Palaeo After Dark

The gang decides to revisit the past by returning to a few previous podcast topics and updating them with current research; starting with a survey of recent research into early vertebrate jaws. And like a snake eating its own tail, the conversation rambles about in circles and accomplishes very little. At the very least they manage to deliver an empathetic discussion of the impostor syndrome, seemingly for no reason. Meanwhile, Curt details teddy bear vivisection, James mixes pseudoephedrine and alcohol, and Amanda learns about the importance of eating before drinking.   References Pradel, Alan, et al. "A Palaeozoic shark with osteichthyan-like branchial arches." Nature (2014). Giles, Sam, Matt Friedman, and Martin D. Brazeau. "Osteichthyan-like cranial conditions in an Early Devonian stem gnathostome." Nature (2015).

After days of indecision about podcast topics, Curt snaps and decides to enact terrible revenge on the others. He holds the gang hostage and slowly tortures them by incessantly prattling on about species concepts and philosophy of science. Trapped in a room with only their snark (and some fresh cooked brisket) to defend themselves, Amanda and James struggle to survive the onslaught of boring. Can they hold out long enough, or will they succumb to the clawing insanity? Apologies to Iceland, who we woefully misrepresent.   Carefree by Kevin Macleod (incompetetch.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/   References Ghiselin, Michael T. "Species Concepts." eLS (1987). Wiley, Edward O. "The evolutionary species concept reconsidered."Systematic Biology 27.1 (1978): 17-26.

The gang gins up a flimsy excuse to talk about short-faced bears and megalodon. Also, Amanda researches topics for future podcasts on air, Curt becomes transfixed by Google image searches, and James's mind is broken by the thought of Mr. T.  References: Soibelzon, Leopoldo H., et al. "South American giant short-faced bear (Arctotherium angustidens) diet: evidence from pathology, morphology, stable isotopes, and biomechanics." Journal of Paleontology 88.6 (2014): 1240-1250. Pimiento, Catalina, and Christopher F. Clements. "When Did Carcharocles megalodon Become Extinct? A New Analysis of the Fossil Record." PloS one9.10 (2014): e111086.

In this episode, the gang looks at a few cases of fossil pathologies in arthropods, birds, and amphibians and discusses the interesting broader evolutionary ramifications of these studies. Meanwhile, Amanda wrangles cats, and Curt confuses everyone by consistently assigning taxa to the wrong groups (for example: loriciferans are not priapulids, even though they are closely related). Oh... and  James leads a legitimate discussion on science ethics.   References: Mayr, Gerald. "Bizarre tubercles on the vertebrae of Eocene fossil birds indicate an avian disease without modern counterpart." Naturwissenschaften94.8 (2007): 681-685. García-Bellido, Diego C., and Desmond H. Collins. "Moulting arthropod caught in the act." Nature 429.6987 (2004): 40-40. Peel, John S., Martin Stein, and Reinhardt Møbjerg Kristensen. "Life Cycle and Morphology of a Cambrian Stem-Lineage Loriciferan." PloS one 8.8 (2013): e73583. Fröbisch, Nadia B., Constanze Bickelmann, and Florian Witzmann. "Early evolution of limb regeneration in tet

After spending 2 hours fighting the internet (drinking the whole time), the gang finally starts recording a bit tipsy and ends the evening fairly wasted. And like an e-mail sent after a long night out at the bars, they record a podcast on properties of higher taxa that they immediately regret in the sobering light of day.   References Humphreys, Aelys M., and Timothy G. Barraclough. "The evolutionary reality of higher taxa in mammals." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281.1783 (2014): 20132750. Paul G. Harnik, Paul C. Fitzgerald, Jonathan L. Payne, and Sandra J. Carlson. “Phylogenetic signal in extinction selectivity in Devonian terebratulide brachiopods.” Paleobiology, 40(4):675-692. (2014)

The gang stumbles their way through several papers about kangaroos, particularly focusing on a meat eating rat kangaroo. Also, stressed and annoyed at the current internet climate, James and Curt spend most of the podcast relentlessly mocking GamerGate while Amanda decides to ignore them and play with the cat. Also.... texting.    Scientific References Wroe, Stephen. "Killer kangaroos and other murderous marsupials." Scientific American 280.5 (1999): 68-74. Wroe, Stephen, Jenni Brammall, and Bernard N. Cooke. "The skull of Ekaltadeta ima (Marsupialia, Hypsiprymnodontidae?): an analysis of some marsupial cranial features and a re-investigation of propleopine phylogeny, with notes on the inference of carnivory in mammals." Journal of Paleontology(1998): 738-751. Janis, Christine M., Karalyn Buttrill, and Borja Figueirido. "Locomotion in extinct giant kangaroos: were sthenurines hop-less monsters?." PloS one 9.10 (2014): e109888.   Summary of the current internet toxicity (Trigger warning, rape and death threats

James, Curt, Liam, Brendan, and Aly discuss talks from the final paleo sessions at GSA 2014, and Brendan makes an impassioned plea to conserve a vital resource.

Amanda and the cat skype in to see what’s been going on at the Vancouver GSA 2014 meeting. Also, James’s brain is so broken that it makes a pun that doesn’t exist.

James, Curt, Liam, and Aly join up with biogeochemists Brendan and Charity to discuss some of the GSA 2014 paleontology talks, as well as the difference between a creek and a crick.

James and Curt are joined by fellow paleontologists Liam and Aly to discuss paleo talks from the first day of the Geological Society of America Meeting 2014 in Vancouver, as well as unusual Swiftian food sources.

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.

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.

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 Hall

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.