Paleo Nerds

This episode of Paleo Nerds is truly out of this world! The Nerds talk to Kenneth Williford, Deputy Project Scientist for the Mars 2020 Perseverance mission. Blast off to the martian past!

Brian Skerry has logged over 10,000 hours underwater, capturing powerful images for National Geographic and has recently teamed up with James Cameron to continue bringing the captivating stories of the world's oceans to those of us stuck on land.

Youtube star Cameron Muskelly joins the Nerds to talk about the geologic treasures of Georgia and the southern United States. Cam is a paleo encyclopedia, so you're sure to learn something new!

Coprolites (or fossil poop to the layman) have come up repeatedly on the show so we are thrilled to finally have the Queen of Coprolites herself on the show! Karen Chin can interpret entire lifestyles from a thin slice of paleo dung.

What had giant cheeks, protruding canines, dainty hooves and a giant, ridged back? The Hell Pig is almost like Frankenstein's monster, and Scott Foss tells us all about how these creatures utilized this unique combo of features to be the "T. rex of the Tertiary."

Dave and Ray both took advantage of their early vaccination status (the perks of being living fossils!) and got out for some traveling. Dave visited Montana and Ray drove across the country, both visiting a few Paleo Nerds along the way.

The Nerds return to the La Brea tar pits, this time to talk carnivores with Mairin Balisi! She studies what the dogs of the tar pits ate throughout their life and discusses dog evolution.

Anyone familiar with Ray's art knows that fish are a focal point and salmon are central, so it's shocking that it's taken so long to have a salmon expert on the show! We're talking spike tooth salmon with Jerry Smith - Dive in!

Ashley Hall has been obsessed with dinosaurs since she was a kid and now she spends her days educating the public at the Museum of the Rockies. She makes fossils fun!

Seeing dinosaurs on the silver screen made Bill Stout a Paleo Nerd, so it's only fitting that he started his art career illustrating movie posters. His work spans from comic books to murals and has brought him all the way to Antarctica.