The Common Descent Podcast
Join David and Will as they explore the paleontologists’ perspective on various topics in life and earth history.
Each episode features a main discussion on a topic requested by the listeners, presented as a lighthearted and educational conversation about fossils, evolution, deep time, and more.
Before the main discussion, each episode also includes a news segment, covering recent research related to paleontology and evolution.
Each episode ends with the answer to a question submitted by subscribers on Patreon.
New episodes with new topics every fortnight!
Our Editor's Take
The Common Descent Podcast reveals exciting news in paleontology. It encourages listeners to ask questions about the intriguing science of fossils.
Hosts Will Harris and David Moscato hold master's degrees in vertebrate paleontology. Harris is a floor educator at Hands On! Discovery Center in Tennessee. Moscato is a science writer at the ETSU Museum of Natural History. Both hosts are science educators who love talking about fossils. They say many people don't understand what paleontologists do. It involves more than people think. Moscato and Harris are happy to explain it on their podcast.
Paleontologists study the origins of fossils. These were once living things, like animals and plants. Paleontologists differ from archaeologists, who study the origins of artifacts. As vertebrate paleontologists, Moscato and Harris research fossils with bones, like dinosaurs. There are also paleoclimatologists, paleobotanists, and more. The Common Descent Podcast explores everything fossils reveal.
In one episode, they discuss 290-million-year-old fossilized wood. In 2017, researchers noticed something surprising about its tree rings. The sun's surface has sunspots, which vary in number over a cycle of almost eleven years. When there are more sunspots, plants thrive. This fossilized tree's rings indicate a sunspot cycle of 10.62 years. Some scientists think the sun is getting warmer, contributing to global warming. This fossil suggests the sun has been stable for almost 300 million years. The Common Descent Podcast keeps listeners informed on developments like these.
Moscato and Harris discuss a new Hatzegopteryx finding. Hatzegopteryx is a pterosaur that resembles a flying giraffe. This might be the largest one yet, with an estimated wingspan of 33 to 39 feet. The podcast also reveals a 2017 discovery about the best-known fossils, trilobites. Scientists didn't know how they carried eggs before finding this fossil.
Each episode of The Common Descent Podcast begins with paleontological news. Then, the hosts discuss a listener-proposed topic. Afterward, they answer subscribers' questions. Paleontology lovers may find a lot to dig about this show.
Episodes
