Palaeocast

We're all familiar with canines (dogs, wolves, jackals, foxs, etc), but these are just only one of three sub-families of the larger canid family to survive to the present day. There were also the Hesperocyoninae and Borophaginae, but what did these other canids look like and why did they go extinct? The canid family also falls within the larger suborder Caniformia which includes skunks, bears and seals, but how are all these related? We've therefore quite a lot of history of the group to cover before we eventually see Canis lupus familiaris become man's best friend. To talk us through their evolution is Dr Xiaoming Wang of the Natural History Museum, Los Angeles.

Anomalocaridids are iconic Cambrian animals, originally found in the Burgess Shale deposits in Canada. From the Genus Anomalocaris, their name translates as 'strange shrimp' owing to their initial misidentification from incomplete remains. In fact, it took until 1985 to realise that three different animals were all actually disarticulated parts of the same animal! Our knowledge of these enigmatic creatures has increased exponentially in recent years owing to many exciting new fossil discoveries, as well as reanalysis of old specimens using new technologies. Researchers are  building up a picture of a group of animals  far more diverse than previously expected, including apex predators as well as possible filter feeders and scavengers. Their temporal range is surprising too - they survived the end Cambrian extinctions when many other taxa died out, and many questions about their ecology, relationships and extinction remain to be answered.

The celebrate the launch of 'The Paleoart of Julius Csotonyi' from Titan Books we take a look at the field of palaeoart. In this episode, we're joined by Julius himself and ask how his images are produced, why they're produced and to discuss the value of palaeoart. We also run our first competition, please follow using #palaeocastart  

One of the longest-ranging and outwardly primitive-looking groups of animals on the planet are the Medusozoa. In consisting of around 95% water, it may be surprising to know that there is a fossil record of jellyfish, however how does one differentiate their fossils from other abiotic sedimentary structures when both look like sub-spherical blobs?   In this episode we speak to Graham Young, Curator of Geology and Paleontology at The Manitoba Museum, Canada, who addressed the identification of jellyfish fossils in a recent paper Young & Hagadorn 2010 The fossil record of cnidarian medusae.

One of the longest-ranging and outwardly primitive-looking groups of animals on the planet are the Medusozoa. In consisting of around 95% water, it may be surprising to know that there is a fossil record of jellyfish, however how does one differentiate their fossils from other abiotic sedimentary structures when both look like sub-spherical blobs? In this episode we speak to Graham Young, Curator of Geology and Paleontology at The Manitoba Museum, Canada, who addressed the identification of jellyfish fossils in a recent paper Young & Hagadorn 2010 The fossil record of cnidarian medusae.

Echinoderms are characterised by a mineralised skeleton, specialised water vascular system and five-fold symmetry. It is this unusual body plane symmetry that gives the starfish its star-shape. None of these features, however, are possessed by the closest living relatives of echinoderms – the hemichordates. Palaeontology offers a unique perspective into the early evolution of echinoderms, revealing that echinoderm characteristics were acquired in a step-wise fashion from a bilaterally symmetrical ancestor. We speak to Dr Imran Rahman, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bristol, about the early evolution of echinoderms, from worms to stars.

One of the most iconic animals to ever have gone extinct is the dodo, Raphus cucullatus. Endemic to Mauritius, this flightless bird was last seen around 1662 and is thought to have been driven to extinction by invasive species brought along by humans. Despite their relatively recent extinction, few dodo specimens remain. Discovering new material is therefore vital for our better understanding of this bird. One dodo-bearing locality is the 'Mare aux Songes', a marsh on the South-East of the island. Here Dr Hanneke Meijer, Institut Català de Paleontologia, has been excavating bones as part of the Dodo Research Programme.

Mammals are an incredibly diverse and highly successful group of animals. They include some of the tallest, heaviest and fastest animals around today, as well as our own species. For over 100 years, biologists have attempted to build mammal evolutionary trees using anatomical data. This work has provided the basis for our understanding of mammal relationships. Within the last 30 years, new technologies have enabled scientists to cheaply sequence molecular data (e.g. DNA and amino acid sequences) from thousands of mammal species. Interestingly, molecular trees reveal close relationships between some very different looking mammals. To guide us through this mammal renaissance, we are joined by Dr Robert Asher from the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge, UK.

Continuing our look at Australia's marsupials, we speak to Dr. Karen Black, also of the University of New South Wales. Here, we discuss Riversleigh fossil site, what fossils it contains, how they preserved and what's it takes to excavate them.

Marsupials are a group of mammals best known from Australia, but are also present in South America and up to the southern and eastern parts of the USA. Despite their current geographical distribution, metatherians (the group containing marsupials and other marsupial-like mammals) were once much more cosmopolitan; the earliest fossil evidence being from the Cretaceous of China, in the Northern Hemisphere. The story of marsupial evolution is therefore much more complex than is first apparent: When did metatherians and eutherians (placental mammals) diverge? Why are eutherians much more common? Why are metatherians restricted to the Southern Hemisphere? To answer some of these questions we spoke to Dr. Robin Beck, an expert on marsupial and metatherian phylogenetics, from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

What are Mass extinctions, how are they quantified, what are the driving forces behind them, how bad were the ones in the past and will we have more in the future? To answer these questions we are joined by mass extinctions specialist Prof. Paul Wignall of the University of Leeds, UK.

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology are this year holding their annual conference in the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles. The SVP were formed in 1940 by thirty-four paleontologists, the society now has more than 2,300 members representing professionals, students, artists, preparators and others interested in vertebrate paleontology. It is organised exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, with the object of advancing the science of vertebrate paleontology. At this event, we’re aiming to continue our daily reports, following on from our coverage of GSA, bringing all those who can't attend a flavour of the conference.

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology are this year holding their annual conference in the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles. The SVP were formed in 1940 by thirty-four paleontologists, the society now has more than 2,300 members representing professionals, students, artists, preparators and others interested in vertebrate paleontology. It is organised exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, with the object of advancing the science of vertebrate paleontology. At this event, we’re aiming to continue our daily reports, following on from our coverage of GSA, bringing all those who can't attend a flavour of the conference.

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology are this year holding their annual conference in the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles. The SVP were formed in 1940 by thirty-four paleontologists, the society now has more than 2,300 members representing professionals, students, artists, preparators and others interested in vertebrate paleontology. It is organised exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, with the object of advancing the science of vertebrate paleontology. At this event, we’re aiming to continue our daily reports, following on from our coverage of GSA, bringing all those who can't attend a flavour of the conference.

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology are this year holding their annual conference in the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles. The SVP were formed in 1940 by thirty-four paleontologists, the society now has more than 2,300 members representing professionals, students, artists, preparators and others interested in vertebrate paleontology. It is organised exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, with the object of advancing the science of vertebrate paleontology. At this event, we’re aiming to continue our daily reports, following on from our coverage of GSA, bringing all those who can't attend a flavour of the conference.

This year sees the GSA celebrate its 125th anniversary, having formed in  1888. It's a massive event with thousands of attendees. There are literally hundreds of talks to hear and posters to see, so we're hoping to bring just a sample of it to you. Each day we’ll be posting interviews and pictures from the conference, giving you a flavour of what it’s like to attend.

This year sees the GSA celebrate its 125th anniversary, having formed in  1888. It's a massive event with thousands of attendees. There are literally hundreds of talks to hear and posters to see, so we're hoping to bring just a sample of it to you. Each day we’ll be posting interviews and pictures from the conference, giving you a flavour of what it’s like to attend.

This year sees the GSA celebrate its 125th anniversary, having formed in  1888. It's a massive event with thousands of attendees. There are literally hundreds of talks to hear and posters to see, so we're hoping to bring just a sample of it to you. Each day we’ll be posting interviews and pictures from the conference, giving you a flavour of what it’s like to attend. 

Most people would consider fire to be an entirely destructive process, however given the right circumstances organic materials can be exquisitely preserved by charcoalification. We no doubt all know charcoal from the BBQ, but how many of us stop to consider what it actually is? Charcoal is formed when organic material is subjected to high temperatures in the absence of oxygen. In this situation oxidation (burning) is not possible, however water and volatiles are driven off leaving behind a carbon-rich residue. This thermochemical alteration not only increases the preservation potential of the material in the fossil record, but can also preserve details down to a cellular level as a 'carbon skeleton'. In this episode we discuss the importance of this greatly overlooked source of palaeontological information with Professor Andrew C. Scott of the Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London.

In this episode we talk to Jørn Hurum, Associate Professor of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Natural History Museum Oslo, Norway.  Jørn has varied research interests including dinosaurs and mammals (being one of the team of researchers who described Darwinius masillae, more commonly known as 'Ida'), but perhaps his most productive work has been with the Spitsbergen Jurassic Research Group. The Jurassic sediments of the Svalbard archipelago, north of mainland Norway, are rich in fossils of marine reptiles.