Paleo Bites

(image source: https://walkingwith.fandom.com/wiki/Leptictidium) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Ben O’Regan discuss Leptictidium, a cute little mammal trying to be a theropod dinosaur, a kangaroo, and a squirrel all in one. Don’t ever say this creature didn’t have goals. From the Early Eocene, this 3-foot leptictidan was part of a family that didn’t leave any descendents and died a terrible and lonely death. Or maybe a peaceful one surrounded by its friends and family. I dunno, I wasn’t there, so who can say? Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can get links to follow Matthew Donald and purchase his books at https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald.

(image source: https://www.deviantart.com/inkabg2/art/Ichthyotitan-severnensis-1049125055) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Allen Brooks discuss Ichthyotitan, the recently discovered big boy of the early Mesozoic seas that is up there with the biggest boys of all time, along with Perucetus and the modern blue whale. These weren’t just boys. They were men. Whatever that means. Frick the patriarchy. From the Late Triassic, this 85-foot ichthyosaur was a voracious predator akin to an orca, meaning pretty much anything swimming about in this ocean was on the menu. Maybe every animal there should have just waddled onto land instead. Reenact the Devonian and crawl out of that dangerous sea. That’s what I would’ve done, because I’m a coward.

(image source: https://252mya.com/products/baryonyx-walkeri-stock-photo) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Stephen Curro discuss Baryonyx, a paramount piscivorous predator with crocodile-like jaws and two very big claws. Yeah, this show can be poetic sometimes. From the Early Cretaceous, this 28-foot spinosaurid theropod has had some high profile appearances in popular culture that have been quite controversial in the paleo community, such as in a famous blockbuster series where it had a few extra scutes and in an animated movie where it was Godzilla-sized and feared by T. rex. Guess which one of those the paleo nerds had more problems with? The former, obviously. Duh. Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can get links to follow Matthew Donald and purchase his books at https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald.

(image source: https://www.deviantart.com/cisiopurple/art/Martharaptor-760488972) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lawrence Mack discuss Martharaptor, a lovely creature with a pot belly and long fingernails, kind of like my great aunt Martha. She makes some great cookies, I gotta say. And brownies. Duuuude. From the Early Cretaceous, this 14-foot therizinosaurid was one of the earliest members of its family in North America and closely related to Nothronychus, another one of these dino buggers that most of y’all haven’t heard of. This show really is a relevant piece of media in today’s pop-culture landscape. Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can get links to follow Matthew Donald and purchase his books at https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald.

(image source: https://naturerules1.fandom.com/wiki/Lythronax) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Allen Brooks discuss Lythronax, a potential contender for one of the edgiest genus names of any dinosaur, right up there with Dynamoterror and Atrociraptor. It’s not enough for these dinosaurs to be scary in appearance; their names have to sound scary too! Gore King! Aaagh! From the Late Cretaceous, this 25-foot tyrannosaurid’s biggest appearance in pop-culture is probably the Nintendo DS game Fossil Fighters, a Pokémon rip-off involving dinosaurs that’s not DInosaur King. Have you played it? It’s pretty good. I mean, I assume; I’ve never played it. Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can get links to follow Matthew Donald and purchase his books at https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald.

(image source: https://www.pteros.com/pterosaurs/dsungaripterus.html) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Ben O’Regan discuss Dsungaripterus, a pterosaur that by God Almighty looks like a mouthful to pronounce. SUN-ga-RIP-turr-US. There, I just saved you a lot of time and energy. You’re welcome. From the Early Cretaceous, this 16-foot ornithocheiroid had a really rocking piece of headgear and a mouth that pointed upward, kind of like me when getting mead poured in my mouth by the tavern maids at the Renaissance Festival while in my wizard costume. Side question, have those festivals always been that horny, or did that just happen in the last couple of years? I should really stop by there more often. Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can get links to follow Matthew Donald and purchase his books at https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald.

 (image source: https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Glacialisaurus) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lawrence Mack discuss Glacialisaurus, another dinosaur from Antarctica that lived alongside Cryolophosaurus and ate ferns and such. It’s a basic leaf-eating dinosaur, what more do you want from it? From the Early Jurassic, this 20-foot sauropodomorph lived millions of years before its hot and lush homeland became a frozen wasteland. How would you react if the land you lived in was only millions of years away from becoming a hellish landscape? Probably the same, honestly, seeing as the sun is gonna explode and Earth is gonna get scorched and entropy’s gonna tear apart protons and Hawking radiation is going to deteriorate black holes and the universe is going to be dead forever and… wait, we’re talking about some boring dinosaur, right? Where did my brain go? Existentialism…Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can get links to follow Matthew Donald and purchase his books at https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald.

(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrannasorus_rex)Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Allen Brooks discuss Tyrannasorus rex, a real PUNK’d of an animal by being just a plain-ass beetle named after the most fearsome dinosaur ever. Paleontologists have too much fun sometimes. Someone should rein them in. From the Miocene epoch, this 1-inch beetle was, well, a beetle. You ever seen a beetle? Then you’ve seen Tyrannasorus rex. They’re all the same. You don’t make up over half of all species in the biosphere of the planet by being distinctive.Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/MatthewDonald. Also, you can get links to follow Matthew Donald and purchase his books at https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald.