilling their contractual obligation to produce one dinosaur-centric podcast every 8 to 10...
Podcast 231 - Disappointing Birthday
13 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang celebrates their 9th podcast birthday with a discussion on evolutionary rates. The first paper looks at how rates of body size evolution var...
Podcast 230 - A Rambling Time
27 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at topics in biogeography. The first paper reviews the concepts of cradles and museums (and whether we should ...
Podcast 229 - Non-Fishable Tetrapods
13 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that explore the functional morphology of ancient groups. The first paper looks at soft tissue in ammonites which can b...
Podcast 228 - Clubbed in the Eye
30 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at unique morphological features of fossil animals. The first paper looks at a new Ankylosauria species that ...
Podcast 227c - The Priest and the Peddler Part 2
16 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang celebrates the end of the year by taking another break to play Fiasco, a crime/noir storytelling game by Bully Pit Games. What was that y...
Podcast 227b - The Priest and the Peddler Part 1
02 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The gang celebrates the end of the year by taking another break to play Fiasco, a crime/noir storytelling game by Bully Pit Games. Have you heard ...
Podcast 227a - Building the 2021 Fiasco
19 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's the end of another year, and the Palaeo After Dark team are getting together for another Fiasco. Come join us as James, Amanda, Curt, Ally, and ...
Podcast 226 - Insert Fleetwood Mac Tusk Joke Here
05 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the evolutionary history of unique teeth. The first paper looks at the history of tusks and tusk-like stru...
Podcast 225 - Columbo Meets the Caiman
21 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at how trace fossils can give important clues to ancient ecological interactions. The first paper identifies ...
Podcast 224 - Second Times the Charm
07 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Random computer glitches are unable to stop the gang from delivering another podcast! This week, they focus on two papers that look at the importance...
Podcast 223 - Amanda Loves Watership Down
24 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the impact of ecological interactions on the evolutionary history of groups. The first looks at potential ...
Podcast 222 - Static Hiss
10 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at evolutionary changes in animal groups after the End Cretaceous Mass Extinction. The first paper looks at m...
Podcast 221 - Ramble On
26 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at patterns of speciation and extinction and relate those patterns to shifts in climate. The first paper look...
Podcast 220 - The Bone Gnome
12 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the fossil record of fishes. The first paper looks at the ontogeny of ancient lampreys, and the second pap...
Podcast 219 - Brachiopod Vape Bros
29 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at examples of cohabitation and unique ecological interactions in the Cambrian. The first paper looks at mult...
Podcast 218 - FEET!
15 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at trackway fossils. The first paper uses a modern study to determine how many tracks are needed to get a rea...
Podcast 217 - In the Thick of It
01 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers with… honestly a pretty flimsy link connecting them together. The first paper looks at size shifts in the dinosaur gr...
Podcast 216 - Salty Tooth
18 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at ecological patterns in the Mesozoic. The first paper looks at ecomorphic trends in Triassic herbivorous te...
Podcast 215 - Ostensibly a Science Podcast
04 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that are loosely connected by the fact that they include mammals. The first paper looks at the biomechanics of a type o...
Podcast 214 - Dead Mammals
20 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two examples where extinction may have been very important in directing the evolution of mammals through time. The first paper loo...
Podcast 213 - Bringing our C Game
06 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers about unique adaptations in the fossil record, the first is a paper about pterosaurs that have opposable thumbs and the...
Podcast 212 - Ruining T-Rex
23 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that talk about T-Rex, and also the interesting way that these papers were discussed in popular culture. The first pape...
Podcast 211 - Fossil Ecological Networks
09 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang talks about two papers that look at changes in ecological interactions through deep time. The first paper looks at how ecological networks c...
Podcast 210 - Mega Shark Doot Do Do Do
25 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the ecology of the ancient shark Megalodon. One paper uses our knowledge of modern sharks to fill in the m...
Podcast 209 - Spacing Out
11 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at how animals take up space in a community. The first paper looks at ancient reef systems and uses spatial a...
Podcast 208 - Stable States
28 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discuss two papers that look at community structure in fossil and modern biota. The first paper looks at the size distribution of dinosaur c...
Podcast 207 - Sneks and the Toad Wars
14 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at snake evolution and ecology. The first paper looks at the evolutionary steps required for venom spitting ...
Podcast 206 - In The Face
28 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at evidence for past behavior in the fossil record using both fossil and modern data. The first looks at the ...
Podcast 205 - Horse Couture
14 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at how competition, environment, and biogeography affect macroevolutionary patterns. The first paper looks at...
Podcast 204 - Cool Arthropod Bro
31 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at interesting new arthropod fossil finds. The first paper is the discovery of a new early arthropod which co...
Podcast 203c - Mars Inc. Part 2
17 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang celebrates the end of the year by taking another break to play Fiasco, a crime/noir storytelling game by Bully Pit Games. Thank you for s...
Podcast 203b - Mars Inc. Part 1
03 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gang celebrates the end of the year by taking another break to play Fiasco, a crime/noir storytelling game by Bully Pit Games. Congratulations...
Podcast 203a - Planning the Fiasco
20 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This year, we're peeling back to curtain to give everyone a peak at how we build our holiday fiasco episode. Join us as Curt, James, Amanda, Aly, Bre...
Podcast 202 - The Great Plant American Interchange
06 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that examine the roles of competition, biogeography, and niche evolution in macroevolution. The first paper looks at th...
Podcast 201 - It's Got Legs!
22 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers about things with legs…. and the word snake is their name. Honestly, we've had flimsier excuses for a podcast, just g...
Podcast 200 - Going Full Circle of Teeth
08 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang celebrates hitting the milestone of 200 podcast episodes by returning to a topic related to their first episode, sharks. The first paper loo...
Podcast 199 - It's Complicated; Ecological Convergence
25 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look in detail at examples of convergence in the fossil record. The first paper uses multivariate statistics to cr...
Podcast 198 - Ugly Baby
11 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers about interesting finds in the bones of fossil vertebrates. The first paper looks at the evolution of bony parts in ear...
Podcast 197 - Pie Heresy
27 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that investigate niche partitioning and the ecological impacts on bird beak evolution. Honestly, this podcast is just a...
Podcast 196 - High Quality Discount Corpses
13 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the wealth of information left behind on fossil bones which can let us know about the many organisms which...
Podcast 195 - Big Feetz
30 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that use the trace fossil record to give us a more detailed understanding of the impacts of mass extinctions. Meanwhile...
Podcast 194 - Pedals the Crocodile
16 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers about the ecological data that we can learn from looking at trace fossils. The first paper looks at a unique ancient cro...
Podcast 193 - Making Monsters
02 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discuss two papers that describe unique animal fossils which have been known but haven't (until now) been formally described. The first is "C...
Podcast 192 - Egg
19 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Hey now, you're an all-star, get the game on, go play. Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid! All that glitters is a long discussion ...
Podcast 191 - Turning Points in Plant History
05 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at important points in the evolutionary history of land plants. The first paper is a review of the available d...
Podcast 190 - Arthropod Evo Devo
21 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers about arthropod evolution and development. One paper focuses on the evolution of arthropod segmentation, and the other s...
Podcast 189 - Big Bois
07 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
(Editor's Note: This episode was recorded a month ago. Everyone at Palaeo After Dark stands with the protesters fighting for justice. Black Lives Matt...
Podcast 188 - Bird Brains and Propeller Tails
24 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers about archosaurs. The first paper looks at the trends in brain size relative to body size in birds over their entire evo...
Podcast 187 - Taphonomy Train Wreck
10 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers about unique taphonomic conditions. One paper describes how these strange "train wrecks" of crinoid columnals might have...
Podcast 186 - Fish Fingers and Mammal Fins
26 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at modifications of the vertebrate hand. The first looks at how the lobe fin evolved into the vertebrate hand,...
Podcast 185 - As the Worm Turns
12 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
That gang discusses two papers about fossil soft-bodied Cambrian organisms; one of which is a unique lobopod and the other is a fossil worm. Meanwhile...
Podcast 184 - Lockdown Baby
29 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang talks about two papers which look at the ecology of the Ediacaran. One paper uses trace fossils to infer how ecological systems change as we ...
Podcast 183 - Nobody Wins; The Human Impact on Our Future Fossil Record
15 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the human impact on the fossil record. The first paper runs multiple model studies to try and determine whe...
Podcast 182 - The Pain; Happy Birthday
01 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang celebrates their 7th anniversary by inflicting pain on themselves for your amusement by discussing a classic paper, Gould's "Paradox of the F...
Podcast 181 - Before the Pain; The Root of the Problem
16 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers about unique fossil preservation. One paper looks at how fossil root systems can inform our understanding of early Devon...
Podcast 180 - Worms and Snails
02 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang returns back from their winter break to discuss two papers that look at the important information we can glean from soft-bodied organisms in ...
Podcast 179 - Pollinators and Begging Grubs; Studies of Insect Behavior
19 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers on insect behavior, one fossil study and one modern study. The fossil study illustrates a cool example of how amber can ...
Podcast 178b - "Paradise Falling" Part 2
05 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The gang celebrates the end of the year by taking another break to play Fiasco, a crime/noir storytelling game by Bully Pit Games. Here is the conclus...
Podcast 178a - "Paradise Falling" Part 1
22 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang celebrates the end of the year by taking another break to play Fiasco, a crime/noir storytelling game by Bully Pit Games. This campaign will ...
Podcast 177 - Grow a Spine
08 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at how the morphology of tetrapods (animals with four limbs and a backbone) has changed over time. One paper l...
Podcast 176 - Much Ado About Teeth
24 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at changes in teeth through time. The first paper looks at the earliest example of heterodont teeth in tetrapo...
Podcast 175 - Big Data Studies
10 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that use large data sets to look at big picture patterns in evolution and ecology. Specifically, they look at one paper ...
Podcast 174 - Feeling Drained; Parasites in the Fossil Record
27 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang talks about two papers that look at potential examples of parasitism in the fossil record. One paper finds possible parasites attaching to an...
Podcast 173 - Early Plants
13 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look into early plant evolution and ecology. The first paper looks at some evidence from fossil spores to determine...
Podcast 172 - GSA 2019
29 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
James, Brendan, Aly, Carlie, Anna, and Curt gather together at the 2019 Geological Society of America Meeting in Phoenix and discuss the various paleo...
Podcast 171 - Birds Get Swole in New Zealand
15 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses some very interesting papers about bird fossils in New Zealand. These papers describe how many different types of birds ended up on...
Podcast 170 - The Impact of Taphonomy; On Conodonts and Dinosaur Nesting Sites
01 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two very different papers that are sort of united together based upon the importance of taphonomy. First, they look at a paper abou...
Podcast 169 - Learning about Agnostids
18 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang takes some time to discuss two papers about agnostids, a strange group of trilobite-like arthropods whose evolutionary history has been the s...
Podcast 168 - Alligator Teeth and Too Small Cats
04 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the diets of past and present crocodylomorphs using patterns in teeth shape and enamel. It turns out, past ...
Podcast 167 - Jet Lagged Pterosaur Eggs
21 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
[TRIGGER WARNER: Some dead baby jokes because we were in a very weird mental place, and also way too much rambling conversations about Star Wars] The ...
Podcast 166 - NAPC 2019
07 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We all just got back from the 2019 North American Paleontological Conference at UC Riverside with an extra long (over 5 hours) episode. Join James, Ca...
Podcast 165 - Sharks for St. Crispin's Day
23 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang have a "Shark Week" and discuss two papers about the ecology of modern tiger sharks. The first paper talks about a unique feeding strategy fo...
Podcast 164 - Rails and Snails
09 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang talks about two papers that are interested in iterative evolution, the repeated evolution of the same or similar morphological characteristic...
Podcast 163 - Triassic Fish Questions
26 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at the extinction and survivorship patterns of clades across the Triassic mass extinction event. Specifically,...
Podcast 162 - Turtle Power
12 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses a few papers that look at the evolutionary history, biogeography, and life habit of Mesozoic turtles. Specifically, they look at a ...
Podcast 161 - Whales Not Whales
28 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at how various animals associated with whales have reacted to environmental shifts over the last several hundr...
Podcast 160 - Weasel Time
14 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang finds two papers that discuss the ecology of fossil mustelids, the objectively best group of mammals. Both of these papers look at creative s...
Podcast 159 - Rocks Fall Everyone Dies; The Cretaceous Mass Extinction
31 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers about the Cretaceous mass extinction event (i.e. the time that the non-avian dinosaurs died). Specifically, they talk ab...
Podcast 158 - Is Eevee a Mammal?
17 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang celebrates their 6th anniversary by taking some time to talk about two papers about early mammal ecology. The first paper looks at some uniqu...
Podcast 157 - A Sticky Situation; More Talk of Vertebrates in Amber
03 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers about the interesting vertebrate remains in Myanmar amber, including a neonate snake and an Enantiornithean bird, and d...
Podcast 156 - Never Underestimate the Little Snake
17 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discuss two papers that look at the links between morphology and ecology. Specifically, they discuss a fossil marine reptile with a very uniq...
Podcast 155 - But What Would It Taste Like
03 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that use fossil evidence to interpret physiology and functional morphology of extinct animals. First, we discuss a new s...
Podcast 154 - Heyo Hyoliths
20 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The gang gets together to record their first episode back from the holidays. And what better topic to discuss than hyoliths, those strange shelly Camb...
Podcast 153 - Holiday Self Care Spectacular
06 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
At the end of a long year, the gang takes a moment to reflect on the various strategies they use to try and keep themselves sane when things get stres...
Podcast 152 - Community Reboot
23 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The gang looks over two older review papers that are interested in communities and trophic disruption. What is important in keeping communities togeth...
Podcast 151 - New Discoveries, Dickinsonia and Sauropodomorphs
09 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that use new findings to upend some of our previous interpretations of fossil taxa. First, they talk about the new bioge...
Podcast 150 - Podcasting About the Big Boys
25 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The gang gets together to discuss two papers that are sort of… kind of… very loosely held together by… size? First, they discuss a paper looking...
Podcast 149 - GSA 2018
12 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Come and join us for an extra length episode where we discuss the talks we saw during the 2018 Geological Society of America Meeting at Indianapolis. ...
Podcast 148 - Pterosaur Pelvises
28 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that use the pelvis and spine material from pterosaur fossils to infer locomotion of these extinct flying archosaurs, Sp...
Podcast 147 - Otters and Sharks and Wolves Oh My
14 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The gang returns to one of their favorite pet topics, food! This week, we discuss two papers that investigate what different animals are eating. Speci...
Podcast 146 - Not All Insects Are in Amber
30 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The gang discusses two papers that look at our amazing fossil insect record. One of these studies looks at preserved fly pupae and shows some unexpect...