Of Collective Behavior and Trilobites Reading scientific papers can be a daunting prospect. Even the titles can contain layers of jargon. On Past Time, we work diligently to break down the barriers of science to make the discoveries of science for audiences of all ages. In this episode, we experiment with a new method: breaking down every word in the title of a scientific paper. It might seem like a little task, but it is a way to introduce people to big ideas! This time, we introduce big ideas about trilobites! For this episode, we delve into the journal Scientific Reports and the article “Collective behaviour in 480-million-year-old trilobite arthropods from Morocco.” by Jean Vannier of the Université de Lyon and his colleagues. This title doesn’t have a ton of jargon, but it presents a great chance to look at INVERTEBRATE animals…gathering into a conga line. Two examples of Ampyx priscus lines from the Fezouata Shale of Morocco. Image modified from Figure 2 of Vannier et al. (2019).Well, not an actual conga line…but the fossil trilobite fossils in this paper are definitely situated in a single-file lines. These specimens of the species Ampyx priscus come from an amazing fossil deposit in Morocco. They teach us about the anatomy of trilobites, but they preserve important clues about the behaviors of ancient animals. Join us as we learn how and why trilobites—and living invertebrates—gather together in collective behaviors. Dig Deeper…  To read the original open-access paper, check out this link! This popular article by LiveScience details the discovery. For a classic Past Time episode about trilobites, check out our interview with paleontologist Brenda Hunda! To learn more about trilobites, check out this laboratory exercise from an undergraduate paleontology course at Kansas University by Drs. Michelle Casey and Bruce Lieberman. To see some modern invertebrate conga lines, join Jacques Cousteau in this classic documentary about the spiny lobster! Conga lines begin around the 33:00 mark.

<h1>Of Collective Behavior and Trilobites</h1> Reading scientific papers can be a daunting prospect. Even the titles can contain layers of jargon. On Past Time, we work diligently to break down the barriers of science to make the discoveries of science for audiences of all ages. In this episode, we experiment with a new method: breaking down every word in the title of a scientific paper. It might seem like a little task, but it is a way to introduce people to big ideas! This time, we introduce big ideas about trilobites! For this episode, we delve into the journal Scientific Reports and the article “Collective behaviour in 480-million-year-old trilobite arthropods from Morocco.” by Jean Vannier of the Université de Lyon and his colleagues. This title doesn’t have a ton of jargon, but it presents a great chance to look at INVERTEBRATE animals…gathering into a conga line. <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/AmpyxCongas.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Two examples of Ampyx priscus lines from the Fezouata Shale of Morocco. Image modified from Figure 2 of Vannier et al. (2019). Well, not an actual conga line…but the fossil trilobite fossils in this paper are definitely situated in a single-file lines. These specimens of the species Ampyx priscus come from an amazing fossil deposit in Morocco. They teach us about the anatomy of trilobites, but they preserve important clues about the behaviors of ancient animals. Join us as we learn how and why trilobites—and living invertebrates—gather together in collective behaviors. <h2>Dig Deeper…</h2> <ul> <li>To read the original open-access paper, check out <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-51012-3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this link</a>!</li> <li>This <a href="https://www.livescience.com/trilobites-fossilized-in-queue.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">popular article by LiveScience</a> details the discovery.</li> <li>For a classic Past Time episode about trilobites, check out our <a href="https://www.pasttime.org/podcast/episode-11-trilobites-and-the-cincinnati-sea/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">interview with paleontologist Brenda Hunda</a>!</li> <li>To learn more about trilobites, check out this <a href="http://phylo.bio.ku.edu/fossil/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Introduction-to-the-Trilobites.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">laboratory exercise</a> from an undergraduate paleontology course at Kansas University by Drs. Michelle Casey and Bruce Lieberman.</li> <li>To see some modern invertebrate conga lines, join Jacques Cousteau in this<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeKBwze6IEI" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> classic documentary</a> about the spiny lobster! Conga lines begin around the 33:00 mark.</li></ul>

Episode 34 – March of the Trilobites

PAST TIME RETURNS! After three and a half months of discovering how insanely busy a museum curator can be, I (Adam) am back to past times with a brand new episode of Past Time! Join me on a journey back to the Smithsonian Institution to learn about the whole history of sloths. We’ll also meet RYAN HAUPT, an ally in sloth paleontology and science podcasting! Ryan Haupt: Master of Sloth A Ph. D. candidate at the University of Wyoming, a fellow with the Geological Society of America, a researcher at the Smithsonian Institution, AND a podcaster…Ryan Haupt is a busy guy. His research focuses on the roles of sloths in both ancient and modern ecosystems. Balancing studies of sloth biology in the jungles of Panama and laboratory work on ground sloth bones and teeth, Ryan was the perfect guest to teach us in this episode of Past Time. He might even throw in some sloth coprolites (fossil feces) for the heck of it! Together, Ryan and I explore over thirty million years of sloth history and HOW we know what we know about extinct sloth species. Ryan studied sloths in the jungles of Panama. This photo shows him holding a mother sloth complete with a baby gripping her chest!Science…Sort Of Ryan helps lead the team on the popular science podcast Science…Sort Of! He is one a huge team of ‘paleo-pals’ that produce the series, which focuses on scientists from all fields: from physics to chemistry to geology to biology! Science…Sort Of presents scientific ideas to a broad audience in a free-form conversational format. The series has featured noted science communicators like astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, science writer Carl Zimmer, and yours truly! But Ryan and his friends what scientists of all backgrounds on the podcast, to get their stories out to the largest possible audience! DIG DEEPER – Science…Sort of.    Explore the podcast at their website: https://sciencesortof.com/ Follow them on Facebook and Twitter! If you like what you hear, you can support the podcast on Patreon and receive updates and special rewards!    Sloth Conservation and Research    Check out the Sloth Conservation Foundation. Ryan is a member of the board for the foundation. Visit your closest museum. If you are in North OR South America, it almost certainly has some fossils of a ground sloth! For the best of ground sloth fossils, visit the American Museum of Natural History (New York, NY). SO MANY SLOTHS!      The sloth display at the Hall of Mammals at the American Museum of Natural History includes several giant ground sloths! Photograph by Wikimedia user Dallas Krentzel (CC License 2.0).Click here for a classic Past Time episode featuring Thalassocnus, the sloths that swam in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Peru. For the episode field guide, click here. Acknowledgments  To check out the giant ground sloth model that gave its likeness to our cover image, visit the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville, Virginia. Jungle background image from Wikimedia user Dirk Vander Made (Creative Commons 1.0 license).

<h2>PAST TIME RETURNS!</h2> After three and a half months of discovering how insanely busy a museum curator can be, I (Adam) am back to past times with a brand new episode of Past Time! Join me on a journey back to the Smithsonian Institution to learn about the whole history of sloths. We’ll also meet RYAN HAUPT, an ally in sloth paleontology and science podcasting! <h3>Ryan Haupt: Master of Sloth</h3> A Ph. D. candidate at the University of Wyoming, a fellow with the Geological Society of America, a researcher at the Smithsonian Institution, AND a podcaster…Ryan Haupt is a busy guy. His research focuses on the roles of sloths in both ancient and modern ecosystems. Balancing studies of sloth biology in the jungles of Panama and laboratory work on ground sloth bones and teeth, Ryan was the perfect guest to teach us in this episode of Past Time. He might even throw in some sloth coprolites (fossil feces) for the heck of it! Together, Ryan and I explore over thirty million years of sloth history and HOW we know what we know about extinct sloth species. <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/holding_mamma_sloth.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Ryan studied sloths in the jungles of Panama. This photo shows him holding a mother sloth complete with a baby gripping her chest! <h3>Science…Sort Of</h3> Ryan helps lead the team on the popular science podcast Science…Sort Of! He is one a huge team of ‘paleo-pals’ that produce the series, which focuses on scientists from all fields: from physics to chemistry to geology to biology! Science…Sort Of presents scientific ideas to a broad audience in a free-form conversational format. The series has featured noted science communicators like astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, science writer Carl Zimmer, and yours truly! But Ryan and his friends what scientists of all backgrounds on the podcast, to get their stories out to the largest possible audience! <h2>DIG DEEPER –</h2> <h3>Science…Sort of.</h3> <ul> <li> <ul> <li>Explore the podcast at their website: <a href="https://sciencesortof.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://sciencesortof.com/</a></li> <li>Follow them on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sciencesortof/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/sciencesortof" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a>!</li> <li>If you like what you hear, you can support the podcast on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/sciencesortof" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Patreon</a> and receive updates and special rewards!</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h3>Sloth Conservation and Research</h3> <ul> <li> <ul> <li>Check out the <a href="https://slothconservation.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sloth Conservation Foundation</a>. Ryan is a member of the board for the foundation.</li> <li>Visit your closest museum. If you are in North OR South America, it almost certainly has some fossils of a ground sloth! <ul> <li>For the best of ground sloth fossils, visit the <a href="https://www.amnh.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">American Museum of Natural History</a> (New York, NY). SO MANY SLOTHS!</li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Ground_sloths_Wikimedia_DallasKrentzel.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>The sloth display at the Hall of Mammals at the American Museum of Natural History includes several giant ground sloths! Photograph by Wikimedia user Dallas Krentzel (CC License 2.0). Click here for <a href="https://www.pasttime.org/podcast/quick-bite-weird-whales-and-swimming-sloths/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">a classic Past Time episode</a> featuring Thalassocnus, the sloths that swam in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Peru. For the episode field guide, <a href="https://www.pasttime.org/2014/05/quick-bite-field-guide-weird-whales-and-swimming-sloths/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a>. <h2>Acknowledgments</h2> <ul> <li>To check out the giant ground sloth model that gave its likeness to our cover image, visit the <a href="https://www.vmnh.net/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Virginia Museum of Natural History</a> in Martinsville, Virginia.</li> <li>Jungle background image from Wikimedia user Dirk Vander Made (Creative Commons 1.0 license).</li></ul>

Episode 33 – The Story of the Sloth

Episode 32 – The Changing Face of Crocodiles INTRODUCTION TO GROWING UP –  Every living thing grows up, and this episode of “Past Time” explores the evolution of the growing process. Specifically, we explore the evolution of growth in crocodiles, and how changes to the growing process at the earliest stages of crocodile development help produce the wide array of crocodile snout shapes we see today and in the fossil record. Increase the rate of snout growth in an embryonic croc, and you can produce an adult with a narrow, tubular snout like an Indian gharial or an African slender-snouted crocodile. Slow that process down, and you can produce an adult with a short, rounded snout like a broad-snouted caiman or an African dwarf crocodile. THE QUEST FOR CROCODILE SKULLS –   Paleontologist/Developmental biologist Zachary Morris spritzes water over an incubator filled with Alligator eggs.Our guest this week is Zachary Morris, a Ph.D. student at Harvard University who studies growth in crocodylians. He wields both the fossil record and the skeletons of modern crocodylians—from tiny embryos to giant adults—to study that very topic. To examine the shape changes in the skull of crocodylians through the growth process, Zach has traveled the world to collect eggs, embryos, juveniles, and adults to build 3D models of skull anatomy. He delved into the collections of museums around the world to find nests and eggs of rare crocodiles that were collected by explorers hundreds of years ago. Zoos were also a critical resource for eggs of breeding species. DIG DEEPER – Further reading and links –  The original paper by Zach and his research team was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B in Spring 2019. To learn more about Zach and his research, visit his research site. To see all the snout shapes that exist in modern crocodylians and their fossil cousins, check out this amazing review by crocodylian expert Dr. Christopher Brochu. If you’re interested in visiting ALL the crocodylian species in the world, travel to Florida for a visit to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. It’s not so much a farm as a glorious reptile zoo with a deep dedication to the research and conservation of endangered reptile species. For more information on reproduction in modern crocodylians—from mating rituals to nesting to parenting strategies—the IUCN Crocodylian Specialist Group produced this amazing summary.  Media Credits –  Image of a hatching baby crocodile from an etching by Heath. Used under CC 4.0 license courtesy of Wellcome Images https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_young_crocodile_hatching_from_the_egg._Etching_by_Heath._Wellcome_V0021210.jpg   Image of African Dwarf Crocodile from Wikimedia and a photograph by Charlie Marshall. Used under a CC 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pygmy_Crocodile_at_Bristol_Zoo_(17987351179).jpg   Image of African Slender-Snouted Crocodile from Wikimedia and a photograph by Tim Strater. Used under a CC 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pantserkrokodil_(14783902910).jpg  

<h1>Episode 32 – The Changing Face of Crocodiles</h1> <h2>INTRODUCTION TO GROWING UP – </h2> Every living thing grows up, and this episode of “Past Time” explores the evolution of the growing process. Specifically, we explore the evolution of growth in crocodiles, and how changes to the growing process at the earliest stages of crocodile development help produce the wide array of crocodile snout shapes we see today and in the fossil record. Increase the rate of snout growth in an embryonic croc, and you can produce an adult with a narrow, tubular snout like an Indian gharial or an African slender-snouted crocodile. Slow that process down, and you can produce an adult with a short, rounded snout like a broad-snouted caiman or an African dwarf crocodile. <h2>THE QUEST FOR CROCODILE SKULLS – </h2> <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ZachPhoto.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Paleontologist/Developmental biologist Zachary Morris spritzes water over an incubator filled with Alligator eggs. Our guest this week is Zachary Morris, a Ph.D. student at Harvard University who studies growth in crocodylians. He wields both the fossil record and the skeletons of modern crocodylians—from tiny embryos to giant adults—to study that very topic. To examine the shape changes in the skull of crocodylians through the growth process, Zach has traveled the world to collect eggs, embryos, juveniles, and adults to build 3D models of skull anatomy. He delved into the collections of museums around the world to find nests and eggs of rare crocodiles that were collected by explorers hundreds of years ago. Zoos were also a critical resource for eggs of breeding species. <h2>DIG DEEPER –</h2> <h3>Further reading and links –</h3> <ul> <li>The <a href="http://o https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2018.2389" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">original paper</a> by Zach and his research team was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B in Spring 2019.</li> <li>To learn more about Zach and his research, visit <a href="http://o https://mcz.harvard.edu/people/zachary-morris" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">his research site</a>.</li> <li>To see all the snout shapes that exist in modern crocodylians and their fossil cousins, check out this amazing review by crocodylian expert Dr. Christopher Brochu.</li> <li>If you’re interested in visiting ALL the crocodylian species in the world, travel to Florida for a visit to the <a href="https://www.alligatorfarm.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">St. Augustine Alligator Farm</a>. It’s not so much a farm as a glorious reptile zoo with a deep dedication to the research and conservation of endangered reptile species.</li> <li>For more information on reproduction in modern crocodylians—from mating rituals to nesting to parenting strategies—the IUCN Crocodylian Specialist Group produced <a href="http://o http://www.iucncsg.org/pages/Reproduction.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this amazing summary</a>.</li> </ul> <h3>Media Credits –</h3> <ul> <li>Image of a hatching baby crocodile from an etching by Heath. Used under CC 4.0 license courtesy of Wellcome Images <ul> <li><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_young_crocodile_hatching_from_the_egg._Etching_by_Heath._Wellcome_V0021210.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_young_crocodile_hatching_from_the_egg._Etching_by_Heath._Wellcome_V0021210.jpg</a></li> </ul> </li> <li>Image of African Dwarf Crocodile from Wikimedia and a photograph by Charlie Marshall. Used under a CC 2.0 license. <ul> <li><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pygmy_Crocodile_at_Bristol_Zoo_(17987351179).jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pygmy_Crocodile_at_Bristol_Zoo_(17987351179).jpg</a></li> </ul> </li> <li>Image of African Slender-Snouted Crocodile from Wikimedia and a photograph by Tim Strater. Used under a CC 2.0 license. <ul> <li><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pantserkrokodil_(14783902910).jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pantserkrokodil_(14783902910).jpg</a></li> </ul> </li></ul>

Episode 32 – The Changing Face of Crocodiles

THE FIRST FROGS OF NORTH AMERICA Every discovery we make in natural history happens thanks to specimens. Fossil bones, shells, footprints, coprolites, tissue samples—even field notes and photograms—are the building blocks scientists use to tell the story of life on our planet. On Past Time, we talk a LOT about the contributions of museums and scientists to the story of life. However, we don’t often address the specific specimens that help tell that story. Even one little bone can reveal great truths. A SINGLE SPECIMEN. A BIG DISCOVERY. Meet DMNH 2018-05-0002, an eyelash-sized bone from the 213-million-year-old Chinle Formation of eastern Arizona. The bone is housed in the fossil collections of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, Texas. DMNH 2018-05-0002 (I refuse to abbreviate!) is a right ilium (pelvic bone) of a frog that was likely only a few centimeters long in life. This fragile treasure is the oldest evidence for a frog on the entire North American continent, predating the next fossil by 30 million years! One little bone leads to a huge expansion in the story of frogs, the most abundant group of amphibians on Earth!Dr. Michelle Stocker holds up DMNH 2018-05-0002 embedded in matrix and wax. It’s THAT small. Image from vt.edu These amazing frogs were published in Biology Letters by Virginia Tech paleontologist Michelle Stocker, a world-renowned expert on Triassic ecosystems. Dr. Stocker and her team have done a lot of recent work on MICROVERTEBRATES, the bones and teeth of tiny animals. Microvertebrate fossil sites are those that preserve large quantities of tiny (~1 centimeter and smaller) bits, and they can tell us a lot about the smaller animals in an environment. Some paleontologists use sifting and fine-mesh screens to collect bones out of these sediments. In this case, Dr. Stocker and her team prepared bones out of blocks of sediment using microscopes and extremely fine tools. Hat-tip specifically to Ben Kligman, a Virginia Ph.D. student who is pioneering these refined preparation techniques! Images of the Chinle frog fossils described by Stocker et al. (2019). DMNH 2018-05-0002 is featured in the top row. The lower images include other frog ilia and jaw fragments found in the collections of Petrified Forest National Park and the Museum of Northern Arizona. DIG DEEPER (Links and Reading)  The Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, Texas is a world-class museum with incredible collections of Cretaceous vertebrates from Texas, Alaska, and across the western United States. Obviously, there are some Triassic treasures in the collection, too! The exhibits include classic American dinosaurs like Alamosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and Tenontosaurus and some newcomers like Convolosaurus, Nanuqsaurus, and Ugrunaaluk. The original scientific paper in Biology Letters by Dr. Michelle Stocker and her colleagues describes the Chinle frogs, including DMNH 2018-05-0002 and a series of other tiny frog fragments from Triassic Arizona. For general audiences, Virginia Tech put out a press release describing the discovery, including a video featuring Dr. Stocker. Petrified Forest National Park (PEFO) is an amazing park in eastern Arizona. Named for the fossilized remains of ancient forests from the Triassic Period, PEFO contains some of the largest fossil exposures from the Triassic Period of North America. DMNH 2018-05-0002 was found just to the south of the park, but some additional Triassic frog bits have been found in the PEFO fossil collections! Seriously, go to PEFO if you like beautiful and desolate vistas! VT Paleobiology is a collaborative effort of all of the Virginia Tech paleontologists, including Dr. Stocker. Their research ranges from Cambrian invertebrates, to Triassic ecosystems, to Cretaceous tyrannosaurs, and beyond!  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS  The amazing artwork used for the promo image is a painting by paleo-artist Andrey Atuchin commissioned for this study. Check out his artwork at Deviantart and Twitter! Frog sound effects from freesound.org user flapknot.

<h1>THE FIRST FROGS OF NORTH AMERICA</h1> Every discovery we make in natural history happens thanks to specimens. Fossil bones, shells, footprints, coprolites, tissue samples—even field notes and photograms—are the building blocks scientists use to tell the story of life on our planet. On Past Time, we talk a LOT about the contributions of museums and scientists to the story of life. However, we don’t often address the specific specimens that help tell that story. Even one little bone can reveal great truths. <h2>A SINGLE SPECIMEN. A BIG DISCOVERY.</h2> Meet DMNH 2018-05-0002, an eyelash-sized bone from the 213-million-year-old Chinle Formation of eastern Arizona. The bone is housed in the fossil collections of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, Texas. DMNH 2018-05-0002 (I refuse to abbreviate!) is a right ilium (pelvic bone) of a frog that was likely only a few centimeters long in life. This fragile treasure is the oldest evidence for a frog on the entire North American continent, predating the next fossil by 30 million years! One little bone leads to a huge expansion in the story of frogs, the most abundant group of amphibians on Earth!Dr. Michelle Stocker holds up DMNH 2018-05-0002 embedded in matrix and wax. It’s THAT small. Image from <a href="http://vt.edu" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">vt.edu</a> These amazing frogs were published in Biology Letters by Virginia Tech paleontologist Michelle Stocker, a world-renowned expert on Triassic ecosystems. Dr. Stocker and her team have done a lot of recent work on MICROVERTEBRATES, the bones and teeth of tiny animals. Microvertebrate fossil sites are those that preserve large quantities of tiny (~1 centimeter and smaller) bits, and they can tell us a lot about the smaller animals in an environment. Some paleontologists use sifting and fine-mesh screens to collect bones out of these sediments. In this case, Dr. Stocker and her team prepared bones out of blocks of sediment using microscopes and extremely fine tools. Hat-tip specifically to Ben Kligman, a Virginia Ph.D. student who is pioneering these refined preparation techniques! <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Stocker-et-al-2019-Chinle-Frog.png" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Images of the Chinle frog fossils described by Stocker et al. (2019). DMNH 2018-05-0002 is featured in the top row. The lower images include other frog ilia and jaw fragments found in the collections of Petrified Forest National Park and the Museum of Northern Arizona. <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Stocker-et-al-2019-Chinle-Frog-1.tif" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a> <h2>DIG DEEPER (Links and Reading)</h2> <ul> <li>The <a href="https://www.perotmuseum.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas</a>, Texas is a world-class museum with incredible collections of Cretaceous vertebrates from Texas, Alaska, and across the western United States. Obviously, there are some Triassic treasures in the collection, too! The exhibits include classic American dinosaurs like Alamosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and Tenontosaurus and some newcomers like Convolosaurus, Nanuqsaurus, and Ugrunaaluk.</li> <li>The <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0922" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">original scientific paper in Biology Letters</a> by Dr. Michelle Stocker and her colleagues describes the Chinle frogs, including DMNH 2018-05-0002 and a series of other tiny frog fragments from Triassic Arizona.</li> <li>For general audiences, <a href="https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2019/02/Science-Chinle_frog_fossil_northamerica.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Virginia Tech put out a press release</a> describing the discovery, including a video featuring Dr. Stocker.</li> <li><a href="https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2019/02/Science-Chinle_frog_fossil_northamerica.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Petrified Forest National Park (PEFO)</a> is an amazing park in eastern Arizona. Named for the fossilized remains of ancient forests from the Triassic Period, PEFO contains some of the largest fossil exposures from the Triassic Period of North America. DMNH 2018-05-0002 was found just to the south of the park, but some additional Triassic frog bits have been found in the PEFO fossil collections! Seriously, go to PEFO if you like beautiful and desolate vistas!</li> <li><a href="https://www.paleo.geos.vt.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">VT Paleobiology</a> is a collaborative effort of all of the Virginia Tech paleontologists, including Dr. Stocker. Their research ranges from Cambrian invertebrates, to Triassic ecosystems, to Cretaceous tyrannosaurs, and beyond!</li> </ul> <h2>ACKNOWLEDGMENTS</h2> <ul> <li>The amazing artwork used for the promo image is a painting by paleo-artist Andrey Atuchin commissioned for this study. Check out his artwork at <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/olorotitan" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Deviantart</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/andreyatuchin?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a>!</li> <li>Frog sound effects from <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a> user flapknot.</li></ul>

Episode 31 – The First Frogs of the Age of Dinosaurs!

Meeting of the Minds There is no bigger paleontology conference for fans of dinosaurs, prehistoric mammals, birds, fishes, and reptiles than the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting. The 78th annual meeting just took place this October in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA and Matt, Adam, and Catherine were in attendance. They learned about a lot of exciting new discoveries in natural history, and they also made friends with another pair of paleo-podcasters: Garrett and Sabrina of I Know Dino! Dig Deeper For more about the SVP meeting, visit the society website at www.vertpaleo.org. Anyone can attend, provided they register for the meeting. To learn more about (and subscribe to!) I Know Dino, check out their official website at www.iknowdino.com. You can subscribe to their podcast on iTunes, like them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter! To read all about real dinosaur lungs, you can read the original paper by Xiaoli Wang and colleagues in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences! Be sure to subscribe to Past Time on iTunes, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and subscribe to our revitalized YouTube channel!

<h2>Meeting of the Minds</h2> There is no bigger paleontology conference for fans of dinosaurs, prehistoric mammals, birds, fishes, and reptiles than the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting. The 78th annual meeting just took place this October in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA and Matt, Adam, and Catherine were in attendance. They learned about a lot of exciting new discoveries in natural history, and they also made friends with another pair of paleo-podcasters: Garrett and Sabrina of I Know Dino! <h2>Dig Deeper</h2> For more about the SVP meeting, visit the society website at <a href="http://www.vertpaleo.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.vertpaleo.org</a>. Anyone can attend, provided they register for the meeting. To learn more about (and subscribe to!) I Know Dino, check out their official website at <a href="http://www.iknowdino.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.iknowdino.com</a>. You can subscribe to their podcast on <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-know-dino-the-big-dinosaur-podcast/id960976813?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iTunes</a>, like them on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/iknowdino/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, and follow them on <a href="https://twitter.com/IKnowDino" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a>! To read all about real dinosaur lungs, you can read <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/115/45/11555.short?casa_token=1fVEySPRVcQAAAAA:Ymm_rfBmmkLwSAZXFV9O1TZDhSCyGY74C4iHyg6OIeBmyk0UfYPCjEjDuw5PGYdReQ9Z4FAa-pjFSw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the original paper by Xiaoli Wang and colleagues in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>! Be sure to subscribe to Past Time on iTunes, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and subscribe to our revitalized YouTube channel!

Episode 30 – SVP Recap, guest-starring I KNOW DINO

Ledumahadi and the first dinosaur giants The sauropod dinosaurs—the classic long-necks—included the largest land animal species that have ever lived. Throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous, multiple families of sauropods achieved body masses over 50 tons: greater than any modern elephant and even exceeding the colossal indricothere rhinoceroses. Despite their incredible sizes, the sauropod dinosaurs have a murky early history… This Past Time episode features a brand new species of sauropod cousin from the Early Jurassic of South Africa: Ledumahadi mafube. Described in a new paper in the journal Current Biology, Ledumahadi is part of a group of dinosaurs traditionally called “prosauropods.” Unlike the straight, column-like legs of true sauropods, Ledumahadi has strong but flexed arms and legs that lacked weight-bearing adaptations of its later cousin. Despite these anatomical differences, this new colossus achieved a mass over 12 tons, upending our classic understanding of the evolution of gigantic size!   REFERENCES The original paper on Ledumahaadi mafube was published in the journal Current Biology and is available at this link. The University of the Witwatersrand put out a great press release and Youtube video about this awesome find, so check those out too! For more great research on the early days of the giants, check out lead author Dr. Blair McPhee’s research profile. To check out some great sauropod cousin specimens, check out the specimens on display at the Evolutionary Studies Institute in Johannesburg, South Africa. For more general information on sauropod cousins and the true sauropods, I recommend Dr. Tom Holtz’s overview of the group on his University of Maryland website. You can also check out a classic Past Time episode on growth in the super-giant sauropods featuring friend of the show Dr. Mike D’Emic. The awesome art used for our promo image is work by Viktor Radermache, an up-and-coming paleoartist who has also worked on other finds out of the Evolutionary Studies Institute. Check out this cool interview with him for some more science and artwork. I added myself to the artwork in the front under Creative Commons 4.0. Sound effects from this episode are used under Creative Commons 3.0 licenses and were produced by AlexTriceratops123 (‘Elephant Growls’), Souchav (‘kid-playing-in-a-swimming-pool’), sonicport (‘stream6’), and maj061785 (‘stomp.’). These are available through freesound.org.

<h1>Ledumahadi and the first dinosaur giants</h1> The sauropod dinosaurs—the classic long-necks—included the largest land animal species that have ever lived. Throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous, multiple families of sauropods achieved body masses over 50 tons: greater than any modern elephant and even exceeding the colossal indricothere rhinoceroses. Despite their incredible sizes, the sauropod dinosaurs have a murky early history… This Past Time episode features a brand new species of sauropod cousin from the Early Jurassic of South Africa: Ledumahadi mafube. Described in a new paper in the journal Current Biology, Ledumahadi is part of a group of dinosaurs traditionally called “prosauropods.” Unlike the straight, column-like legs of true sauropods, Ledumahadi has strong but flexed arms and legs that lacked weight-bearing adaptations of its later cousin. Despite these anatomical differences, this new colossus achieved a mass over 12 tons, upending our classic understanding of the evolution of gigantic size! <h1>REFERENCES</h1> The original paper on Ledumahaadi mafube was published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(18)30993-X.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Current Biology and is available at this link</a>. The University of the Witwatersrand put out a great <a href="http://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/research-news/2018/2018-09/ledumahadi-mafube--south-africas-new-jurassic-giant.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">press release</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8FHxPocwDM" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Youtube video</a> about this awesome find, so check those out too! For more great research on the early days of the giants, check out lead author <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/2046886899_Blair_W_McPhee" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Blair McPhee’s research profile</a>. To check out some great sauropod cousin specimens, check out the specimens on display at the <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/esi/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Evolutionary Studies Institute in Johannesburg, South Africa</a>. For more general information on sauropod cousins and the true sauropods, I recommend <a href="https://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/G104/lectures/104saurop.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Tom Holtz’s overview of the group on his University of Maryland website</a>. You can also check out<a href="http://www.pasttime.org/2013/07/episode-4-field-guide-giant-dinosaur-mysteries-2/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> a classic Past Time episode on growth in the super-giant sauropods</a> featuring friend of the show Dr. Mike D’Emic. The awesome art used for our promo image is work by Viktor Radermache, an up-and-coming paleoartist who has also worked on other finds out of the Evolutionary Studies Institute. Check out this <a href="https://www.past.org.za/art-science-meet-viktor-radermachers-ledumahadi-illustrations/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">cool interview with him</a> for some more science and artwork. I added myself to the artwork in the front under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Creative Commons 4.0</a>. Sound effects from this episode are used under Creative Commons 3.0 licenses and were produced by AlexTriceratops123 (‘Elephant Growls’), Souchav (‘kid-playing-in-a-swimming-pool’), sonicport (‘stream6’), and maj061785 (‘stomp.’). These are available through <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>.

Episode 29 – First of the Four-Footed Giant Dinosaurs!

First Iteration I (Adam) am both proud and nervous to say that this is an atypical Past Time episode, as we’re not talking about a new discovery nor a real scientific topic; it is a recap/review of Jurassic World 2. However, I think it is worth addressing whether or not particular elements of new movies, television, or books adhere to modern science. Dr. Elizabeth Jones taught us that science fiction can have a major impact on scientific advances, as Jurassic Park helped give rise to modern techniques that revealed all sorts of molecules in ancient fossil remains. Although it is far less…science-y…than the original Jurassic Park, Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom may one day have an impact on future paleontologists. This also presented a great opportunity to get some scientific queries from a non-scientist. My partner for this episode is Tommy Dembeck, an old friend from my days as an undergraduate at McDaniel College with whom I discuss sci-fi endlessly. He is also endlessly curious. Of all the laypeople I know who have never worked in a university or museum setting, Tommy has the best questions about biology and prehistory. I would love to have him back for a future episode…there are always shark movies to talk about! I’ve uploaded the full audio of our discussion to this blog post if you want to hear more of our Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom thoughts in two parts! http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/JurassicWorld_Tommy_Part1.mp3 http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/JurassicWorld_Tommy_Part2.mp3 FURTHER READING  Check out our previous episodes on… “Genes and Jurassic Park“, in which Matt discusses his thoughts about the movie and genetic engineering. …and “New History of Ancient DNA,” which features an interview from Dr. Elizabeth Jones about the history of molecular paleontology and the impacts of science fiction!   Visit the Jurassic World website for updates on the movies, games, and other media (for better or for worse). Adam really likes that Jurassic World Alive mobile game…it’s not great, but it actually has Concavenator!

<h1>First Iteration</h1> I (Adam) am both proud and nervous to say that this is an atypical Past Time episode, as we’re not talking about a new discovery nor a real scientific topic; it is a recap/review of Jurassic World 2. However, I think it is worth addressing whether or not particular elements of new movies, television, or books adhere to modern science. Dr. Elizabeth Jones taught us that science fiction can have a major impact on scientific advances, as Jurassic Park helped give rise to modern techniques that revealed all sorts of molecules in ancient fossil remains. Although it is far less…science-y…than the original Jurassic Park, Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom may one day have an impact on future paleontologists. This also presented a great opportunity to get some scientific queries from a non-scientist. My partner for this episode is Tommy Dembeck, an old friend from my days as an undergraduate at McDaniel College with whom I discuss sci-fi endlessly. He is also endlessly curious. Of all the laypeople I know who have never worked in a university or museum setting, Tommy has the best questions about biology and prehistory. I would love to have him back for a future episode…there are always shark movies to talk about! I’ve uploaded the full audio of our discussion to this blog post if you want to hear more of our Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom thoughts in two parts! <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/JurassicWorld_Tommy_Part1.mp3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/JurassicWorld_Tommy_Part1.mp3</a> <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/JurassicWorld_Tommy_Part2.mp3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/JurassicWorld_Tommy_Part2.mp3</a> <h1>FURTHER READING</h1> <ul> <li>Check out our previous episodes on… <ul> <li>“Genes and Jurassic Park“, in which Matt discusses his thoughts about the movie and genetic engineering.</li> <li>…and<a href="http://www.pasttime.org/podcast/episode-21-new-history-ancient-dna/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> “New History of Ancient DNA,”</a> which features an interview from Dr. Elizabeth Jones about the history of molecular paleontology and the impacts of science fiction!</li> </ul> </li> <li>Visit the <a href="http://www.jurassicworld.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jurassic World</a> website for updates on the movies, games, and other media (for better or for worse). Adam really likes that Jurassic World Alive mobile game…it’s not great, but it actually has Concavenator!</li></ul>

Episode 28 – PAST TIME reviews Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom!

Eighty million years ago, a wildly ornamented species of horned dinosaur roamed the southern half of North America’s western landmass, Laramidia. In 2016, paleontologist Eric Lund and his colleagues named it Machairoceratops cronusi, and we fell in love with this ceratopsian from Utah with hooks over its frill. In 2017, the site where Machairoceratops was found was cut from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, threatening our chances of making new discoveries about dinosaur evolution there. Join us on this episode to meet one of our favorite ceratopsian researchers, marvel at the grandeur of Machairoceratops, and mourn the loss of protections for some incredible vertebrate fossil sites. Hunting Horned Dinosaurs with Eric Lund! We want to thank our guest on this episode, Eric Lund, for clearing up some of our ceratopsian confusion! Although we interviewed him while he was a student at Ohio University, he’ll be finishing up his PhD while he works in his new position in the Paleontology Research Lab at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. You can follow him on Twitter at @Bwana_Lund. And be sure to check out the scientific article he led about Machairoceratops cronusi in the journal PLOS ONE! Dig Deeper… On this episode, Eric Lund introduces us to the incredibly fossil-rich and scientifically significant Kaiparowits Plateau of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. You can learn more about it in this New York Times article from 2015 and download an awesome poster about the dinosaurs of the monument designed by Blue Aster Studio. Check out the original paper for free in the science journal Plos One! The spectacular paleo-art featured in the promo image was painted by paleoartist Mark Witton. Check out his blog and art gallery. We also touch on the idea of ownership of vertebrate fossils, which tell the story of the evolution of our planet, and the laws surrounding these shared resources in the United States. This How Stuff Works article explains the debate about fossil ownership, and this webpage from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology explains the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act. It may be confusing for a paleontology podcast to wade into politics, but when you’re talking about a fossil found in a national monument, it is impossible not to. Everyone you hear on this episode is a member of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP), and one of the goals of SVP is “To support and encourage the discover, conservation and protection of vertebrate fossils and fossil sites” (SVP Code of Ethics). In line with this Code of Ethics, SVP is taking legal action to prevent the cuts to two national monuments that would endanger significant vertebrate fossil sites. SVP explains its position with useful maps and graphics here, and this interview with Dr. P. David Polly, the outgoing President of SVP, provides more information.

Eighty million years ago, a wildly ornamented species of horned dinosaur roamed the southern half of North America’s western landmass, Laramidia. In 2016, paleontologist Eric Lund and his colleagues named it Machairoceratops cronusi, and we fell in love with this ceratopsian from Utah with hooks over its frill. In 2017, the site where Machairoceratops was found was cut from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, threatening our chances of making new discoveries about dinosaur evolution there. Join us on this episode to meet one of our favorite ceratopsian researchers, marvel at the grandeur of Machairoceratops, and mourn the loss of protections for some incredible vertebrate fossil sites. <h1>Hunting Horned Dinosaurs with Eric Lund!</h1> We want to thank our guest on this episode, Eric Lund, for clearing up some of our ceratopsian confusion! Although we interviewed him while he was a student at Ohio University, he’ll be finishing up his PhD while he works in his new position in the <a href="http://naturalsciences.org/research-collections/paleontology-lab" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Paleontology Research Lab</a> at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. You can follow him on Twitter at @Bwana_Lund. And be sure to check out the <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0154403" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">scientific article</a> he led about Machairoceratops cronusi in the journal PLOS ONE! <h1>Dig Deeper…</h1> On this episode, Eric Lund introduces us to the incredibly fossil-rich and scientifically significant Kaiparowits Plateau of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. You can learn more about it in this <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/21/science/utah-grand-staircase-dinosaurs-kaiparowits-plateau-fossils.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">New York Times article</a> from 2015 and download an <a href="http://vertpaleo.org/GlobalPDFS/Dinosaurs-of-Grand-Staircase-Flyer.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">awesome poster</a> about the dinosaurs of the monument designed by Blue Aster Studio. Check out the original paper for free in the science journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0154403" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Plos One</a>! The spectacular paleo-art featured in the promo image was painted by paleoartist Mark Witton. Check out his <a href="http://markwitton-com.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">blog and art gallery</a>. We also touch on the idea of ownership of vertebrate fossils, which tell the story of the evolution of our planet, and the laws surrounding these shared resources in the United States. This <a href="https://animals.howstuffworks.com/dinosaurs/who-owns-rights-to-dinosaur-skeleton.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How Stuff Works article</a> explains the debate about fossil ownership, and <a href="http://vertpaleo.org/The-Society/Advocacy.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this webpage</a> from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology explains the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act. It may be confusing for a paleontology podcast to wade into politics, but when you’re talking about a fossil found in a national monument, it is impossible not to. Everyone you hear on this episode is a member of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP), and one of the goals of SVP is “To support and encourage the discover, conservation and protection of vertebrate fossils and fossil sites” (<a href="http://vertpaleo.org/Membership/Member-Ethics/Member-Bylaw-on-Ethics-Statement.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SVP Code of Ethics</a>). In line with this Code of Ethics, SVP is taking legal action to prevent the cuts to two national monuments that would endanger significant vertebrate fossil sites. SVP explains its position with useful maps and graphics <a href="http://vertpaleo.org/Society-News/SVP-Paleo-News/Society-News,-Press-Releases/Grand-Staircase-Escalante-and-Bears-Ears-National.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>, and this <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/12/qa-why-fossil-scientists-are-suing-trump-over-monuments-downsizing" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">interview</a> with Dr. P. David Polly, the outgoing President of SVP, provides more information.

Episode 27 – Machairoceratops: An Extinct Horned Dinosaur Under Threat!

Big bites come in small skulls This episode tells a story of one of Adam Pritchard’s favorite projects from Yale University, describing the skull of a teeny reptile from the early days of the Age of Reptiles. Hailing from the eastern coast of North America (present-day Connecticut), Colobops noviportensis had a skull only an inch long. However, intensive research and three-dimensional modeling revealed that it possessed cavities for its jaw muscles larger than any other reptile of that size—living OR extinct! Colobops likely nipped at the heels of some of the earliest dinosaurs and crocodile cousins in North America. Dig Deeper The original paper can be read for free in the journal Nature Communications! Adam’s co-author Bhart-Anjan Bhullar, professor of Geology at Yale University, helped produce a great video on the discovery with Yale University’s press office.  The brilliant reconstruction of Colobops was hand painted by paleoartist and Geology Ph.D. student at Yale Michael Z. Hanson. Mike will be appearing in an upcoming episode of Past Time on the early days of bird evolution. If you want to see the original Colobops specimen, travel to the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven, Connecticut!

<h1>Big bites come in small skulls</h1> This episode tells a story of one of Adam Pritchard’s favorite projects from Yale University, describing the skull of a teeny reptile from the early days of the Age of Reptiles. Hailing from the eastern coast of North America (present-day Connecticut), Colobops noviportensis had a skull only an inch long. However, intensive research and three-dimensional modeling revealed that it possessed cavities for its jaw muscles larger than any other reptile of that size—living OR extinct! Colobops likely nipped at the heels of some of the earliest dinosaurs and crocodile cousins in North America. <h1>Dig Deeper</h1> The original paper can be read for free in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-03508-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nature Communications</a>! Adam’s co-author Bhart-Anjan Bhullar, professor of Geology at Yale University, helped produce a great video on the discovery with Yale University’s press office. The brilliant reconstruction of Colobops was hand painted by paleoartist and Geology Ph.D. student at Yale Michael Z. Hanson. Mike will be appearing in an upcoming episode of Past Time on the early days of bird evolution. If you want to see the original Colobops specimen, travel to the <a href="http://peabody.yale.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Yale Peabody Museum</a> in New Haven, Connecticut!

Episode 26 – Colobops: the tiny reptile with a big bite!

Masters of horns and teeth Throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods, dinosaurs were top dogs on every continent and in every sort of environment. The ceratosaurs were some of the classic predators that ruled the tops of the food chains for much of that time. Including classic predators such as Ceratosaurus, Carnotaurus, and Majungasaurus—as well as oddballs like Masiakasaurus, Limusaurus, and Elaphrosaurus—ceratosaurs included top-of-the-food-chain carnivores and slender, fleet-footed herbivores. For this episode, I delve into a cool new paper summing up the current knowledge on these awesome beasts! References Read the original paper by paleontologist Rafael Delcourt for free in the journal Scientific Reports! For some awesome skeletal mounts of ceratosaurs, you can visit museums around the world. See Ceratosaurus at the Natural History Museum of Utah in Salt Lake City and Carnotaurus at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales B. Rivadiva in Buenos Aires! The great traveling exhibit Ultimate Dinosaurs-Giants of Gondwana has a number of ceratosaur skeletons too! Please add a comment if you have another ceratosaur museum to suggest!

<h1>Masters of horns and teeth</h1> Throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods, dinosaurs were top dogs on every continent and in every sort of environment. The ceratosaurs were some of the classic predators that ruled the tops of the food chains for much of that time. Including classic predators such as Ceratosaurus, Carnotaurus, and Majungasaurus—as well as oddballs like Masiakasaurus, Limusaurus, and Elaphrosaurus—ceratosaurs included top-of-the-food-chain carnivores and slender, fleet-footed herbivores. For this episode, I delve into a cool new paper summing up the current knowledge on these awesome beasts! <h1>References</h1> Read the original paper by paleontologist Rafael Delcourt for free in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-28154-x" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Scientific Reports</a>! For some awesome skeletal mounts of ceratosaurs, you can visit museums around the world. See Ceratosaurus at the <a href="https://nhmu.utah.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Natural History Museum of Utah</a> in Salt Lake City and Carnotaurus at the <a href="https://nhm.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Natural History Museum of Los Angeles</a> and the <a href="http://www.macnconicet.gob.ar/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales B. Rivadiva</a> in Buenos Aires! The great traveling exhibit <a href="https://www.smm.org/exhibitrental/ultimate-dinosaurs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ultimate Dinosaurs-Giants of Gondwana</a> has a number of ceratosaur skeletons too! Please add a comment if you have another ceratosaur museum to suggest!

Episode 25 – Ceratosaurs: Story of a Predatory Dinosaur Dynasty!

Past Time is a podcast that explores how we know what we know about the past. There's a special focus on the fossil record - it is hosted by two paleontologists - but delving into the story of the past isn't limited to dry bones. Today's paleontologists use techniques drawn from other sciences including Physics, Chemistry, Geology, and Biology to figure out what extinct animals were like and how they lived. Whether you are just starting to learn about the amazing animals that have called this planet home, or you have been fascinated by fossils for a long time, we hope you will join us as we dig into past times.Keywords: Paleontology, Dinosaurs, Mammals, Reptiles, Birds, Animals, Fossils, Extinction

This podcast is very well produced and dense with information. It respects your time, which is important when you digest a lot of podcasts. The content is dignified without being boring. I am listening to every old episode and I will probably replay many of them, as well. 
      Great work, guys!

Wonderful!

i love the format! i like how the details are given...i&#39;m so listening to everything

This My past time

Past Time is a podcast that explores how we know what we know about the past. There's a special focus on the fossil record - it is hosted by two paleontologists - but delving into the story of the past isn't limited to dry bones. Today's paleontologists use techniques drawn from other sciences including Physics, Chemistry, Geology, and Biology to figure out what extinct animals were like and how they lived. Whether you are just starting to learn about the amazing animals that have called this planet home, or you have been fascinated by fossils for a long time, we hope you will join us as we dig into past times. Keywords: Paleontology, Dinosaurs, Mammals, Reptiles, Birds, Animals, Fossils, Extinction

Past Time

We all know what a reptile is, right? Scaly, sprawling legs, cold blooded. But where did they come from and how are they all related to one another? What makes a lizard different from a crocodile? In this episode Adam teaches Matt about the different lineages of reptiles alive today and some of the mysteries biologists and paleontologists are still wrestling with in the reptile family tree. Spoiler alert: Turtles are the black sheep of the family.

Episode 3: What is a Reptile?

Antarctica is one of the great frontiers of paleontology. It’s been really far south for a long time, but it hasn’t always been frozen over. In February of 2016, a team of paleontologists and geologists set out on an expedition to the frozen continent in search of fossils from the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. Matt talked with two of the team members, Eric Gorscak and Patrick O’Connor both from Ohio University, about planning the expedition and what they hope to find at the bottom of the world. Follow the entire Antarctic Peninsula Paleontology Project (#AP3) team at www.antarcticdinos.org and @antarcticdinos! Meet the Scientists! Patrick O’Connor is a Professor of Anatomy and Neuroscience at the Ohio University. Here’s a link to his lab’s website. His research is focused on vertebrate evolution on the megacontinent of Gondwana, a giant landmass that broke up through the Mesozoic and beginning of the Cenozoic to become Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica, Madagascar, and India. In addition to working in Antarctica, he has active field projects in Madagascar, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Egypt. He’s worked on weird Gondwanan dinosaurs like Majungasaurus, weird Gondwanan crocodiles like Pakasuchus, and weird Gondwanan mammals like Vintana. Eric Gorscak is a Doctoral Candidate at Ohio University where his research is advised by Dr. O’Connor. Eric’s research is focused on the evolution of sauropod dinosaurs, the gigantic, long-necked, plant-eating dinosaurs that seem to defy the laws of physics and biology. As part of his dissertation, he’s trying to sort out how gigantic titanosaur sauropods found around the world are related to each other. His most recent study described a new Tanzanian titanosaur called Rukwatitian. Antarctica through Time Pat, Eric, and the rest of the Antarctic Peninsula Paleontology Project team want to figure out what was going on in Antarctica during Late Cretaceous, the last slice of time before the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs. Most of what we know about the end of the Mesozoic comes from rocks preserved on northern continents, particularly North America. AP3 is trying to find a site in Antartica that will give them a perspective on the extinction from a continent far removed from familiar fossils of North America. They’re not complaining about the North American record.  It’s really fortunate that we have a lot of Late Cretaceous fossils in North America, that have helped paleontologists piece together the extinction of many organisms – including non-avian dinosaurs – 66 million years ago. But it’s kind of frustrating that there isn’t something to compare the North American record to. With an Antarctic frame-of-reference the team could ask big questions about extinction, like: Was the speed of the extinction found in North America the same everywhere around the world? Did all the same groups go extinct at the same time in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres? Map by C.R. Scotese, PALEOMAP Project (www.scotese.com)Geologists working in Antarctica identified Late Cretaceous rocks and the AP3 has returned to the Antarctic Peninsula three times. Once in 2009 when Pat first went to Antarctica, once in 2011 when Eric first went, and now in 2016. Most of the rocks they’ve found so far were deposited in an ancient Antarctic sea. They are now on the hunt for the rocks that preserve the beaches and rivers that rimmed this Late Cretaceous sea. These coastal and riverine rocks would likely also preserve land-based animals like dinosaurs and Mesozoic mammals. Photo by @antarcticdinos of a shark vertebra found on the Antarctic PeninsulaDuring the Late Cretaceous, the southernmost part of South America connected with the Antarctic Peninsula. The connection between the continents prevented the formation of the Circumpolar Current, the swirl of cold water that charges around Antarctica, keep the entire continent refrigerated today. Antarctica separated from South America between 40 and 25 million years ago, long after the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs, meaning it was more comfortable in the Late Cretaceous than it is today. During the Late Cretaceous, Antarctica would have been seasonal, it was still very far south, and would have had long, cold nights during the Austral winter and long days during the Austral Summer. To see images of the AP3 team in action on the outcrop where they were searching for fossils, check out their website and Twitter feeds. We’re hoping to catch up with Pat and Eric after they get settled back in Athens, Ohio to hear how their expedition actually turned out. Did the weather force the team to change plans? Did they find evidence of animals from the land? Did they find new fossils? The answers will only help paleontologists learn more about Past Time! Further Reading Usually we put papers and books down here that are directly related to the interview. But in this case, there is more exploration to be done before the discoveries can be written up. We will keep you updated as AP3 publishes what they found! Also, check out the “Discoveries” tab at www.antarcticdinos.org to see some of the material they brought back from Antarctica! For more on the natural history of the continent and the people who are trying to learn as much as they can from the ice-locked continent, check out Antarctica: A Biography by David Day. For great reading on Antarctic exploration check out Empire of Ice by Edward J. Larson, an account of the race to the South Pole which dramatically illustrates the dangers of Antarctic voyages.

Antarctica is one of the great frontiers of paleontology. It’s been really far south for a long time, but it hasn’t always been frozen over. In February of 2016, a team of paleontologists and geologists set out on an expedition to the frozen continent in search of fossils from the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. Matt talked with two of the team members, Eric Gorscak and Patrick O’Connor both from Ohio University, about planning the expedition and what they hope to find at the bottom of the world. Follow the entire Antarctic Peninsula Paleontology Project (#AP3) team at <a href="http://antarcticdinos.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.antarcticdinos.org</a> and @<a href="https://twitter.com/antarcticdinos" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">antarcticdinos</a>! <h2>Meet the Scientists!</h2> <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/OConnor.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Patrick O’Connor is a Professor of Anatomy and Neuroscience at the Ohio University. Here’s a <a href="http://www.ohio.edu/people/oconnorp/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">link</a> to his lab’s website. His research is focused on vertebrate evolution on the megacontinent of Gondwana, a giant landmass that broke up through the Mesozoic and beginning of the Cenozoic to become Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica, Madagascar, and India. In addition to working in Antarctica, he has active field projects in Madagascar, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Egypt. He’s worked on weird Gondwanan dinosaurs like <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Majungasaurus-collage.jpg?43e184" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Majungasaurus</a>, weird Gondwanan crocodiles like <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/pakasuchus-the-croc-that-ate-like-a-mammal-77899607/?no-ist" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pakasuchus</a>, and weird Gondwanan mammals like <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/11/141105-mammal-evolution-vintana-fossil-science/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vintana</a>. <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Madagascar.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://www.ohio.edu/people/oconnorp/team.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Eric Gorscak</a> is a Doctoral Candidate at Ohio University where his research is advised by Dr. O’Connor. Eric’s research is focused on the evolution of sauropod dinosaurs, the <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/2013/07/episode-4-field-guide-giant-dinosaur-mysteries-2/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">gigantic</a>, <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/podcast/news-bite-brontosaurus-revived/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">long-necked</a>, <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/2015/02/news-bite-giant-dinosaur-brain-uzbekistan/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">plant-eating </a>dinosaurs that seem to defy the laws of physics and biology. As part of his dissertation, he’s trying to sort out how gigantic titanosaur sauropods found around the world are related to each other. His most recent study described a new Tanzanian titanosaur called <a href="https://www.ohio.edu/research/communications/rukwatitan.cfm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rukwatitian</a>. <h2>Antarctica through Time</h2> Pat, Eric, and the rest of the Antarctic Peninsula Paleontology Project team want to figure out what was going on in Antarctica during Late Cretaceous, the last slice of time before the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs. Most of what we know about the end of the Mesozoic comes from rocks preserved on northern continents, particularly North America. AP3 is trying to find a site in Antartica that will give them a perspective on the extinction from a continent far removed from familiar fossils of North America. They’re not complaining about the North American record.  It’s really fortunate that we have a lot of Late Cretaceous fossils in North America, that have helped paleontologists piece together the extinction of many organisms – including non-avian dinosaurs – 66 million years ago. But it’s kind of frustrating that there isn’t something to compare the North American record to. With an Antarctic frame-of-reference the team could ask big questions about extinction, like: Was the speed of the extinction found in North America the same everywhere around the world? Did all the same groups go extinct at the same time in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres? <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/066.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Map by C.R. Scotese, PALEOMAP Project (<a href="http://www.scotese.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.scotese.com</a>) Geologists working in Antarctica identified Late Cretaceous rocks and the AP3 has returned to the Antarctic Peninsula three times. Once in 2009 when Pat first went to Antarctica, once in 2011 when Eric first went, and now in 2016. Most of the rocks they’ve found so far were deposited in an ancient Antarctic sea. They are now on the hunt for the rocks that preserve the beaches and rivers that rimmed this Late Cretaceous sea. These coastal and riverine rocks would likely also preserve land-based animals like dinosaurs and Mesozoic mammals. <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Shark-Vertebra.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Photo by @antarcticdinos of a shark vertebra found on the Antarctic Peninsula During the Late Cretaceous, the southernmost part of South America connected with the Antarctic Peninsula. The connection between the continents prevented the formation of the <a href="http://education.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/ocean-conveyor-belt/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Circumpolar Current</a>, the swirl of cold water that charges around Antarctica, keep the entire continent refrigerated today. Antarctica separated from South America between 40 and 25 million years ago, long after the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs, meaning it was more comfortable in the Late Cretaceous than it is today. During the Late Cretaceous, Antarctica would have been seasonal, it was still very far south, and would have had long, cold nights during the Austral winter and long days during the Austral Summer. To see images of the AP3 team in action on the outcrop where they were searching for fossils, check out their <a href="http://antarcticdinos.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">website</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/antarcticdinos" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> feeds. We’re hoping to catch up with Pat and Eric after they get settled back in Athens, Ohio to hear how their expedition actually turned out. Did the weather force the team to change plans? Did they find evidence of animals from the land? Did they find new fossils? The answers will only help paleontologists learn more about Past Time! <h2>Further Reading</h2> Usually we put papers and books down here that are directly related to the interview. But in this case, there is more exploration to be done before the discoveries can be written up. We will keep you updated as AP3 publishes what they found! Also, check out the “Discoveries” tab at <a href="http://www.antarcticdinos.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.antarcticdinos.org</a> to see some of the material they brought back from Antarctica! For more on the natural history of the continent and the people who are trying to learn as much as they can from the ice-locked continent, check out <a href="http://For more on the natural history of the continent and the people" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Antarctica: A Biography</a> by David Day. For great reading on Antarctic exploration check out <a href="http://www.amazon.com/An-Empire-Ice-Shackleton-Antarctic/dp/0300154089/ref=pd_sim_14_5?ie=UTF8&amp;dpID=51gybQvc0AL&amp;dpSrc=sims&amp;preST=_AC_UL160_SR106%2C160_&amp;refRID=1N6QCCBKDWMK4D178XDF" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Empire of Ice</a> by Edward J. Larson, an account of the race to the South Pole which dramatically illustrates the dangers of Antarctic voyages.

Episode 16: Hunting Antarctic Dinosaurs

Over 400 million years ago the oceans were teeming with life, but it didn’t look much like what you see at the aquarium or in Finding Nemo. Instead of colorful fish flitting through coral reefs, the ancient seas had giant, shelled squids darting past the icons of the early ocean: The Trilobites! Journey back to the Late Ordovician sea with Dr. Brenda Hunda, Curator of Invertebrates at the Cincinnati Museum Center. Dr. Hunda has spent her career carefully documenting the changes in trilobites in the remarkable rocks near Cincinnati, Ohio. Trilobites were spectacularly diverse early arthropods (the group that includes crustaceous, insects, and arachnids) that adapted to the ever-changing seas, by swimming through the water, scooting along the ocean floor, and burrowing through the mud for their 300 million year reign. Our journey through the ancient Queen City features the musical talents of two great Cincinnati-area bands: The Cincinnati Dancing Pigs and Jake Speed and the Freddies! Take the plunge into invertebrate paleontology with Matt and Adam in this episode of Past Time!

Episode 11: Trilobites and the Cincinnati Sea

Sauropod dinosaurs, the long necked creatures like Apatasaurus and Brachiosaurus, were the biggest animals to ever leave a footprint on the Earth. They were the size of whales, but didn't have the luxury of water to help them support their bulk! The massive size of sauropod dinosaurs intrigued Dr. Michael D'Emic and he has been scrutinizing their bone structure and relationships to figure out how these saurian giants managed to get around and consume enough food to keep growing.

Episode 4: Giant Dinosaur Mysteries

The quest to recover ancient genetic material from extinct animals had its blockbuster moment when Jurassic Park came out. But where did the idea come from and who is trying to figure out if the science fiction of Jurassic Park can be science reality? We talk to Dr. Elizabeth Jones, a science historian at University College London, about her work digging through the murky early history of ancient DNA and the dynamic scientists who are trying to figure out how fossils sometimes preserve more than bone. Dr. Elizabeth Jones recently defended her dissertation work at University College London on the historical roots of ancient DNA research. She also has experience as a field paleontologist. Here, she’s on an excavation looking for more traditional fossilized bone rather than molecular fossils.  One of Dr. Jones’s amazing contributions to the history of science is her work interviewing the people who have been thinking about and trying to recover ancient DNA. As a historian of science, she can put look at larger trends in how ideas get passed around between scientists, and how media and public interest affects the scientific process. One key distinction to remember is there is a difference between researchers who are interested in recovering ancient DNA to study what it might tell us about ancient populations or the relationships of ancient animals to modern animals. There’s a whole separate field of researchers who are trying to figure out how to resurrect extinct animals using ancient DNA and cloning technology. These fields feed interest in each other, but they involve different techniques, different philosophical questions, and different research questions. Dr. Jones calls Ancient DNA research a “celebrity science” because each new revelation gets tons of media attention. Listen to our discussion to learn more about where the field started and what might be on the horizon! Dig Deeper! An article summarizing all the amazing insights Neanderthal DNA has revealed: https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/9/16448412/neanderthal-stone-age-human-genes-dna-schizophrenia-cholesterol-hair-skin-loneliness An article covering Dr. Mary Schweitzer’s work on dinosaur proteins: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/09/i-don-t-care-what-they-say-about-me-paleontologist-stares-down-critics-her-hunt

The quest to recover ancient genetic material from extinct animals had its blockbuster moment when Jurassic Park came out. But where did the idea come from and who is trying to figure out if the science fiction of Jurassic Park can be science reality? We talk to Dr. Elizabeth Jones, a science historian at University College London, about her work digging through the murky early history of ancient DNA and the dynamic scientists who are trying to figure out how fossils sometimes preserve more than bone. <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/podcast/episode-21-new-history-ancient-dna/dr-elizabeth-jones/" rel="attachment wp-att-1306 nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Dr. Elizabeth Jones recently defended her dissertation work at University College London on the historical roots of ancient DNA research. She also has experience as a field paleontologist. Here, she’s on an excavation looking for more traditional fossilized bone rather than molecular fossils. One of Dr. Jones’s amazing contributions to the history of science is her work interviewing the people who have been thinking about and trying to recover ancient DNA. As a historian of science, she can put look at larger trends in how ideas get passed around between scientists, and how media and public interest affects the scientific process. One key distinction to remember is there is a difference between researchers who are interested in recovering ancient DNA to study what it might tell us about ancient populations or the relationships of ancient animals to modern animals. There’s a whole separate field of researchers who are trying to figure out how to resurrect extinct animals using ancient DNA and cloning technology. These fields feed interest in each other, but they involve different techniques, different philosophical questions, and different research questions. Dr. Jones calls Ancient DNA research a “celebrity science” because each new revelation gets tons of media attention. Listen to our discussion to learn more about where the field started and what might be on the horizon! <h4>Dig Deeper!</h4> An article summarizing all the amazing insights Neanderthal DNA has revealed: <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/9/16448412/neanderthal-stone-age-human-genes-dna-schizophrenia-cholesterol-hair-skin-loneliness" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/9/16448412/neanderthal-stone-age-human-genes-dna-schizophrenia-cholesterol-hair-skin-loneliness</a> An article covering Dr. Mary Schweitzer’s work on dinosaur proteins: <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/09/i-don-t-care-what-they-say-about-me-paleontologist-stares-down-critics-her-hunt" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/09/i-don-t-care-what-they-say-about-me-paleontologist-stares-down-critics-her-hunt</a>

Episode 21: New History of Ancient DNA

Matheronodon is certainly a dinosaur worthy of a bigger bite. With proportionally giant teeth strikingly different from the standard-issue ornithopod dinosaur, it is certainly one of the most important dino discoveries out of Europe this year. Better yet, the original scientific paper by Pascal Godefroit and colleagues is free to read in the journal Scientific Reports! If you’d like to learn more about Rhabdodontidae, the small but successful family of dinosaurs to which Matheronodon belongs, check out the papers in the reference list below. The head of Matheronodon, complete with gigantic teeth in its jaws. This illustration by Lukas Panzarin reconstructs the whole head similar to other rhabdodonts, like Rhabdodon and Zalmoxes.Museum of Matheronodon The original specimen (pictured below) is housed at the Musée du Moulin Seigneurial in Velaux, France. I looked up the museum online, and it looks really cool. Built in an old olive mill, the exhibits include Cretaceous in Provence displays. The displays include specimens of Matheronodon contemporaries, including the sauropod Atsinganosaurus velauciensis, the crocodile Allodaposuchus, and ancient turtles. If I get a chance to visit, I’m hoping the Matheronodon teeth and jaws will be there too! Figure 1 of the paper by Godefroit et al. (2017), illustrating the right maxilla of Matheronodon with its giant teeth.Ali Nabavizadeh and his biting dinosaur commentary Our guest this episode was Dr. Ali Nabavizadeh, who was not actually involved in the study. But, he is one of the most knowledgable scientists working on dinosaur jaws! His work focuses on the evolution of eating in herbivorous animals. His early work focused entirely on dinosaurs, but he has branched out into other plant-eating reptiles and mammals. Ali’s work was featured on a classic episode of Past Time on just how different dinosaur bites could be.  You can visit his research website, and, if you are a student at the Cooper Medical School at Rowan University, he might be your anatomy professor! Follow him on Twitter for something to chew on! FURTHER READING  The new paper describing Matheronodon.  Godefroit, P., Garcia, G., Gomez, B., Stein, K., Cincotta, A., Lefèvre, U. &amp; Valentin, X. 2017. Extreme tooth enlargement in a new Late Cretaceous rhabdodontid dinosaur from Southern France. Scientific Reports, 7, 13098.   An older paper led by Dr. Godefroit on Zalmoxes, a much more completely known rhabdodont from Cretaceous Romania. Godefroit, P., Codrea, V. &amp; Weishampel, D. B. 2009. Osteology of Zalmoxes shqiperorum (Dinosauria, Ornithopoda), based on new specimens from the Upper Cretaceous of Năălaţţ-Vad (Romania). Geodiversitas, 31, 525–553.   A paper led by Hungarian researcher Attila Osi about the biggest and smallest rhabdodonts from Europe. Osi, A., Prondvai, E., Butler, R. &amp; Weishampel, D. B. 2012. Phylogeny, histology and inferred body size evolution in a new rhabdodontid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Hungary. PLoS One, 7, e44318.   Dr. Nabavizadeh’s paper on the diversity of chewing in the ornithschian dinosaurs. Nabavizadeh, A. 2016. Evolutionary trends in the jaw adductor mechanics of ornithischian dinosaurs. The Anatomical Record, 299, 271–294.    Be sure to check out Past Time on Twitter and Facebook. Give us a review on iTunes if you get the chance too!

Matheronodon is certainly a dinosaur worthy of a bigger bite. With proportionally giant teeth strikingly different from the standard-issue ornithopod dinosaur, it is certainly one of the most important dino discoveries out of Europe this year. Better yet, the original scientific paper by Pascal Godefroit and colleagues is free to read in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-13160-2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Scientific Reports</a>! If you’d like to learn more about Rhabdodontidae, the small but successful family of dinosaurs to which Matheronodon belongs, check out the papers in the reference list below. <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/image_5378_1e-Matheronodon-provincialis.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>The head of Matheronodon, complete with gigantic teeth in its jaws. This illustration by Lukas Panzarin reconstructs the whole head similar to other rhabdodonts, like Rhabdodon and Zalmoxes. <h3>Museum of Matheronodon</h3> The original specimen (pictured below) is housed at the <a href="http://www.velaux.fr/musee_moulinahuile.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Musée du Moulin Seigneurial in Velaux</a>, France. I looked up the museum online, and it looks really cool. Built in an old olive mill, the exhibits include Cretaceous in Provence displays. The displays include specimens of Matheronodon contemporaries, including the sauropod Atsinganosaurus velauciensis, the crocodile Allodaposuchus, and ancient turtles. If I get a chance to visit, I’m hoping the Matheronodon teeth and jaws will be there too! <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/41598_2017_13160_Fig1_HTML.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Figure 1 of the paper by Godefroit et al. (2017), illustrating the right maxilla of Matheronodon with its giant teeth. <h3>Ali Nabavizadeh and his biting dinosaur commentary</h3> Our guest this episode was Dr. Ali Nabavizadeh, who was not actually involved in the study. But, he is one of the most knowledgable scientists working on dinosaur jaws! His work focuses on the evolution of eating in herbivorous animals. His early work focused entirely on dinosaurs, but he has branched out into other plant-eating reptiles and mammals. Ali’s work was featured on a classic episode of Past Time on just how different dinosaur bites could be.  You can visit his <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/alinabav/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">research website</a>, and, if you are a student at the Cooper Medical School at Rowan University, he might be your anatomy professor! Follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/Vert_Anatomist" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> for something to chew on! <h3>FURTHER READING</h3> <ol> <li><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-13160-2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The new paper describing Matheronodon.</a> <ul> <li>Godefroit, P., Garcia, G., Gomez, B., Stein, K., Cincotta, A., Lefèvre, U. &amp; Valentin, X. 2017. Extreme tooth enlargement in a new Late Cretaceous rhabdodontid dinosaur from Southern France. Scientific Reports, 7, 13098.</li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="http://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/sites/default/files/articles/pdf/g2009n3a3.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">An older paper</a> led by Dr. Godefroit on Zalmoxes, a much more completely known rhabdodont from Cretaceous Romania. <ul> <li>Godefroit, P., Codrea, V. &amp; Weishampel, D. B. 2009. Osteology of Zalmoxes shqiperorum (Dinosauria, Ornithopoda), based on new specimens from the Upper Cretaceous of Năălaţţ-Vad (Romania). Geodiversitas, 31, 525–553.</li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0044318" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A paper</a> led by Hungarian researcher Attila Osi about the biggest and smallest rhabdodonts from Europe. <ul> <li>Osi, A., Prondvai, E., Butler, R. &amp; Weishampel, D. B. 2012. Phylogeny, histology and inferred body size evolution in a new rhabdodontid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Hungary. PLoS One, 7, e44318.</li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.23306/full" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Nabavizadeh’s paper</a> on the diversity of chewing in the ornithschian dinosaurs. <ul> <li>Nabavizadeh, A. 2016. Evolutionary trends in the jaw adductor mechanics of ornithischian dinosaurs. The Anatomical Record, 299, 271–294.</li> </ul> </li> </ol> Be sure to check out Past Time on <a href="https://twitter.com/PastTimePaleo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pasttimepaleo/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>. Give us a review on iTunes if you get the chance too!

Episode 22: Matheronodon, a new dinosaur with a different kind of bite!

50 million-years ago, the heir to Tyrannosaurus stalked the forests of ancient Europe and North America, snapping up the tiny ancestors of horses, cows, and wolves in its colossal meat-cleaving beak. Gastornis was a six-foot-tall, flightless bird and the king of the food chain...or that’s what we thought. For decades paleontologists looked at the huge, parrot-like head and thought the giant bird must be a carnivore, but a recent, exhaustive study drew on molecular evidence, anatomical evidence, and ecological evidence to show Gastornis was a giant herbivore! The former terror bird likely used that massive beak to crack open the abundant seeds and leaves that would have littered the forest at the beginning of the Age of Mammals. Tune in to Past Time to learn how the fossil Terror Bird became Big Bird!

Quick Bite: From Terror Bird to Gentle Giant

Hi all. Adam Pritchard here. I’ve been thinking about telling the story of my field experience in the Triassic-aged Chinle Formation of northern New Mexico for many years. The Hayden Quarry fossil site at Ghost Ranch has produced the best-preserved and most diverse record of American dinosaurs from the Triassic of North America, plus some of the strangest reptiles that ever lived. I’ve been proud to be a part of the Ghost Ranch field crew for nearly a decade now! Paleontologist Adam Pritchard excavating around a mini plaster jacket, likely containing some kind of tiny reptile fossil.  The 2017 Ghost Ranch field crew, standing proud by H4.First off, here are some links to exhibits and museum experiences relating to the Ghost Ranch project, including the recent Hayden Quarry discoveries:   The Ruth Hall Museum of Paleontology at Ghost Ranch  https://www.ghostranch.org/explore/museums/museum-of-paleontology/ Check out the Ghost Ranch exhibit in the heart of it all, filled with the awesome fossils from the Triassic Period. Includes links for school groups and to join tours of the local fossil sites led by Ghost Ranch staffers!    Paleontology at Ghost Ranch Jan-Term courses  https://www.ghostranch.org/retreats/category/retreats/archaeology-geology-paleontology/ In addition to summer classes, there is a winter paleontology experience at Ghost Ranch that runs through January. Members of the classes have discovered some amazing, valuable fossils from the Hayden Quarry site!    Shelf Life episode about the Ghost Ranch area and dinosaur evolution.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=567bv6xmuss A video from the American Museum of Natural History on its role in uncovering the amazing discoveries at the Coelophysis     I thought it’d also be good to add some links to the MANY books scientific papers that have come out of Ghost Ranch paleontology since the beginning of the twentieth century:   Colbert EH. 1995. Little Dinosaurs of Ghost Ranch. Columbia University Press, New York. 232 pp.  Popular book on Ghost Ranch dinosaur discoveries by the great twentieth century paleontology Edwin Colbert (who deserves GREAT thanks for his contribution to the discovery of the original Coelophysis.    Colbert EH. 1989. The Triassic dinosaur Coelophysis. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 57:1–160.  Classic paper on anatomy of the classic Ghost Ranch dinosaur and the history of its discovery. Currently not available online, as far as I can tell.    Long RA and Murry PA. 1995. Late Traissic (Carnian and Norian) tetrapods from the southwestern United States. Bulletin of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History 4.  http://econtent.unm.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/bulletins/id/659/rec/26 Massive tome on the whole diversity of four-footed animals in the Triassic southwest, as it was understood in the 1990s. Lots of good information!    Irmis RB, Nesbitt SJ, Padian K, Smith ND, Turner AH, Downs A. 2007. A Late Triassic dinosauromorph assemblage from New Mexico and the rise of dinosaurs. Science 317:358–361.  https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=3400428144708398818&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0,21 The first major scientific publication from the Hayden Quarry project, detailing the dinosaur and dinosaur-cousin parts of the fauna.    Nesbitt SJ, Smith ND, Irmis RB, Turner AH, Downs A, Norell MA. 2009. A complete skeleton of a Late Triassic saurischian from the early evolution of dinosaurs. Science 326:1530–1533.  https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=6320869846132121740&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0,21 Description of Tawa hallae, the early theropod dinosaur unique to the Hayden Quarry fauna.    Whiteside JH, et al. 2015. Extreme ecosystem instability suppressed tropical dinosaur dominance for 30 million years. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112:7909–7913.  https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=8226127600494641823&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0,21 Awesome paper on the strange, unstable ecosystem and forest fires recorded in the Hayden Quarry fossil site.    Lessner EJ, Stocker MR, Smith ND, Turner AH, Irmis RB, Nesbitt SJ. 2016. A new rauisuchid (Archosauria, Pseudosuchia) from the Upper Triassic (Norian) of New Mexico increases the diversity and temporal range of the clade. PeerJ 4:e2336.  https://peerj.com/articles/2336/?utm_source=TrendMD&amp;utm_campaign=PeerJ_TrendMD_0&amp;utm_medium=TrendMD Description of the giant predatory rauisuchian from the Hayden Quarry site.    Pritchard AC, Turner AH, Nesbitt SJ, Irmis RB, Smith ND. 2015. Late Triassic tanystropheids (Reptilia, Archosauromorpha) from northern New Mexico (Petrified Forest Member, Chinle Formation) and the biogeography, functional morphology, and evolution of Tanystropheidae. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 35: e911186.  https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=4784541546423146723&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0,21 My own paper on the weird, long-necked tanystropheids from the Hayden Quarry. Hit me up if you can’t find a copy.      Pritchard AC, Turner AH, Irmis RB, Nesbitt SJ, Smith ND. 2016. Extreme modification of the tetrapod forelimb in a Triassic diapsid reptile. Current Biology 26:2779–2786.  https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=12454567957351173151&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0,21 Last and perhaps least, my recent paper on the crazy arms of Drepanosaurus, the bizarre, giant-clawed reptile.  The end of a long day of fieldwork. Everyone gathers at the campground and waits hungrily for dinner.Be sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and give us a review on iTunes if you like the podcast!

Hi all. Adam Pritchard here. I’ve been thinking about telling the story of my field experience in the Triassic-aged Chinle Formation of northern New Mexico for many years. The Hayden Quarry fossil site at Ghost Ranch has produced the best-preserved and most diverse record of American dinosaurs from the Triassic of North America, plus some of the strangest reptiles that ever lived. I’ve been proud to be a part of the Ghost Ranch field crew for nearly a decade now! <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/IMG_2973.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Paleontologist Adam Pritchard excavating around a mini plaster jacket, likely containing some kind of tiny reptile fossil. <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/20728266_671431739732967_3938618967384384119_n.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>The 2017 Ghost Ranch field crew, standing proud by H4. First off, here are some links to exhibits and museum experiences relating to the Ghost Ranch project, including the recent Hayden Quarry discoveries: The Ruth Hall Museum of Paleontology at Ghost Ranch <ul> <li><a href="https://www.ghostranch.org/explore/museums/museum-of-paleontology/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.ghostranch.org/explore/museums/museum-of-paleontology/</a></li> <li>Check out the Ghost Ranch exhibit in the heart of it all, filled with the awesome fossils from the Triassic Period. Includes links for school groups and to join tours of the local fossil sites led by Ghost Ranch staffers!</li> </ul> Paleontology at Ghost Ranch Jan-Term courses <ul> <li><a href="https://www.ghostranch.org/retreats/category/retreats/archaeology-geology-paleontology/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.ghostranch.org/retreats/category/retreats/archaeology-geology-paleontology/</a></li> <li>In addition to summer classes, there is a winter paleontology experience at Ghost Ranch that runs through January. Members of the classes have discovered some amazing, valuable fossils from the Hayden Quarry site!</li> </ul> Shelf Life episode about the Ghost Ranch area and dinosaur evolution. <ul> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=567bv6xmuss" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=567bv6xmuss</a></li> <li>A video from the American Museum of Natural History on its role in uncovering the amazing discoveries at the Coelophysis </li> </ul> I thought it’d also be good to add some links to the MANY books scientific papers that have come out of Ghost Ranch paleontology since the beginning of the twentieth century: Colbert EH. 1995. Little Dinosaurs of Ghost Ranch. Columbia University Press, New York. 232 pp. <ul> <li>Popular book on Ghost Ranch dinosaur discoveries by the great twentieth century paleontology Edwin Colbert (who deserves GREAT thanks for his contribution to the discovery of the original Coelophysis.</li> </ul> Colbert EH. 1989. The Triassic dinosaur Coelophysis. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 57:1–160. <ul> <li>Classic paper on anatomy of the classic Ghost Ranch dinosaur and the history of its discovery. Currently not available online, as far as I can tell.</li> </ul> Long RA and Murry PA. 1995. Late Traissic (Carnian and Norian) tetrapods from the southwestern United States. Bulletin of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History 4. <ul> <li><a href="http://econtent.unm.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/bulletins/id/659/rec/26" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://econtent.unm.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/bulletins/id/659/rec/26</a></li> <li>Massive tome on the whole diversity of four-footed animals in the Triassic southwest, as it was understood in the 1990s. Lots of good information!</li> </ul> Irmis RB, Nesbitt SJ, Padian K, Smith ND, Turner AH, Downs A. 2007. A Late Triassic dinosauromorph assemblage from New Mexico and the rise of dinosaurs. Science 317:358–361. <ul> <li><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=3400428144708398818&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0,21" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=3400428144708398818&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0,21</a></li> <li>The first major scientific publication from the Hayden Quarry project, detailing the dinosaur and dinosaur-cousin parts of the fauna.</li> </ul> Nesbitt SJ, Smith ND, Irmis RB, Turner AH, Downs A, Norell MA. 2009. A complete skeleton of a Late Triassic saurischian from the early evolution of dinosaurs. Science 326:1530–1533. <ul> <li><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=6320869846132121740&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0,21" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=6320869846132121740&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0,21</a></li> <li>Description of Tawa hallae, the early theropod dinosaur unique to the Hayden Quarry fauna.</li> </ul> Whiteside JH, et al. 2015. Extreme ecosystem instability suppressed tropical dinosaur dominance for 30 million years. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112:7909–7913. <ul> <li><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=8226127600494641823&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0,21" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=8226127600494641823&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0,21</a></li> <li>Awesome paper on the strange, unstable ecosystem and forest fires recorded in the Hayden Quarry fossil site.</li> </ul> Lessner EJ, Stocker MR, Smith ND, Turner AH, Irmis RB, Nesbitt SJ. 2016. A new rauisuchid (Archosauria, Pseudosuchia) from the Upper Triassic (Norian) of New Mexico increases the diversity and temporal range of the clade. PeerJ 4:e2336. <ul> <li><a href="https://peerj.com/articles/2336/?utm_source=TrendMD&amp;utm_campaign=PeerJ_TrendMD_0&amp;utm_medium=TrendMD" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://peerj.com/articles/2336/?utm_source=TrendMD&amp;utm_campaign=PeerJ_TrendMD_0&amp;utm_medium=TrendMD</a></li> <li>Description of the giant predatory rauisuchian from the Hayden Quarry site.</li> </ul> Pritchard AC, Turner AH, Nesbitt SJ, Irmis RB, Smith ND. 2015. Late Triassic tanystropheids (Reptilia, Archosauromorpha) from northern New Mexico (Petrified Forest Member, Chinle Formation) and the biogeography, functional morphology, and evolution of Tanystropheidae. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 35: e911186. <ul> <li><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=4784541546423146723&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0,21" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=4784541546423146723&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0,21</a></li> <li>My own paper on the weird, long-necked tanystropheids from the Hayden Quarry. Hit me up if you can’t find a copy.</li> </ul> Pritchard AC, Turner AH, Irmis RB, Nesbitt SJ, Smith ND. 2016. Extreme modification of the tetrapod forelimb in a Triassic diapsid reptile. Current Biology 26:2779–2786. <ul> <li><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=12454567957351173151&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0,21" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=12454567957351173151&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0,21</a></li> <li>Last and perhaps least, my recent paper on the crazy arms of Drepanosaurus, the bizarre, giant-clawed reptile.</li> </ul> <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Photo-Aug-03-8-33-57-PM.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>The end of a long day of fieldwork. Everyone gathers at the campground and waits hungrily for dinner. Be sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and give us a review on iTunes if you like the podcast!

Episode 20: Digging the Dawn of Dinosaurs – Paleontology at Ghost Ranch

It’s been a long time coming, but both Matt and I have completed our doctoral degrees at Stony Brook University. This is the end of a journey he and I began over six years ago, when we first moved to Long Island with dreams of becoming paleontologists. Since that time, we have learned a LOT about what exactly it means to be a paleontologist and the many paths that can be taken to reach that goal. Matt Borths (dressed as Edward Drinker Cope) and Adam Pritchard (dressed as Othniel Charles Marsh). Halloween 2009.In this long-form episode, we do not feature a new discovery in paleontology or a natural history researcher. Instead, we tell a bit of our own stories: specifically, how we came to be at Stony Brook and what we were up to (other than Past Time) while we were there. We hope to give people a bit of guidance in making a decision to follow a career in paleontology. I completed my dissertation research on the evolution of Triassic reptiles and presented it to the Department of Anatomical Sciences in June of 2015. Cathartic does not begin to describe the experience after my adviser told me that I had passed…there were so many times over the preceding years when I was certain it would never end. The dissertation project is so large that it can seem insurmountable at times…but it did come to an end. It comes to an end through persistence, but it also comes to an end because of collaboration. Adam Pritchard wears his doctoral sweater vest, as knitted by fellow graduate student Kate Corbin.I think collaboration is the primary theme of this episode, which we recorded just an hour and a half after Matt completed his dissertation defense. The goal of a dissertation is to address a scientific question from many different angles. However, addressing a scientific question is not something one can do alone. A student needs to be trained. A researcher needs access to specimens and technology. A person needs support and love from friends and family. Completing a project on this scale requires some combination of all of these factors. Matthew Borths defends his dissertation to the Department of Anatomical Sciences. Don’t worry! He passed.Matt was still a bit discombobulated (and overjoyed!) when we recorded this episode, but I think it’s best. At Past Time, we try to capture both the science and the feeling behind that science, and if we give off a bit of relief and exilhiration then we did our job well. We sincerely hope that this episode provides a little bit of advice and help to any would-be paleontologist. A Ph.D. is certainly not a necessity to study paleontology, participate in field projects, or engage in natural history research. However, it is an important step towards doing scientific research and teaching at many museums and universities. Feel free to drop us a comment here or on Facebook or tweet us on Twitter if we can be of any more help!

It’s been a long time coming, but both Matt and I have completed our doctoral degrees at Stony Brook University. This is the end of a journey he and I began over six years ago, when we first moved to Long Island with dreams of becoming paleontologists. Since that time, we have learned a LOT about what exactly it means to be a paleontologist and the many paths that can be taken to reach that goal. <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/10391859_651391868369_2762761_n.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Matt Borths (dressed as Edward Drinker Cope) and Adam Pritchard (dressed as Othniel Charles Marsh). Halloween 2009. In this long-form episode, we do not feature a new discovery in paleontology or a natural history researcher. Instead, we tell a bit of our own stories: specifically, how we came to be at Stony Brook and what we were up to (other than Past Time) while we were there. We hope to give people a bit of guidance in making a decision to follow a career in paleontology. I completed my dissertation research on the evolution of Triassic reptiles and presented it to the Department of Anatomical Sciences in June of 2015. Cathartic does not begin to describe the experience after my adviser told me that I had passed…there were so many times over the preceding years when I was certain it would never end. The dissertation project is so large that it can seem insurmountable at times…but it did come to an end. It comes to an end through persistence, but it also comes to an end because of collaboration. <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/10012197_408090912726148_6374705956371101436_o1.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Adam Pritchard wears his doctoral sweater vest, as knitted by fellow graduate student Kate Corbin. I think collaboration is the primary theme of this episode, which we recorded just an hour and a half after Matt completed his dissertation defense. The goal of a dissertation is to address a scientific question from many different angles. However, addressing a scientific question is not something one can do alone. A student needs to be trained. A researcher needs access to specimens and technology. A person needs support and love from friends and family. Completing a project on this scale requires some combination of all of these factors. <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/12227569_10103499453224490_6586310009192976653_n.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Matthew Borths defends his dissertation to the Department of Anatomical Sciences. Don’t worry! He passed. Matt was still a bit discombobulated (and overjoyed!) when we recorded this episode, but I think it’s best. At Past Time, we try to capture both the science and the feeling behind that science, and if we give off a bit of relief and exilhiration then we did our job well. We sincerely hope that this episode provides a little bit of advice and help to any would-be paleontologist. A Ph.D. is certainly not a necessity to study paleontology, participate in field projects, or engage in natural history research. However, it is an important step towards doing scientific research and teaching at many museums and universities. Feel free to drop us a comment here or on Facebook or tweet us on Twitter if we can be of any more help!

Episode 15: Degrees of Doctoral Dissertation Domination

The fossil record is pretty patchy. Most discoveries are tooth fragments, chunks of shell, or isolated slivers of bone and paleontologists are trained to eke out as much information from these precious fragments as they can. But some fossil deposits preserve more than just bones and teeth. Called "Lagerstätte" some rare deposites preserve traces of difficult-to-fossilized soft-tissues like feathers and fur. Some even preserve an animal's last meal before it entered the fossil record. In this episode of Past Time, Matt and Adam discuss Messel, a German fossil site that is one of the best examples of the biological and ecological knowledge preserved in these rare Lagerstätten deposits. Early bats, mini horses, and galloping crocodiles once roamed this extinct jungle in the heart of Europe. The exquisite preservation at Messel lets paleontologists travel back to this exotic ecosystem to tease out connections between the beginning of the Age of Mammals and modern tropical environments.

Episode 6: Tiny Horses, Galloping Crocs, and Fossilized Jungles!

Little people! Giant reptiles! Towering elephants! Huge birds! It sounds like the stuff of literary and box-office gold, but this Middle-Earth-like world actually existed 17,000 years ago on Flores, an island near Indonesia. Homo floresiensis, or "The Hobbts", only stood three feet tall but they cast a huge shadow over the story of human evolution. In 2004 fossils of the small, big-footed hominins were discovered and they have challenged paleoanthropologists, like this episode's Dr. William Jungers, to reconsider many hypotheses of human origins including which species left the continent and how we're all related. Once thought to just be small versions of Homo erectus, the hobbits may have much more ancient ancestors, posing more questions for the fossil record to answer as the human story becomes even more complicated...and interesting!

Episode 10: The Hobbit – An Unexpected Discovery

Humans are weird animals. We walk around on two legs, we have big brains...and we like to throw things at each other. Did all this happen in a gradual march to Homo sapiens? In this episode of Past Time, Adam and Matt talk to Dr. Susan Larson, an expert on the anatomy of living and extinct apes. Dr. Larson and Matt will try to convince Adam that mammalian and primate evolution is actually pretty interesting stuff. Dr. Larson's research introduced new wrinkles to the smoth transition from a chimp-like ancestor to us. Her work shows our close bipedal ancestors - like "Lucy" the Australopithecus and "Turkana Boy" the Homo erectus/Homo ergaster - had very different shoulder blades than ours that limited their ability to rotate their arms. This arrangement would have made throwing difficult for Homo erectus and you would have left him on the bench for the playoffs. The evolution of pitching in recent human ancestors shaped our modern anatomy and is part of what makes us human!

Episode 5: Throwing in Human Evolution

It weighed twice as much as a modern wolf. It had three pairs of meat-slicing teeth. It was the first carnivorous land animal to reach 200 pounds on the entire continent of Europe after the extinction of the dinosaurs. And a team of European scientists and Past Time co-host Matthew Borths just introduced us to it. Ladies and gentlemen: meet Kerberos, monster mammal carnivore! If you’re interested, read the full technical article about the new mammal, Kerberos,in the online journal Plos One There are very few articles on creodonts online, like this one from UC Berkeley, mostly because they remain very mysterious. Matt will have a LOT more to tell the world about creodont mammals after he completes his dissertation this Fall! If you get the chance, wish him luck in the comments, on Facebook, or on Twitter! Kerberos is named for Cerberus, the three-headed hell-hound that guarded the gates of Hades, the Greek underworld.

It weighed twice as much as a modern wolf. It had three pairs of meat-slicing teeth. It was the first carnivorous land animal to reach 200 pounds on the entire continent of Europe after the extinction of the dinosaurs. And a team of European scientists and Past Time co-host Matthew Borths just introduced us to it. Ladies and gentlemen: meet Kerberos, monster mammal carnivore! If you’re interested, read the full technical article about the new mammal, <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0135698" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kerberos</a>,in the online journal Plos One There are very few articles on <a href="http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/eutheria/creodonta.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">creodonts</a> online, like this one from UC Berkeley, mostly because they remain very mysterious. Matt will have a LOT more to tell the world about creodont mammals after he completes his dissertation this Fall! If you get the chance, wish him luck in the comments, on Facebook, or on Twitter! <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Kerberos.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Kerberos is named for Cerberus, the three-headed hell-hound that guarded the gates of Hades, the Greek underworld.

News Bite: Kerberos! Giant mammal carnivore from after the Age of Dinosaurs!

Brontosaurus was an extinct name for an extinct animal, but a new study brings the “Thunder Lizard” title roaring back to life! But how does a name get dropped, and how does it get brought back again? Follow us into the winding world of paleontology taxonomy, the study of names. In the 1870s two giant hip bones were found and named by one of the great paleontologists of the age: Othniel Marsh. He thought there were a few differences and called one Apatosaurus ajax and the other, named a few years later, Brontosaurus excelsus. The Brontosaurus and Apatosaurus parts of those names are the genus, and the second part – excelsus and ajax – are the species. In 1903 another paleontologist, Elmer Riggs, decided they weren’t different enough to be different genera. Apatosaurs was the older genus, so Brontosaurus excelsus became Apatosaurus excelsus to show other scientists how closely related it was to Apatosaurus ajax. They were two species in the same genus.  Infographic created by 4.0 PeerJ A new study looked at every specimen from the family that includes Apatosaurus that has ever been collected: Diplodocidae. The family Diplodocidae includes long-necked dinosaurs with horse-like faces and whip-like tails. Some of the specimens were collected 150 years ago but were never really scrutinized before. In the new analysis, the specimens once called Brontosaurus  were found to be related to different specimens from Apatosaurus ajax. They aren’t each other’s closest relatives anymore, so the name Brotosaurus was brought back to describe this newly discovered cluster of specimens that are united by newly discovered anatomical features such as Brontosaurus’s narrower neck. This is just one more hypothesis for dinosaur relationships. There are more fossils to discover in the field and in museum collections and paleontologists will keep hunting for more relatives of the Thunder lizard and its kin! The study: Emanuel Tschopp, Octávio Mateus, and Roger B.J. Benson. 2015. A specimen-level phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision of Diplodocidae (Dinosauria, Sauropoda). PeerJ 3:e857 https://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.857

Brontosaurus was an extinct name for an extinct animal, but a new study brings the “Thunder Lizard” title roaring back to life! But how does a name get dropped, and how does it get brought back again? Follow us into the winding world of paleontology taxonomy, the study of names. In the 1870s two giant hip bones were found and named by one of the great paleontologists of the age: Othniel Marsh. He thought there were a few differences and called one Apatosaurus ajax and the other, named a few years later, Brontosaurus excelsus. The Brontosaurus and Apatosaurus parts of those names are the genus, and the second part – excelsus and ajax – are the species. In 1903 another paleontologist, Elmer Riggs, decided they weren’t different enough to be different genera. Apatosaurs was the older genus, so Brontosaurus excelsus became Apatosaurus excelsus to show other scientists how closely related it was to Apatosaurus ajax. They were two species in the same genus. <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Brontosaurus_infographic_NoText_HRes.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a> Infographic created by 4.0 PeerJ A new study looked at every specimen from the family that includes Apatosaurus that has ever been collected: Diplodocidae. The family Diplodocidae includes long-necked dinosaurs with horse-like faces and whip-like tails. Some of the specimens were collected 150 years ago but were never really scrutinized before. In the new analysis, the specimens once called Brontosaurus  were found to be related to different specimens from Apatosaurus ajax. They aren’t each other’s closest relatives anymore, so the name Brotosaurus was brought back to describe this newly discovered cluster of specimens that are united by newly discovered anatomical features such as Brontosaurus’s narrower neck. This is just one more hypothesis for dinosaur relationships. There are more fossils to discover in the field and in museum collections and paleontologists will keep hunting for more relatives of the Thunder lizard and its kin! The study: Emanuel Tschopp, Octávio Mateus, and Roger B.J. Benson. 2015. A specimen-level phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision of Diplodocidae (Dinosauria, Sauropoda). PeerJ 3:e857 <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.857" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.857</a>

News Bite: Brontosaurus revived!

A few weeks ago Past Time co-host Matt Borths published a study that identified a new species of now-extinct carnivorous mammal from Egypt. The animal was near the top of the African food chain when Africa was cut off from the other continents. It lived in the same swampy ecosystem that was home to our earliest monkey-like relatives! Here’s a link to the original paper in the open access journal PLOS ONE &lt;http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0173527&gt; if you want to take a look at the original fossils. You can even see them in 3D at www.morphosource.org Masrasector means “The Egyptian slicer” because the meat-eater was found in the deserts of Egypt, near the Fayum Oasis southwest of Cairo. The species name, nananubis, means “tiny Anubis,” because the small, fox-sized carnivore resembles the jackal-headed Ancient Egyptian god of embalming and guide through the afterlife. “Tiny Anubis” likely scrambled on the ground, chasing large rodents and small hyraxes through the Fayum wetland. It probably didn’t spend a lot of time weighing the hearts of the dead, but such behaviors don’t fossilize very well. Masrasector nananubis was part of an extinct group of carnivorous mammals called hyaenodonts. If you think of a meat-eating mammal today, like a wolf, tiger, or hyena, you’re thinking of a species from the mammalian order Carnivora. Carnivorans are united by having one pair of specialized meat-slicing teeth on each side of their face. Next time you see a dog or cat yawn, look in the back of their mouth for the scissor-like blades. Hyaenodonts had three pairs of these meat-slicers on each side of their mouths instead of just one, making it easy to recognize them in the fossil record. Hyaenodonts were the only meat-eating mammals in Africa for over forty million years between the extinction of the dinosaurs and the arrival of the first African carnivorans. Carnivorous mammals are rare in modern ecosystems, and this was also true in the past. Fossilization itself is a rare event, which means the chances of a rare carnivore becoming a rare fossil are very low. This means African hyaenodonts are a rare find, and most are only known from a few isolated teeth and jaws. But, Masrasector is known from several nearly complete skulls, dozens of jaws, and pieces of arm bone. A photograph and three-dimensional model of the skull of Masrasector nananubis.With all this material it’s possible to really dig into what Masrasector ate, and how it moved through its environment. African carnivores like lions and hyenas are fascinating, endangered creatures. Hyaenodonts were a separate experiment in how to be a carnivorous African mammal, and they did it successfully for millions of years.Masrasector offers a detailed view of how African hyaenodonts pursued their prey and what their diet was like. The specimens were discovered in a quarry called Locality-41, one of the most fossil-rich places from the beginning of the Age of Mammals in Africa. The first specimens of Masrasector were found at L-41 nearly 30 years ago. For decades, the specimens accumulated as Egyptian and American paleontologists delicately removed the fossils from the salty, clay-like rock they were embedded in. Hundreds of people moved the sediment, prepared the specimens, and protect these delicate fossils, which need to be kept in a humidity-controlled room because the salt and clay they were fossilized in can expand and break the bones. Salt was an important ingredient in the mummification process, which is another reason naming Masrasector nananubis after the god of embalming made sense.   Matt and Erik investigate new fossils during fieldwork in the Fayum Depression of Egypt.“The Fayum deposits give us our most detailed insights into the early evolution of Africa’s native mammals, when that continent was still largely isolated from other landmasses,” says Eric Seiffert, co-author on the study and Professor in Integrative Anatomical Sciences at the University of Southern California. “The small carnivorous mammals from the Fayum sites were previously only known from a few jaw fragments and isolated teeth, so the discovery of complete crania and arm bones of Masrasector provides lots of new information that allows us to better understand what these animals looked like, what their adaptations were, and how they might have fit into these ancient ecosystems. Because the specimens are so delicate, many were micro-CT scanned at Duke University to create digital models of the specimens. Now the digital models can be shared widely and studied by researchers around the world, without needing to handle the delicate specimens. With all the anatomical detail provided by the specimens, it was possible to run an analysis using new analytical methods to understand where Masrasector fits in the hyaenodont family tree. The results reveal Masrasector is part of a group of hyaenodonts that were part of African ecosystems for millions of years: Teratodontinae. The oldest species in Teratodontinae is nearly 50 million years old and the youngest shared the landscape with the early relatives of dogs, cats, and mongooses that crossed into Africa when the Arabian Peninsula connected Africa to Eurasia. Teratodontines, were an integral part of African landscape, shaping the same ecosystems where we find our ape and monkey relatives. Then hyaenodonts passed the ecological baton to modern carnivores. All of this Masrasector material helps to sort out their anatomy and relationships, so researchers can piece together what ecological role modern African carnivores inherited from these ancient beasts. To reconstruct the ecology of Masrasector, the researchers took measurements of the arm bones of Masrasector, other hyaenodonts, and modern carnivorans. Because the locomotion of modern carnivorans is known from actually watching them move, the researchers used a classification analysis to predict Masrasector was a ground-based carnivore, like a modern fox or hyena. An illustration of Hyaenodon, a large North American relative of Masrasector by paleoartist Nobu Tamura. This illustration captures the large rectangular skull of hyaenodonts.The discovery of Masrasector nananubis allowed Matt and Dr. Seiffert to delve into the ancient lives of a mysterious group of African carnivorous mammals. With the scans of the specimens and the measurements accessible online, “tiny Anubis” can continue to guide researchers through the evolution and extinction of Africa’s first meat-eating mammals. This study was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation Division of Biological Infrastructure, Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, and Division of Environmental Biology, The Leakey Foundation, The Explorers Club, Gordon and Ann Getty, and the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.

A few weeks ago Past Time co-host Matt Borths published a study that identified a new species of now-extinct carnivorous mammal from Egypt. The animal was near the top of the African food chain when Africa was cut off from the other continents. It lived in the same swampy ecosystem that was home to our earliest monkey-like relatives! Here’s a link to the original paper in the open access journal PLOS ONE &lt;<a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0173527" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0173527</a>&gt; if you want to take a look at the original fossils. You can even see them in 3D at <a href="http://www.morphosource.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.morphosource.org</a> Masrasector means “The Egyptian slicer” because the meat-eater was found in the deserts of Egypt, near the Fayum Oasis southwest of Cairo. The species name, nananubis, means “tiny Anubis,” because the small, fox-sized carnivore resembles the jackal-headed Ancient Egyptian god of embalming and guide through the afterlife. “Tiny Anubis” likely scrambled on the ground, chasing large rodents and small hyraxes through the Fayum wetland. It probably didn’t spend a lot of time weighing the hearts of the dead, but such behaviors don’t fossilize very well. Masrasector nananubis was part of an extinct group of carnivorous mammals called hyaenodonts. If you think of a meat-eating mammal today, like a wolf, tiger, or hyena, you’re thinking of a species from the mammalian order Carnivora. Carnivorans are united by having one pair of specialized meat-slicing teeth on each side of their face. Next time you see a dog or cat yawn, look in the back of their mouth for the scissor-like blades. Hyaenodonts had three pairs of these meat-slicers on each side of their mouths instead of just one, making it easy to recognize them in the fossil record. Hyaenodonts were the only meat-eating mammals in Africa for over forty million years between the extinction of the dinosaurs and the arrival of the first African carnivorans. Carnivorous mammals are rare in modern ecosystems, and this was also true in the past. Fossilization itself is a rare event, which means the chances of a rare carnivore becoming a rare fossil are very low. This means African hyaenodonts are a rare find, and most are only known from a few isolated teeth and jaws. But, Masrasector is known from several nearly complete skulls, dozens of jaws, and pieces of arm bone. <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Masrasector-skull_small.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>A photograph and three-dimensional model of the skull of Masrasector nananubis. With all this material it’s possible to really dig into what Masrasector ate, and how it moved through its environment. African carnivores like lions and hyenas are fascinating, endangered creatures. Hyaenodonts were a separate experiment in how to be a carnivorous African mammal, and they did it successfully for millions of years.Masrasector offers a detailed view of how African hyaenodonts pursued their prey and what their diet was like. The specimens were discovered in a quarry called Locality-41, one of the most fossil-rich places from the beginning of the Age of Mammals in Africa. The first specimens of Masrasector were found at L-41 nearly 30 years ago. For decades, the specimens accumulated as Egyptian and American paleontologists delicately removed the fossils from the salty, clay-like rock they were embedded in. Hundreds of people moved the sediment, prepared the specimens, and protect these delicate fossils, which need to be kept in a humidity-controlled room because the salt and clay they were fossilized in can expand and break the bones. Salt was an important ingredient in the mummification process, which is another reason naming Masrasector nananubis after the god of embalming made sense. <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Co-authors-of-the-study-Erik-Seiffert-and-Matt-Borths-credit-Matt-Borths.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Matt and Erik investigate new fossils during fieldwork in the Fayum Depression of Egypt. “The Fayum deposits give us our most detailed insights into the early evolution of Africa’s native mammals, when that continent was still largely isolated from other landmasses,” says Eric Seiffert, co-author on the study and Professor in Integrative Anatomical Sciences at the University of Southern California. “The small carnivorous mammals from the Fayum sites were previously only known from a few jaw fragments and isolated teeth, so the discovery of complete crania and arm bones of Masrasector provides lots of new information that allows us to better understand what these animals looked like, what their adaptations were, and how they might have fit into these ancient ecosystems. Because the specimens are so delicate, many were micro-CT scanned at Duke University to create digital models of the specimens. Now the digital models can be shared widely and studied by researchers around the world, without needing to handle the delicate specimens. With all the anatomical detail provided by the specimens, it was possible to run an analysis using new analytical methods to understand where Masrasector fits in the hyaenodont family tree. The results reveal Masrasector is part of a group of hyaenodonts that were part of African ecosystems for millions of years: Teratodontinae. The oldest species in Teratodontinae is nearly 50 million years old and the youngest shared the landscape with the early relatives of dogs, cats, and mongooses that crossed into Africa when the Arabian Peninsula connected Africa to Eurasia. Teratodontines, were an integral part of African landscape, shaping the same ecosystems where we find our ape and monkey relatives. Then hyaenodonts passed the ecological baton to modern carnivores. All of this Masrasector material helps to sort out their anatomy and relationships, so researchers can piece together what ecological role modern African carnivores inherited from these ancient beasts. To reconstruct the ecology of Masrasector, the researchers took measurements of the arm bones of Masrasector, other hyaenodonts, and modern carnivorans. Because the locomotion of modern carnivorans is known from actually watching them move, the researchers used a classification analysis to predict Masrasector was a ground-based carnivore, like a modern fox or hyena. <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Hyaenodon-a-relative-of-Masrasector_by-Nobu-Tamura.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>An illustration of Hyaenodon, a large North American relative of Masrasector by paleoartist Nobu Tamura. This illustration captures the large rectangular skull of hyaenodonts. The discovery of Masrasector nananubis allowed Matt and Dr. Seiffert to delve into the ancient lives of a mysterious group of African carnivorous mammals. With the scans of the specimens and the measurements accessible online, “tiny Anubis” can continue to guide researchers through the evolution and extinction of Africa’s first meat-eating mammals. This study was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation Division of Biological Infrastructure, Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, and Division of Environmental Biology, The Leakey Foundation, The Explorers Club, Gordon and Ann Getty, and the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.

Episode 19: Masrasector—Egypt’s Ancient Slicer!

Whales are spectacularly specialized mammals that seem perfectly adapted to their marine habitat. Plenty of other mammals have gone back to the water, but whales take it to a whole new level. No back legs, weird ear bones, noses on top of the head. What could the land-based ancestor of whales possibly looked like? Is there a fossil record of walking whales? In this episode we discover whales belong to the hooved animal group called Artiodactlys and their closest relatives, according to molecular comparisons, are hippos! But hippos and extinct fossil whales don't look very much alike. How did paleontologists, like our guest Dr. Marueen O'Leary, figure out the origins of whales, and how will they figure out the origins of hippos? As always, there are always more questions to answer when we start digging into the fossil record!

Episode 7: Walking through Whale Evolution

Conjuring up extinct environments, museums, books, and documentaries rely on art to show extinct animals revitalized in their ancient surroundings. This type of educational reconstruction is called Paleoart (or Palaeoart for the UK inclined). They are usually striking portraits of the weird place this planet used to be. But, you look at an image of a roamingTyrannosaurus rex without wondering, “How much of that is real?” How do we know its bulk, its color, its environment, or its behavior? Where does the science start and the art (and hypothesizing) begin? Julius Csotonyi, a Candian paleoartist, sat down with us to discuss how he assembles his images which are on display in natural history museums across North America and fill his recently published book, The Paleoart of Julius Csotonyi. A single landscape by Julius is a blend of the latest knowledge from paleontologists, zoologists, paleobotanists, geologists, and geochemists, and as new information is learned, he is ready to update his paintings and present the world with a more accurate glimpse into the ancient past.

Conjuring up extinct environments, museums, books, and documentaries rely on art to show extinct animals revitalized in their ancient surroundings. This type of educational reconstruction is called Paleoart (or Palaeoart for the UK inclined). They are usually striking portraits of the weird place this planet used to be. But, you look at an image of a roamingTyrannosaurus rex without wondering, “How much of that is real?” How do we know its bulk, its color, its environment, or its behavior? Where does the science start and the art (and hypothesizing) begin? <a href="http://csotonyi.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Julius Csotonyi</a>, a Candian paleoartist, sat down with us to discuss how he assembles his images which are on display in natural history museums across North America and fill his recently published book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Paleoart-Julius-Csotonyi/dp/1781169128" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Paleoart of Julius Csotonyi.</a> A single landscape by Julius is a blend of the latest knowledge from paleontologists, zoologists, paleobotanists, geologists, and geochemists, and as new information is learned, he is ready to update his paintings and present the world with a more accurate glimpse into the ancient past.

Episode 14: The Art of Dinosaurs

If you wander into the basement of the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University, and wander into the fossil collections, you will find a vast array of different dinosaurs dating back over 200 million years. However, just a few feet away from the oldest dinosaurs you will find several drawers filled with the bones of Raphus cucullatus: the dodo. These are not fossilized; the dodo has only been gone from the Earth for four hundred years, after all. Still, placing the dodo among all of the other extinct birds, alongside the dinosaurs seems perfectly appropriate to me. Modern reconstruction of Raphus cucullatus by Yale ornithologist Michael Hanson. This painting incorporates new anatomical data about the shape of the body and the color of the feathersAs I mention in the episode, a dodo skeleton is not a common thing in museum collections. There are only a few skeletons that are nearly complete, most of which are preserved in European collections. Only one set of bones at the Oxford Museum of Natural History preserves the soft parts in a mummified state, and only of the head and the foot. As a matter of fact, we likely know less about the dodo than we do about some dinosaur species that have been extinct for more than sixty six million-years longer than the dodo. Moreover, scientists today are applying the same techniques and technologies used to understand the lives of fossil animals to answer questions about the life of the dodo. The preserved skin of a dodo specimen at the Oxford Museum of Natural History.Eugenia Gold is a scientist uniquely qualified to answer questions about this extinct species. She has engaged in a number of anatomical science projects, examining topics as varied as changes in shape during the life of crocodylians, the anatomy of the brain in the tyrannosaurid dinosaur Alioramus, and the evolution of bird brains! She’s got brains on the brain (I’m sure no one has ever made that joke). And she uses the most modern of CT scanning techniques to get inside the heads of her study animals. Those same techniques she used to rebuild the skulls and brains of tyrannosaurs are applied to the skulls of dodos. The science of dodo-ology has undergone a small renaissance recently, with studies on the skeletal anatomy, life style, and the history of dodo contact with cultures around the world. To read more about recent discoveries about this absent bird, check out the article links at the bottom of the page! Dr. Gold’s study of the dodo brain can be found here. Follow her on Twitter @DrNeurosaurus and check out her new bilingual paleontology blog Dr. Neurosaurus! One little correction: Dr. Gold was involved in the description of the Alioramus tyrannosaurid skull, but Dr. Gabe Bever rebuilt the skull using CT data. For a bit more on the story of the extinction of the dodo and the evolution of life on islands, check out David Quammen’s classic popular book, The Song of the Dodo. I also recommend the beautiful coffee table book Extinct Birds, by Erroll Fuller. It’s got amazing paintings, but some very sad stories about recent extinctions of birds on Earth. Recent studies on dodo anatomy include an investigation into the mass of the living animal by C. A. Brassey and colleagues; studies of the historical records charting the transport of dodos around the world; and J. C. Parrish’s comprehensive study of the historical and bone records of the dodo and it’s closest relative, a bird called the Rodrigues Solitaire.

<a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DodoTop.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>If you wander into the basement of the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University, and wander into the fossil collections, you will find a vast array of different dinosaurs dating back over 200 million years. However, just a few feet away from the oldest dinosaurs you will find several drawers filled with the bones of Raphus cucullatus: the dodo. These are not fossilized; the dodo has only been gone from the Earth for four hundred years, after all. Still, placing the dodo among all of the other extinct birds, alongside the dinosaurs seems perfectly appropriate to me. <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Hanson_Raphus_cucullatus_painting.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Modern reconstruction of Raphus cucullatus by Yale ornithologist Michael Hanson. This painting incorporates new anatomical data about the shape of the body and the color of the feathers As I mention in the episode, a dodo skeleton is not a common thing in museum collections. There are only a few skeletons that are nearly complete, most of which are preserved in European collections. Only one set of bones at the Oxford Museum of Natural History preserves the soft parts in a mummified state, and only of the head and the foot. As a matter of fact, we likely know less about the dodo than we do about some dinosaur species that have been extinct for more than sixty six million-years longer than the dodo. Moreover, scientists today are applying the same techniques and technologies used to understand the lives of fossil animals to answer questions about the life of the dodo. <a href="http://www.pasttime.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/dodoOUMNH.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>The preserved skin of a dodo specimen at the Oxford Museum of Natural History. Eugenia Gold is a scientist uniquely qualified to answer questions about this extinct species. She has engaged in a number of anatomical science projects, examining topics as varied as changes in shape during the life of crocodylians, the anatomy of the brain in the tyrannosaurid dinosaur Alioramus, and the evolution of bird brains! She’s got brains on the brain (I’m sure no one has ever made that joke). And she uses the most modern of CT scanning techniques to get inside the heads of her study animals. Those same techniques she used to rebuild the skulls and brains of tyrannosaurs are applied to the skulls of dodos. The science of dodo-ology has undergone a small renaissance recently, with studies on the skeletal anatomy, life style, and the history of dodo contact with cultures around the world. To read more about recent discoveries about this absent bird, check out the article links at the bottom of the page! Dr. Gold’s study of the dodo brain can be found <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/zoj.12388/abstract" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Follow her on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/DrNeurosaurus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@DrNeurosaurus</a> and check out her new bilingual paleontology blog <a href="http://www.drneurosaurus.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Neurosaurus</a>! One little correction: Dr. Gold was involved in the description of the Alioramus tyrannosaurid skull, but Dr. Gabe Bever rebuilt the skull using CT data. For a bit more on the story of the extinction of the dodo and the evolution of life on islands, check out David Quammen’s classic popular book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Song-Dodo-Island-Biogeography-Extinction/dp/0684827123/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1457587018&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=Song+of+the+Dodo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Song of the Dodo</a>. I also recommend the beautiful coffee table book <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1463371.Extinct_Birds" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Extinct Birds</a>, by Erroll Fuller. It’s got amazing paintings, but some very sad stories about recent extinctions of birds on Earth. Recent studies on dodo anatomy include an <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/1432/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">investigation into the mass of the living animal</a> by C. A. Brassey and colleagues; studies of the historical records charting the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08912963.2014.884566#.VuEETpMrJPM" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">transport</a> of dodos around the world; and J. C. Parrish’s <a href="http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=155578" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">comprehensive study</a> of the historical and bone records of the dodo and it’s closest relative, a bird called the Rodrigues Solitaire.

News Bite: Dodos and the evolution of bird brains

With Past Time, Matt and I tend to focus on the new discoveries in paleontology: the new species that show up in the news, or the important specimens discovered in museum collections. These are the raw materials that feed the fires of paleontology as a science. However, observation is only the first step in the scientific method: a method that paleontologists follow. This week’s episode features the work of Dr. Ali Nabavizadeh, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago. Ali recently completed a Ph.D. studying the functional anatomy of dinosaur jaws at Johns Hopkins University. His work combines a knowledge of modern reptile jaw muscles and tissues and the skeletons to dinosaurs to make two-dimensional models that can estimate the relative differences in the bite forces of extinct animals. Ali’s research takes those initial observations (the fossils themselves) and uses them to estimate the actual biology of dinosaurs. His research also asks specific questions about the storied history of Ornithischia, the dinosaur group that includes Triceratops, Stegosaurus, the duck-billed hadrosaurs, Iguanodon, and virtually every herbivore that wasn’t a long-necked sauropod. These animals wrote the book on eating plants during the 150+ million year reign of the dinosaurs, and they had a huge variety of different jaw constructions and tooth shapes. Using relative bite force estimates from over 50 ornithischian dinosaur species, Ali estimated where major changes in the force of the bites and the position of the strongest bite within the jaw occurred in dinosaur evolution. Although many paleontologists have sought to understand the jaw muscles of dinosaur groups, Ali’s research is special in the sheer number of species he examined at once! His research therefore proposed a hypothesis, that the bite forces of different groups of ornithischian dinosaurs were very different. Ali then mapped the relative dinosaur bite forces onto a tree of relationships, to see whether or not there were major shifts and where those occurred. He indeed found that some groups had quite different bites than others; the armored dinosaurs (stegosaurs, ankylosaurs) were not strong biters, while the duck-billed hadrosaurs and giant ceratopsians were very strong biters, especially at the backs of their jaws. The data strongly support the hypothesis that major groups of ornithischian dinosaurs experimented with a wide array of different biting strategies in their inexorable search for food. Research like this is a great example of that “next step” that Past Time hasn’t really highlighted as much. The fossils sit in museums for a reason: so that researchers can pick them back up to try and answer their own questions about the past. With research on dinosaur jaw mechanics, we have a chance to not only understand how individual species approached food processing; we can also try to answer questions about how those capabilities evolved over time. Did they maintain the same bite forces? Did they alter their jaw anatomy to effect a stronger bite? Only by taking the fossils to the next step—by using them to ask and answer new questions about ancient biology and evolution—can we truly begin to understand past time. For more information, check out Ali’s website: https://sites.google.com/site/alinabav/ Also, follow him on twitter @vert_anatomist!

With Past Time, Matt and I tend to focus on the new discoveries in paleontology: the new species that show up in the news, or the important specimens discovered in museum collections. These are the raw materials that feed the fires of paleontology as a science. However, observation is only the first step in the scientific method: a method that paleontologists follow. This week’s episode features the work of Dr. <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/alinabav/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ali Nabavizadeh</a>, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago. Ali recently completed a Ph.D. studying the functional anatomy of dinosaur jaws at Johns Hopkins University. His work combines a knowledge of modern reptile jaw muscles and tissues and the skeletons to dinosaurs to make two-dimensional models that can estimate the relative differences in the bite forces of extinct animals. Ali’s research takes those initial observations (the fossils themselves) and uses them to estimate the actual biology of dinosaurs. His research also asks specific questions about the storied history of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithischia" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ornithischia</a>, the dinosaur group that includes Triceratops, Stegosaurus, the duck-billed hadrosaurs, Iguanodon, and virtually every herbivore that wasn’t a long-necked sauropod. These animals wrote the book on eating plants during the 150+ million year reign of the dinosaurs, and they had a huge variety of different jaw constructions and tooth shapes. Using relative bite force estimates from over 50 ornithischian dinosaur species, Ali estimated where major changes in the force of the bites and the position of the strongest bite within the jaw occurred in dinosaur evolution. Although many paleontologists have sought to understand the jaw muscles of dinosaur groups, Ali’s research is special in the sheer number of species he examined at once! His research therefore proposed a hypothesis, that the bite forces of different groups of ornithischian dinosaurs were very different. Ali then mapped the relative dinosaur bite forces onto a tree of relationships, to see whether or not there were major shifts and where those occurred. He indeed found that some groups had quite different bites than others; the armored dinosaurs (stegosaurs, ankylosaurs) were not strong biters, while the duck-billed hadrosaurs and giant ceratopsians were very strong biters, especially at the backs of their jaws. The data strongly support the hypothesis that major groups of ornithischian dinosaurs experimented with a wide array of different biting strategies in their inexorable search for food. Research like this is a great example of that “next step” that Past Time hasn’t really highlighted as much. The fossils sit in museums for a reason: so that researchers can pick them back up to try and answer their own questions about the past. With research on dinosaur jaw mechanics, we have a chance to not only understand how individual species approached food processing; we can also try to answer questions about how those capabilities evolved over time. Did they maintain the same bite forces? Did they alter their jaw anatomy to effect a stronger bite? Only by taking the fossils to the next step—by using them to ask and answer new questions about ancient biology and evolution—can we truly begin to understand past time. For more information, check out Ali’s website: <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/alinabav/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://sites.google.com/site/alinabav/</a> Also, follow him on twitter @vert_anatomist!

News Bite: The evolution of ornithischian dinosaur jaws and bites!

Meet Ocepechlon, one of the strangest turtles to ever paddle the open ocean in our first Past Time Quick Bite! This new species was announced a few weeks ago based on a lone, beautifully preserved skull from the Late Cretaceous (end of the Age of Dinosaurs) of Morocco. The gigantic animal had a long, tubular snout that the discoverers have interpreted as an adaptation to suction feeding, a specialized feeding method used by lots of aquatic animals including some types of whales. But this would be the first known suction-feeding sea turtle. Ocepechelon also has its nasal opening placed high on its head, between its widely spaced eyes, just like the spout of a whale. Based on the researcher’s analysis, its closest relatives include the gigantic leatherback sea turtle, a huge, beautiful animal that is critically endangered. In case you were cruising for a new favorite, bizarre sea turtle, look no farther than Ocepechelon! Images and comparisons are up at www.pasttime.org

Meet Ocepechlon, one of the strangest turtles to ever paddle the open ocean in our first Past Time Quick Bite! This new species was announced a few weeks ago based on a lone, beautifully preserved skull from the Late Cretaceous (end of the Age of Dinosaurs) of Morocco. The gigantic animal had a long, tubular snout that the discoverers have interpreted as an adaptation to suction feeding, a specialized feeding method used by lots of aquatic animals including some types of whales. But this would be the first known suction-feeding sea turtle. Ocepechelon also has its nasal opening placed high on its head, between its widely spaced eyes, just like the spout of a whale. Based on the researcher’s analysis, its closest relatives include the gigantic leatherback sea turtle, a huge, beautiful animal that is critically endangered. In case you were cruising for a new favorite, bizarre sea turtle, look no farther than Ocepechelon! Images and comparisons are up at <a href="http://www.pasttime.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.pasttime.org</a>

Quick Bite: Ocepechelon the Whale Turtle

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