Eons is a show produced in collaboration with PBS Digital Studios wherein Hank Green, Kallie Moore, and Blake de Pastino take you on a journey through the history of life on Earth.
From PBS Eons. Mystacodon is the earliest known mysticete, the group that, today, we call the baleen whales. But if this was a baleen whale, where was its baleen? Where did baleen come from? And how did it live without it? Thanks to Fabrizio de Rossi (https://www.facebook.com/ArtofFabricious) for the incredible Mystacodon reconstructions! ***** PBS Member…
From PBS Eons. There is one – and only one – group of mammals that doesn’t have alpha-gal: the catarrhine primates, which are the monkeys of Africa and Asia, the apes, and us. ***** PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to http://to.pbs.org/DonateEons ***** Produced by Complexly for…
From PBS Eons. Archaeologists have discovered an ancient art workshop Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios References: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04445-2#Sec4
From PBS Eons. Flesh-eating bees exist! Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mBio.02317-21 https://phys.org/news/2021-11-bees-dead-meat-eating-vulture-sport.html
From PBS Eons. We have no idea where they were all this time, or who stole and returned them and why. Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-60980288
From PBS Eons. One of the biggest earthquakes humans ever experienced happened around 3800 years ago in what’s now northern Chile. Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios References: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2022/04/ancient-super-earthquake.page https://www.livescience.com/biggest-earthquake-found-chile
From PBS Eons. Thank you to Wondrium for Supporting PBS. For more information and a trial please go to http://ow.ly/6nrt30smywM Check out PBS Terra! https://www.youtube.com/c/pbsterra Today, billions of people around the world start their day with caffeine. But how and why did the ability to produce this molecule independently evolve in multiple, distantly-related lineages of…
From PBS Eons. Despite the profound changes we’ve made here in recent history, the epic saga of Los Angeles’ natural history is still visible – and even striking – if you know where and how to look for it. ***** PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to…
From PBS Eons. This giant millipede was the largest known invertebrate to ever live on land. So how did it get so big?? ***** PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to http://to.pbs.org/DonateEons ***** Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios Super special thanks to the following Patreon…
From PBS Eons. Guemesia: a new no-arm dino If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2022/february/new-armless-abelisaur-dinosaur-species-discovered-argentina.html https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2021.2002348?scroll=top&needAccess=true https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/need-a-hand-dont-ask-an-abelisaurid-88125248/ https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00640.x?casa_token=mMGXK6eo8lkAAAAA%3ADUktp6nbFkobFOjBJxeP01yat1v8j8ZoN3E6NtMLcccHubVR9ZvcJWyIVrKx7ZQgitLwhXB_pUHFq8c
From PBS Eons. Spinosaurus had dense bones! If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04528-0
From PBS Eons. Microbiology goes macro with a new giant bacterium! If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.16.480423v1.full.pdf https://www.science.org/content/article/largest-bacterium-ever-discovered-has-unexpectedly-complex-cells
From PBS Eons. In 2003, microbiologists made a huge discovery. One that would force us to reconsider a lot of what we thought we knew about the evolution of microbial life: giant viruses. ***** PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to http://to.pbs.org/DonateEons ***** Produced by Complexly for…
From PBS Eons. Paleodictyon, a hexagonal-patterned fossil, is a bit of a mystery. We don’t even know if it’s a trace fossil, or the organism itself. So… what could it be? ***** PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to http://to.pbs.org/DonateEons ***** Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital…
From PBS Eons. In the quest to understand how evolution basically built the woolly mammoth, we may have found the blueprints for building them ourselves. Thanks to Julio Lacerda (https://twitter.com/JuliotheArtist), Roman Uchytel (https://prehistoric-fauna.com), and Dmitry Bogdanov for the mammoth art featured in this episode! ***** PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support…
From PBS Eons. The newest oldest saber-toothed mammal Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://peerj.com/articles/13032/
From PBS Eons. What was this ancient pup’s last meal? Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! Sound Source: https://youtube.com/shorts/KY_uHdxMV0M References: https://twitter.com/CpgSthlm/status/1295304784099135488 https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)31071-X
From PBS Eons. Sometimes modern problems require ancient, evolutionary solutions. Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://www.biomedcentral.com/about/press-centre/science-press-releases/17-sep-2014#:~:text=It%20mimics%20the%20unique%20qualities,%2Dlike%20structures%2C%20called%20denticles.
From PBS Eons. Does Homo erectus beat out Homo sapiens? Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/fossils-some-last-homo-erectus-hint-end-long-lived-species-180973816/ https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/homo-erectus-a-bigger-smarter-97879043/
From PBS Eons. There’s something weird going on at the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in what’s now Utah. ***** PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to http://to.pbs.org/DonateEons ***** Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios
From PBS Eons. Fossil evidence suggests Diictodon used burrows to breed, and that a parent stayed behind to feed and protect their young. And the parent that stayed behind? It might’ve been the male. Thanks to Julio Lacerda (https://twitter.com/JuliotheArtist) and Ceri Thomas (https://nixillustration.com) for the Diictodon reconstructions featured in this episode. Thanks to Corwin Sullivan,…
From PBS Eons. A mysterious, large feline roamed Eurasia during the last ice age. Its fossils have been found across the continent, and it’s been the subject of ancient artwork. So what exactly were these big cats? Thanks to Ceri Thomas and Roman Uchytel their reconstructions featured in this episode! ***** PBS Member Stations rely…
From PBS Eons. While we’ve been farming for around 10,000 to 12,000 years, the ancestors of ants have been doing it for around 60 million years. So when, and how, and why did ants start … farming? Thanks to Franz Anthony (https://franzanth.com) for the excellent ant reconstruction featured in this episode! ***** PBS Member Stations…
From PBS Eons. How did they get there? Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards!
From PBS Eons. Why aren’t there giant rabbits? Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/evo.14187?casa_token=1odZAe8uK00AAAAA:DI7FQaXDYiXBn0aPZgKp93mfgSRPZ2FmEGesZBmmtLlqhzVhKvKcz9h_oLVlNRdQ3KflTYR8R5JXWQjO https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02724634.2011.550367?casa_token=O4QKtUXfcJ4AAAAA%3AammuwGR1t-a6mPHVh3-9YiN8hLi8huoTl2pUmcBMYr1TgmYM90lovqh5JDNLBdgzcNREly4nFTY& https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jzo.12209?casa_token=ortx7KOBJJgAAAAA:lVcene-bHuodNeALlCaZCWKCS_h5yuHydkVzUSXk-FDy_78vhm6J5_CXrJ32fJ_9zGS7tPgD_PAT https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicCollectionSearch?collection_no=62897&is_real_user=1
From PBS Eons. Dinosaurs! In Space! Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/dinosaurs-in-space-3945429/ https://twitter.com/BitsHammer/status/1080576295208071168?s=20 https://www.iflscience.com/space/we-are-pleased-to-inform-you-there-are-probably-dinosaur-remains-on-the-moon/ https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-25201572 https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/ast.2013.1028
From PBS Eons. Thank you to Wondrium for Supporting PBS. For more information and a trial go to http://ow.ly/vcZO30sfmar. Listen to Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eons-mysteries-of-deep-time/id1610360633 Only a handful of Denisovan fossils have been identified. In the absence of actual body fossils, it’s impossible for us to reconstruct their morphology, right? ***** PBS Member…
From PBS Eons. Listen to the first three episodes of Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eons-mysteries-of-deep-time/id1610360633 While sour taste’s original purpose was to warn vertebrates of danger, in a few animal groups, including us, its role has reversed. The taste of danger became something it was dangerous for us to avoid. Thanks to Ceri Thomas…
From PBS Eons. Check out Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time wherever you get your podcasts! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-was-the-first-dinosaur/id1610360633?i=1000557071492 Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards!
From PBS Eons. Check out Historian’s Take: https://youtu.be/8mXaccYFKRQ Our podcast episode on the origins of dinosaurs: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-was-the-first-dinosaur/id1610360633?i=1000557071492 We tend to think that evolution only goes in one direction— toward getting bigger and more advanced. But that’s not always the case. This tiny, simple animal, the Myxozoans, (yes, animal!) evolved from something bigger and more complex.…
From PBS Eons. I will pass on the parasitic mind-controlling mushroom, thanks Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878614621000799
From PBS Eons. Let’s find out if you were dead or thriving at the end of the Permian Period, 252 million years ago. Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: Peter Brannen – The Ends of the…
From PBS Eons. Where’s Amphicoelias? Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://web.archive.org/web/20190307212428/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/dd15/6c0abe4328abf1ee83fe43433205eb723f3c.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20181022113333/https://www.utahgeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/GIW2018-v05-pp227-244-Carpenter-screen.pdf
From PBS Eons. The bird that evolved twice! Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2019/may/birds-on-an-island-in-the-indian-ocean-evolved-flightlessness-twice.html https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/186/3/666/5487031?login=true#137071492 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-evolution-brought-flightless-bird-back-extinction-180972166/
From PBS Eons. Check out Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time! http://ow.ly/2J4450Iu69U Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards!
From PBS Eons. Check out Subcultured on @PBS Voices: https://youtu.be/oSCj8H4TGTo Check out our podcast Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time: https://ow.ly/2J4450Iu69U Hyenas weren’t always able to eat bones. In fact, only a few million years ago, they lived very different lives. Thanks to Julio Lacerda (https://twitter.com/JuliotheArtist) and Roman Uchytel for the excellent reconstructions featured in this…
From PBS Eons. Thylacines are definitely extinct! Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/10/science/thylacines-tasmanian-tigers-sightings.html https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2005/05/when-can-you-say-an-animal-is-extinct.html https://shorthand.uq.edu.au/small-change/is-the-thylacine-really-extinct/ https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/extinction-of-thylacine
From PBS Eons. A truly enormous ichthyosaur around the size of a modern sperm whale, reached its size within just a few million years of taking to the water – a blink of an eye in evolutionary time. Thanks to Julio Lacerda (https://twitter.com/JuliotheArtist), Nobumichi Tamura (https://spinops.blogspot.com/), and Dmitry Bogdanov for their excellent reconstructions featured in…
From PBS Eons. Would you have survived the K-Pg Impact? Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://www.pnas.org/content/116/39/19342 https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-survive-a-killer-asteroid/ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/extinction/dinosaurs/asteroid.html
From PBS Eons. Check out Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eons-mysteries-of-deep-time/id1610360633 Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards!
From PBS Eons. Check out our new podcast "Eons: Mysteries of Deep Time" on your favorite podcast app! And also here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eons-mysteries-of-deep-time/id1610360633 The ecological niche of apex predators was empty on Hateg Island, waiting to be occupied by something large, mobile, and powerful enough to fill it. ***** PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like…
From PBS Eons. And it’s been reported that one of the geologists started it on purpose? Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/giant-hole-ground-has-been-fire-more-40-years-180951247/ https://geopersia.ut.ac.ir/article_68258_7eaa5ea5986b0f9ded7536bf4b0a4b30.pdf
From PBS Eons. Why do human knees suck? Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://thehumanevolutionblog.com/2015/02/23/why-are-acl-injuries-so-common-poor-design/ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/the-hazards-of-being-an-athletic-ape/
From PBS Eons. Don’t be fooled by convergent evolution. Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://www.cell.com/trends/plant-science/fulltext/S1360-1385(05)00053-1 https://eukaryotewritesblog.com/2021/05/02/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-tree/ https://twitter.com/flyingquercus/status/1140895801943711746
From PBS Eons. Could humans survive during the Precambrian? Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/precambrian-time https://news.mit.edu/2016/oxygen-first-appearance-earth-atmosphere-0513 https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/03/ancient-earth-was-water-world https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018204005905
From PBS Eons. Dire wolves aren’t actually wolves but what they are might be even cooler. Thanks to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County for having us! Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dire-wolves-were-not-really-wolves-new-genetic-clues-reveal/…
From PBS Eons. There used to be SO MANY sharks…where did they go? Produced by Complexly for PBS. If you’d like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards! References: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaz3549
From PBS Eons. Today, all mammals from humans to bats have five fingers or fewer. Yes, even whales, whose finger bones are hidden in their fins. Birds have four or fewer and amphibians get the best of both worlds, often having four digits on their “hands” and five on their “feet.” But no species of…
From PBS Eons. Do our modern horses descend from just one domesticated population, or did it happen many times, in many places? Answering these questions has been tricky, as we’ve needed to bring together evidence from art, archaeology, and ancient DNA…Because, as it turns out, the history of humans and horses has been a pretty…
From PBS Eons. As revolutionary as teeth were, they would go on to disappear in some groups of vertebrates. But why? ***** PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to http://to.pbs.org/DonateEons ***** Produced by Complexly for Digital Studios Super special thanks to the following Patreon patrons for helping…
From PBS Eons. Thank you to Wondrium, from The Teaching Company Sales, for Supporting PBS. To learn more and try it out go to http://ow.ly/Ip4b30s6YJY We often think of dinosaurs as either preying on other dinos or mammals, or as plant-eaters — but in ecosystems today, those aren’t the only two options. So why would…
From PBS Eons. The Snake Detection Hypothesis proposes that the ability to quickly spot and avoid snakes is deeply embedded in primates, including us – an evolutionary consequence of the danger snakes have posed to us over millions of years. Go check out @Storied Fate & Fabled: https://youtu.be/_WC-zpVw-Xo ***** PBS Member Stations rely on viewers…
From PBS Eons. Around 10,000 years ago, somewhere in Africa, a microscopic parasite made a huge leap. With a little help from a mosquito, it left its animal host – probably a gorilla – and found its way to a new host: us. ***** PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your…
From PBS Eons. Take the PBS Digital Studios audience survey: https://to.pbs.org/2021survey If you know one thing about pterosaurs, it’s that they’re flyers. And while pterosaurs may be well-known for their domination of the skies in the Mesozoic Era, they didn’t live their entire lives in the air. So how did we figure this out? And…
From PBS Eons. The hardened residue scraped off your teeth at the dentist is called your dental calculus, and your dental calculus is the only part of your body that actually fossilizes while you’re alive! And scientists have figured out how to study & trace the evolutionary history of these microbes over tens of millions…
From PBS Eons. These relatives of ours lived in Eurasia for more than 300,000 years. They were expert toolmakers, using materials like stone, wood, and animal bone. They were also skilled hunters and foragers, and may even have created cave art. So what caused the decline and disappearance of their population? Well, in a way…it…
From PBS Eons. Take the PBS Digital Studios audience survey: https://to.pbs.org/2021survey Plants first made their way onto land at least 470 million years ago but for their first 80 million years, leaves as we know them today didn’t exist. What held them back? Thanks to Franz Anthony (https://franzanth.com) for the excellent reconstruction of early Devonian…
From PBS Eons. Have you checked out our new pins yet https://store.dftba.com/collections/eons Dinosaur mating behavior has been the subject of a lot of speculation, but what can we actually say about it from the fossil record? This video features reconstructions by Xing Lida, Sydney Mohr, Nathan E. Rogers, Franz Anthony, Steveoc 86, and Emily Willoughby.…
From PBS Eons. Check out American Veteran: Keep It Close on @PBS Voices: https://youtu.be/9lc1sMaQOQQ It looks like the evolution of ocean-going whales like Borealodon may have affected communities found in the deep ocean, like the ones found around geothermal vents. And it turns out that when a whale dies, that’s just the beginning of the…
From PBS Eons. You’ve heard of Family Feud… but how about Fossil Feud? Join us for a National Fossil Day livestream to watch the Eons team compete against some of our friends from SciShow! Gabriel-Philip Santos from the Alf Museum of Paleontology will be our host. Kallie Moore, Blake de Pastino and Michelle Barboza-Ramirez will be…