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Join David and Will as they explore the paleontologists’ perspective on various topics in life and earth history. Each episode features a main discussion on a topic requested by the listeners, presented as a lighthearted and educational conversation about fossils, evolution, deep time, and more. Before the main discussion, each episode also includes a news segment, covering recent research related to paleontology and evolution. Each episode ends with the answer to a question submitted by subscribers on Patreon. New episodes with new topics every fortnight!
Join David and Will as they explore the paleontologists’ perspective on various topics in life and earth history. Each episode features a main discussion on a topic requested by the listeners, presented as a lighthearted and educational conversation about fossils, evolution, deep time, and more. Before the main discussion, each episode also includes a news segment, covering recent research related to paleontology and evolution. Each episode ends with the answer to a question submitted by subscribers on Patreon. New episodes with new topics every fortnight!
Episodes

Saturday Jan 31, 2026
Episode 236 - Chalicotheres
Saturday Jan 31, 2026
Saturday Jan 31, 2026
The Cenozoic Era was home to many unusual ancient mammals, but few so strange as the “gorilla-horses,” the ungulates that swapped their hooves for claws, chalicotheres. This episode, we discuss the features that make these animals distinct and which confused paleontologists for decades, and we go over what is known – and still unknown – about their evolution and lifestyles.
In the news: Let’s Botanize, Prototaxites identity, and giant kangaroos.
Find Let’s Botanize here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/ben-goulet-scott/lets-botanize/9781635869040/
Book preorder promo: https://www.letsbotanize.org/preorder-promo.
Time markers:
Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00
News: 00:07:30
Main discussion, Part 1: 00:50:20
Main discussion, Part 2: 01:28:50
Patron question: 01:53:20
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

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