Tag: Fossils
Episode 31 – The First Frogs of the Age of Dinosaurs!
THE FIRST FROGS OF NORTH AMERICA Every discovery we make in natural history happens thanks to specimens. Fossil bones, shells, footprints, coprolites, tissue samples—even field notes and photograms—are the building blocks scientists use to tell the story of life on our planet. On Past Time, we talk a LOT about the contributions of museums and scientists to the story of life. However, we don’t ofte …
Filed under: Arizona, Dallas, Dinosaurs, Fossils, Frog, Mesozoic, Museum, Paleontologists, Petrified Forest, Phytosaur, Triassic, amphibian, amphibians, collections, dinosaur, fossil, frogs, paleontologist, phytosaurs
Episode 28 – PAST TIME reviews Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom!
First Iteration I (Adam) am both proud and nervous to say that this is an atypical Past Time episode, as we’re not talking about a new discovery nor a real scientific topic; it is a recap/review of Jurassic World 2. However, I think it is worth addressing whether or not particular elements of new movies, television, or books adhere to modern science. Dr. Elizabeth Jones taught us that science fict …
Filed under: DNA, Dinosaurs, Fossils, Jurassic Park, Movies, Tyrannosaurus rex, science fiction
Episode 22: Matheronodon, a new dinosaur with a different kind of bite!
Matheronodon is certainly a dinosaur worthy of a bigger bite. With proportionally giant teeth strikingly different from the standard-issue ornithopod dinosaur, it is certainly one of the most important dino discoveries out of Europe this year. Better yet, the original scientific paper by Pascal Godefroit and colleagues is free to read in the journal Scientific Reports! If you’d like to learn more …
Filed under: Cretaceous, Dinosaurs, Fossils, France, Ornithischia, dinosaur, feeding, jaws, ornithopod
Episode 16: Hunting Antarctic Dinosaurs
Erik Gorscak and Pat O’Connor, two paleontologists from Ohio University, are about to set out on an expedition to Antarctica to hunt for fossils from the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. They are part of a larger team called the Antarctic Peninsula Paleontology Project (AP3), an international collaboration of fossil hunters and geologists who are about to spend almost two months at the bottom of the p …
Filed under: Antarctica, Cenozoic, Cretaceous, Fossils, Geology, Gondwana, K-Pg Extinction, Mesozoic, NSF, National Science Foundation, Paleontology, Polar Programs, extinction
News Bite: The evolution of ornithischian dinosaur jaws and bites!
With Past Time, Matt and I tend to focus on the new discoveries in paleontology: the new species that show up in the news, or the important specimens discovered in museum collections. These are the raw materials that feed the fires of paleontology as a science. However, observation is only the first step in the scientific method: a method that paleontologists follow. This week’s episode features t …
Filed under: Dinosaurs, Fossils, Functional Morphology, Paleontology, feeding, jaws
Episode 15: Degrees of Doctoral Dissertation Domination
On this episode of Past Time, Drs. Matthew Borths and Adam Pritchard share their dissertation stories, and a bit of advice on the grad school experience!
Filed under: Fossils, Paleontology, dinosaur, dissertation, education, graduate school, science
News Bite: Kerberos! Giant mammal carnivore from after the Age of Dinosaurs!
It weighed twice as much as a modern wolf. It had three pairs of meat-slicing teeth. It was the first carnivorous land animal to reach 200 pounds on the entire continent of Europe after the extinction of the dinosaurs. And a team of European scientists and Past Time co-host Matthew Borths just introduced us to it. Ladies and gentlemen: meet Kerberos, monster mammal carnivore!
Filed under: Carnivora, Carnivores, Carnivory, Cenozoic, Creodonta, Creodonts, Creotonta, Europe, Fossils, France, Giant, Hyaenodontida, Hyaenodontidae, Mammals, Meat-eater, Palaeontology, Paleontology
News Bite: Basilisks in the Old(er) West!
The oldest basilisk lizard from North America, described by Jack Conrad from NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine, shows the 48 million year old animal was part of an ancient lush jungle ecosystem…in the middle of Wyoming. The beautifully preserved skull has important stories to tell about the evolution of the lizards most famous for their ability to scamper across the water, but it also reveals …
Filed under: Biogeography, Climate Change, Eocene, Eocsystem, Fossils, Lizards, North America, Paleontology, Reptiles, Systematics, Wyoming, evolution, herpetology
