Podcast 64 - Walk Before You Crawl; Convergence in Dinosaur Gait

The gang discusses two papers about the evolution of quadrupedal lifestyle in ornithischian dinosaurs. Also, James discusses the joys of being a squid, Curt details the ideal political tag-team match,  and Amanda dreams of HD belts.

"Up goer five" text summary

The group talks about big angry animals without hair - again. This time they look at two studies that look at how one group of big angry animals with no hair went from walking on two feet to walking on four. Three different bands of friends in the group have gone back to walking on four feet by themselves. The first paper looks at figuring out the soft parts to work out how they walked and finds that each of these three types of big angry animals without hair walk in different ways, even though they all walk on four feet. The second paper looks at why these three types of animal have gone back to walking on four feet by seeing where they got big and whether it would make them fall forwards or back. This was studied by sticking heavy bits of animals with stuff on them onto animals which did not have stuff on them to see whether it made them fall over. The study shows that the different animal groups went onto four feet for different reasons, and this may explain why the different groups walking on four feet walk in different ways.

References

Maidment, Susannah CR, and Paul M. Barrett. "Does morphological convergence imply functional similarity? A test using the evolution of quadrupedalism in ornithischian dinosaurs." Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 279.1743 (2012): 3765-3771.

Maidment, Susannah CR, Donald M. Henderson, and Paul M. Barrett. "What drove reversions to quadrupedality in ornithischian dinosaurs? Testing hypotheses using centre of mass modelling." Naturwissenschaften 101.11 (2014): 989-1001.

Podcast 63 - Meaty; The Evolution of Hypercarnivory

The gang discusses two papers about the evolution (and loss) of hypercarnivory in mammals. Meanwhile, Amanda shares more equine history, Curt does his best to kill a trend, and James goes "nuclear". Please bear with us.... BEAR.

"Batty McFaddin" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Up goer five" text summary

The group talks about big animals with hair that eat other animals. The first paper looks at different types of things like dogs that have by themselves got big to eat other animals and then died; this has happened three times in the past. The second paper is looking at even bigger animals that live in parks and cold places. It shows that some bad animals became good by eating things that grow in the ground. This change has also happened many times.

References

Van Valkenburgh, Blaire, Xiaoming Wang, and John Damuth. "Cope's rule, hypercarnivory, and extinction in North American canids." Science 306.5693 (2004): 101-104.

Figueirido, B., et al. "Shape at the cross‐roads: homoplasy and history in the evolution of the carnivoran skull towards herbivory." Journal of evolutionary biology 23.12 (2010): 2579-2594.

Podcast 62 - Brachiopods and Bivalves; The Most Interesting and Amazing Lifeforms on the Planet

The gang discusses two papers about the effects of the Permian Mass Extinction on the evolutionary and ecological patterns of brachiopods and bivalves. Also, Amanda finds her true calling, James indiscriminately throws shade, and Curt feels the pain of being the only person to vaguely remember what the papers were about.

'Up goer five' summary:

The group talks about two types of animals with hard parts to hide in, one which is food and one which is not food. It used to be thought that the food animals were better than the not food animals, and that they had beaten them over a long time so that there were more of them today than the not food animal. The first paper shows that this is not true, and that both animals did as well as each other until they both had a very bad day, and that the food animal just got over this very bad day faster. The second paper is making sure that we have not got anything wrong by only looking at one way we can find both the food and not food animals.

References:

Gould, Stephen Jay, and C. Bradford Calloway. "Clams and brachiopods-ships that pass in the night." Paleobiology (1980): 383-396.

Clapham, Matthew E. "Ecological consequences of the Guadalupian extinction and its role in the brachiopod-mollusk transition." Paleobiology 41.02 (2015): 266-279.

Podcast 61 - Frills and Horns; Ceratopsian Convergence

That gang discusses convergent evolution and potential sexual selection in the horns and frills of ceratopsian dinosaurs, which Amanda refers to as the "most American dinosaur". Also, Amanda defends a cause, James practices being a "tiger mom", and Curt drinks for two with disastrous but expected consequences.

Up-Goer Five podcast summary (using only the ten hundred most commonly used English words):

The group talks about big angry animals with no hair that have things coming out of their faces. There are two groups of big angry animals with no hair that have things coming out of their faces, one with tall things coming off of the neck with smaller things coming out of their faces and another with a short thing coming off of the neck and longer things coming out of their faces. Some studies have looked at what all these things on faces and necks are for, and hurt marks on the hard bits of bodies show that the things were used to fight so that a Mr big angry animal with no hair could find a Mrs big angry animal with no hair. A new finding also shows that after the ones with long things on the necks died out, one of the ones with a short thing on its neck began to look like one of the long thing on the neck ones on its own.

"Wallpaper" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

References:

Farlow, James O., and Peter Dodson. "The behavioral significance of frill and horn morphology in ceratopsian dinosaurs." Evolution (1975): 353-361.

Farke, Andrew A. "Horn use in Triceratops (Dinosauria: Ceratopsidae): testing behavioral hypotheses using scale models." Palaeontologia Electronica 7.1 (2004): 1-10.

Farke, Andrew A., Ewan DS Wolff, and Darren H. Tanke. "Evidence of combat in Triceratops." (2009): e4252.

Brown, Caleb M., and Donald M. Henderson. "A New Horned Dinosaur Reveals Convergent Evolution in Cranial Ornamentation in Ceratopsidae." Current Biology (2015).

Podcast 60 – Many Memorable Mesozoic Mammals

In this episode, the gang discuss the diverse and ecologically abundant mammals of the Mesozoic. Meanwhile, Amanda gives dedicated fans an exclusive cat report, James learns something, and Curtis does his best Skeletor impression. However, the greatest question goes unanswered: what are Wombles?

Up-Goer Five podcast summary (using only the ten hundred most commonly used English words):
The group talks about two papers that look at warm blooded animals with hair from a very long time ago, during the time of the big angry animals that did not have hair. While it used to be thought that there were not many different kinds of warm blooded animals with hair a very long time ago, new studies show that there were lots of different kinds of warm blooded animals with hair a long time ago and that they did lots of different things even when there were still big angry animals that did not have hair. It is shown that they changed to do these many different things several different times, and that changes to do these different things have happened alone in different groups that are not families with each other.

References: 

Luo, X-Z. 2007. Transformation and diversification in early mammal evolution. Nature 450: 1011–1019.

Chen, M. & Wilson, GP. 2015. A multivariate approach to infer locomotor modes in Mesozoic mammals. Paleobiology 41: 280–312.

Podcast 59 - Dulce et Decorum est Pro Patria Mori

Amanda thinks about a writing style. James takes on a big responsibility. Curt deflects. The nature of change is considered, but the conversation remains locked in stasis.

References

Gould, Steven J.. "Is a New and General Theory of Evolution Emerging?" Paleobiology, 6.1 (1980): 119-130.

Hunt, Gene, Melanie J. Hopkins, and Scott Lidgard. "Simple versus complex models of trait evolution and stasis as a response to environmental change."Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112.16 (2015): 4885-4890.

Podcast 58 - Hateful Stares; A Discussion on Biomass Trends Through Time

In this episode, the gang discusses changes in biomass through time. They also spend a fair chunk of the podcast passing blame. Meanwhile, James is denied eating a bagel, Curt describes complex biodiversity patterns as “getting swole”, and Amanda apologizes repeatedly. They also try to answer the toughest question of all, would a eurypterid be tasty?

References:

Bambach, Richard K. "Seafood through time: changes in biomass, energetics, and productivity in the marine ecosystem." Paleobiology (1993): 372-397.

Cardinale, Bradley J., et al. "Impacts of plant diversity on biomass production increase through time because of species complementarity." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104.46 (2007): 18123-18128.

Podcast 57 - Imperfect Wings, Conifers and Bat Dinos

In this episode, the gang tries desperately to talk about a really interesting plant paper and fails miserably. Meanwhile, James stops caring, Amanda relishes in being right, and Curt really tries to keep this one together (he fails). Also, despite the podcast not being about it at all, James has to talk about the new gliding dinosaur.

References:

Stevenson, Robert A., Dennis Evangelista, and Cindy V. Looy. "When conifers took flight: a biomechanical evaluation of an imperfect evolutionary takeoff."Paleobiology 41.02 (2015): 205-225.

Hughes, Martin, Sylvain Gerber, and Matthew Albion Wills. "Clades reach highest morphological disparity early in their evolution." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110.34 (2013): 13875-13879.

Podcast 56 - So the End Triassic Mass Extinction Event

 The gang attempts to discuss the Ringo Starr of mass extinctions, the End Triassic. And much like the actual extinction event, the discussion is long, broad, and not focused on any one thing in particular. Meanwhile, Amanda learns the joys of screen sharing, Curt makes some dubious shopping decisions, and James “wins” (play along at home and count how many times James “wins” the podcast).

References

Benton, Michael J. "More than one event in the late Triassic mass extinction."Nature 321.6073 (1986): 857-861.

Tanner, L. H., S. G. Lucas, and M. G. Chapman. "Assessing the record and causes of Late Triassic extinctions." Earth-Science Reviews 65.1 (2004): 103-139. 

Kasprak, Alex H., et al. "Episodic photic zone euxinia in the northeastern Panthalassic Ocean during the end-Triassic extinction." Geology 43.4 (2015): 307-310.

Podcast 55 - Mouth Mimes Attack

In this episode the gang discusses mimicry in the fossil record, which James uses as an excuse to introduce everyone to one of his “favorite” papers.  And as they stare into the gaping maw of mimicry in slack-jawed disbelief, grim smiling lips float back to them flashing pearly teeth in the dark and whispering one word.... mouths.

References

http://www.edinburghgeolsoc.org/edingeologist/z_42_08.html

Lamont, A. "Prolegomena to aggressive mimicry and protective resemblance in early fishes, chelicerates, trilobites and brachiopods." Scottish Journal of Science 1.2 (1969): 75-103.

Topper, Timothy P., et al. "Competition and mimicry: the curious case of chaetae in brachiopods from the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale." BMC evolutionary biology 15.1 (2015): 42

Podcast 54 - Mind the Coral Gap

The gang attempts to talk about the coral gap, but instead Amanda spends nearly 40 minutes trying to explain why Petoskey Stones are cool, and James tries to sidetrack her at every turn. Meanwhile, Curt is too drunk to care. Our sincerest apologies to all of the coral workers out there.

References:

Robinson, George W., and Donald Reed. "Pink Petoskey Stones from Northern Michigan." Rocks & Minerals 88.3 (2013): 244-249.

Stanley, George D. "The evolution of modern corals and their early history."Earth-Science Reviews 60.3 (2003): 195-225.

Stolarski, JarosÅ‚aw, et al. "The ancient evolutionary origins of Scleractinia revealed by azooxanthellate corals." BMC evolutionary biology 11.1 (2011): 316.

Podcast 53 - Sizeable Convergence

The gang celebrates their second birthday podcast by discussing two papers that deal with large evolutionary trends through time in the marine realm. Also, Amanda describes her ideal skull throne, and James and Curt detail their recent pear related experiments.

References

Heim, Noel A., et al. "Cope’s rule in the evolution of marine animals." Science347.6224 (2015): 867-870.

Kelley, Neil P., and Ryosuke Motani. "Trophic convergence drives morphological convergence in marine tetrapods." Biology letters 11.1 (2015): 20140709.

Podcast 52 - Taphonomy; Still a Process

In this episode we revisit the topic of taphonomy by discussing two papers that deal with actualistic taphonomy studies. Also, Amanda butchers potatoes, Curt becomes morbid, and James’s humor gets progressively bluer as the night goes on to the surprise of no one.

References

Briggs, Derek EG. "The role of decay and mineralization in the preservation of soft-bodied fossils." Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 31.1 (2003): 275-301.

Bartley, Julie K. "Actualistic taphonomy of cyanobacteria: implications for the Precambrian fossil record." Palaios (1996): 571-586.

Podcast 51 - Clock-like Clocks Part 2

The gang returns to the subject of molecular clocks by discussing several papers that compare the results of molecular clock studies to the fossil evidence. Meanwhile, James tells stories of internet “fame”, Curt loses his composure, and Amanda will be right back.

References:

Jarvis, Erich D., et al. "Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds." Science 346.6215 (2014): 1320-1331.

Mayr, Gerald. "The age of the crown group of passerine birds and its evolutionary significance–molecular calibrations versus the fossil record."Systematics and Biodiversity 11.1 (2013): 7-13.

Jeyaprakash, Ayyamperumal, and Marjorie A. Hoy. "First divergence time estimate of spiders, scorpions, mites and ticks (subphylum: Chelicerata) inferred from mitochondrial phylogeny." Experimental and Applied Acarology47.1 (2009): 1-18.

Dunlop, Jason A., and Paul A. Selden. "Calibrating the chelicerate clock: a paleontological reply to Jeyaprakash and Hoy." Experimental and Applied Acarology 48.3 (2009): 183-197.

Podcast 50 - Jawesome 2; Jawful

The gang decides to revisit the past by returning to a few previous podcast topics and updating them with current research; starting with a survey of recent research into early vertebrate jaws. And like a snake eating its own tail, the conversation rambles about in circles and accomplishes very little. At the very least they manage to deliver an empathetic discussion of the impostor syndrome, seemingly for no reason. Meanwhile, Curt details teddy bear vivisection, James mixes pseudoephedrine and alcohol, and Amanda learns about the importance of eating before drinking.

References

Pradel, Alan, et al. "A Palaeozoic shark with osteichthyan-like branchial arches." Nature (2014).

Giles, Sam, Matt Friedman, and Martin D. Brazeau. "Osteichthyan-like cranial conditions in an Early Devonian stem gnathostome." Nature (2015).