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 is spring in what's now, Missoula, Montana. The threat of snow still hangs in the air some nights,

but the trees are putting out new leaves as the days begin to warm up. The Osprey have returned

to build their nests, and their lilacs are getting ready to bloom.

And you're here on the trail of a mystery. Now, a good mystery starts with a question, something that

drives curiosity, the desire to dig deep and find out what happened and why. Science often starts the same way.

We want to know where he came from and who our ancestors were in the recent past and in deep time.

We want to know what the first dinosaur was, and when the first flower bloomed.

And we want to know why our planet out of all the planets in our system, is the one where life arose, evolved, and persisted.

Those are some of the big science questions,

some more mysterious and some less, that we've asked in the past.

But on this episode of Eons, Mysteries of Deep Time,

we'll be taking on some things that you've been curious about by answering

questions submitted by our listeners.

Hello and welcome. I'm Blake DePastino, co-host of PBS Eons, a YouTube channel about the

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