(image source: https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Pezosiren ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Laura Owsley discuss Pezosiren , a hippo-like ancestor of manatees when they weren’t quite sea cows but sea-ish cows. Semiaquatic cows. Except not cows. From the Eocene epoch, this 7-foot sirenian mammal lived quite the peaceful life in its lagoon habitat, floating and grazing the fronds of seagrass… at least when it wasn’t being violently torn apart by crocodiles, sharks, and early whales. Mmm… se...
Mar 07, 2023•26 min•Ep. 176
(image source: https://dinosaurpictures.org/Gigantoraptor-pictures ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Stephen Curro discuss Gigantoraptor , which, like the name suggests, is a gigantic raptor. A big Oviraptor , not Velociraptor , since they’re two totally different families. Pay attention. From the Late Cretaceous, this 26-foot oviraptorosaur browsed from trees and plucked poor creatures off the ground like the demonic ostrich it was. That’d be a much better name for it than “gigantic thief...
Feb 28, 2023•22 min•Ep. 175
(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonemys ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss Carbonemys , an enormous super predator that gives Raphael a run for his money in terms of turtle aggression and edginess. From the Early Paleocene, this 10-foot turtle chomped on crocodiles and fought giant snakes such as Titanoboa , which is freaking wild. A fitting start to the Age of Mammals; not with mammals, but with giant monstrous reptiles. Sort of like how the Age of Din...
Feb 21, 2023•18 min•Ep. 174
(image source: https://dinosaurpictures.org/Iguanodon-pictures ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lawrence Mack discuss Iguanodon , a dinosaur that’s not an iguana nor known for its teeth, so its chosen name is a real mystery. From the Early Cretaceous, this 30-foot ornithopod was one of the first dinosaurs discovered and was a bulky bro for sure, able to get in some good licks and slashes with its spiked thumb and burly arms. What a real man! Toxic masculinity, ain’t it great? No, it’s not...
Feb 14, 2023•31 min•Ep. 173
(image source: https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Protoavis ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Ben O’Regan discuss Protoavis , a highly controversial fossil that might disrupt the entire evolutionary line leading to birds, but also, probably not. From the Late Triassic, this 1-foot reptile might have been an early dinosaur, another type of archosaur, or something completely unrelated, but one thing it certainly was not was a bird. Even if it was the actual progenitor of the avian evolutionar...
Feb 07, 2023•19 min•Ep. 172
(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mussaurus ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Laura Owsley discuss Mussaurus , a teeny tiny dinosaur in a family of giant dinosaurs, except those tiny fossils were actually of babies and the adults were fairly large anyways. Your one novelty was a lie, Mussaurus . From the Early Jurassic, this 20-foot sauropodomorph had a fairly cute name that was also fairly unrepresentative of its actual being. I mean, this was neither mouse nor lizard, and was ...
Jan 31, 2023•28 min•Ep. 171
(image source: http://bit.ly/3QDvTx7 ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss Tullimonstrum , an anomaly and enigma in every sense of the word and proof that evolution has a twisted sense of humor. From the Late Carboniferous, this 1-foot… thing has been suggested to be from a multitude of different lineages. Personally, I think it was an alien. Some sort of terrible extraterrestrial race invaded Earth in the Late Carboniferous and this was the result. They didn’t take over ...
Jan 24, 2023•17 min•Ep. 170
(image source: http://bit.ly/3ZuaOcH ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Christina Eilert discuss Dracoraptor , the very first Jurassic dinosaur known and a survivor of the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction, the one everyone seems to forget for some reason. It was a multiple impact event, people! Probably. From the Early Jurassic, this 3-foot coelophysid didn’t really have much going for it, and probably is some offshoot of Coelophysis that made it past the extinction. This is more of an exc...
Jan 17, 2023•24 min•Ep. 169
(image source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/312366924155667804/ ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Ben O’Regan discuss Phorusrhacos , the last hurrah of giant land-based theropod dinosaurs as top predators, ruling well after non-avian dinosaurs went extinct. That’s not funny, just cool, but then again these descriptions aren’t really funny anyway. From the Early Miocene, this 9-foot-tall bird was part of a group colloquially known as “terror birds,” which makes all the sense in the world, ...
Jan 10, 2023•22 min•Ep. 168
(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oviraptor ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Stephen Curro discuss Oviraptor , the most unfairly judged dinosaur found fossilized with a bunch of eggs and thus was assumed to be stealing those eggs rather than nurturing their own. There’s no way this thing could actually be a good mother, now could it? From the Late Cretaceous, this 5-foot maniraptoran theropod had a cassowary-like beak and roadrunner-like feathers, making it quite bird-like in m...
Jan 03, 2023•22 min•Ep. 167
(image source: https://walkingwith.fandom.com/wiki/Hybodus ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss Hybodus , a seemingly ordinary looking shark that might have actually had a temporal range of nearly 200 million years because, evolutionarily speaking, it was perfect . Sharks, man. From the Late Permian to the Late Cretaceous, this 6-foot hybodont fish had little spikes adorning its dorsal fins as its distinguishing feature, which I guess made all the difference in the world...
Dec 27, 2022•20 min•Ep. 166
(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microraptor ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Christina Eilert discuss Microraptor , a beautiful ebony gem that went butterfly-mode and had four wings instead of two. Show-off. From the Early Cretaceous, this 2-foot dromaeosaurid might have been capable of true flight, but also might not have, which would be embarrassing. You went through all this effort to have four separate wings rather than the usual two and you still couldn’t fly?! What a wa...
Dec 20, 2022•21 min•Ep. 165
(image source: https://dinosaurpictures.org/Carnotaurus-pictures ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Ben O’Regan discuss Carnotaurus , a carnivore that heard all other dinosaurs end in ‘saurus’ so decided to change one letter to be distinctive. I respect the commitment to bare minimum effort. From the Late Cretaceous, this 25-foot abelisaurid theropod had two devilish horns and a grumpy personality, making it a big bully in the dino world. Honestly, if my arms were even shorter than T. rex ’...
Dec 13, 2022•22 min•Ep. 164
(image source: https://dinosaurpictures.org/Acrocanthosaurus-pictures ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Stephen Curro discuss Acrocanthosaurus , perhaps the biggest and meanest predator before the mighty rex ever took its first stomp. From the Early Cretaceous, this 38-foot carcharodontosaurid was roughly the size of T. rex , had the spine of Spinosaurus , and the overall body shape of a Giganotosaurus , making it the ultimate amalgamation of the bad guy dinosaurs in the Jurassic Park fran...
Dec 06, 2022•20 min•Ep. 163
(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platyhystrix ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss Platyhystrix , an amphibian with the head of a frog, the back of a newt, and the sail of a Dimetrodon just for giggles. From the Late Carboniferous, this 3-foot temnospondyl swiftly swam and slithered with its sail-lined spine sticking straight out of the surface of the swamp. I’m good with my alliterations sometimes, I reckon. Want to further support the show? Sign up to our P...
Nov 29, 2022•22 min•Ep. 162
(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minmi_paravertebra ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Christina Eilert discuss Minmi , a cutesy wittle turtledillo with a cutesy wittle name, one of the shortest names of all dinosaurs if Yi and Zby weren’t a thing. From the Early Cretaceous, this 9-foot ankylosaur nearly got rendered invalid due to insufficient evidence, but thankfully the world was kind enough to provide fossils of other ankylosaurs in its area to prove its distinctiveness as a...
Nov 22, 2022•22 min•Ep. 161
(image source: http://bit.ly/3UqwgfD ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Stephen Curro discuss Homo neanderthalensis , the archetypal caveman and our bulkier, hairier, and dumber cousins, not unlike my bulkier and hairier and dumber cousins down in Mississippi. From the Late Pleistocene, this 5.5 foot tall hominid never really made it that far in the evolutionary sense, lasting less than a million years and going extinct when the Ice Age ended. It’s all right, Neanderthals, not every creatur...
Nov 15, 2022•26 min•Ep. 160
(image source: https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Erectopus ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lexi Ryan discuss Erectopus , perhaps the worst name of any dinosaur ever, or maybe the best if you're twelve years old. From the Early Cretaceous, this 16-foot long allosaurid has an interesting backstory in regards to the recovery of its fossils, including rich private collectors and shady fossil dealers. The paleontological black market is really cutthroat, folks, so watch out. Want to further s...
Nov 08, 2022•37 min•Ep. 159
(image source: https://images.dinosaurpictures.org/Koshisaurus/Koshisaurus_NT_899f.jpg ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Matt David Seivert discuss Koshisaurus , a dinosaur with very little known about it so this episode is basically a sneaky preview episode of Seivert’s other podcast Nerds ‘R Us. From the Early Cretaceous, this 14-foot hadrosaurid lived in Japan and thus we’re perfectly justified in our discussions about Kamen Rider and other stuff, because if I covered only this creature...
Nov 01, 2022•38 min•Ep. 158
(image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brontomerus.jpg ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Christina Eilert discuss Brontomerus to round out Bronto Month, a real voluptuous dinosaur if the name is any indication, which dear God I hope it’s not as that would stir a lot of worrying things in me. From the Early Cretaceous, this 46-foot long camarasaurid sauropod could potentially gallop, climb mountains, and kick predatory dinosaurs like a horse based on its well-developed leg m...
Oct 25, 2022•26 min•Ep. 157
(image source: https://bit.ly/3S8egF1 ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-hosts the De Papier brothers from Matt’s other show The Writ Wit discuss Brontotherium , a creature almost certainly called Megacerops instead but we needed another genus for Bronto Month so we’ll use the outdated name. It’s not misinformation if we outright state its erroneousness! From the Late Eocene, this 16-foot perissodactyl roamed the American scrublands and rammed each other with their horns as fossil evidence seems...
Oct 18, 2022•18 min•Ep. 156
(image source: https://www.activewild.com/brontosaurus ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Stephen Curro discuss Brontosaurus , a real dinosaur of a dinosaur that wasn’t valid for a while until suddenly it was, kind of like the inverse of Pluto. From the Late Jurassic, this 70-foot diplodocid sauropod was a bit chunkier than Apatosaurus with a slightly thicker neck, but otherwise it was basically the same animal at the same time and place. And yet Dracorex and Stygimoloch are considered youn...
Oct 11, 2022•28 min•Ep. 155
(image source: https://fossil.fandom.com/wiki/Brontoscorpio ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Christina Eilert discuss Brontoscorpio , a big fat nope of a creature and the first of our Paleo Bites Bronto Month! From the Early Devonian, this 3-foot arachnid was one of the earliest creatures to make its way onto land, ahead of the lobe-finned fish by several tens of millions of years. Sheesh, if these things were already up there, it makes the fish crawling onto land seem even stupider. Just...
Oct 04, 2022•30 min•Ep. 154
(image source: https://bbc.in/3Rc0j8G ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Ben O’Regan discuss Australotitan , the biggest Australian land animal of all time that probably had venomous tail spines or exploding scales if modern Australian fauna is any indication. From the Mid Cretaceous, this 95-foot titanosaur lived alongside other local dinosaurs like Australovenator , Austroraptor , and Australopithecus … seems to be a real naming theme going on here. And for those about to message me that ...
Sep 27, 2022•16 min•Ep. 153
(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiktaalik by Zina Deretsky) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Christina Eilert discuss Tiktaalik , a real asshole that should have known what horrible things crawling onto land would eventually lead to for the world. From the Late Devonian, this 8-foot sarcopterygian has been the subject of many memes using this very image about how it’s personally responsible for all of human suffering, which in all honesty might just be a tad harsh. Wait, rent i...
Sep 20, 2022•28 min•Ep. 152
(image source: https://bit.ly/3RFXJbQ ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lexi Ryan discuss Meraxes , a dinosaur named after a dragon in A Song of Ice and Fire that lived about as long ago as George R. R. Martin released his last book. From the Mid Cretaceous, this 45-foot carcharodontosaurid theropod was merely one of a plethora of giant meat-eating dinosaurs in this time and place, although they probably didn’t live all at once, that’d be ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as Game of Thrones...
Sep 13, 2022•33 min•Ep. 151
(image source: https://walkingwith.fandom.com/wiki/Koolasuchus ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Ben O’Regan discuss Koolasuchus , a giant amphibian from far later than when giant amphibians were cool, kind of like people today with mohawks or rollerblades. From the Mid Cretaceous, this 16-foot temnospondyl hung out in polar waters too cold for the crocodiles throughout the rest of the world, making it a Cool Crocodile, if you will. That’s where it got its name, surely. I’m sure Lesley Koo...
Sep 06, 2022•25 min•Ep. 150
(image source: https://bit.ly/3QdUyqU ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Christina Eilert discuss Sciurumimus , a predator with a squirrel-like tail that was probably real cuddly if it didn’t have all those needley teeth and claws coming out of it. From the Late Jurassic, this 3-foot tetanuran theropod didn’t have buckteeth or stored nuts but was still sciurine enough for paleontologists to name it such, although depending on your belief on dinosaur genitalia it might have stored its nuts e...
Aug 30, 2022•22 min•Ep. 149
(image source: https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Afrovenator ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Matt David Seivert discuss Afrovenator , a dinosaur that got its title of African Hunter stolen by Carcharodontosaurus , then Dinofelis , then lions, then poachers, then lions again because evil never wins. From the Mid Jurassic, this 25-foot megalosaurid prowled the heart of the continents just as they were splitting up, a messy breakup story if there ever was one. Don’t worry, they’re projected...
Aug 23, 2022•28 min•Ep. 148
(image source: https://river-monsters.fandom.com/wiki/Megapiranha ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss Megapiranha , a really freakin' big piranha. Duh. From the Late Miocene, this 3-foot serrasalmid fish was basically a B-movie monster in real life, although it’s still not nearly as horrifying as that one fish from the same river that swims up your urethra. And that one’s not prehistoric either, but in the modern Amazon, threatening unwary pissers even as you listen to ...
Aug 16, 2022•19 min•Ep. 147
