Dr Keneiloe Molopyane is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey and a National Geographic Society Emerging Explorer, 2021. Having begun as an underwater archaeologist, she ended up as an 'underground astronaut' squeezing through the claustrophobic passageways of South Africa's Rising Star Cave, site of a massive cache of bones belonging to hominid, Homo naledi.MARK from Evolution Soup dives deep with Keneiloe, in a fully-illustrated intervie...
What ignited the famed Cambrian Explosion? The majority of today's animal phyla got their start in this strange yet exciting period of time over five hundred million years ago. What triggered this radiation of life, some with shells, others with skeletons? What were the first predators? And what came before this period?DR SHUHAI XIAO is a paleobiologist and geobiologist who studies the interactions between the biosphere and its environments at critical transitions in Earth history, particular...
What caused the ancestors of human beings start walking upright? The seven-million-year-long-journey started in the trees of Africa and culminates in Homo sapiens dominance of the globe. But the answers to 'why' and 'when' are still elusive.JEREMY DESILVA is an anthropologist at Dartmouth College. Jeremy ('Jerry') specializes in the locomotion of the first apes and early human ancestors. His most recent work focuses on the origins and evolution of upright walking in the human lineage. I...
The Meg! Did it really exist? (Spoiler alert: it did). This giant of the Miocene seas has been of keen interest to paleontologists for decades. It's true dimensions have never been known until recently.JACK COOPER is a PhD student working on the functional diversity of sharks through time. His current work focuses on the size, dimensions and reconstruction of the Megalodon shark.MARK from Evolution Soup talks to Jack about the history of its discovery, what it ate, where it swam, and the new ...
Evolution is a marvel, but - bad backs? Crooked teeth? Allergies? What gives?ALEX BEZZERIDES is a professor of biology at Lewis-Clark State College in Idaho, where he teaches a wide range of biology classes, from human anatomy and physiology to entomology. He has a bachelor’s degree in biology and a PhD in neurobiology and behavior. MARK from Evolution Soup discusses Alex's new book 'Evolution Gone Wrong: The Curious Reasons Why Our Bodies Work (Or Don't)', delving into why the evolutionary p...
DR MOHAMED NOOR is a Professor of Biology at Duke University involved in evolutionary genetics research , looking into how genetic changes contribute to the formation of new species. A keen Star Trek aficionado, he is the author of the book Live Long and Evolve and serves as a Science Advisor on the Paramount Plus series, Star Trek: Discovery.MARK from Evolution Soup opens hailing frequencies with Dr Noor to discuss how the Star Trek franchise utilizes science and especially the science of bi...
DR LARISA DESANTIS is a conservation biologist at Vanderbilt University and vertebrate paleontologist in the department of biological sciences. Larisa studies fossil mammals as a way of determining how they responded to ancient climate change.MARK from Evolution Soup talks all things sabertooth cat with Larisa, delving into the various species that boast impressive sabers, how we know what they ate ... and why they went extinct.#sabertooth #bigcats #smilodonOriginal YouTube Video Interview: h...
They were the most successful hominids of all time, existing on earth for almost two million years and leaving fossil evidence across much of the globe. From Africa to the Caucasus to the Far East, Homo erectus travelled far and left an indelible mark on prehistory.DR KAREN BAAB is a biological anthropologist studying human evolution at Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona, USA. Her main areas of research are the evolutionary history of Plio-Pleistocene Homo and what the shape of ...
Were neanderthals just dumb brutes waiting for extinction? The latest research says they were anything but dimwitted. They had culture, forethought, and emotion - just like us.REBECCA WRAGG SYKES is a palaeolithic archaeologist and honorary fellow at the University of Liverpool, specialising in Neanderthals. She is co-founder of the Trowelblazers website, celebrating women archaeologists, palaeontologists and geologists through the ages, and the author of Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Deat...
The search for the origin of life is nothing new. Abiogenesis - life from non life - has fascinated and frustrated science for countless years. But what if we've been going about it the wrong way?PROFESSOR LEE CRONIN holds the Regius chair of chemistry at the University of Glasgow. His primary interests are in the creation of artificial lifeforms using inorganic chemistry.MARK from Evolution Soup talks to Lee about his 'Inorganica' experiments, the nature of living things, why inorganic 'dead...
They lived along our ancestors and were very much like them - but then vanished from history. What is the story of the genus Paranthropus and its three fascinating species?ALEXIS WILLIAMS is a PhD student in the Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology at George Washington University and studies the fossil record as a way of understanding the evolutionary history of the African hominin, Paranthropus.MARK from Evolution Soup talks with Alexis about this group of hominids, their amaz...
In 1983, an exquisitely-preserved fossil of a new species of primate, Darwinius masillae, was unearthed in Germany's Messel Pit. The media hailed the 47-million-year-old specimen as the missing link.Is Darwinius (aka 'Ida') the so-called missing link between primates and humans, the earliest human ancestor ever found?SERGI LÓPEZ-TORRES is a Ph.D. in Evolutionary Anthropology who researches the early stages of primate evolution as well as the paleobiology and functional morphology of other clo...
Hobbits were REAL? Really? Actually ... yes.DR KAREN BAAB is a biological anthropologist and an Associate Professor in the Department of Anatomy at Midwestern University, Arizona and her main interests are the extinct relatives of humans and what the shape of hominin brains can tell us. Dr Baab has also led a series of studies of the "Hobbits" of Flores Island, Indonesia.MARK from Evolution Soup talks with Dr Baab about these fascinating hominins, their strange origins, and why they are so sm...
What is race and ethnicity?KATE KELLER is a biological anthropologist who teaches introductory biological anthropology and human variation classes to undergraduates. She enjoys taking difficult, controversial, or esoteric topics and explaining them in accessible, fun, and relatable ways.What is race and ethnicity? Is 'race' even a thing?MARK from Evolution Soup talks with Kate about the concept of race and ethnicity, how race has been viewed in the past, and what the biology tells us. Link to...
How and why did reptiles start to fly? Dr Corwin Sullivan is an Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta, Canada. Along with studying the origin of birds and flight, Dr Sullivan researches the diversity, evolution and functional morphology of fossil vertebrates, especially dinosaurs.How did feathers evolve? Why did feathered dinosaurs take to the air & how did they figure that out?MARK from Evolution Soup talks all things birds, flight & feathers with Dr...
Were the Dire Wolves seen on Game of Thrones simply myth?ANGELA PERRI BA (Hons), PhD is an archaeologist based at Durham University, UK. Her research focuses on the nature of human-environmental interactions by analyzing early relationships between humans, animals, climate, and landscapes.MARK from Evolution Soup discusses the reality of Dire Wolves - real carnivores that lived in the Americas from 250,000 years ago. How big were they? What canids were they related to? And what does a recent ...
A deep dive into dating methods, dinosaurs, and Deep Time with paleontologist, Michael Hudgins!Michael is a systematics and evolution masters student studying palaeontology at the University of Alberta, Canada and his main research centers on late Cretaceous primitive bird-hipped dinosaurs known as Thescelosaurs, and the prehistoric creatures of the Triassic period. Last interview, Mike explored the origin of dinosaurs but today he dives deep into the age of the earth and everything on it and...
Dumb as a Dodo - or was the extinct flightless bird actually smart?EUGENIA GOLD is an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department of Suffolk University Boston, USA and currently a postdoctoral researcher & instructor in the Department of Anatomical Sciences. Eugenia has researched the extinct Dodo by analyzing its brain to determine its intelligence.MARK from Evolution Soup talks to Eugenia about all things Dodo - including its closest living relative, history of its interaction w...
ARIEL MARCY - is an evolutionary biologist and educational game designer at the University of Queensland. During her PhD, Ariel will start to untangle the question of why marsupials are less diverse than placentals by studying Australian rodents.MARK from Evolution Soup connects with Ariel from her home in Brisbane to talk marsupials, rodents, evo-devo ... and games! Ariel has created the educational game GO EXTINCT which teaches evolutionary relationships through a fun, Go Fish game experien...
What was enigmatic dinosaur Spinosaurus really like? NIZAR IBRAHIM is a vertebrate paleontologist and comparative anatomist based at the University of Detroit Mercy (USA), where he is an Assistant Professor of Biology teaching courses in anatomy and evolution.Over the last decade Nizar has led several paleontological expeditions to Africa's Sahara desert and has recently come to world attention when he and his team uncovered the elusive tail of the 100-million-year-old Spinosaurus - a f...
Happy⚛️Heretic
I really recommend this podcast.
Happy⚛️Heretic
Such interesting topics but the audio quality is very disappointing. But I still listen.
Paul Davis
Terrible sound quality, unlistenable.