In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Advait Jukar to discuss the 2002 classic Ice Age, the story of three unlikely Pleistocene mammals who team up to rescue a non-adult Homo sapiens, and in the process discover the value of family. If you like Cenozoic mammalian taxonomy, then you’re going to love this episode! Find Advait on Twitter @amjukar and at https://advaitjukar.weebly.com/
In this episode:
We geek out over the scientific names of prehistoric mammals, including:
Wooly Mammoth – Mammuthus primigenius: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolly_mammoth
Sabre-toothed cat – Smilodon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smilodon
Scimitar cat – Homotherium: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homotherium
Ground Sloth – Megalonyx (Bonus – where are sloths’ nipples?): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalonyx
Long-nosed llama – Macraucheniidae: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrauchenia
Glyptodont (giant armadillo relative) – Dædicurus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doedicurus
Ancient proboscidean – Moeritherium (It’s not a tapir!): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moeritherium
Not actually a rhinoceros – Megacerops: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megacerops
Not actually Bigfoot – Gigantopithecus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigantopithecus
Dodos don’t get enough credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo
Scrat was real all along! Pseudotherium argentinus: http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/pseudotherium-argentinus-07533.html
We also discuss:
Burrows dug by giant ground sloths: https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/get-lost-in-mega-tunnels-dug-by-south-american-megafauna
GABI – Great American Biotic Interchange: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Interchange
People – what a bunch of bastards! https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-happened-worlds-most-enormous-animals-180964255/
