From deep-sea trenches to your home garden, gastropods (snails and slugs) are among the most diverse and successful groups of animal life in Earth history. This episode, we’ll explore what makes these animals distinctive, we’ll touch on their extraordinary fossil record, and we’ll investigate the many evolutionary experiments gastropods have undergone in their anatomy and lifestyle.

In the news: squishable ants, false saber-tooths, bee burrows, and baby ankylosaurs

Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News: 00:06:30 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:43:55 Main discussion, Part 2: 01:40:10 Patron question: 02:10:25

Check out our website for this episode’s blog post and more: http://commondescentpodcast.com/

Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast

Got a topic you want to hear about? Submit your episode request here: https://commondescentpodcast.com/request-a-topic/

Lots more ways to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/common_descent

The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org

Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Happy New Year!

Please enjoy our annual question-answering marathon, now longer than ever! Thank you so much to everyone who listens, shares, and supports the podcast.

Check out our website blog posts and more: http://commondescentpodcast.com/

Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast

Got a topic you want to hear about? Submit your episode request here: https://commondescentpodcast.com/request-a-topic/

Lots more ways to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/common_descent

The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org

Of all the highly successful and capable flying insects in the world, few are as successful or capable as those in the order Diptera. This episode, we’re joined by special guest Brandon Strauss to discuss the distinctive anatomy and varied habits of flies, mosquitoes, and their many two-winged relatives. Then, we’ll peer into the past for a glimpse at the fossil record and dynamic evolutionary history of the group.

In the news: long-nosed crocs, river mosasaurs, stampeding sea turtles, and giant snakes

Find Brandon at punk_entomology on Instagram, Bluesky, and Twitch!

Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News: 00:05:35 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:38:30 Main discussion, Part 2: 01:38:35 Patron question: 02:25:55

Check out our website for this episode’s blog post and more: http://commondescentpodcast.com/

Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast

Got a topic you want to hear about? Submit your episode request here: https://commondescentpodcast.com/request-a-topic/

Lots more ways to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/common_descent

The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org

Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Today, bony animals are some of the most diverse organisms on Earth, but it wasn’t always that way. This episode, we explore what features distinguish vertebrates from their closest relatives, and we dive into the abundant evidence from genetics, embryology, and the fossil record that gives us a glimpse at how our distant ancestors came to be.

In the news: swimming hands, early life, Dunkleosteus jaws, and Neanderthal noses

Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News: 00:05:35 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:42:55 Main discussion, Part 2: 01:21:55 Patron question: 02:05:55

Check out our website for this episode’s blog post and more: http://commondescentpodcast.com/

Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast

Got a topic you want to hear about? Submit your episode request here: https://commondescentpodcast.com/request-a-topic/

Lots more ways to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/common_descent

The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org

Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Nearly 400 million years ago, an unusual group of fish gave rise to the first land-dwelling vertebrates. Since then, their descendants have repeatedly moved back into the water. This episode, we explore the many ways these species adapt to the challenges of turning a terrestrial body into one that can survive at sea, and we investigate some of the most famous and confusing cases from the fossil record.

In the news: post-extinction oceans, croc eggs, damaged dino tails, and meat-eating dung beetles.

Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News: 00:05:45 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:40:15 Main discussion, Part 2: 01:31:35 Patron question: 02:30:30

Check out our website for this episode’s blog post and more: http://commondescentpodcast.com/

Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast

Got a topic you want to hear about? Submit your episode request here: https://commondescentpodcast.com/request-a-topic/

Lots more ways to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/common_descent

The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org

Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

The dome-headed dinosaurs are some of the most iconic ancient reptiles, but they’re surprisingly unexplored compared to other dinos. This episode, we explore what makes these dinosaurs unique, what limits our understanding of them, and the many confounding mysteries that paleontologists have been scratching their heads over, including the question of what exactly they were doing with those thick heads.

In the news: the I Know Dino children’s book, giant reptile locomotion, and dinosaur hooves.

Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News: 00:08:45 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:46:32 Main discussion, Part 2: 01:12:05 Patron question: 02:05:30

Check out our website for this episode’s blog post and more: http://commondescentpodcast.com/

Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast

Got a topic you want to hear about? Submit your episode request here: https://commondescentpodcast.com/request-a-topic/

Lots more ways to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/common_descent

The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org

Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

In this special guest episode of Silver Screen Science, we're joined by Sabrina and Garret of I Know Dino to discuss the science and scientists of the newest installment in the Jurassic franchise: Jurassic World: Rebirth!

Find more Common Descent: http://commondescentpodcast.com/

Join Common Descent and I Know Dino on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast https://www.patreon.com/cw/iknowdino

Lots more ways to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/common_descent

The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org

Welcome … to Cute-E!

During our Spook-E series, we speculate on the evolution of monsters from myth and popular media, but we leave out fiction’s more adorable creatures. In Cute-E, we choose cuddlier critters and discuss how they – or something like them – could evolve here on Earth, pulling inspiration from real-world species across our planet’s history. This year’s theme is Monsters of Nintendo.

This episode, we pluck precious partners from the soil. What could be the evolutionary background of tiny and colorful workers that blend the features of plants and animals? Our creatures to create this time: Pikmin.

Join the Common Descent Discord server for more Spook-E and Cute-E discussion! https://discord.gg/CwPBxdh9Ev

Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast

More ways to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/common_descent

The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org.