The Common Descent Podcast

Over the past several hundred thousand years, Australia has witnesed numerous ice age cycles, ecosystems dominated by giant marsupials, the arrival of humans, the extinction of those giant animals, a…

Before life as we know it, and before even the Cambrian Explosion, there was a time when the Earth was home to an assortment of strange squishy creatures so unusual that they defy most of our best at…

Everybody poops! Throughout the history of life on Earth, animals of all lifestyles have been littering the planet with little presents, and those few that fossilize become coprolites: unique time ca…

In the earliest millennia of vertebrate life on Earth, the seas were home to the placoderms, a diverse group of extinct armored fish whose evolutionary innovations set the stage for some of the most …

Happy Darwin Day!
In honor of Chuck's birthday (Feb 12), we are joined this episode by Dr. Sarah Bray of the Discovering Darwin podcast, to chat about the man whose research and writings laid the gro…

This episode, we explore the evolutionary innovation that brought us a diversity of animal companions, from corgis to cattle to cauliflower, and jump-started our species’ rise to world dominance: Dom…

This episode, we look to the stars! Our discussion takes a tour across the field of astrobiology, the broad and thought-provoking science that seeks to answer the questions of how life arises, where …

In this episode, we firmly establish a tradition of extinction-talk! This time, by request, it’s the latest major prehistoric extinction in Earth history, the event that took from us the mammoths, gr…

This episode, by listener request, is all about sloths! We explore their bizarre family tree, their adorable and internet-favorite living representatives, and their diverse and truly incredible ancie…

Hold onto your butts … in this episode, we celebrate the intersection of science and popular culture with a discussion about the biggest dinosaur movie of all time, what makes it unique, and the incr…

This episode, we take a super up-close look at the tiniest components of the fossil record, the microscopic remains that are so essential to our understanding of earth history, and the field of study…

There is no group of prehistoric creatures more iconic, more widely-studied, or more requested by our listeners, than the subject of this episode! This time, it's a brief introduction to Dinosaurs.

I…

This episode, we’re taking a big step back at the concept that underlies everything we talk about on this podcast: the scientific method! Our discussion includes what exactly the method is, why we us…

To coincide with Episode 19 of Common Descent, this is a compilation of voices, more than a dozen paleontologists sharing their varied perspectives on the subject of diversity, inclusivity, and inspi…

This is a listener-requested topic and a guest episode! We are joined by super-special guest Michelle Barboza-Ramirez of the Femmes of STEM podcast, who is here to help us explore the deep subject of…

In the second part of our exploration of our own evolutionary past, we focus in on one particular recent group of big-brained, bipedal hominins. We explore their incredible diversity, their clever cr…

This time, by request, we discuss an ancient story so detailed, compelling, and important that we had to split it in two! In part one, we find our own place on the family tree of life, and trace the …

In this episode, David tells tales of his trip to Calgary for this year’s SVP meeting: research presentations; meeting new people; paleo-field trips in Alberta; and more. If you’re into vertebrate pa…

This episode, by request, we’re talking about one of our favorite groups of invertebrates! Specifically, invertebrates with big brains and squiggly arms - some with beautiful shells and others with i…

This episode, we’re talking mass extinction again! Last time, we touched on the event that ended the Age of Dinosaurs, but this time – by listener request! – we’re discussing the event that started i…