Paleo Bites

(image source: https://novataxa.blogspot.com/2023/09/megamonodontium.html) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss Megamonodontium, the most nope nope to have ever noped. A giant spider lunging in a hole in Australia? Nope, nope, nope. From the Late Miocene, this 2-inch spider trapped and ate giant dinosaurs and sunk its venomous fangs into the necks of cavemen… okay, not really, it more likely hunted insects and small vertebrates and was overall just another harmless animal, but nope I say! Nope! Nope. Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here, as well as his non-dinosaur-related book "Teslanauts" by clicking here.

(image source: https://dinosaurpictures.org/Tropeognathus-pictures) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Ben O’Regan discuss Tropeognathus, a genus split off from Ornithocheirus, well-known from that Walking with Dinosaurs episode where one of them was too old to get laid. From the Early Cretaceous, this 25-foot-wingspan pterosaur lived in Brazil alongside frugivore Tapejara, also depicted in that same episode where one of them got sprayed on by water too much to get laid. Quality television, that show, back when BBC programs took risks. Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here, as well as his non-dinosaur-related book "Teslanauts" by clicking here.

(image source: https://www.deviantart.com/tuomaskoivurinne/art/Saurian-Anzu-778336693) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Don Hall discuss Anzu, a dinosaur that looks so damn much like a bird it’s hard to believe it’s not in the clade of theropods that evolved into them. Them dinos really wanted them feathers. From the late Cretaceous, this 13-foot oviraptorosaur lived alongside some famous heavy-hitters like T. rex and Triceratops, and may I say the name Anzu really stands out among those, and not really in a good way. “Here in the Hell Creek Formation, we’ve got Tyrannosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Triceratops, Edmontosaurus, and… Anzu!” See, it doesn’t work! Try again, paleontologists. Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here, as well as his non-dinosaur-related book "Teslanauts" by clicking here.

(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnostida) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Stephen Curro discuss Han solo, an actually real genus and species of animal because paleontologists, believe it or not, are nerds. From the Early Ordavician, this 2-inch trilobite may not have looked like much, but it’s got it where it counts, kid. Yeah, we make a bunch of forced Star Wars references in this episode… oh, I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here, as well as his non-dinosaur-related book "Teslanauts" by clicking here.

(image source: https://dontmesswithdinosaurs.com/?p=2122) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss Platyceramus, the biggest clam in the entire paleontological record, which sounds like something one of those tourist traps on I-70 would claim to have if you ask me. From the Late Cretaceous, this 10-foot bivalve got eaten by giant turtles and had highly enlarged pearls within its shells… oh, now you’re interested, huh? Now that there’s money involved? I swear, late stage capitalism makes people desperate. Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here, as well as his non-dinosaur-related book "Teslanauts" by clicking here.

 (image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuul) Happy Halloween! Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Frankyansteilert (the sewn-together bodies of previous co-hosts reanimated after their unfortunate deaths) discuss Zuul, a dinosaur indeed named after the Ghostbusters demon dog, because why not at this point? From the Late Cretaceous, this 20-foot ankylosaur had the biggest tail club of any of its kind in North America and had some fossilized scale imprints uncovered, which we definitely discuss in great detail in this once more 100% improvised episode. Because it was so beloved the last time the show did this. Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here, as well as his non-dinosaur-related book "Teslanauts" by clicking here.

(image source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/things-of-beauty-i-like-to-see--543528248785595561/) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host and Matt’s dad Don Hall discuss Ectopistes, another great example of human-caused extinction because we didn’t depress our listeners enough with the Dodo and Tasmanian Tiger episodes. From the Late Pliocene to the Early Holocene, this 1.5-foot columbid bird used to have flocks in the billions before being shot, batted, and netted by greedy and terrible European colonizers when they came to America. The Native Americans lived with them all right though, so it’s not all humans that are bad, just European ones. My great grandfather was an Italian immigrant, so I’m allowed to say that. Hey, remember when this show was about dinosaurs?Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here, as well as his non-dinosaur-related book "Teslanauts" by clicking here.

(image source: https://www.thoughtco.com/moeritherium-lake-moeris-beast-1093246) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Laura Owsley discuss Moeritherium, a pig-hippo-tapir thing that was actually closer related to elephants than any of those other creatures, because the only thing nature is consistent at is being inconsistent. From the Late Eocene, this 6-foot proboscid lived in the mangrove swamps of its Egyptian home while blissfully unaware of the bleak desert it would become a few minor extinctions and Ice Ages later. Imagine what your own home will be like 35 million years from now! Probably be just cosmic dust along with the rest of the Earth after we’ve annihilated it. Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here, as well as his non-dinosaur-related book "Teslanauts" by clicking here.

(image source: https://dino.fandom.com/wiki/Suuwassea)Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss Suuwassea, a dinosaur named after terms in the language of the Native American Crow Tribe just in time for Indigenous People's Day, because I'm really good at planning these things. It's not a coincidence, I swear. Pinkily so. From the Late Jurassic, this 45-foot dicraeosaurid sauropod was still plenty big but definitely one of the smaller long-necked dinosaurs of Jurassic North America, because we really needed a world where an animal nearly fifty feet long is somehow small for its kind. At least it's a nice gentle sauropod and not something far worse or creepier. We'll get to those, surely.Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here, as well as his non-dinosaur-related book "Teslanauts" by clicking here.