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Fossils and Fiction

Fossils and Fiction

By: Travis Holland and Alyssa Fjeld.
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🎙️The culture and science of palaeontology.Travis Holland and Alyssa Fjeld. Nature & Ecology Science
Episodes
  • Mark Witton's Palaeoart Journey
    Jun 12 2025

    Can they spell it? No, they can't!

    This episode features renowned palaeoartist Mark Witton talking about his new book King Tyrant and other topics in palaeoart. Plus, news on the world's first sauropod gut contents. Then, Travis and Alyssa challenge each other to a prehistoric spelling bee.

    More info:

    Mark Witton's website https://www.markwitton.co.uk/

    Poropat, S. F., Tosolini, A.-M. P., Beeston, S. L., Enchelmaier, M. J., Pentland, A. H., Mannion, P. D., Upchurch, P., Chin, K., Korasidis, V. A., Bell, P. R., Enriquez, N. J., Holman, A. I., Brosnan, L. M., Elson, A. L., Tripp, M., Scarlett, A. G., Godel, B., Madden, R. H. C., Rickard, W. D. A., … Grice, K. (2025). Fossilized gut contents elucidate the feeding habits of sauropod dinosaurs. Current Biology, 35(11), 2597-2613.e7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.053


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    52 mins
  • T. rex: the Asian king?
    May 21 2025

    Palaeo artist James Pascoe shares his lifelong fascination with dinosaurs and how it has shaped his journey. He discusses the importance of community in the paleo art world and the role of engagement in science communication.

    We discuss new research showing the origin of tyrannosaurs may have been in Asia and also how megaraptors arose and spread throughout Gondwana. And another new paper pushes back the origin of tetrapods and (maybe) places it in the southern continents.

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    • Long, J. A., Niedźwiedzki, G., Garvey, J., Clement, A. M., Camens, A. B., Eury, C. A., Eason, J., & Ahlberg, P. E. (2025). Earliest amniote tracks recalibrate the timeline of tetrapod evolution. Nature, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08884-5
    • Morrison, C., Scherer, C. R., O’Callaghan, E. V., Layton, C., Boisvert, C., Rolando, M. A., Durrant, L., Salas, P., Allain, S. J. R., & Gascoigne, S. J. L. (2025). Rise of the king: Gondwanan origins and evolution of megaraptoran dinosaurs. Royal Society Open Science, 12(5). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.242238
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    55 mins
  • Do direwolves dream of extinct sheep?
    Apr 22 2025

    Visit the 'La Brea of the East' with us. Shay Maden from Gray Fossil Site and Museum tells us about the history and importance of this amazing Tennessean lagerstatten. And, we can't help but chat about the controversial claims by Colossal Biosciences that they have resurrected the dire wolf.

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    Check out:

    • Gray Fossil Site https://gfs.visithandson.org/
    • Dinosauria Season 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRXB67fcXZA
    • Paleo Pines https://paleopines.com/
    • Pint of Science https://pintofscience.com.au/
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    47 mins

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