Show Notes
LOOP 7.2: Prof. Christine Janis, University of Bristol, outlines mammalian evolution and focusses on the global events that governs their radiation. We look at why mammals survived the K-Pg mass extinction and how the archaic mammals radiated immediately after. We end by looking at how mammals, similar to what we learned about birds, are relatively insignificant to today's ecosystems. Life On Our Planet (LOOP) is a new 8-part series created for Netflix by Silverback Films and Amblin Television. This Steven Spielberg produced series, narrated by Morgan Freeman, is hugely ambitious in its scope, telling the story of life throughout the whole Phanerozoic Eon. Ancient organisms and environments are painstakingly recreated by the supremely talented Industrial Light and Magic, whilst modern natural history scenes add vital context to the story. This show has been worked on for six years, during which time countless papers were read and around 150 different palaeontologists contributed their time and knowledge. The whole production had culture of letting the scientific rese arch dictate scenes, resulting in one of the most accurate on-screen representations of prehistoric life there has ever been. And how do we know all this? Well, our very own team members Tom Fletcher and Dave Marshall have been embedded within the LOOP team since day one! We are therefore in a totally unique position to reveal to you the work that went into this series, from both the production and research side of things. In this unofficial series, we've been granted exclusive access to many of the people responsible for creating LOOP, we explore what it takes to create a palaeontological documentary and we delve deeper into the science with some of the show's academic advisors. Each day, we will be releasing batches of interviews, each relating to a specific episode of LOOP. Image courtesy and copyright of Netflix.
More from Palaeocast
The Cambrian Explosion is one of the most significant events in evolutionary history. Classically, it describes the sudden appearance of complex fossils (including all major animal groups) at the beginning of the Cambrian Period. Before then it was thought that only relatively simple single-celled or multicellular life existed. We now understand this event to be a lot more nuanced, recognising many of the geological biases at play and having discovered complex fossils in the earlier Ediacaran Period. Many researchers therefore consider the term 'Cambrian Radiation' to be a better representation of the event. Whether an explosion or a radiation, determining the events of the Ediacaran and Early Cambrian and their causes is a constant area of palaeontological research. Numerous drivers behind this event have been hypothesised ranging from oxygen availability and nutrient cycling to an arms race between predators and prey. It is likely that no single factor will be identified as an underlying cause, but the relative extent to which each contributed to the event will be debated for many years to come. In this interview, we are joined by Dr Julien Kimmig, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe, Germany, who recently authored a study on the coprolites of the Early Cambrian, the evolution of guts, and the influence the 'Cambrain Fecal Revolution' may have had on the wider Cambrian Radiation.
The Carboniferous period is host to some of the largest arthropods to have ever lived. Giant taxa such as the griffenfly Meganuera and the millipede Arthropleura are almost talismanic and are often depicted in reconstructions of the period. Since many other groups also have giant representatives in the Carboniferous, what is it about this time that allows for arthropods to grow to such large sizes?
The Carboniferous period is host to some of the largest arthropods to have ever lived. Giant taxa such as the griffenfly Meganuera and the millipede Arthropleura are almost talismanic and are often depicted in reconstructions of the period. Since many other groups also have giant representatives in the Carboniferous, what is it about this time that allows for arthropods to grow to such large sizes?
Prof. Paul Barrett of the Natural History Museum, London, recently authored A History of Dinosaurs in 50 Fossils. We took this as an opportunity to get an overview of what we really know about dinosaurs and how it's even possible to tell their story with just 50 specimens.
Petrified Forest National Park in northeastern Arizona, USA is a hub for Triassic palaeontology and has exposures representing 20 million years of the Late Triassic Chinle Formation. Visitors marvel at the colourful fossilised trees from which the park takes its name, but a whole host of animals called these swampy forests home 225 million years ago. In this episode, we talk to Dr. Adam Marsh, lead palaeontologist at the National Park. We explore the history, geology, and palaeontology of Petrified Forest, along with exciting research centred around specimens from the park. Research is ongoing, with many groups of palaeontologists working on Petrified Forest specimens, and we hear about directions it might go in the future.