Palaeocast
Science & Ideas
About
A free webseries exploring the fossil record and the evolution of life on Earth.
Episodes
- Episode 176: Insect Gigantism Pt2
The Carboniferous period is host to some of the largest arthropods to have ever lived. Giant taxa such as the griffenfly Meganuera and the millipede Arthropleura are almost talismanic and are often depicted in reconstructions of the period…
- Episode 175: Insect Gigantism Pt1
The Carboniferous period is host to some of the largest arthropods to have ever lived. Giant taxa such as the griffenfly Meganuera and the millipede Arthropleura are almost talismanic and are often depicted in reconstructions of the period…
- Episode 174: A History of Dinosaurs in 50 Fossils
Prof. Paul Barrett of the Natural History Museum, London, recently authored A History of Dinosaurs in 50 Fossils . We took this as an opportunity to get an overview of what we really know about dinosaurs and how it's even possible to tell…
- Episode 173: Petrified Forest
Petrified Forest National Park in northeastern Arizona, USA is a hub for Triassic palaeontology and has exposures representing 20 million years of the Late Triassic Chinle Formation. Visitors marvel at the colourful fossilised trees from w…
- Episode 172: Rhynchocephalians
Today, there is only one living species of rhynchocephalian: the tuatara of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Despite today's paucity of species, this was once a diverse group of reptiles, with a wide range of lifestyles from swimming in the ocean to…
- Episode 171: Freshwater Mosasaurs
A study of a mosasaur tooth discovered in North Dakota analyzed chemical evidence, providing insights into the aquatic predator's palaeoenvironment and diet. This research suggests a revision of mosasaur palaeoecology and food webs in the…
- SVP 2025
This episode of Palaeocast is titled SVP 2025. No description was provided for this episode.
- Episode 170: Cariocecus bocagei
Dr Filippo Bertozzo joins Palaeocast to discuss Cariocaceus bocagei, an Early Cretaceous iguanodontian from Portugal. The episode covers the evolution of iguanodontians, a successful group known for their size and wide geographic range.
- Episode 169: Grasslands Pt2
This episode of Palaeocast discusses the global importance of grasslands, their role in Earth's cycles and climate, and their impact on the evolution of life and humans. It features Prof. Caroline Strömberg discussing the evolutionary hist…
- Episode 168: Grasslands Pt1
Episode 168 discusses the evolutionary history of grasslands, ecosystems covering over 40% of Earth's land. It details their impact on carbon and silica cycles, climate, biodiversity, and human evolution, with insights from Prof. Caroline…
- Episode 167: Origin of Teeth Pt2
This palaeontology episode explores the origin of teeth in vertebrates, identifying them first as external skeletal structures called odontodes in jawless fish. Dr Yara Haridy discusses new scanning techniques used to understand these earl…
- Episode 166: Origin of Teeth Pt1
This episode discusses the origin of teeth in vertebrates, tracing them back to external structures called odontodes in jawless fish during the late Cambrian period. Dr Yara Haridy shares her research on these ancient structures and their…
- Episode 165: Ants Pt2
Palaeocast Episode 165 discusses ants, a successful eusocial insect family with thousands of modern species found globally. The episode covers their evolutionary history, including extinct stem ants from the Cretaceous period, and contrast…
- Episode 164: Ants Pt1
Palaeocast Episode 164 discusses ants, a successful eusocial insect family with diverse ecologies found on every continent except Antarctica. The episode, featuring Dr. Christine Sosiak, delves into the evolutionary history of ants, includ…
- Episode 163: Ecosystem Engineers
This episode of Palaeocast discusses ecosystem engineers, species that significantly modify their environment. Dr. Tom Smith joins to explain how a computational approach is used to model the introduction of such species into an ecosystem,…
- Episode 162: Cerney Wick
This is episode 162 of Palaeocast, titled Cerney Wick. The description for this episode is not available.
- Episode 161: Notosuchians
Palaeocast Episode 161 features Dr. Yohan Pochat-Cottilloux discussing Notosuchia, a diverse group of terrestrial crocodylomorphs. The episode covers scientific methods used to study their lives, appearance, and behavior.
- Episode 160: An introduction to Evolutionary Biology
This Palaeocast episode features Prof. Erica Bree Rosenblum introducing evolutionary biology. It covers genes, genomes, the roles of environmental and genetic mechanisms, and the causes behind species' rise and fall, highlighting the field…
- Episode 159: An Introduction to Palaeontology
Palaeocast addresses the foundational aspects of palaeontology, covering its definition, the nature of fossils, career paths, and the field's significance. The episode features Prof. Roy Plotnick, author of "Explorers of Deep Time," who sh…
- 200 Years of Dinos
This episode commemorates 200 years since the naming of Megalosaurus, reflecting on the advancements in dinosaur research since 1824 through insights from an international conference and leading paleontologists. It explores the past two ce…
- Episode 158: Ceoptera evansae
Dr Liz Martin Silverstone describes Ceoptera evansae, a darwinopteran pterosaur from the Isle of Skye. The discussion covers the new specimen, its place within pterosaur groups, and its contributions to understanding pterosaur evolution, p…
- Episode 157: The Carnegie Diplodocus
Episode 157 discusses the Carnegie specimen of the dinosaur Diplodocus, known for its famous skeleton first mounted in 1907. It covers the distribution of casts worldwide in the early 1900s and the recent creation of new casts from molds m…
- Life On Our Planet 8.4 - Dan Tapster
Showrunner Dan Tapster returns to discuss the Netflix series Life On Our Planet, covering its production, audience reception, and lasting message. The 8-part series, produced by Silverback Films and Amblin Television, aims for scientific a…
- Life On Our Planet 8.3 - Sophie Lanfear
Producer Sophie Lanfear joins Palaeocast to discuss the difficulties in concluding the Life On Our Planet series, focusing on the last ice age, climate change, and the sixth mass extinction. They question the effectiveness of the series' m…
- Life On Our Planet 8.2 - Prof. Danielle Schreve
Professor Danielle Schreve discusses the last two million years of Earth's history, covering glacial and interglacial periods, the influence of Earth's orbit on climate, Holocene megafaunal extinctions, palaeobiogeographical events, and th…
- Life On Our Planet 8.1 - Introduction
LOOP 8.1: Dave and Tom introduce episode 8 and round of this special series on Life On Our Planet. We talk about our favourite scenes and reflect on our time working on the documentary and how our perspectives of documentary making has cha…
- Life On Our Planet 7.3 - Darren Williams
LOOP 7.3: We're taken into the field to film snow leopards by episode 7's Assistant Producer, Darren Williams. He reveals how difficult it is to get just a few minutes of video, both logistically and practically. We get to know the 'old ma…
- Life On Our Planet 7.2 - Prof. Christine Janis
LOOP 7.2: Prof. Christine Janis, University of Bristol, outlines mammalian evolution and focusses on the global events that governs their radiation. We look at why mammals survived the K-Pg mass extinction and how the archaic mammals radia…
- Life On Our Planet 7.1 - Introduction
LOOP 7.1: In the introduction to episode 7, Dave and Tom just about keep it together whilst reflecting on the most emotional scene of the show. We also celebrate the inclusion of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current in the series, before givi…
- Life On Our Planet 6.4 - Dr Anjan Bhullar
LOOP 6.4: Prof. Anjan Bhullar continues his overview of avian evolution with a look at how the birds fared after the K-Pg mass extinction. What was it that allowed birds to survive when the non-avian dinosaurs died out? Why didn't they jus…
- Life On Our Planet 6.3 - Edd Dyer
LOOP 6.3: Documentary research takes you down a lot of unexpected avenues. If you're recreating something like the Chicxulub impact and the K-Pg mass extinction, then you need to be able to provide answers for things you didn't even know w…
- Life On Our Planet 6.2 - Dr Anjan Bhullar
LOOP 6.2: Dr Anjan Bhullar, Yale University, returns to speak further about dinosaurs. He's pressed on where he'd draw the line between dinosaur and bird, or whether there should even be a distinction between them at all. At what point doe…
- Life On Our Planet 6.1 - Introduction
LOOP 6.1: Dave and Tom introduce us to episode 6 of Life On Our Planet and the pair touch upon the Chicxulub impact and the radiation of birds into the Cenozoic. Dave curtails the introduction with one of his worst puns yet. Life On Our Pl…
- Life On Our Planet 5.3 - Dr Anjan Bhullar
LOOP 5.3: We're exploring feather evolution with Dr Anjan Bhullar, University of Yale. We trace feathers up the theropod family tree and question whether or not they would be present in ALL dinosaurs. Anjan does NOT sit on the fence with t…
- Life On Our Planet 5.2 - Barny Revill
LOOP 5.2: Producer Barny Revill returns to talk about his second episode. With the public spotlight firmly fixated on the dinosaurs, how much effort had to go into their GCI models and does the reputation of the series depend on getting th…
- Life On Our Planet 5.1 - Introduction
LOOP 5.1: It's episode 5 and Dave and Tom are pronouncing dinosaur names all wrong. Does any actually pronounce it "Deinonychus "? Dave reveals why Netflix chose Morgan Freeman as narrator over himself, Tom talks about the complexity of pr…
- Life On Our Planet 4.3 - Prof. Peter Falkingham
LOOP 4.3: Prof. Peter Falkingham, Liverpool John Moores University, was the consultant biomechanist for the series. He introduces us to the importance of biomechanics in CGI, but more widely in determining the physical capabilities of diff…
- Life On Our Planet 4.2 - Barny Revill
LOOP 4.2: We get down to details with Producer Barny Revill and analyse some of the different elements of episode 4: What were the challenges of working in such inhospitable environments? How do you recreate a flood of biblical proportions…
- Life On Our Planet 4.1 - Introduction
LOOP 4.1: Against the odds, we've all made it through the PTME. It's now time to focus on episode 4, with the reptiles and their adaptation to different environments. We touch upon biomechanics and crank up the VFX dial to 11. Life On Our…
- Life On Our Planet 3.4 - Ida-May Jones
LOOP 3.4: With researcher Ida-May Jones, we explore the Venn diagram of academic and documentary research. She introduces us to the strawberry dart frogs and the extraordinary lengths that mothers will go to to care for their young. With s…
- Life On Our Planet 3.3 - Prof. Mike Benton
LOOP 3.3: Prof. Mike Benton, University of Bristol, gives us an overview of the major events in tetrapod evolution. He reveals some of the surprising traits that lobe-finned fishes 'pre-possessed' that were re-purposed for use on land. But…
- Life On Our Planet 3.2 - Sophie Lanfear
LOOP 3.2: Producer Sophie Lanfear gives us our first insights into how documentaries are shaped. She tells us about the enormous scope of episode three and the difficulty of trying to fit in so many significant events. We analyse her use o…
- Life On Our Planet 3.1 - Introduction
LOOP 3.1: We introduce episode three of Life On Our Planet and discuss one of the most significant stories in the series. We're in agreement that lichens are the unsung heroes of the whole series and that Arthropleura is the crunchiest ani…
- Life On Our Planet 2.4 - Edd Dyer
LOOP 2.4: Silverback researcher Edd Dyer joins us to introduce us to his part in the creation of the series. The title 'researcher' really doesn't do justice to the incredible scope of his role which includes far more than just looking up…
- Life On Our Planet 2.3 - Dr Tom Fletcher
LOOP 2.3: Hydrodynamicist Dr Tom Fletcher, Silverback Films, returns to explore the science behind Dunkleosteus . How much of the fossil is known? How does the model compare to the latest reconstruction of the animal? How much of the desig…
- Life On Our Planet 2.2 - Prof. Christian Klug
LOOP 2.2: Prof. Christian Klug, University of Zurich, is our first academic guest. He introduces us to the Cambrian explosion, the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event and the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction. Christian is an expert on…
- Life On Our Planet 2.1 - Introduction
LOOP 2.1: We introduce episode two of Life On Our Planet and discuss our roles in its creation. We're down deep in the geological time with all the "crunchy and squishy" organisms. We talk about our favourite scenes, jellyfish reproduction…
- Life On Our Planet 1.2 - Dan Tapster
In LOOP 1.2 we are joined by showrunner Dan Tapster. He's the one responsible for pulling everything together, designing the story and creating the best production team. We learn about how LOOP first got started, why both CGI and modern fo…
- Life On Our Planet 1.1 - Introduction
Life On Our Planet (LOOP) is a new 8-part series created for Netflix by Silverback Films and Amblin Television. This Steven Spielberg produced series, narrated by Morgan Freeman, is hugely ambitious in its scope, telling the story of life…
- Episode 156: Bird Necks