Podcast 43 - Nontroversy; The Tale of the Dog-Paddling Spinosaurus

The gang discusses the new Spinosaurus material while also trying to completely alienate their audience, starting at jingoistic humor and ending with mass suicide jokes. Meanwhile, Amanda discusses her misgivings about musicals, James compares the other podcast hosts to Peanuts characters, and Curt struggles to understand a perplexing metaphor.

References:

Rayfield, EMILY J. "Structural performance of tetanuran theropod skulls, with emphasis on the Megalosauridae, Spinosauridae and Charcharo− dontosauridae." Special Papers in Palaeontology 86 (2011): 241-253.

Ibrahim, Nizar, et al. "Semiaquatic adaptations in a giant predatory dinosaur."Science 345.6204 (2014): 1613-1616.

Podcast 42 - Terror Birds and Captain Scarlett

In this episode, the gang concludes their marathon of prerecorded episodes with two papers about the biomechanics of the Terror Birds. We also talk about chukars for pretty much no reason. Also, Curt freaks out about birds, James starts a rumor about Aristotle, and Amanda is assaulted by her cat.

References:

Blanco, R. Ernesto, and Washington W. Jones. "Terror birds on the run: a mechanical model to estimate its maximum running speed." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 272.1574 (2005): 1769-1773.

Degrange, Federico J., et al. "Mechanical analysis of feeding behavior in the extinct “terror bird” Andalgalornis steulleti (Gruiformes: Phorusrhacidae)." PloS one 5.8 (2010): e11856.

Podcast 41 - Hallucigenia; Eating Planets and Crapping Rainbows

In this episode of Palaeo After Dark, the gang discusses the complicated history of Hallucigenia, and somehow gets completely derailed into rambling conversations about Star Trek 5, proper pronunciation, Gould’s “Wonderful Life”, microwave ovens, the effects of aging on your storytelling abilities, natural kinds versus individuals, puppy petting, poor puns, minions, food, Hell and Michael Bolton, LSD, oracles, stilt walkers, emus, otaku cat people, evolutionary convergence, My Little Pony, tripe, confusing a camera with a mouth, rubber bands, contingency, the importance of bricks, improper ways to train your cat/James, choking hazard candies, milk allergies, sharing, and historically important beers. Also, Amanda shares her reconstruction of Hallucigenia in its natural habitat (why it has a shapely pair of human legs, no one can say). If you want to get the point where we actually start talking about science, skip to 19:39 (it’s one of those podcasts).

References:

Ramsköld, Lars. "The second leg row of Hallucigenia discovered." Lethaia 25.2 (1992): 221-224.

Hou, Xianguang, and Jan Bergström. "Cambrian lobopodians–ancestors of extant onychophorans?." Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 114.1 (1995): 3-19.

Gould, Stephen Jay. Wonderful life: the Burgess Shale and the nature of history. Random House, 2000.

Smith, Martin R., and Javier Ortega-Hernández. "Hallucigenia/'s onychophoran-like claws and the case for Tactopoda." Nature (2014).

Podcast 40 - Treading Water; Let's Talk About Hippos

In this episode, the gang spirals into insanity while discussing a strange paper about hippo biogeography. Also, James discusses childhood cartoon trauma, Amanda graduates from beer to vodka, and Curt lowers the bar.

References:

Mazza, Paul. "If hippopotamuses cannot swim, how did they colonize islands?." Lethaia (2014).

Geer, Alexandra AE, George Anastasakis, and George A. Lyras. "If hippopotamuses cannot swim, how did they colonize islands: a reply to Mazza." Lethaia (2014).

Podcast 39 - Fractal Fronds; Ediacaran Ecology

In this episode, the gang discusses two papers that look at the ecology of the early life forms of the Ediacaran period. Also, James discusses the American dream, Curt details the secrets of the podcast's "success", and Amanda is nearly murdered by her cat.

References:

Carbone, Calla, and Guy M. Narbonne. "When life got smart: the evolution of behavioral complexity through the Ediacaran and early Cambrian of NW Canada." Journal of Paleontology 88.2 (2014): 309-330.

Cuthill, Jennifer F. Hoyal, and Simon Conway Morris. "Fractal branching organizations of Ediacaran rangeomorph fronds reveal a lost Proterozoic body plan." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2014): 201408542.

Podcast 38 - Podcast Team VS The League of Sinister Papers

This week, instead of picking papers with a similar theme the gang decided to talk about the craziest papers they could find. The end result: yetis and airplanes... Maybe this was a mistake.

Meanwhile, James describes his theory of automobile evolution, Amanda discusses swimming polar bears, and Curt describes the life and times of the podcast gang in Tomodachi Life.

References:

Sykes, Bryan C., et al. "Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot and other anomalous primates." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281.1789 (2014): 20140161.

Miller, Webb, et al. "Sequencing the nuclear genome of the extinct woolly mammoth." Nature 456.7220 (2008): 387-390.

Barnett, Ross, et al. "Evolution of the extinct Sabretooths and the American cheetah-like cat." Current Biology 15.15 (2005): R589-R590.

Bejan, A., J. D. Charles, and S. Lorente. "The evolution of airplanes." Journal of Applied Physics 116.4 (2014): 044901.

Gould, Stephen Jay. "Entropic homogeneity isn't why no one hits. 400 any more." Discover, August (1986): 60-66.

Podcast 37 - Derp Birds

In this episode of Palaeo After Dark, the gang discusses two papers that use morphometric analysis to test how strongly ecology imprints on evolution, which culminates in Curt drunkenly stumbling his way through hierarchy theory. Also, James and Curt talk about the wonder that is Machete Kills, and Amanda wins an argument only using the word “meh”.

References

Mitchell, Jonathan S., and Peter J. Makovicky. "Low ecological disparity in Early Cretaceous birds." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281.1787 (2014): 20140608.

Hopkins, Melanie J. "The environmental structure of trilobite morphological disparity." Paleobiology 40.3 (2014): 352-373. 

Eldredge, Niles, and Stanley N. Salthe. "Hierarchy and evolution." Oxford surveys in evolutionary biology 1 (1984): 184-208.

Podcast 36 - Some of My Best Friends Are Plants

In this week's episode we discuss a paper about using paleobotany to reconstruct paleoclimate, and then spin this discussion into a longer talk about niche conservatism. Meanwhile, Curt violates Godwin's Law by comparing something that is merely horribly unethical with something that is an absolute evil, James gives the Internet and by extension the world an ultimatum, and Amanda confesses to serial herbicide. We also completely mess up our discussion of what stomatal density is used as a proxy for (hint: it’s actually CO2 concentration.... but we apparently forgot that).

References:

Utescher, T., et al. "The Coexistence Approach–theoretical background and practical considerations of using plant fossils for climate quantification."Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (2014).

Crisp, Michael D., et al. "Phylogenetic biome conservatism on a global scale."Nature 458.7239 (2009): 754-756.

Podcast 35 - Horror on Podcast Island 3: Revenge of the Pocket Sauropod

What started as a simple conversation about the Island Rule and small sauropods quickly became a fight for survival as the internet itself rose up to destroy the group. Separated and alone, silenced and cut off by the terrors of this monstrous world wide web, the gang fights to salvage a podcast from the terrible dreck that is, "Horror on Podcast Island 3".

THRILL as Curt creates the perfect designer pet. SCREAM when James details his bizarre dreams. And NO ONE WILL BE ADMITTED TO THE THEATER when Amanda destroys all evidence of her involvement with the show.

References:

Marpmann, Jean Sebastian, et al. "Cranial anatomy of the Late Jurassic dwarf sauropod Europasaurus holgeri (Dinosauria, Camarasauromorpha): ontogenetic changes and size dimorphism." Journal of Systematic Palaeontology ahead-of-print (2014): 1-43.

Benton, Michael J., et al. "Dinosaurs and the island rule: The dwarfed dinosaurs from HaÅ£eg Island." Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 293.3 (2010): 438-454.

Podcast 34 - Godwin's Law

In this episode, the gang repeatedly violates Godwin's Law by comparing everything to the Nazis/Hitler. And they also discuss two papers which deal with understanding the complicated originations of evolutionary groups. Meanwhile, James discusses his future career options, Amanda willfully mispronounces the plural of LEGO, and Curt explains why he is never funny. Follow along at home kids and see if you can count all of the Nazi jokes (the true answer might surprise you).

References: 

Sookias, Roland B., et al. "The monophyly of Euparkeriidae (Reptilia: Archosauriformes) and the origins of Archosauria: a revision of Dorosuchus neoetus from the Mid‐Triassic of Russia." Palaeontology (2014). 

Cartmill, Matt. "Primate origins, human origins, and the end of higher taxa." Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews 21.6 (2012): 208-220.

Podcast 33 - Hypocrisy

In this episode, the gang gets vitriolic about people getting vitriolic as they discuss the unexpected drama that ensued after a seemingly benign paper on the phylogenetic position of fossil remoras was published. Furthermore, after angrily pleading for everyone to calm the hell down, Curt then proceeds to spread the hate around. Also, Amanda enjoys a delicious non-kosher ham and James extols the virtues of vegetarianism while eating ham.

Also ham.

References:

Britz, Ralf, and G. David Johnson. "Ontogeny and homology of the skeletal elements that form the sucking disc of remoras (Teleostei, Echeneoidei, Echeneidae)." Journal of morphology 273.12 (2012): 1353-1366.

Friedman, Matt, et al. "An early fossil remora (Echeneoidea) reveals the evolutionary assembly of the adhesion disc." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 280.1766 (2013).

Britz, R., L. Rüber, and G. D. Johnson. "Reinventing the disc: a reminder to give credit to past giants." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences281.1784 (2014): 20132920.

Friedman, Matt, et al. "On fossils, phylogenies and sequences of evolutionary change." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281.1784 (2014): 20140115.

Podcast 32 - A Very Special Episode of Palaeo After Dark

In this very special episode of Palaeo After Dark, the gang wrestles with the controversial topic of fossil commercialization. Furthermore, tragedy strikes when James discusses the butt-hurt level of animals, Curt needlessly segues into Wounded Knee, and Amanda’s injured back is actively ignored. Will the gang be able to survive this meandering discussion, or will their friendships be forever torn apart?

References:

Shimada, Kenshu, Currie, Philip J., Scott, Eric, and Sumida, Stuart S. 2014. The greatest challenge to 21st century paleontology:When commercialization of fossils threatens the science. Palaeontologia Electronica Vol. 17, Issue 1; 1E: 4 p; palaeo-electronica.org/content/2014/691-great-threat-in-21st-century

Larson, Peter L. and Russell, Donna. 2014. The benefits of commercial fossil sales to 21st-century paleontology. Palaeontologia Electronica Vol. 17, Issue 1; 2E: 7p; palaeo-electronica.org/content/2014/739-commentary-benefits-of-fossil-sales

Podcast 31 - Filling the Bucket

In this episode, the gang has a conversation about the various factors affecting total global diversity and how these factors might affect patterns of radiations. Also, Amanda finds a new twitter handle, James drinks a few 11% alcohol beers,  Curt details Winnie the Poo's crack addiction, and the whole podcast is routinely interrupted by random people showing up during the recording. Also, congrats to Dr. James Lamsdell for successfully defending his thesis.

References:

Rabosky, Daniel L. "Ecological limits and diversification rate: alternative paradigms to explain the variation in species richness among clades and regions." Ecology Letters 12.8 (2009): 735-743.

Moen, Daniel, and Hélène Morlon. "Why does diversification slow down?."Trends in ecology & evolution 29.4 (2014): 190-197.

Podcast 30 - That's Not Genocide; Human Hunting and Megafaunal Extinction

In this episode, the gang is all back in the same zip code and celebrate by having a long discussion on the origin and extinction of the large mammals from the Cenozoic known as the Megafauna. Somehow this gets.... weird. Meanwhile, James defends the Star Wars Empire, Curt argues why turtles should be ninjas instead of mere heroes, and Amanda confuses Michael Bay with Roland Emmerich. Also, congrats to Dr. Amanda Falk for defending her thesis. 

References:

Anthony D. Barnosky et al. Assessing the Causes of Late Pleistocene Extinctions on the Continents Science 306, 70 (2004);

Tao Deng et al. Out of Tibet: Pliocene Woolly Rhino Suggests High-Plateau Origin of Ice Age Megaherbivores Science 333, 1285 (2011);

 Prescott, Graham W., et al. "Quantitative global analysis of the role of climate and people in explaining late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109.12 (2012): 4527-4531.

Lorenzen, Eline D., et al. "Species-specific responses of Late Quaternary megafauna to climate and humans." Nature 479.7373 (2011): 359-364.

Podcast 29 - Everything's Screwed; OR How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Mass Extinctions

With thesis defenses on the horizon, the group looks to a comforting and familiar topic to escape their morose nerves; mass extinctions. Specifically, they discuss two papers about patterns of survivorship across mass extinction events and use this as a springboard to talking about general macroevolutionary patterns. Also, James fires Curt, Amanda fires James, and Curt decides to host his own private podcast in the middle of the real podcast with special guest Amanda. SPOILERS for House of Cards in the first 30 seconds of the podcast.

References:

Jablonski, David. "Survival without recovery after mass extinctions."Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99.12 (2002): 8139-8144.

Thorne, Philippa M., Marcello Ruta, and Michael J. Benton. "Resetting the evolution of marine reptiles at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108.20 (2011): 8339-8344.

Vrba, Elisabeth S., and Stephen Jay Gould. "The hierarchical expansion of sorting and selection: sorting and selection cannot be equated." Paleobiology(1986): 217-228.

Vrba, Elisabeth S. "Levels of selection and sorting with special reference to the species level." Oxford surveys in evolutionary biology 6 (1989): 111-168.