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Weird & Dead - Podcast

Weird & Dead

A podcast about evolution's most embarrassing and bizarre stories as told by two very gossipy paleontologists. Amy and Meaghan happily dish the details on everything from fossilized dinosaur butts to the secret drama behind naming new species. Time for the hottest tea from prehistory!

Earth Sciences Science
Update frequency
every 11 days
Average duration
46 minutes
Episodes
30
Years Active
2024 - 2025
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Worms & Dead

Worms & Dead

There is a worm that has fins and an Elizabethan collar of venomous fangs. It looks like someone glued false lashes to a tiny translucent manatee, and it might be the reason that clams are starting t…

00:49:29  |   Thu 04 Sep 2025
Birds That Make Milk

Birds That Make Milk

Some birds (and thus, dinosaurs) make milk in a special part of their throat called the crop. Let's talk crop milk, crop cheese, shrimp smoothies, and why pterosaurs were pink.

CW: a befowling of milk…

00:46:20  |   Thu 21 Aug 2025
Fossil Rodents of Unusual Size

Fossil Rodents of Unusual Size

Or rather, unusually interesting size. To some. Let's talk giant beavers and the biggest rodent of all time, Josephoartigasia.

CW: Body shaming of big rodents (not us!), cursing, statistics.


00:51:19  |   Thu 07 Aug 2025
The Glory of Gonopods

The Glory of Gonopods

From crazy three-legged millipede fossils to the sexy club hands of spiders, this episode is all about where arthropods put their genitals. Specifically, their chins and feet. Videos and images are o…

00:48:43  |   Thu 24 Jul 2025
Radioactive Dinos

Radioactive Dinos

Dinosaurs and horses and Amy loudly shouting out radioactive elements to antagonize her husband, oh my! This episode covers the perils lurking behind locked and poorly ventilated cabin doors - specif…

00:44:30  |   Thu 10 Jul 2025
Bloat & Float

Bloat & Float

Ankylosaurs, ichthyosaurs and nonexistent narcissistic krakens! Let's talk about why Ankylosaurs are found upside down, and what really happened at Berlin Ichthyosaur State Park. Time to bloat up & f…

00:42:49  |   Thu 26 Jun 2025
Fossil Urine

Fossil Urine

Time to discuss yet another body secretion that you probably didn't think could fossilize. Urine marks, urine that became rocks, and rocks that formed in urine - we've got it all, baby!

 

CW: Body flui…

00:48:58  |   Thu 12 Jun 2025
Bonus Episode: Chameleons

Bonus Episode: Chameleons

Thanks for an excellent first year! Here’s a bonus episode where Amy demonstrates she’s learned more about Chameleons since we started (kinda). Images are on weirdanddead.com CW: Cursing
00:28:22  |   Tue 31 Dec 2024
Bonus Episode: Rugose Corals

Bonus Episode: Rugose Corals

Meaghan loses her mind about how gross rugose corals are. Try evolving something that doesn’t involve genetically manipulating your babies, you lonely jellyfish-emulating losers. CW: cursing. Gagging…
00:26:58  |   Tue 24 Dec 2024
Dino Sex

Dino Sex

It may not have happened in lakes but it certainly did happen – so how? Let’s dive into fossilized cloacas, theoretical genitals, and the impracticalities of sexing a dinosaur. CW: sexual content, ge…
00:56:03  |   Wed 23 Oct 2024
Fossil Frenemies

Fossil Frenemies

From friends to enemies to roommates (to lovers??), we discuss classic examples of animals found fossilized together, how that happens, and how some of the interpretations are… a stretch. CW: Animal …
00:54:45  |   Wed 09 Oct 2024
The Burgess Shale

The Burgess Shale

500 some million years ago the world was full of ‘abnormal shrimp’ and ‘blunt feet’ and other animals that defy comprehensible definitions. In this episode we talk all about the mind-boggling biology…
00:49:07  |   Wed 25 Sep 2024
Fossil Forensics

Fossil Forensics

Bones are sick – and this time, we mean it literally. From infected bite marks to the ever-prevalent markings of tuberculosis, we’re talking about the signs of illnesses and injuries in fossils and w…
00:56:35  |   Wed 11 Sep 2024
Trunks, Snoods, and Other Floppy Face Flesh

Trunks, Snoods, and Other Floppy Face Flesh

Did Diplodocus have a trunk? Did T. rex have a wobbly turkey neck? This week’s episode is all about fleshy face flaps and their uses, and how to detect them in the fossil record. CW: Animal death, cu…
01:04:09  |   Wed 28 Aug 2024
Polar Dinosaurs

Polar Dinosaurs

There were dinosaurs in Antarctica and Alaska – but what did it look like when they lived there? Was it cold? Was it dark? Did they stay there year round? Also, Meaghan learns how magnets work (final…
00:52:32  |   Wed 14 Aug 2024
The Baculum and the Baubellum

The Baculum and the Baubellum

Sometimes boners have actual bones! This episode is all about the evolution, use, and occasional loss of/damage to genital bones in both male and female animals. CW: Cursing, genitalia, brief mention…
00:53:53  |   Wed 31 Jul 2024
Fossil Brainz

Fossil Brainz

How much do we really know about the brains of ancient animals? In this episode we dive into the fantastic world of endocasts, aka, brain impressions! CW: soft tissue, cursing, Nanotyrannus, brief me…
00:44:41  |   Wed 17 Jul 2024
Lingering Fingerlings and Dexterous Dingalings (Vestigial Structures)

Lingering Fingerlings and Dexterous Dingalings (Vestigial Structures)

Today we’re answering the big questions, like why do whales have hips when they don’t have legs? And why did Tyrannosaurus rex have such tiny tiny arms? CW: Genitalia, cursing, discussion of unwanted…
00:56:20  |   Wed 03 Jul 2024
Things You Didn’t Think a Butthole Could Do

Things You Didn’t Think a Butthole Could Do

From the anal chimneys of crinoids to the tushy lungs of turtles, this episode covers all the weird things that buttholes can do… but shouldn't. CW: Buttholes, cursing, poop, tobacco use, alien abduc…
00:46:06  |   Wed 19 Jun 2024
Weird & Dead Trailer

Weird & Dead Trailer

On this podcast we dish the details on the wildest stories that 500 million years of evolution have to offer. The grosser, the better! That said, this podcast is not intended for kids and is rated E …
00:01:09  |   Tue 04 Jun 2024
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