From Part 2 of our interview with palaeontologist and palaeoartist Mark Witton featuring chat on AI, to news about the origins of teeth, and a very difficult game of 'guess that fossil', this episode has a little bit of everything.

More info:

• King Tyrant on Amazon
• Haridy, Y., Norris, S.C.P., Fabbri, M. et al. The origin of vertebrate teeth and evolution of sensory exoskeletons. Nature 642, 119–124 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08944-w

Can they spell it? No, they can't!

This episode features renowned palaeoartist Mark Witton talking about his new book King Tyrant and other topics in palaeoart. Plus, news on the world's first sauropod gut contents. Then, Travis and Alyssa challenge each other to a prehistoric spelling bee.

More info:

Mark Witton's website https://www.markwitton.co.uk/

Poropat, S. F., Tosolini, A.-M. P., Beeston, S. L., Enchelmaier, M. J., Pentland, A. H., Mannion, P. D., Upchurch, P., Chin, K., Korasidis, V. A., Bell, P. R., Enriquez, N. J., Holman, A. I., Brosnan, L. M., Elson, A. L., Tripp, M., Scarlett, A. G., Godel, B., Madden, R. H. C., Rickard, W. D. A., … Grice, K. (2025). Fossilized gut contents elucidate the feeding habits of sauropod dinosaurs. Current Biology, 35(11), 2597-2613.e7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.053

Palaeo artist James Pascoe shares his lifelong fascination with dinosaurs and how it has shaped his journey. He discusses the importance of community in the paleo art world and the role of engagement in science communication.

We discuss new research showing the origin of tyrannosaurs may have been in Asia and also how megaraptors arose and spread throughout Gondwana. And another new paper pushes back the origin of tetrapods and (maybe) places it in the southern continents.

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• Long, J. A., Niedźwiedzki, G., Garvey, J., Clement, A. M., Camens, A. B., Eury, C. A., Eason, J., & Ahlberg, P. E. (2025). Earliest amniote tracks recalibrate the timeline of tetrapod evolution. Nature, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08884-5

• Morrison, C., Scherer, C. R., O’Callaghan, E. V., Layton, C., Boisvert, C., Rolando, M. A., Durrant, L., Salas, P., Allain, S. J. R., & Gascoigne, S. J. L. (2025). Rise of the king: Gondwanan origins and evolution of megaraptoran dinosaurs. Royal Society Open Science, 12(5). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.242238

Visit the 'La Brea of the East' with us. Shay Maden from Gray Fossil Site and Museum tells us about the history and importance of this amazing Tennessean lagerstatten. And, we can't help but chat about the controversial claims by Colossal Biosciences that they have resurrected the dire wolf.

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Check out:

• Gray Fossil Site https://gfs.visithandson.org/
• Dinosauria Season 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRXB67fcXZA
• Paleo Pines https://paleopines.com/
• Pint of Science https://pintofscience.com.au/

This conversation explores the fascinating and often humorous world of paleontology hoaxes, from the infamous Piltdown Man to the Cardiff Giant. Alyssa and Travis discuss various historical and modern examples of scientific fraud, the implications of these hoaxes on the scientific community, and the lessons learned about integrity in research. They also touch on the cultural significance of these hoaxes and how they reflect societal beliefs and values.

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Palaeo Pulse:

McCurry, M. R., Gill, A. C., Baranov, V., Hart, L. J., Slatyer, C., & Frese, M. (2025). The paleobiology of a new osmeriform fish species from Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2024.2445684

It's time for a nostalgia kick. Travis and Alyssa discuss James Gurney's Dinotopia: an idealised vision of a world where humans and dinosaurs peacefully co-exist and everyone has their place. We explore the storytelling approaches, links to other media and what Dinotopia could look life if it were written today.

Alyssa interviews Dr. Phoebe McInerney about her research on Genyornis, a giant flightless bird from Australia. The conversation explores Phoebe's journey into palaeontology, her research, and the significance of outreach and education in the field. We also touch on the brilliant new research on Australian theropods published by Jake Kotevski and friends and play a little game of 'Who Am I? Extinct Edition'.

Geo.Sassie joins Travis to talk about the Jurassic Coast UNESCO World Heritage Site. Meanwhile, Alyssa designs a prehistoric four course feast, prepares for a dig, and shows off some palaeoart. Also, we finally name our mascots.

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More:

Virtual paleoart exhibitionhttps://extinctfineart.com/virtual-paleoart-gallery/

Ammonite moviehttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt7983894/

Lovelace, D. M., Kufner, A. M., Fitch, A. J., Curry Rogers, K., Schmitz, M., Schwartz, D. M., LeClair-Diaz, A., St.Clair, L., Mann, J., & Teran, R. (2025). Rethinking dinosaur origins: Oldest known equatorial dinosaur-bearing assemblage (mid-late Carnian Popo Agie FM, Wyoming, USA).Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society,203(1), zlae153.https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae153