Past Time is a podcast that explores how we know what we know about the past. There's a special focus on the fossil record - it is hosted by two paleontologists - but delving into the story of the past isn't limited to dry bones. Today's paleontologists use techniques drawn from other sciences including Physics, Chemistry, Geology, and Biology to figure out what extinct animals were like and how they lived. Whether you are just starting to learn about the amazing animals that have called this planet home, or you have been fascinated by fossils for a long time, we hope you will join us as we dig into past times. Keywords: Paleontology, Dinosaurs, Mammals, Reptiles, Birds, Animals, Fossils, Extinction
https://www.pasttime.org/series/past-time/
Quick Bite: Weird Whales and Swimming Sloths
Marine mammals are fascinating beasts. Whales, manatees, seals, otters...they've all gone back to the water and in the process evolved all kinds of spectacular adaptations to make a living in a soggy setting. Toothed evolved an ability to “see” the underwater world around them using echolocation - basically sonar - to track prey with high-pitched sounds and echoes. A 23 million years old fossil from South Carolina called Cotylocara shows toothed whales could echolocate early in their evolutionary history. A more surprising adaptation to life in the water was preserved with another new whale fossil from California. Called Semirostrum, the new whale has a huge underbite and long chin which was probably used as a sensitive probe to track down buried prey. Whales in the water are interesting, but not unexpected. Our final study examines how SLOTHS adapted to life in the ocean. Thalassocnus was a relative of giant ground sloths, a solidly terrestrial group of animals. A recent study showed how Thalassocnus gradually acquired thickened bones, a trait that has been observed in nearly every mammal that has gone back to the water. Even if it’s a weird animal to imagine clawing through the water, it adapted to that lifestyle in exactly the way paleontologists expect any mammal to get back to the water!
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