6. T. rex Skeletons
How do they emerge from the Upper Cretaceous period to end up in natural-history museums and private collections? Zachary Crockett digs for answers.
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paleontology
Explore "paleontology" with insightful episodes like "6. T. rex Skeletons", "Del the Funky Homosapien", "Special Episode: Coprolites!", "Spinosaurus: The Aquatic Dinosaur" and "Smologies #2: DINOSAURS with Paleontologist Michael Habib" from podcasts like ""The Economics of Everyday Things", "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!", "This Podcast Will Kill You", "Short Wave" and "Ologies with Alie Ward"" and more!
Episodes (22)
Del the Funky Homosapien
Del the Funky Homo Sapien, rapper and producer, answers three questions about mankind's ancient ancestors, neanderthals.
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Special Episode: Coprolites!
Our tapeworm episode last week mentioned the remarkable finding of tapeworm eggs in a 270 million-year old shark coprolite, that is, fossilized feces. And this certainly wasn’t the first time coprolites have come up on the podcast; we’ve referenced them several times before, mostly when discussing early histories of parasitic worms. But there is so much more to the world of coprolites than just which parasites were found and when. To help us explore all that coprolites can teach us is the world-renowned paleontologist Dr. Karen Chin, Professor at University of Colorado Boulder and Curator of Paleontology at CU-Boulder Museum of Natural History. In this exciting bonus episode, Dr. Chin takes us on a fascinating tour of the what (what are coprolites?), the why (why are they important?), the how (how do feces get preserved?), and the who (who dung it?) of these incredible trace fossils.
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Spinosaurus: The Aquatic Dinosaur
(Encore episode) We chat with National Geographic Explorer and paleontologist Nizar Ibrahim about his team's discovery of the Spinosaurus, the first known swimming dinosaur. The discovery and subsequent modeling showing the effectiveness of the Spinosaurus's tail underwater were detailed in Nature.
And you can check out National Geographic's coverage here.
Our team would love to hear your dinosaur-themed episode ideas. Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
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And you can check out National Geographic's coverage here.
Our team would love to hear your dinosaur-themed episode ideas. Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
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Smologies #2: DINOSAURS with Paleontologist Michael Habib
Yes, a double dose of short, all-ages episodes to launch Smologies! We cleaned up the full version and polished it into a safe-for-work digest of dinosaur facts and tales from a paleontologist with Dr. Michael Habib. Learn about the economics of a dino dig, his favorite beasts, cloning from amber samples, which museum dinos are real vs. fakes, Jurassic Park flimflam and more. (And for the full version with NSFW stories, the link is below.)
New full-length episodes of Ologies drop Tuesdays, and new Smologies come out every other Thursday.
Full, uncut, NSFW episode on Paleontology
Follow Dr. Michael Habib on Twitter and Instagram
A donation went to nhm.org
Transcripts and bleeped episodes
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Sound editing by Zeke Thomas Rodrigues & Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media and Steven Ray Morris
Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm
Taking A New Look At Some Old Bones
Paleontologist Yara Haridy looks at fossilized bones for a living. When she randomly walked by a scientific poster one day, she discovered an entirely new way to take pictures of her fossils. The results are shedding new light on how bones evolved.
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From the Vault: Shrooms Like Cedars in the Devonian Wilds
Did 20-foot-tall giant fungi rule the earth 400 million years ago? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the puzzling prototaxites fossils from the Devonian period. (Originally published 12/17/2019)
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The Strange Tail of Spinosaurus
Spinosaurus has long been a superstar among dinosaur fans, with its massive alligator-like body and a huge “sail” of skin running the length of its spine. Though the fossil was unearthed a century ago, scientists hadn’t been able to say exactly what it looked like because only a few bones had ever been found. But new fossil discoveries by National Geographic explorer Nizar Ibrahim will forever change the way we think about Spinosaurus—and all other dinosaurs.
For more information on this episode, visit nationalgeographic.com/overheard
Want more?
Michael Greshko has a lot more to say about Spinosaurus. Take a look at his article full of pictures and animations of what Spinosaurus might have looked like in the water.
Or learn about why dinosaurs went extinct in the first place.
You can also make Spinoaurus and other prehistoric creatures appear in your living room by using Nat Geo's dinosaur instagram AR filter. Follow us at instagram.com/NatGeo.
Also explore:
Check out our previous episode about the illegal trade of dinosaur fossils in the United States.
And for paid subscribers:
In our cover story, “Re-imagining dinosaurs,” you can read about how paleontologists are learning more than ever by using advanced techniques like giving CT scans to frozen crocodiles or using lasers to figure out what color Velociraptor eggs were.
If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today.
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From the Vault: Prehistoric Transylvania
This episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind takes listeners to Transylvania, where a rogue baron made important early strides in the field of paleobiology and where, during the Late Cretaceous period, giant pterosaur dubbed “Dracula” feasted on pony-sized dwarf sauropods. (Originally published 8/13/2019)
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Spinosaurus Makes Waves
We chat with National Geographic Explorer and paleontologist Nizar Ibrahim about his team's discovery of the Spinosaurus, the first known swimming dinosaur. The years-long journey to uncover the fossilized remains is like something out of a movie, beginning with a mustached Moroccan man wearing white. Read more on National Geographic's website. Tweet Maddie your dinosaur facts @maddie_sofia. Plus, email the show your dinosaur-themed episode ideas at shortwave@npr.org.
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La Brea Dave
Sgt. David Mascarenas was the Dive Supervisor for the Los Angeles Police Department. He’s been diving his whole life, and prides himself on never refusing a dive, no matter how treacherous. At least until the summer of 2013, when a murder investigation led him into the unusually murky waters of the La Brea tar pits.
We first spoke with Sgt. Mascarenas in 2015. This week, we’re adding to the story with information about the crime he couldn’t tell us before. In 2011, a man named Alonzo Ester was shot and killed in LA. The LAPD received a tip that some evidence was at the bottom of the La Brea tar pits.
Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: iTunes.com/CriminalShow.
We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.
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Episode transcripts are posted on our website.
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The Weird World of Prehistoric Transylvania
This episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind takes listeners to Transylvania, where a rogue baron made important early strides in the field of paleobiology and where, during the Late Cretaceous period, giant pterosaur dubbed “Dracula” feasted on pony-sized dwarf sauropods.
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What Were the BONE WARS?
A pair of old timey fossil hunters had a rootin’ tootin’ rivalry that spilled from academic journals into the American Wild West - where fossils were dynamited and employees turned double agent. Learn about the two-fisted origins of American paleontology.
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SYSK Selects: How Fossils Work
A fossil is a piece of once-living organic material that has undergone a transition from an organic state to an inorganic state. But what exactly is fossilization? Listen in as Josh and Chuck break down the process of fossilization.
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From the Vault: Cambrian Monster Mash
Welcome to the ocean of monsters. In this classic episode of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast, Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick travel back 500 million years to the monster-haunted waters of the Cambrian period. Meet the monstrous trilobite, anomalocaris, opabinia, hallucigenia, wiwaxia, pikaia and leanchoilia. Plus, Dr. Anton Jessup drops by for a visit. (Originally published Oct 19, 2017)
Related Content: Original publication (with species illustrations)
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Giant Sloths, Caged Babies, Spicy Horse Butts
The weirdest things we learned this week range from Thomas Jefferson and giant sloths to Eleanor Roosevelt and suspending babies above Park Avenue in NYC. Who will win our to-the-death* competition and have their story voted "The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week"? (*not to the death)
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The Cambodian Stegosaurus
Do Cambodian temple ruins speak to a time when humans and dinosaurs coexisted? Absolutely not, but it’s a great excuse for Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick to talk about the armored stegosaurus, Ta Prohm temple, young Earth creationism and avian evolution.
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Fossil Action Scenes: Dino Birth and Prehistoric Combat
Fossilized remains provide exciting insight into the biology and behavior of prehistoric beasts, but sometimes the fossil record gives us even more -- a bonafide action scene! In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explain fossilization and discuss examples of birth, mating behavior and deadly dinosaur-on-dinosaur combat written in the rocks.
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How Woolly Mammoths Worked
It was only 11000 years ago that the last true woolly mammoths died out, close enough to the modern age that humans lived alongside them. But were humans the cause of mammoths' sudden extinction or was climate change to blame?
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#565 - Trevor Valle
Trevor Valle is paleontologist and the host of 'Mammoth Unearthed' debuting on October 26th on the NatGeo Channel.