If you're enjoying this podcast, we would love to tell you about Common Descent.

Common Descent is a podcast about paleontology, evolution, and the history of life on Earth,

hosted by two paleontologists with an unending enthusiasm for the wonders of the world.

Each episode cover science news, followed by a deep dive into a main topic requested by the audience.

Recent episodes of feature topics like eels, hibernation, and fungi.

In addition to the main series, Common Descent also features side projects that explore science and pop culture,

where the host examined the science and movies or speculate on the hypothetical evolution of fictional monsters.

Listen to Common Descent on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.

It's quiet here in the forest. There are no birds to sing, no flying insects to buzz

through the air, and no small vertebrates, furry or otherwise, to scurry through the underbrush.

The only sound you hear is the trickle of

water from the rivers and streams running through the swampy floodplain that the forest sits on,

and the gentle rustle of vegetation caused by the wind. And you're alone, standing in the shadow of a

giant. Its thick woody trunk towers over you, topped with a crown of feathery, frond-like leaves,

branching off in all directions. And while it kind of resembles a giant fern on a pedestal,

it's actually one of the first plants to evolve into something that looks like a tree, swaying

gently in the afternoon breeze. These archaeopterous trees have spread across the world,

creating some of the first forests,

like the seemingly peaceful one you're standing in right now.

But it would be a mistake to think that the silence of this place means that there's nothing to see,

or nothing that can see you.

This is the most dramatic and dynamic time in the history of life on land so far. The oceans of our planet

...