Trace fossils are an incredible resource to understand behavior… even behavior those animals wish maybe there wasn’t a record of. From the results of terrible food poisoning to the fossil equivalent of a xeroxed buttocks, trace fossils record some animals’ most humiliating moments. CW: Everything in the title, cursing, stomach stones (bezoars)
podcast
The Secret Shame of Dinosaurs (Fossil Names)
Did you know that technically, the name ‘dinosaur’ is a rebrand? The original name was a lot more… wrinkly. In this episode we discuss how to name fossils and bring up the funniest fossil names we could find. CW: Cursing. Discussion of European colonization and Native Americans. Many references to genitalia.
Homicidal Earth Burps and Murderous Sky Rocks (All About Extinctions)
Asteroids, volcanoes, and sex lakes – in this episode we discuss the varied and sometimes hilarious hypotheses of why animals have gone extinct. CW: Extinctions/animal death, toxic shock syndrome, menstruation, serial killers, suicide in reference to having to do geochronology. Referring to non-avian dinosaurs as just dinosaurs.
How to Preserve a Fossil Fish in The Weirdest Way Possible
Sometimes paleontology is awe-inspiring. Sometimes it’s gross and hilarious. This episode is at the weird epicenter of all of those things, because it turns out the best preserved fossil sturgeons are found up the rear end of duck-billed dinosaurs. CONTENT WARNINGS: Hemorrhoids, butt jokes, maligning archeologists, misinterpreting a cloaca as a butthole for the purposes […]
BYG International Pilgrimage Ep. 6 – The Jack Hills: A Window into Primitive Earth
In this episode of Backyard Geology, Serena takes you to the Jack Hills in western Australia to peer 4.39 billion years into the past. Detrital zircon grains found in the rocks of the Jack Hills are the oldest known materials existing on Earth today. Their chemical makeup preserves Earth’s oldest and most elusive Eon, the […]