1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: Hey, ever you wanted, it's me Josh, And for this 2 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:06,920 Speaker 1: week's s Y s K Selecta, I've chosen How Fossils Work, 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:12,959 Speaker 1: which actually is one of the most scientifically interesting, amazing, 4 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: mind bending episodes that we've ever done. And I just 5 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: listened to it and it still holds up. So I 6 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,640 Speaker 1: hope that you enjoy it. And as they say on 7 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 1: with the show, welcome to Stuff you should Know from 8 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 1: house Stuff Works dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. 9 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: I'm Josh Clark with me as always as the intrepid 10 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: paleontologist Charles W. Chuck Bryant. It's terrible' no I like it. Okay, 11 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:51,600 Speaker 1: I wish I was a paleontologist. Let your new nickname 12 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,639 Speaker 1: or intrepid at least, let's just go with paleontologists. That'd 13 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: be great. Okay, we're talking fossils today, Dude, this isn't 14 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:02,319 Speaker 1: really interesting stuff. It really is. And um, you can 15 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:07,760 Speaker 1: tell that Tracy Wilson are esteemed head of the writing editor. 16 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: I think she's site director director, right. Um you can 17 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: tell that she was very, very excited. She took her 18 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:19,759 Speaker 1: time and really doled this one out. I think um 19 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:22,959 Speaker 1: savor is the right word. You can feel it her 20 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: smiling through the keyboard. Yeah, she's very happy to write 21 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,679 Speaker 1: how fossils work. And um, we're happy to do it 22 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: because it's one of those very comprehensive articles on the 23 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:37,479 Speaker 1: site that you just has everything you need. Sedimentary rock, 24 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: flat bones versus round bones, leaf impressions, has it all. 25 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: Unless you're an intrepid paleontologist. Then we'll get an email 26 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: saying it actually wasn't very comprehensive. You guys royally screwed 27 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 1: this up. We just wait until we get into punctuated 28 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: versus gradual evolution. Chuck. Um, you've heard of Lucy right, 29 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: the Australia Kiss. Yeah, okay, Well, um, she was I 30 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: think three point two million years old. That's one old lady. 31 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: It really is the earliest hominid we've found as far 32 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:14,360 Speaker 1: as I know. Um. But there is a part of 33 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:16,919 Speaker 1: her foot missing. It's always been missing that we've never 34 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:21,639 Speaker 1: found before. So this thing, this bone, was so essential 35 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:26,239 Speaker 1: and we couldn't tell how she walked until recently. Why 36 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: because the missing bone, we couldn't tell how she walked exactly. 37 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: We we we can tell so much from bones that 38 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 1: when we don't have the right bones we can't tell anything. 39 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: So she may have been in a knuckle dragger, she 40 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: may have hopped. We didn't know. Well. Recently, UM, some 41 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: people from the University of Missouri or Missouri, depending on 42 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: whether or not you live in the state. UM found 43 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:54,239 Speaker 1: the Uh, the group of foot bones needed to show 44 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: what kind of walker Lucy was. And she walked up right? 45 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:01,760 Speaker 1: How was her gate? Upright? Upright? Just like a human. 46 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: She had a hitch and her get along, she had 47 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: a pepper and her step. Possibly she knew she'd be 48 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 1: famous one day. She was loved with duc But but 49 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: consider this, right, Okay, three point two million year old 50 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: footbones were found, and we could tell from them how 51 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: she walked. This is the state of the field that 52 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: you remember paleontology. Pretty cool. This is how advanced it is. 53 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:32,800 Speaker 1: And yet it's really just kind of using common sense 54 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 1: to figure out what old bones mean. Common sense and science. 55 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: Fossils go, let's talk about it, Chuck, what are some 56 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: of the different kinds of fossils. Uh, well, one of 57 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: my favorite kinds of trace fossil. Yeah, that's actually one 58 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: of my favorites too. It's like, um, that Jesus footprint thing. 59 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 1: Footprints in the sand. Yeah, sort of is josh um. 60 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: That is when it's actually not part of the organism 61 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 1: at all, but it's um like tooth marks in a 62 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: chunk of wood from a saber tooth tiger. Or footprints 63 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 1: or footprints or track ways as Tracy calls them. Yes, 64 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 1: footprints tracks. It's just unnecessary, but it has a pleasant tone, 65 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,279 Speaker 1: you know science. Yeah, like they're not footprints, they're track ways. 66 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 1: I'm bored in Ethiopia, let's call him track ways. So 67 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:30,360 Speaker 1: trace fossils is one. Of course, there's bone fossils, right, 68 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: the most famous fossils. Yeah, those are great too. They 69 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:37,159 Speaker 1: got nothing on trace fossils. So actually, bone fossils, that's 70 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 1: that's what you really want. If you're going to reconstruct 71 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: the dinosaur for your museum. You can't deal it with footprints, No, 72 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 1: you can't. You need the bones, you do. And the 73 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:49,840 Speaker 1: bones are of course the most famous ones in the dinosaur. 74 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: Bones are the most famous of all the bone types. Right. 75 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:57,279 Speaker 1: So there's something that I think um is often missed 76 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: by lay people such as myself, um and in that 77 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 1: when you find a bone, right, so you find like 78 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:10,280 Speaker 1: a big old dinosaur bone, it's really geologically speaking, it's 79 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: not a bone any longer. It's not like you find 80 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 1: a bone buried in your yard that was an animal 81 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 1: from like, you know, thirty five years ago, But that's 82 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,359 Speaker 1: not a fossil. We'll not still bone. A fossil is 83 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: a bone or a piece of um once living organic 84 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:30,880 Speaker 1: material that's undergone a transition from uh, an organic state 85 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: to an inorganic state. That's what a fossil is. It's 86 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: gone through the process of fossilization. And most of these fossils, 87 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:42,159 Speaker 1: the vast majority of fossils, are found in sedimentary rock. 88 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:44,600 Speaker 1: Before we're go any further, we should probably do a 89 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: little brief primerun sedimentary rock, right, which is awesome. Yeah, 90 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: it's pretty easy to Uh. We've talked about the Earth's 91 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 1: core um and layers. When I think we talked about 92 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:58,159 Speaker 1: earthquakes and maybe some other stuff. We all know that 93 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:02,599 Speaker 1: there's the intercore, outer core. We got the crust. Crust 94 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 1: is the thinnest layer, and that's where the fossils are. 95 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: That's where the goods are. And uh, most of the 96 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:11,919 Speaker 1: rocks in the crust are sedimentary rocks that you've been 97 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: talking about off and on for the past eight minutes, right, 98 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: and that's like silty sandy stuff that hardened over the years, right, 99 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: I mean, but the the Earth. Remember we talked about, oh, 100 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:29,919 Speaker 1: what was it, clouds. I can't remember what podcast it was, 101 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:32,919 Speaker 1: but we talked about how much sand is transferred from 102 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: Africa to South America annually. Yeah, it wouldn't clouds, but yeah, 103 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: if you you remember the one I'm talking about. Okay, So, 104 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:44,760 Speaker 1: the Earth's geo biogeochemical processes equal a lot of movement 105 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:49,159 Speaker 1: of particulate matter. Right. The Earth is dynamic, baby, it is. 106 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:51,920 Speaker 1: It's also very fluid. To write, a lot of that 107 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:57,279 Speaker 1: matter is at at one point as suspended particles in 108 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: water that's moving around, right. Yeah. So um, as this 109 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 1: as the water leaves and the sediment is deposited, it 110 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:08,920 Speaker 1: builds up and up and up. Over time, it hardens 111 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,960 Speaker 1: into rock and eventually we have sedimentary rock, yeah, which 112 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: is below our feet. We don't normally see it unless say, 113 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 1: the Colorado River um winds over it for you know, 114 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 1: millions and millions and millions of years, revealing the sedimentary 115 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 1: rock that's in the Earth's crust. Grand Canyon exactly. So 116 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: you're talking about, Yeah, I forgot the Grand Canyon Park 117 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:35,679 Speaker 1: So you know how I said the Earth was dynamic, baby, Yeah, Uh, 118 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 1: that's important. I didn't just throw that in there as 119 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: a factoid. It's important because when these plates shift around, 120 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: that's how fossils are. On Earth. Things can be moved 121 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: great distances and pushed to the surface eventually or close 122 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 1: enough to where a dig can unearth it. And it's like, 123 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: just because it's fossilized doesn't mean it's stuck in that 124 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 1: one spot forever, because Earth is always moving. So the 125 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 1: point of all this is is sedimentary rock um is, 126 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: like you said, dynamic. It moves around. Sometimes fossils pop 127 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,840 Speaker 1: up or it becomes exposed all of the Colorado River um, 128 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 1: and that is where fossils are, right Chuck. Yes, So 129 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 1: let's say that at some point in time there was 130 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: a dinosaur or a sabertooth tiger or a cyanobacteria woly 131 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 1: mammoth wooly mammoth, sure um, and it's um hanging out 132 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: around a riverbed and it has a massive heart attack 133 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 1: and falls over in the river bed and very quickly 134 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:37,680 Speaker 1: it becomes covered with sediment and silt, right Yeah, And 135 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 1: that's important because once it starts getting covered up with stuff, 136 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:44,880 Speaker 1: it's sort of being protected from like all of fossil. 137 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:47,320 Speaker 1: Let's just break the news. All of fossil means is 138 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:51,719 Speaker 1: that something has been protected from the natural decomposition process. 139 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:55,680 Speaker 1: Otherwise we just decompose like everything else, and you wouldn't 140 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 1: see it anymore. You've just totally betrayed Tracy in the 141 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 1: tone she lent to this, that the whole drama drawing 142 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:06,080 Speaker 1: out suspense. But that's true. So what you said was right. 143 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 1: So you'd fall over in a riverbed, you start getting 144 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: covered up with the sediment and silt, and it's it's 145 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 1: immediately starting to protect you in a way. Um, not you, 146 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 1: but whatever, the wooly mammoth, the wooly mammoth. Um. The 147 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 1: thing is the in this sediment, in this silt, you 148 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:27,360 Speaker 1: can't really hide from macrobacteria, uh and other forms of 149 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:31,120 Speaker 1: life that are basically dedicated to breaking down organic matter, 150 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 1: soft tissue, hair, eyeballs, um, genitalia, all that kind of stuff. 151 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: It eventually becomes broken down and what's left is the 152 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:44,800 Speaker 1: hard stuff the bone, right, But the bone also has 153 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: organic material within it as well. Yeah, and that'll break down. 154 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: We're talking blood cells, collagen, fat, that's going to break 155 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:55,680 Speaker 1: down to the key here is the inorganic parts of 156 00:09:55,679 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 1: the bone remain intact. And it's the other keyword here's porous. Yeah. 157 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:06,800 Speaker 1: You take calcium, I imagine for your hips. Yeah, sure, glucosamine, calcium. Sure. 158 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:10,960 Speaker 1: So what you're doing is, um, you're fortifying the calcium 159 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: that's already in your hips, supposedly, um, because the bone 160 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: is made in large part of calcium, which is a mineral, 161 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,520 Speaker 1: which is inorganic. So it's all the organic stuff dies out. 162 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 1: What's left is, like you said, the inorganic like calcium, whatever, minerals, 163 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 1: and that holds the shape, right, Yeah, the initial structure 164 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:32,439 Speaker 1: is kept intact. Right, But like you said, this bone 165 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: is also porous. That's the key. And over time, um, 166 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 1: other mineral sediment kind of um, it enters into these 167 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:47,199 Speaker 1: these microscopic pores iron right, carbonate yea and fortifies this, 168 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: ultimately turning this but what was once an organic bone 169 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:55,479 Speaker 1: into an inorganic rock in the shape of the bone. 170 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:57,599 Speaker 1: But for all intensive purposes, it's still the bone. It 171 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:01,319 Speaker 1: still has that original calcium. It's still the same thing. 172 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: It's not like a replica of it. It's just become fossilized. Yeah, 173 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 1: and Tracy in the article uses a pretty good example. 174 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:11,480 Speaker 1: I thought, it's like filling a sponge with glue. The 175 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 1: sponge is gonna keep the shape, but the glue is 176 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:17,080 Speaker 1: gonna ooze through all the spots that it can ouze harden, 177 00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:20,440 Speaker 1: and there you go. You've got a hard sponge, hard sponge, 178 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 1: which is basically what a fossil is. And this takes 179 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: place Josh over the course of millions of years, the 180 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:30,240 Speaker 1: sediment reinforcing the bones eventually becoming rock. It's not the 181 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:33,600 Speaker 1: kind of thing that happens willy nilly over thousands of years. 182 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:35,880 Speaker 1: It's a long time, and it's just this isn't just 183 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:40,079 Speaker 1: um happening by itself. All of the surrounding area UM 184 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,720 Speaker 1: is being deposited with sediment as well. It's also turning 185 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 1: into rock um. And then the ultimate test of time 186 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:48,640 Speaker 1: for a fossil is that it can withstand the pressure 187 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:53,240 Speaker 1: of the that's mounted by the hardening rock sedimentary rock 188 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:55,959 Speaker 1: that's growing around it, so it can be crushed. Is 189 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:00,440 Speaker 1: that how A lot of fossils are definitely crushed, crushed 190 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:05,200 Speaker 1: the death poor guys um. But if it survives and 191 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:08,200 Speaker 1: you can find this, you will eventually be able to 192 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:11,559 Speaker 1: get to it. And then you remove the rock from 193 00:12:11,559 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 1: around the fossil, and there's your bone that you can 194 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:16,560 Speaker 1: take to the Natural History Museum and get at least 195 00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:38,719 Speaker 1: five dollars for when you were a kid, Josh, let 196 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:40,960 Speaker 1: me ask you this. Did you ever go into the 197 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: woods on a little nature course from like a science center, 198 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:49,280 Speaker 1: let's say, and do a cast plaster cast of a 199 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:54,000 Speaker 1: animal footprint? Did you ever do that? No? Really, really, 200 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:56,600 Speaker 1: I did that. We went and found like deer hoof prints, 201 00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 1: you fill it with plaster, and there was some way 202 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:02,240 Speaker 1: of doing it where you an inverse plaster cast of 203 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 1: a deer hoof print. That can happen actually in a 204 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:07,920 Speaker 1: way that with trace fossils, so you can you know, 205 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 1: sediment can act the same way. And one of these, 206 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,080 Speaker 1: let's say, uh, the wooly mammoth makes a footprint in 207 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:17,080 Speaker 1: some loose but sturdy soil that fills up with sediment 208 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:19,840 Speaker 1: and creates basically a mold, just like I did as 209 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 1: a kid with the plaster cast. Yeah, as long as 210 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:25,920 Speaker 1: the sediment that fills it in is lighter or thinner, yeah, 211 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:29,360 Speaker 1: than the soil that the impression is made in, then yeah, 212 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 1: it would it would, it would preserve that track. Yeah, 213 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:33,920 Speaker 1: and plants can do the same thing. It's not just 214 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:37,559 Speaker 1: bones we're talking about. Um. It can also fill in 215 00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:39,880 Speaker 1: in a different way, I guess the opposite way to 216 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:43,280 Speaker 1: where it makes a basically a cast of the foot 217 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:47,040 Speaker 1: that made the track. Oh yeah. And then so it's 218 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:50,600 Speaker 1: like a kind of like a fossil of a ghost 219 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:54,640 Speaker 1: foot that's not really there, but it makes the foot. 220 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,040 Speaker 1: It's like an inverse cast. Okay, yeah, of not the track, 221 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:00,680 Speaker 1: but the foot that made the track. Yeah. Yeah, got cool. 222 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,240 Speaker 1: You know what other another my favorite trace fossil is 223 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 1: it's not a track way, it's copper light. I changed 224 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,440 Speaker 1: my mind. That is a good one. That's dunge. It's poop, 225 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 1: fossilized poop. That's right. I can tell you a lot 226 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:17,440 Speaker 1: about an animal. It can tell you about its fiber intake. 227 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: It can tell you about what size it's poop was, um, chuck. 228 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:27,520 Speaker 1: You know. In the eighties, the CIA found out much 229 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,920 Speaker 1: about Gorbachof and his health. They found out he had 230 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:35,520 Speaker 1: like cancer or some sort of chronic illness um by 231 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 1: stealing his poop when he was when he came on 232 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:42,080 Speaker 1: a state visit to the US. They took his poop 233 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:45,920 Speaker 1: and analyzed it, and when they he was in the US, 234 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:48,400 Speaker 1: they des grabbed it from the toilet. Did he not flush? 235 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 1: I just want more specifics. You probably don't have. As 236 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:54,880 Speaker 1: far as I understand, they probably it's hotel room or 237 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:58,080 Speaker 1: wherever he was staying. They were prepared to do this. 238 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:02,440 Speaker 1: This was like toilet rigged. Probably, yes, But wherever Reagan went, 239 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,240 Speaker 1: they had a portable toilet that he used. It was 240 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:07,400 Speaker 1: the only one he was allowed to use. I'm not kidding, 241 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:13,400 Speaker 1: so no one could steal his poop. Talk about paranoid. Yeah, seriously, 242 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:17,760 Speaker 1: when you point one finger, there's three pointing back at you. 243 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:20,320 Speaker 1: You know what I mean? Yeah? Yeah? Uh so, Josh, 244 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:22,640 Speaker 1: that is sedimentary rock and that's to me one of 245 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:26,360 Speaker 1: the cooler ways you can get a fossil. Uh petrified 246 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:28,280 Speaker 1: would too? Don't leave that one out. Oh yes, it's 247 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:31,560 Speaker 1: basically the same thing that we just described for bone, 248 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 1: but for wood. Yeah, hard as a rock because it 249 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 1: is a rock. Here you go, alright, So, like I 250 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 1: just said, um, that was sedimentary rock and that's kind 251 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: of fun. But you can also uh get a fossil. 252 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 1: Has that funny because one dies in a cave that's 253 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:52,160 Speaker 1: really dry. Yeah, desiccation. Yeah, desiccation is basically, uh, sort 254 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:54,880 Speaker 1: of a mummification, but it's not like we think of 255 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:58,680 Speaker 1: with mummification with the Egyptian tombs or anything like that. Well, 256 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 1: that's because there's no reservation techniques that have been undertaken. 257 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 1: It's natural. Basically, it dries out. It's like throwing an 258 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,480 Speaker 1: orange in a dehydrator. So when it's really dry, there's 259 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 1: not gonna be any place for bacteria to thrive. That's 260 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: the reason beef jerky is not um refrigerated. If you 261 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:18,200 Speaker 1: refrigerate your beef jerky, you're you're doing something wrong. Yeah, 262 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 1: that's true. Well, if you have beef jerky long enough 263 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: to need refrigeration, then you're doing something wrong or something 264 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:29,600 Speaker 1: really really right. Uh. So desiccation actually works so well 265 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: sometimes that it can preserve the skin and soft tissues 266 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:36,080 Speaker 1: as well, which is something that sedimentary rock cannot do. 267 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:38,800 Speaker 1: Have you been to the Smithsonian I have they have 268 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 1: um a very cool I guess a prehistoric cow or 269 00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:46,920 Speaker 1: a musk ox I can't remember, but it's the thing's head, um, 270 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:50,120 Speaker 1: much of its back, I guess, the cape, two of 271 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:52,560 Speaker 1: its legs, and the skin is still there. It's just 272 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 1: right there. Probably it's tens of thousands of years old 273 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: and it's just sitting right there. Did they could they 274 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: read build it or just put the parts up? It's 275 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: just the parts, but it's laid out so that like 276 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:06,520 Speaker 1: it gives you the impression of what you're looking at, 277 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:09,639 Speaker 1: but its face is still there. It's very cool. Uh. 278 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:13,160 Speaker 1: My favorite kind of fossil, though, Josh, is I'm gonna 279 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 1: say that, like every five minutes is a frozen fossil, 280 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:19,800 Speaker 1: because if you get trapped, let's say your wooly mammoth 281 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: trapped in ice, not only is that going to keep 282 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:25,119 Speaker 1: other like vultures and things from picking up your bones 283 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:28,680 Speaker 1: and skin, but it's also going to keep it from 284 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:33,280 Speaker 1: breaking down and you can get hair fully preserved sometimes 285 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:35,800 Speaker 1: if you're in skin and like a big mammoth. Have 286 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:39,399 Speaker 1: you seen pictures of Liuba? Now? Liuba is a baby 287 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:43,159 Speaker 1: wooly mammoth that was found um by a reindeer herder 288 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:47,720 Speaker 1: in Siberia and um it was pounds or something like that, 289 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:49,639 Speaker 1: but it would have gotten up to several tons. It 290 00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:54,880 Speaker 1: is adorable because it is a fully preserved wooly mammoth 291 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:57,680 Speaker 1: baby with the wrinkles in the skin and everything. Yet 292 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:00,920 Speaker 1: it spent forty five years in the permafros, but it's 293 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 1: like completely intact. It's very cute. That's why it's my favorite. 294 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 1: It's one of the cutest dead things you'll ever see. 295 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:11,920 Speaker 1: Another couple of ways you can get a fossil josh, 296 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:16,720 Speaker 1: which are not my favorite aur tar librea tar pits, 297 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:19,040 Speaker 1: although that is one of my favorites, which librea tar 298 00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:21,959 Speaker 1: pit is actually redundant because Librea means the tar, so 299 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,200 Speaker 1: it's calling it the tar tar pit and not the tartar. 300 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:27,520 Speaker 1: Did I ever tell you about when I shot a 301 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:30,199 Speaker 1: commercial there? Have you? Did you go by there in 302 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: l A? No? I want to. I forgot about it 303 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:34,919 Speaker 1: when we're there last Well, for those of you haven't been, 304 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:37,960 Speaker 1: it's right in the middle of Los Angeles, like south 305 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,720 Speaker 1: of Hollywood on Wilson Boulevard, and it's um. The main 306 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:46,040 Speaker 1: tar pit is uh. Tar pits are fenced off, obviously, 307 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:48,919 Speaker 1: and they have little recreations. It's it's actually the saddest 308 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: thing you'll ever see. The recreation they have in there 309 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:53,680 Speaker 1: is of a like I guess it's a mother wooly 310 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:56,280 Speaker 1: mammoth trapped in the tar trying to get out and 311 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:59,800 Speaker 1: the father and the baby on shore like howling at her. 312 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:03,280 Speaker 1: It's awful, but it's still active, like all the tars 313 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:06,400 Speaker 1: bubbling up and everything. And shot a commercial there once 314 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 1: and I was on the other side of the property, 315 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: far away from the main pit, and I looked down 316 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,399 Speaker 1: and there was a little mini tar pit, a little 317 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:20,080 Speaker 1: tar puddle about a foot wide, bubbling right beneath my feet. 318 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 1: I could have scooped it up with my finger if 319 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 1: I had been so inclined. Yeah, instead, you're like, that stinks. Well, 320 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:30,560 Speaker 1: it's just crazy to think that that's still like it's happening. Apparently, 321 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:33,680 Speaker 1: Um I looked it up. There's um there's like you said, 322 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:36,480 Speaker 1: main pits that are chained off and that are still 323 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:39,479 Speaker 1: being excavated. But they have them like in neighborhoods all 324 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,880 Speaker 1: around the area and parks. They're just kind of all 325 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 1: over the place around there. That's like parts of stone 326 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: Mountain popping up all over the place. We used to 327 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:50,560 Speaker 1: have We had a big chunk of stone mountain in 328 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: our backyard growing up, all right. For those of you 329 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,359 Speaker 1: don't know, Stone Mountain is the world's largest exposed piece 330 00:19:56,359 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 1: of granite, and it is right here in our home state, 331 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:01,359 Speaker 1: and it takes like thirty minutes to hike, but you 332 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:02,800 Speaker 1: still get to get to the top and be like 333 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:06,320 Speaker 1: I just hiked a mountain, which I have, Josh. You 334 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:10,720 Speaker 1: can also get a pete mossy pete can preserve life forms, 335 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:14,320 Speaker 1: including human beings like Tolin Man was. It was that 336 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:16,639 Speaker 1: Toland Man. I don't know about him. How do you 337 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:21,000 Speaker 1: know all these people people? The first the first um 338 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 1: multi syllable word I could spell was archaeology. Really, I've 339 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 1: always been interested in that. I could see that, Yeah, 340 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:31,439 Speaker 1: Tolin Man. Also, it doesn't you can hate archaeology like 341 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,119 Speaker 1: some people hate art, and you'll still be interested in 342 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,720 Speaker 1: Totland man Um he was. He's found in Denmark. He 343 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:43,000 Speaker 1: lived years ago and he was murdered, uh sacrificially, they think, 344 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 1: and cast into the peat bog, which pete is just 345 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:49,680 Speaker 1: decomposing moss and lots of it, but it has a tendency. 346 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:53,159 Speaker 1: I think it's anaerobic, so um tissue is preserved really well. 347 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 1: But it's this guy that they dug up, and he's 348 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:57,280 Speaker 1: so well preserved that when they found him in the 349 00:20:57,359 --> 00:20:59,760 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties, they called the cops because they thought they'd 350 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:02,720 Speaker 1: found a murder victim really like a recent one. He 351 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:05,400 Speaker 1: looks kind of funny, but he's got his whiskers are preserved. 352 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,200 Speaker 1: He's wearing a cap. He still has this the garrett 353 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:11,480 Speaker 1: around his neck. Um, it's really awesome. So what is 354 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,359 Speaker 1: he dated at? Like three four hundred BC? Is the 355 00:21:15,359 --> 00:21:18,760 Speaker 1: one who was killed and he's wearing a hat yeah, sheepskin, 356 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:23,600 Speaker 1: leather cap. Yeah, no last chance garage for him? No? 357 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:26,399 Speaker 1: Well uh? And then my favorite way, Josh, that you 358 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:30,239 Speaker 1: can get a fossil is uh, you're joking? Did you 359 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:33,160 Speaker 1: say it again? I did? Is amber? They just keep 360 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:35,880 Speaker 1: getting better and better, like the movie Jurassic Park. Yeah, 361 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: that's how we get dinosaurs again. Yeah, dino d n A. 362 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:43,760 Speaker 1: So you found something on on whether or not that's feasible, right, yeah, 363 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:46,200 Speaker 1: because I always wondered. You know, when you see Jurassic Park, 364 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:48,879 Speaker 1: you see the little video they made it clearly to 365 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,040 Speaker 1: explain to the movie going audience how this is done. 366 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:55,720 Speaker 1: It's better than Ellen Page running around. What was that 367 00:21:55,760 --> 00:22:00,680 Speaker 1: movie inception? Um, so the mosquito flies in tree residentry 368 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:04,639 Speaker 1: resident eventually becomes hard as copal, than it eventually becomes 369 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,560 Speaker 1: inert as amber. You get the little mosquito in there. 370 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:10,400 Speaker 1: They extracted the dino DNA from the blood of the mosquito, 371 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:14,879 Speaker 1: filled in the gaps with I think frog DNA, and 372 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:16,600 Speaker 1: that was all there was to it. And at the 373 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 1: time I thought boom. But being bon Jovi, yeah, at 374 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:22,080 Speaker 1: the time, I thought that seems plausible, and it sort 375 00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:24,040 Speaker 1: of is. But I did look up today and there 376 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:27,520 Speaker 1: was a researcher that was interviewed at the or closer 377 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:30,160 Speaker 1: to that time. I think that basically debunked it and said, 378 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:33,920 Speaker 1: we could potentially maybe get some DNA, even though it's 379 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:38,400 Speaker 1: really fragile and loses his signature really quickly. Even if 380 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:42,479 Speaker 1: you could get the DNA, he said that you couldn't 381 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:44,919 Speaker 1: construct a dinosaurs just you can't fill in the blanks 382 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:46,879 Speaker 1: like that. There's way too many blanks. You have a 383 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:52,240 Speaker 1: giant frog, yeah, with little tiny arms forearms that Steven 384 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:54,720 Speaker 1: Spielberg made us belief when you saw those dinosaurs walk 385 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:57,320 Speaker 1: across that field. That guy can make me believe in anything. 386 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,639 Speaker 1: That aliens came to the American Southwest, that there was 387 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:06,440 Speaker 1: a World War two, that um each phone home. Yeah, 388 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:33,800 Speaker 1: good stuff. Though, where are we here, chuck it. We're 389 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:35,800 Speaker 1: kind of painting this picture where if like you just 390 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:38,159 Speaker 1: stick a shovel anywhere on the Earth, you're gonna yield 391 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:41,160 Speaker 1: like all sorts of bones and fossils. Note no, it's 392 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:46,320 Speaker 1: not um First of all, a mere fraction that I 393 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:49,200 Speaker 1: don't think could possibly be calculated, because we rely on 394 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:53,080 Speaker 1: the fossil record to show us what existed back when, 395 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:56,720 Speaker 1: and it's incomplete. Therefore we've entered to catch twenty two. 396 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,159 Speaker 1: But there's just a mere fraction of all of the 397 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:06,480 Speaker 1: species and organisms that's ever lived that become fossilized um Like. Basically, 398 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:09,800 Speaker 1: a perfect storm of chance has to occur for a 399 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:12,800 Speaker 1: fossil to be created. As we've seen, even when it 400 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:16,679 Speaker 1: is created, it can still be crushed into oblivion. Um. 401 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:21,280 Speaker 1: And so there are few and far between. To begin with, 402 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:24,760 Speaker 1: what we have to figure out where to find them. 403 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:26,960 Speaker 1: While then you got to find it. That's the other problem. 404 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:29,680 Speaker 1: And the way we find it is by identifying rock 405 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:33,520 Speaker 1: that will likely have the type of fossil that we're 406 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:36,640 Speaker 1: looking for. Yeah, so you want something that from that year. 407 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:40,320 Speaker 1: So if you know that this animal from yeah, if 408 00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:42,280 Speaker 1: you if you know this this animal lived, you know, 409 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:44,520 Speaker 1: thirty million years ago, you're gonna go find rock that 410 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:47,280 Speaker 1: you know is thirty million years old and start poking 411 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:51,200 Speaker 1: around and you know, looking this sort of a very 412 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:55,119 Speaker 1: chance thing, and we know that, um, we know, like 413 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: say a layer of rock or strata of rock is 414 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:01,880 Speaker 1: thirty million years old because of a technique we have 415 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:07,560 Speaker 1: called radiocarbon dating. Right, yeah, you want to do this one? Well? Sure, 416 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:10,359 Speaker 1: Carbon fourteen dating is what a lot of people toss 417 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:12,959 Speaker 1: around because it's probably the most well known, But that 418 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:16,960 Speaker 1: can only take you back sixty thousand years. We're talking 419 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:20,240 Speaker 1: millions and billions of years. So they need to uh 420 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:25,280 Speaker 1: study isotopes like potassium forty and uranian two thirty eight 421 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:27,640 Speaker 1: because that goes back millions of years. Evidently. The half 422 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:31,160 Speaker 1: life yeah, and the half life is where an atom 423 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:35,879 Speaker 1: loses half of its life isotopes to decay. Yeah, okay, 424 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:39,840 Speaker 1: and these the this um radioactive decay takes place at 425 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:44,080 Speaker 1: a predictable rate depending on the atom, the type of atom. Right, Yeah, 426 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,720 Speaker 1: that's how I understand it. So if we find a 427 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:52,240 Speaker 1: type of atom missing x number of isotopes, we can say, well, 428 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:55,320 Speaker 1: this is roughly thirty million to thirty one million years old, 429 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:59,240 Speaker 1: or thirty million to thirty million and three hundred years old. 430 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,000 Speaker 1: I'm not sure what window we can date it to, right, 431 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:04,840 Speaker 1: but I think it's enough so that you know, we 432 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:07,919 Speaker 1: have a rough estimate of of you know, when this 433 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:11,680 Speaker 1: fossil lived in the sediment was buried around it. So, Josh, 434 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 1: let's say that you're lucky enough and skilled enough as 435 00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:20,840 Speaker 1: an intrepid paleontologist to come across your fossil. What do 436 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:25,479 Speaker 1: you do? Well, as I said, you dig it up 437 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:27,800 Speaker 1: and take it to the museum and sell it for 438 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:31,480 Speaker 1: five Smolan Well, I don't know about that, but you 439 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:34,040 Speaker 1: should call a museum. Even if you think you know 440 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:37,000 Speaker 1: what you're doing, Uh, you're probably gonna need some help 441 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:39,399 Speaker 1: if it's something major. I think you should probably go 442 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:41,960 Speaker 1: on the assumption that you don't know what you're doing 443 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:46,840 Speaker 1: unless you're a trained paleontologist. Um. Part of the problem 444 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:50,560 Speaker 1: is is we assume that these fossils, being rocks, are sturdy. 445 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:53,240 Speaker 1: That's not always the case. So there's a lot of 446 00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:58,480 Speaker 1: danger of damage um in a just an average joe 447 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,720 Speaker 1: trying to excavate him. Also, if you just pull a 448 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:05,000 Speaker 1: bone up and walk away with it, Uh, it immediately 449 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:07,840 Speaker 1: loses context. Yeah, it's like removing a piece of evidence 450 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:10,960 Speaker 1: from a crime scene almost exactly. I can't do that. Well, 451 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:14,359 Speaker 1: you're not supposed to. Uh. So you know, they have 452 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:18,360 Speaker 1: these huge cranes and uh digging tools where they can 453 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,680 Speaker 1: remove huge slabs of earth, which is a really good 454 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 1: way to do it. And sometimes if they're you know, 455 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:26,440 Speaker 1: if it's something that could be fragile, they will remove 456 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:29,639 Speaker 1: the entire slab, cast it in plaster and just go 457 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:32,439 Speaker 1: ahead and ship that thing off to a facility to 458 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:35,040 Speaker 1: handle it from there. And the cool thing is is, 459 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:38,760 Speaker 1: even though rock has formed around this bone, yeah, that's 460 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:41,800 Speaker 1: key right up right, all up on it, all up 461 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:45,640 Speaker 1: in it. If you um flake it away properly, if 462 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,680 Speaker 1: you flake the surrounding sedimentary rock away, um, you're going 463 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:51,400 Speaker 1: to find that there's what's called the plane of weakness, 464 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:55,120 Speaker 1: which is where the bone and the rock are still 465 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:59,360 Speaker 1: on this very microscopic level. They're not fused together. You're 466 00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:02,200 Speaker 1: gonna hit that and the rock should chip right away, 467 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:04,879 Speaker 1: right and and leave the bone. Yeah, And I think 468 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:07,080 Speaker 1: sometimes they missed it with water too, to soften it 469 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:10,159 Speaker 1: up and help the whole process. Another thing too, if 470 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:13,679 Speaker 1: they find that is really brittle, they can actually reinforce 471 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:17,080 Speaker 1: the bone with resin and thin glue. But you need 472 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:20,920 Speaker 1: to be careful there too, which is pretty much helping 473 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:24,000 Speaker 1: along the fossilization process. Yeah, I would think so. I 474 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:26,240 Speaker 1: mean it's the same thing. It's like artificial forcing it 475 00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 1: with something sturdy. Well, and then you can date it 476 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 1: using your little mass spectrometer that's in your pocket, and 477 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,760 Speaker 1: or a cat scan sometimes they use cat scans computer 478 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:39,440 Speaker 1: imaging stuff like that. Yeah, I didn't I didn't get 479 00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:41,640 Speaker 1: how they were dating it from cat scan. I don't 480 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 1: know if they're dating it with a cat scan or 481 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 1: just sussen the whole thing out. Gotcha. I don't think 482 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:50,840 Speaker 1: it's a dating situation. Tracy was just throwing out some 483 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:56,320 Speaker 1: extra tools of the trade. Huh Yeah, exactly, gotcha. So, um, chuck, 484 00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:59,400 Speaker 1: what is all this worth? I mean, we we have 485 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:03,880 Speaker 1: a thirst for knowledge. Obviously people think bones are very cool, 486 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:08,760 Speaker 1: But ultimately, what's the pursuit of paleontology to to put 487 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:13,160 Speaker 1: together the piece of the puzzle of how we got here? Right? 488 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:15,640 Speaker 1: I mean that's what I think. Yeah, that's my understanding 489 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:18,120 Speaker 1: as well. Yeah, you can learn a lot by not 490 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:21,239 Speaker 1: only finding the fossil, but finding what was with the 491 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:26,920 Speaker 1: fossil in that same strata. Ah, I can tell you, like, hey, 492 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:30,480 Speaker 1: this is a t rex bone and there's also a 493 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:33,280 Speaker 1: bit of pine tree, so we know pine trees were around, 494 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:35,480 Speaker 1: and they may have eaten pine trees while not the 495 00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 1: t rex because they were carnivores, right, Um, yeah, they 496 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:44,720 Speaker 1: were herbivore. Let's say, you know what I mean, Abronosaurus. Sure. Um. 497 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 1: And ultimately all of these fossils come together, plant and well, 498 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:50,719 Speaker 1: everything that we can get our hands on to form 499 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:53,840 Speaker 1: what is called the fossil record, right, and this is 500 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:57,680 Speaker 1: basically the record of life on Earth. Uh. It's also 501 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:01,800 Speaker 1: used to support evolution big time. And uh it's here 502 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:09,240 Speaker 1: that paleontology gets most contentious, right yeah, sure, because there's, um, 503 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:13,480 Speaker 1: the the idea that beings evolved if you go far 504 00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:17,719 Speaker 1: enough back from a single common ancestor, right. And so 505 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:21,520 Speaker 1: if we can put together a complete fossil record, we 506 00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:24,880 Speaker 1: would be able to see how everything alive today evolve 507 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 1: from this common ancestor or common ancestors. Right. Yeah. The 508 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:33,080 Speaker 1: problem is fossil records incomplete, and one of the really 509 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:37,200 Speaker 1: key parts that it's often missing are called transitional fossils. Right. 510 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:40,520 Speaker 1: My favorite kind of fossil, Josh is a transitional fossil. 511 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:45,240 Speaker 1: And one example Tracy used was the baleen whale. Uh. 512 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:47,080 Speaker 1: There there's a picture of one actually in the article 513 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:49,640 Speaker 1: twenty five million year old fossil of of the baleen 514 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:53,880 Speaker 1: whale with sharp teeth. Um. Today's bailing whales don't have 515 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:56,920 Speaker 1: sharp teeth, but we know that once before this had 516 00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:00,560 Speaker 1: sharp teeth and legs. So this is a transitional fossil 517 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:03,560 Speaker 1: that shows, well, they used to have legs and sharp teeth, 518 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:05,400 Speaker 1: then they just had sharp teeth, and now they don't 519 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,959 Speaker 1: have legs or sharp teeth. They're defenseless, which is why 520 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:13,960 Speaker 1: they're baling whales, right and not sharks or megalodon's right. Um. 521 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:16,800 Speaker 1: And so a transitional fossil is one that that pops 522 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:20,800 Speaker 1: up between old and new, and it makes sense. Our 523 00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:24,240 Speaker 1: understanding of evolution is that it takes a little while, 524 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:27,760 Speaker 1: and um, something like teeth aren't just gonna go away 525 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:30,480 Speaker 1: in one generation. It's gonna take more and more and more, 526 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:32,680 Speaker 1: and then um, we should be able to find them 527 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:35,640 Speaker 1: along the way where maybe the teeth gets smaller. There's 528 00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:39,960 Speaker 1: fewer and fewer um baling whale teeth in the average 529 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: baling whale mouth, and you're putting together the puzzle exactly. UM. Again, 530 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:48,520 Speaker 1: the fossil records a little incomplete, and there aren't as 531 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:51,440 Speaker 1: many transitional fossils as I think people would like to. 532 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:55,640 Speaker 1: UM have tied all together, right, UM, and then some 533 00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:58,200 Speaker 1: of the UH. Some of the explanations are Probably the 534 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:02,680 Speaker 1: most famous explanation for this is that UM evolution isn't gradual. 535 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:05,400 Speaker 1: I think it's Stephen J. Gould came up with the 536 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:10,280 Speaker 1: idea of punctuated equilibrium, and that is basically that UM 537 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:15,960 Speaker 1: evolution takes place suddenly in these huge quick fits and starts, 538 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:19,840 Speaker 1: which would explain why there's not like teeth don't go 539 00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:22,640 Speaker 1: away in a generation, but they go away a lot 540 00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:27,080 Speaker 1: faster than we used to suspect. And that's why these 541 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:31,680 Speaker 1: UM fossils UM, accompanied with the idea that not every 542 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:34,680 Speaker 1: animal that's ever died has become fossilized, explained why there's 543 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:37,640 Speaker 1: huge gaps in the fossil record, which will inevitably always 544 00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:42,200 Speaker 1: be incomplete. Is that a hypothesis at this point? I 545 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:46,320 Speaker 1: guess it is not a theory yet I don't. I 546 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:48,880 Speaker 1: don't think so. I think it is a hypothesis. I 547 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:51,040 Speaker 1: got one more thing, Okay, I'd like to finish with 548 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:53,960 Speaker 1: my favorite kind of fossil, and that is a living fossil. 549 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:58,680 Speaker 1: And that, Josh, is when you've got a plant or 550 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:03,320 Speaker 1: animal that looks so much like ancient fossils that they 551 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:08,160 Speaker 1: consider a living fossil. Allah, the horseshoe crab. Right, apparently 552 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:11,320 Speaker 1: the horseshoe crab has not changed. Didn't need too. It's perfect. 553 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:15,160 Speaker 1: I look at it, it's gorgeous. What else, oh, Genko 554 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:18,320 Speaker 1: baloba plants. And then a word that I don't know, 555 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:22,640 Speaker 1: the Cela cant. What is that? Uh, it's this horrid 556 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:26,720 Speaker 1: looking fish that they remember that VW commercial where he's 557 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:28,880 Speaker 1: like it's like the Ceila camp and the guys like 558 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:31,040 Speaker 1: what they're looking in the trunk and he's like a 559 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:34,320 Speaker 1: full size spare tire. He's like, it's like a Ceila cant. 560 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:36,720 Speaker 1: They used to think it was extinct. There was a fish, 561 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:39,360 Speaker 1: and then they found it like in the nineteen thirties again. 562 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:42,640 Speaker 1: But it's this dinosaur looking fish. Oh, I think I've 563 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:44,880 Speaker 1: seen him that they thought was extinct for millions of 564 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:47,280 Speaker 1: years and they called him and I think in South America, 565 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:49,840 Speaker 1: off the coast of South America, and they're still around. 566 00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:55,120 Speaker 1: And the horseshoe Crab and Stephen J. Gould in the 567 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:58,760 Speaker 1: Genko Baloba. Well, it's it for fossils, right, that's all 568 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:00,640 Speaker 1: I have. I think we've got the point across. It's 569 00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:03,560 Speaker 1: an overview. A fossil is a rock. Just remember that, 570 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:08,160 Speaker 1: Okay if you want to learn more about fossils. Um Seriously, 571 00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:10,000 Speaker 1: this is one of the better articles on the site. 572 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:13,640 Speaker 1: Tracy did a great job with it. Type fossils into 573 00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:17,080 Speaker 1: the search bar, the handy search bar, and how stuff 574 00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:23,120 Speaker 1: works dot com, which means it's time for listener mail. Josh, 575 00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:26,640 Speaker 1: we made a young girl cry. That's what I'm gonna 576 00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:28,839 Speaker 1: call this one. Okay, It's probably happened more than once. 577 00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:32,000 Speaker 1: Uh I, guys and Jerry. My name is Ali. I'm 578 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:35,080 Speaker 1: from Indiana. I was in the I S s M, 579 00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:39,200 Speaker 1: a band contest, playing a difficult marimba solo today. I 580 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:41,759 Speaker 1: was pretty nervous, but being first chair and the only 581 00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:45,160 Speaker 1: female percussionist in my school really brought up my confidence. 582 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:48,200 Speaker 1: I went in, I choked, and I stumbled through my piece. 583 00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:52,360 Speaker 1: You could get a gold, silver bronze, or a participation metal. 584 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:56,279 Speaker 1: Got the bronze, which is equivalent to a score of 585 00:34:56,320 --> 00:35:00,000 Speaker 1: an F. I was really upset. Wait, what is participating? 586 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:03,800 Speaker 1: That's sub f I didn't even know they made medals. 587 00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:05,680 Speaker 1: I thought it was just a ribbon. It's probably a ribbon. 588 00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:08,600 Speaker 1: I was really upset. I got home. I was trying 589 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:11,239 Speaker 1: to cheer myself up by listening to your podcast on 590 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:13,759 Speaker 1: What's the Deal with Stinkholes. I really love the show, 591 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:15,880 Speaker 1: and I've listened almost everyone, But in the beginning, you 592 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:19,759 Speaker 1: guys talked about how much the Bronze medals suck. Remember that. 593 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:22,879 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, so we didn't lift spirits very much, Josh 594 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:24,239 Speaker 1: and Chuck. I just want to let you know that 595 00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:27,320 Speaker 1: the two of you made me cry then from Ali 596 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:29,799 Speaker 1: and I have since written Alie back and apologized, and 597 00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:32,439 Speaker 1: she said that she's feeling much better now and uh, 598 00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:35,080 Speaker 1: it wasn't our fault. And I told her that I've 599 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:39,719 Speaker 1: choked under pressure many times in my life and it happens, 600 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:42,960 Speaker 1: and it will happen again, and it doesn't mean you 601 00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:46,359 Speaker 1: don't have the goods with your solo every single time. Yeah, 602 00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:48,560 Speaker 1: but you know you pick yourself up. It sounds like 603 00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:50,239 Speaker 1: you gave her some good advice to choke. I think 604 00:35:50,239 --> 00:35:52,719 Speaker 1: so she's getting receptive to it. It's like a sweet girl. 605 00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:55,719 Speaker 1: I think that's an excellent lead in. If you have 606 00:35:55,800 --> 00:36:00,640 Speaker 1: a story about choking, not physically choking, but you there's 607 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:03,080 Speaker 1: something you're good at and you didn't do it. Well, 608 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:06,680 Speaker 1: say you're a television reporter in Los Angeles and you're 609 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:10,000 Speaker 1: supposed to report on the Grammys like that. So you're 610 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:11,680 Speaker 1: a podcaster and you have to do a show about 611 00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:14,600 Speaker 1: the sun to give one too, but we want to 612 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:17,000 Speaker 1: hear about it. You can send it to us via email. 613 00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:22,120 Speaker 1: Just type in where it says to stuff podcast at 614 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:33,000 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. For more on this and 615 00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:36,560 Speaker 1: thousands of other topics, does it how stuff works dot com. 616 00:36:36,719 --> 00:36:39,480 Speaker 1: Want more how stuff works, check out our blogs on 617 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:42,280 Speaker 1: the house stuff works dot com home page