Evolution Talk

Rick Coste

Everything you wanted to know about evolution by natural selection in short, easy to digest, episodes. Hosted, and produced by writer Rick Coste.

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167 episodes
Updated July 20

Episodes167

Newest first

Jul 13, 2015 · 11 min
Mitochondrial Eve
Mitochondrial DNA is only inherited from your mother. Everyone alive on earth today can trace their lineage back to Mitochondrial Eve. We know this because we've all received our Mitochondrial DNA from her. It has been passed down generation by generation from mother to daughter.
Jul 6, 2015 · 18 min
The Anthropocene
The Cretaceous period ended 65 million years ago as did the reign of the dinosaurs. According to the International Union of Geological Sciences, we are currently in the Holocene. The Holocene has seen a number of changes. It's seen us cultivate the land, store food, and build long standing shelters. It's also seen us craft tools to shape the world around us. Some scientists have proposed calling this era the Anthropocene.
Jun 29, 2015 · 14 min
Having a Laugh
It's probably safe to say that everyone enjoys a good laugh. But where did it come from? What is it about laughter that gave us an advantage over our ancient competitors?
Jun 22, 2015 · 11 min
Punctuated Equilibrium
In 1972 Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldridge published a paper that immediately went viral among biologists. Gould and Eldridge pointed out, using the fossil record as evidence, that evolution by natural selection worked in a series of starts and stops. There were periods of stasis where no changes occurred. They called this theory Punctuated Equilibrium.
Jun 15, 2015 · 18 min
The Piltdown Man
In the late 19th century, Europe was having a grand old time when it came to fossils of ancient hominids. The problem was - nothing was being discovered in England. Germany had the Neanderthal and France had the Cro-Magnon. In the summer of 1912 all of that changed.
Jun 8, 2015 · 13 min
Darwin's Bulldog
On June 30, 1860 a great debate took place at the Oxford University Museum. This debate helped to launch Thomas Huxley's career as 'Darwin's Bulldog".
Jun 1, 2015 · 15 min
Neanderthalis Extinctus
In the last episode we came face to face with the Neanderthal. What happened to the Neanderthal? Did they die on the battlefield or did they live out their lives in a quiet struggle for survival while modern humans settled around them? Was they killed... or assimilated?
May 25, 2015 · 13 min
The Neanderthal
In the Neander valley, limestone miners found something which shocked them. They had found bones which they first thought belonged to a bear. Once Professor Schaafhausen had seen the bones he recognized them for what they were. Shortly after that the Neanderthal Man stepped into the spotlight. Were Neanderthals our early ancestors or were they a separate species?
May 18, 2015 · 12 min
Genetic Drift
Frog populations remained pretty much the same in Podville until the Great Fire of 2015. After the fire the population of blue frogs increased. Welcome to genetic drift, the subject of this week's episode of 'Evolution Talk'.
May 11, 2015 · 17 min
Non-Overlapping Magisteria
In 1997 Professor Stephen Jay Gould published an essay in Natural History which also appeared in his book Rocks of Ages. This essay was titled 'Non-Overlapping Magisteria'. It's commonly referred to as NOMA. The concept behind NOMA is that science and religion operate in two different, non-overlapping, realms.
May 4, 2015 · 18 min
Altruism
Where does altruism come from? How did it evolve in a world ruled by 'selfish genes'?
Apr 27, 2015 · 13 min
Survival of the Fittest?
The term 'Survival of the Fittest' was unleashed on the world in 1864 by Herbert Spencer when he published his work Principles of Biology. It was later picked up by Charles Darwin who used it himself in the fifth edition of On the Origin of Species five years later. But is it fair to say that the term "Survival of the Fittest" is synonymous with evolution by natural selection? In this episode of Evolution Talk we explore this very question.
Apr 20, 2015 · 13 min
Putting the Selection in Sex
For Charles Darwin, the idea of sexual selection explained a lot of what he saw in the animal kingdom. He gave sexual selection just as much importance as natural selection.
Apr 13, 2015 · 10 min
Warm Blooded Dinosaurs
In 1986 Professor Robert Bakker, a paleontologist, published 'The Dinosaur Heresies'. According to Professor Bakker there have been waves of extinction, and these extinction events mainly attacked, or affected, one particular type of animal... warm blooded animals.
Apr 6, 2015 · 13 min
Where Are the Dinosaurs?
What killed off the dinosaurs? There are many competing theories yet there is no 'smoking gun'. There is evidence however, and with each bit of evidence comes another theory. Dinosaurs didn't disappear overnight. It took a few millions years for them to die out. Perhaps six million years.
Mar 30, 2015 · 12 min
A Whale of a Tale
Today's episode of Evolution Talk is brought to you by all of those animals out there who exhibit vestigial features (which is pretty much every animal out there). Our DNA contains traces of our past - switches in our genes that have either been shut off or turned over the years while natural selection's fingers hovers over the controls.
Mar 23, 2015 · 15 min
An Interview With Charles Darwin
To mark the occasion of Evolution Talk's 30th episode, Rick Coste steps into the past to interview Charles Darwin.
Mar 16, 2015 · 10 min
Mistakes Were Made
In the X-Men movies the X-Men are mutants. Mistakes were made during DNA replications that brought out features and abilities which were not present in the population prior to their births. Defects which enhanced their chances of survival.
Mar 9, 2015 · 12 min
Is Everything Related?
The Human genome project took 13 years to complete. Hundreds of scientists from all over the world were involved. What's just as amazing as the completion of the project is the story that it tells when you begin to compare it with other chapters in the book of life.
Mar 2, 2015 · 12 min
Fossil Dating
How do we date fossils? There are a few ways and in this episode we will look at a couple.