The Fossil Files
Podcast Description
In “The Fossil Files”, a pair of palaeontologists delve into the latest discoveries from the world of palaeontology and seek to bring fossils to back to life. Each episode, Susie and Rob will discuss an interesting new research paper ranging from topics of what dinosaurs ate, how plesiosaurs swam, where we came from, and the science of de-extinction. Whilst doing so, we peek under the hood of how the science of palaeontology is done and how research gets to see the light of day. It is for anybody interested in palaeontology and past life whether that is students, researchers themselves, or simply the fossil-curious - we laugh as we learn, and hope you will too.
Episode guide at https://fossils.libsyn.com/
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on various aspects of palaeontology, covering topics such as dinosaur diets, plesiosaur locomotion, human evolution, and the science of de-extinction, with episodes like a deep dive into exceptional preservation examples in Jurassic fossils and discussions about soft tissue analysis to reconstruct past life.
In “The Fossil Files”, a pair of palaeontologists delve into the latest discoveries from the world of palaeontology and seek to bring fossils to back to life. Each episode, Susie and Rob will discuss an interesting new research paper ranging from topics of what dinosaurs ate, how plesiosaurs swam, where we came from, and the science of de-extinction. Whilst doing so, we peek under the hood of how the science of palaeontology is done and how research gets to see the light of day. It is for anybody interested in palaeontology and past life whether that is students, researchers themselves, or simply the fossil-curious – we laugh as we learn, and hope you will too.
Episode guide at https://fossils.libsyn.com/
In the first of two episodes on notorious fossil fails, Rob and Susie take a look at how a serious case of mistaken identify unfolded for some Ediacaran ‘fossils’. Herein lies a cautionary tail for all relating to pareidolia: our very human tendancy to perceive patterns in random shapes and lines, or why we might see jesus is a piece of toast or a smiley face in a cut pepper. This takes us to unexpected destination for hunting for dinosaur fossils: the moon!
Image 1: A look at some ‘Ediacaran fossils’ from the Bhimbetka cave in India and some other structures found there.
Image 2: “Fossilised embryo of a dinosaur inside the egg on the moon”. Yes you read that right.
The main papers discussed this week is by Greg Retallack and colleagues “Dickinsonia discovered in India and late Ediacaran biogeography” published in Gondwana Research in 2021 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2020.11.008) with follow up articles by Joseph Meert and colleagues “Stinging News: ‘Dickinsonia’ discovered in the Upper Vindhyan of India not worth the buzz” published in Gondwana Research in 2023 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2023.01.003) and SK Pandey and colleagues “Dickinsoniatenuis reported by Retallack et al. 2021 is not a fossil, instead an impression of an extant ‘fallen beehive’” published in 2023 in the Journal of the Geological Society of India (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-023-2312-2).
The final paper is by Hari Mohan Saxena and Jagmohan Saxena “Dinosaur eggs with fossilized embryos on the moon” ‘published’ in the New York Science Journal (http://www.dx.doi.org/10.7537/marsnys160823.030).
Wide screen Ediacaran image by John Sibbeck.
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