The Common Descent Podcast

The history of evolution is full of species of unusual size, big and small. But the factors that lead to evolutionary miniaturization or embiggening can be quite varied and are not all fully agreed-up...

24 Jul 20222h 21min

Happy Snake Month! In this bonus episode, we discuss snake conservation and geek out about snakes with special guest Hiral Naik of Save the Snakes. We talk about what it takes to save snakes, why snak...

16 Jul 20221h 21min

Monitor lizards are charismatic, surprisingly diverse, full of surprising biological features, and on top of all that, they include the largest terrestrial lizards in history. Also, they’re closely re...

10 Jul 20222h 8min

Take a walk along the waterways of the Late Triassic, and you could easily think it was a world full of crocodiles! But in fact, those are not crocs, but phytosaurs, a group of predatory reptiles that...

26 Jun 20221h 57min

Once again, we return to the Jurassic franchise! And as usual with these movies, there’s lots to discuss about the portrayal of ancient animals, scientific concepts, and scientists. Another trilogy co...

20 Jun 20221h 24min

Happy Croc Month! In this special episode, we talk croc conservation and geek out about crocs with special guest Dr. Marisa Tellez of the Crocodilian Research Coalition. We learn about what it’s like ...

17 Jun 20221h 28min

Perhaps you’ve heard of Pangaea, the supercontinent that existed when our modern continents were puzzle-pieced together. But have you heard of Rodinia? Or Columbia? Scientists have only come to realiz...

12 Jun 20222h 14min

Recently, BBC Studios put out a new documentary series set in the world of the Late Cretaceous, so we’re doing our first-ever Silver Screen Science discussion focused on a documentary! The documentary...

5 Jun 20221h 17min