Paleo Bites

(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaskacephale ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lawrence Mack discuss Alaskacephale , a northern dinosaur that somehow had enough minor differences to escape being lumped into the genus Pachycephalosaurus , but the wildly different and far more spiky Dracorex and Stygimoloch didn’t. Yeah, I’m never letting that go. From the Late Cretaceous, this 8...

(image source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/583708801714650808/ ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Laura Owsley discuss Simosuchus , an adorable little burrowing critter that despite its herbivory and cuddly appearance was actually an ancient crocodylomorph. I bet its death rolls would be so cute. From the Late Cretaceous, this 3-foot notosuchian lived alongside some big frogs and mammals as...

(image source: https://alphynix.tumblr.com ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Stephen Curro discuss Tenontosaurus , a poor schmuck of a dinosaur whose entire existence seems to be cannon fodder for packs of Deinonychus . Hence why I chose this picture for the episode image, because it’s funny seeing the tables turned. Mwuahahaha. From the Early Cretaceous, this 20-foot basal ornithopod was al...

(image source: https://dinosaurpictures.org/Anchisaurus-pictures ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lexi Ryan discuss Anchisaurus , a long-necked lizard thing of a dinosaur that had far more interesting ancestors and even more interesting descendants. It really was ‘intermediate’ in how mid it was. Boo. From the Early Jurassic, this 10-foot basal sauropodomorph was the basis behind a familial...

 (image source: https://pixels.com/featured/maiasaura-and-nest-phil-wilson.html ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lawrence Mack discuss Maiasaura , a real mommy of a dinosaur in that it was the first one with direct evidence of parental care. A real nurturer, Maiasaura . I could use that. No, I don’t have mommy issues. From the Late Cretaceous, this 30-foot saurolophine hadrosaurid seem...

(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simbakubwa ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Laura Owsley discuss Simbakubwa , possibly the largest terrestrial mammalian predator of all time and the true holder of the title of Lion King. Naaaaaants ingonyamaaaa bagithiiiii baba sithi uhm ingonyamaaaa! Disney, making children scat faux Swahili since 1994. From the Early Miocene, this 10-foot hya...

(image source: https://bit.ly/3T1rkyC ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Ben O’Regan discuss Australopithecus , one of our definitive ancestors and the first to walk upright, which is kind of a big deal. I don’t think I could handle walking on my knuckles all day, so thank you, Australopithecus . From the Late Pliocene, this 4-foot-tall hominid ate fruit and meat and overall just kinda aped a...

(image source: https://dinosaurpictures.org/Megalosaurus-pictures ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Stephen Curro discuss Megalosaurus on this very special day, as exactly 200 years ago on this date Megalosaurus was officially the first described dinosaur, marking two centuries of dinosaur knowledge! Awesome! Oh yeah, the animal is cool too, whatever. From the Middle Jurassic, this 30-foot t...

(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilosaurus ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Allen Brooks discuss Basilosaurus , a ginormous flesh-eating whale with a bulbous body and tiny back legs. Bet you didn’t know your mom was featured in this podcast, huh? From the Late Eocene, this 60-foot cetacean had a dinosaur-esque name due to its serpentine-esque body, which I think shouldn’t be...

(image source: https://metode.org/issues/monographs/the-dinosaurs-of-the-maestrat-basin.html ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Laura Owsley discuss Proa , a dinosaur who lived in Spain and is on display in a huge museum there called Dinopolis, a place I have promptly scheduled on my calendar to visit on a moments’ notice! Oh wait, plane tickets are expensive. Damn. From the Early Cretaceous,...

(image source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/the-other-pandas-thumb ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lexi Ryan discuss Simocyon , a creature that looks like a cougar and whose name says it’s a dog but is more closely related to red pandas. That’s a running joke on this show, I swear. “It looks like a baboon, eats like a llama, but its closest relatives are actually… cut...

(Image source: https://www.science.org/content/article/one-ancient-human-relative-use-early-stone-tools ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Ben O’Regan discuss Paranthropus , one of our ancestors’ relatives that didn’t fully make the transition into cavemen and died off before they could see what humanity would become. They were the lucky ones. From the Late Pliocene, this 4-foot-tall hominid...

(image source: https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Ambulocetus ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Allen Brooks discuss Ambulocetus , a walking whale that might not have actually walked all that much, but boy it could swim! So a whale then, basically. A whale with feet. Ehhh. From the Late Eocene, this 10-foot cetacean swam through the rivers of Pakistan and chomped fish, crocodiles, small mamma...

(image source: https://dinosaurpictures.org/Coahuilaceratops-pictures ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Stephen Curro discuss Coahuliaceratops , one of the few dinosaurs we have evidence of from Mexico due to something… explosive happening there at the end of the Cretaceous that wiped out most of the fossils. And no, it wasn’t the aftermath of a burrito dinner. From the Late Cretaceous, this...

(image source: https://sciifii.fandom.com/wiki/Coelurosauravus ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss Coelurosauravus , the reptiles’ first of many, many attempts to get the hell off the ground and into the air. It seems like reptiles might be playing a geologic time scale level game of The Floor Is Lava. From the Late Permian, this 1-foot neodiapsid was unfortunately one of...

(image source: https://bethzaiken.com/royal-saskatchewan-museum-prognathodon ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lexi Ryan discuss Prognathodon , a very unmerry creature that only has its episode released near Christmas due to the predetermined release schedule. Jingle bells! Chomp. From the Late Cretaceous, this 45-foot mosasaurid was smaller than its more famous cousin but had a far stronger...

(image source: https://eartharchives.org/articles/the-evolution-of-whales/ ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Allen Brooks discuss Pakicetus , the very first cetacean and thus very first whale, so that’s neat I guess. Evolution and stuff. Intermediary fossils. Woo. From the Early Eocene, this 5-foot artiodactyl had many features of both land-dwelling and aquatic animals, which sounds indecisi...

(image source: https://a-dinosaur-a-day.com/post/185693540635/euryapteryx-curtus ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Don Hall discuss Euryapteryx , another one of those giant birds the Maori people had to deal with when they migrated to New Zealand. They had a rough time. The birds, not the people. From the Early Holocene, this 3-foot-tall ratite laid relatively giant eggs and was hunted to ex...

(image source: https://novataxa.blogspot.com/2023/09/megamonodontium.html ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss Megamonodontium , the most nope nope to have ever noped. A giant spider lunging in a hole in Australia? Nope, nope, nope. From the Late Miocene, this 2-inch spider trapped and ate giant dinosaurs and sunk its venomous fangs into the necks of cavemen… okay, not rea...

(image source: https://dinosaurpictures.org/Tropeognathus-pictures ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Ben O’Regan discuss Tropeognathus , a genus split off from Ornithocheirus , well-known from that Walking with Dinosaurs episode where one of them was too old to get laid. From the Early Cretaceous, this 25-foot-wingspan pterosaur lived in Brazil alongside frugivore Tapejara , also depicted in...

(image source: https://www.deviantart.com/tuomaskoivurinne/art/Saurian-Anzu-778336693 ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Don Hall discuss Anzu , a dinosaur that looks so damn much like a bird it’s hard to believe it’s not in the clade of theropods that evolved into them. Them dinos really wanted them feathers. From the late Cretaceous, this 13-foot oviraptorosaur lived alongside some famous h...

(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnostida ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Stephen Curro discuss Han solo , an actually real genus and species of animal because paleontologists, believe it or not, are nerds. From the Early Ordavician, this 2-inch trilobite may not have looked like much, but it’s got it where it counts, kid. Yeah, we make a bunch of forced Star Wars references i...

(image source: https://dontmesswithdinosaurs.com/?p=2122 ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss Platyceramus , the biggest clam in the entire paleontological record, which sounds like something one of those tourist traps on I-70 would claim to have if you ask me. From the Late Cretaceous, this 10-foot bivalve got eaten by giant turtles and had highly enlarged pearls within i...

 (image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuul ) Happy Halloween! Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Frankyansteilert (the sewn-together bodies of previous co-hosts reanimated after their unfortunate deaths) discuss Zuul , a dinosaur indeed named after the Ghostbusters demon dog, because why not at this point? From the Late Cretaceous, this 20-foot ankylosaur had the biggest tail club...

(image source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/things-of-beauty-i-like-to-see--543528248785595561/ ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host and Matt’s dad Don Hall discuss Ectopistes , another great example of human-caused extinction because we didn’t depress our listeners enough with the Dodo and Tasmanian Tiger episodes. From the Late Pliocene to the Early Holocene, this 1.5-foot columbid bird used...