Curious About Fossils

PODCAST 246: CURIOUS ABOUT FOSSILS

RELEASE DATE: SUNDAY, JUNE 18TH, 2023

D:  HELLO, AND WELCOME BACK TO THE CURIOUS KID PODCAST.  I’M SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS EPISODE, BECAUSE WE GET TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING THAT WE REALLY HAVEN’T TALKED ABOUT SINCE SEASON ONE OF THE PODCAST.  WE GET TO TALK ABOUT DINOSAURS TODAY!  NOT ONLY THAT, BUT WE ARE GETTING CURIOUS FOR THREE INCREDIBLE LISTENERS THAT REACHED OUT TO US FROM DIFFERENT BEAUTIFUL PLACES VERY FAR FROM WHERE WE LIVE.  LET’S GET THIS THING GOING!

O:  TRIPLE-MAILBAG!

D:  TRIPLE-MAILBAG!

“HELLO JACOB AND OLIVIA,

I AM VIVAAN FROM DRESDEN, GERMANY AND I AM 8 YEARS OLD.  I LISTEN TO YOUR PODCAST EVERY EVENING WITH MY MOM AND DAD.  I AM CURIOUS ABOUT MINERALS, FOSSILS, AND OTTERS.  I ALSO HAVE A SMALL COLLECTION OF MINERALS AND FOSSILS.  I WOULD BE VERY HAPPY TO HEAR ABOUT THESE THINGS FROM YOU.  KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.

BEST REGARDS, 

VIVAAN, MITAL (MOM) AND VIVEK (DAD)”

“HI!  MY NAME IS TRANG AND I’M FROM HANOI, VIETNAM.  I JUST WANT TO GO OVER AND SAY HI TO YOU.  I LOVE ALL OF YOUR EPISODES AND MY FAVORITE IS ABOUT ROAD SIGNS.  I’M CURIOUS ABOUT LETTERS AND FOSSILS.  THANKS FOR THE PODCAST!  

FROM TRANG IN HANOI, VIETNAM”

*** VM FROM TINTIN OF CHINA***

O:  WOAH.  WE ARE SO LUCKY TO HAVE LISTENERS IN OTHER COUNTRIES LIKE GERMANY, VIETNAM, AND CHINA.  WE CAN’T WAIT TO LEARN ALL ABOUT FOSSILS FOR VIVAAN, TRANG, AND TINTIN.

D:  FOSSILS ARE THE REMAINS OR THE IMPRESSIONS OF A LIVING THING, LIKE AN ANIMAL, INSECT, OR PLANT. FOSSILS HELP SCIENTISTS LEARN ABOUT THE HISTORY OF LIFE ON EARTH.  WITHOUT FOSSILS, WE WOULDN’T EVEN KNOW THAT DINOSAURS EXISTED, BECAUSE DINOSAURS HAVEN’T ROAMED THE EARTH FOR ABOUT 65 MILLION YEARS.  FOSSILS HAVE TO BE OLD EVEN TO BE CONSIDERED FOSSILS.

O:  THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK IS, HOW OLD DO PRESERVED REMAINS OF LIVING THINGS NEED TO BE BEFORE THEY CAN BE CONSIDERED FOSSILS?

D:  THE ONLY WAY WE CAN LEARN ABOUT THINGS THAT HAPPENED VERY LONG AGO IS THROUGH EVIDENCE SUCH AS FOSSILS.  

O:  AND THE PEOPLE THAT STUDY FOSSILS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PAST ARE CALLED PALEONTOLOGISTS.  A PALEONTOLOGIST LOOKS FOR EVIDENCE OF WHAT LIFE ON EARTH WAS LIKE LONG BEFORE WE GOT HERE.  

D:  CONSIDER THIS.  THINK ABOUT ALL OF THE DIFFERENT ANIMALS AND PLANTS THAT EXIST ON EARTH TODAY.  THERE ARE SO MANY, AND THERE ARE EVEN A BUNCH THAT HAVE YET TO BE DISCOVERED, BECAUSE NEW LIVING THINGS ARE STILL BEING FOUND ALL OF THE TIME.  WELL, WHAT IF I TOLD YOU THAT MORE THAN 99 PERCENT OF ALL OF THE SPECIES THAT HAVE EVER LIVED ARE NOW EXTINCT?  

O:  THAT MEANS THAT PALEONTOLOGISTS CAN KEEP THEMSELVES VERY BUSY WITH THEIR RESEARCH OF WHAT LIFE ON EARTH USED TO BE LIKE.  

D:  PALEONTOLOGISTS ARE TRYING TO ANSWER SO MANY INTERESTING QUESTIONS, LIKE WHAT WERE THE FIRST LIFE FORMS ON EARTH AND WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?  THEY ARE ALSO TRYING TO DETERMINE HOW NEWER ANIMALS AND PLANTS ARE RELATED TO THE SPECIES THAT ARE EXTINCT.  

O:  THERE ARE TWO MAJOR TYPES OF FOSSILS THAT HELP PALEONTOLOGISTS ANSWER THE MANY QUESTIONS WE HAVE ABOUT WHAT EARTH WAS LIKE A LONG TIME AGO.  THERE ARE BODY FOSSILS, WHICH ARE FOSSILS THAT CONTAIN A PART OF THE BODY REMAINS.  FOR EXAMPLE, A BODY FOSSIL COULD BE SOMETHING LIKE A PIECE OF BONE OR A TOOTH.  THERE ARE ALSO TRACE FOSSILS, WHICH DON’T INCLUDE A PART OF THE BODY, BUT ARE ACTUALLY TRACES OF THE ORGANISM’S REMAINS PRESERVED IN SOMETHING LIKE MINERALS OR ROCKS.  TRACE FOSSILS INCLUDE THINGS LIKE ANIMAL TRACKS, CASTS, IMPRESSIONS, AND MOLDS.  FOOTPRINTS ARE AN EXAMPLE OF TRACE FOSSILS.  

D:  MOST FOSSILS FORM IN SEDIMENTARY ROCK, WHICH ARE THE TYPES OF ROCKS THAT MAKE UP MOST OF THE ROCKS ON AND IN THE EARTH’S CRUST.  SEDIMENTARY ROCK FORMS WHEN SEDIMENTS, LIKE SAND FOR EXAMPLE, COME TOGETHER AND HARDEN.  WHEN THIS HAPPENS OVER AND OVER AGAIN, SEDIMENTARY ROCK BUILDS UP OVER THE COURSE OF MILLIONS OF YEARS.  THE COOL THING ABOUT THE PROCESS IS THAT THE ASSUMPTION CAN BE MADE THAT THE SEDIMENTARY ROCK AT THE TOP LAYER OF EARTH IS THE YOUNGEST, MEANWHILE EACH LAYER YOU ENCOUNTER AS YOU DIG INTO THE EARTH IS OLDER THAN THE LAYER ON TOP OF IT.  THIS PROCESS IS WHAT HELPS PALEONTOLOGISTS DETERMINE HOW OLD THE FOSSILS THEY DISCOVER ARE.  

O:  THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT MAKE IT DIFFICULT FOR FOSSILS TO SURVIVE.  FOR EXAMPLE, THERE ARE SCAVENGERS, LIKE VULTURES, THAT FEED ON THE BODIES OF DEAD ANIMALS.  THERE ARE ALSO INSECTS, SUCH AS COCKROACHES, THAT EAT AND DIGEST THE WASTE OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS.  ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS CAN ALSO DESTROY FOSSILS, LIKE EXTREME WEATHER AND EROSION.  

D:  MOST DINOSAUR SKELETONS HAVE BEEN PRESERVED THANKS TO SEDIMENTARY ROCK.  FOR EXAMPLE, AFTER A DINOSAUR DIED IN A PLACE WITH A LOT OF MOVING SEDIMENT, LIKE A LAKE, THE SEDIMENT BURIED THE DINOSAUR, KEEPING IT PROTECTED FROM FACTORS LIKE WEATHER AND INSECTS THAT MIGHT BREAK THE BODY DOWN.  AT SOME POINT, THE ORGANIC PARTS OF THE DINOSAUR, LIKE BLOOD CELLS OR FAT, WOULD EVENTUALLY BREAK DOWN, LEAVING ONLY INORGANIC PARTS THAT ARE MORE STURDY, LIKE BONE.  OVER LOTS OF TIME, LIKE MILLIONS OF YEARS, THE SEDIMENT AROUND THE DINOSAUR BONES BECOMES SEDIMENTARY ROCK, WHICH HELPS PROTECT AND PRESERVE THE BONES.  

O:  SOME FOSSILS ARE DISCOVERED BY PALEONTOLOGISTS, BUT OCCASIONALLY, SOMEONE MIGHT STUMBLE UPON FOSSILS WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING FOR THEM.  ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING EXAMPLES OF THIS HAPPENED ABOUT 10 MILES FROM WHERE WE LIVE, IN THE TOWN OF HADDONFIELD, NEW JERSEY.  THAT’S WHERE, ALL THE WAY BACK IN 1858, WHICH WAS 165 YEARS AGO, A DINOSAUR SKELETON WAS DISCOVERED.  IT WAS THE FIRST NEARLY COMPLETE DINOSAUR SKELETON TO BE FOUND ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.  IT WAS ALSO THE FIRST DINOSAUR SKELETON TO BE MOUNTED AND DISPLAYED ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, BACK IN 1868, 10 YEARS AFTER IT WAS FIRST DISCOVERED.  

D:  THE DINOSAUR, WHICH WAS EVENTUALLY GIVEN THE NAME HADROSAURUS, WAS ABOUT 25 FEET LONG, ABOUT 10 FEET TALL, AND WEIGHED ABOUT EIGHT TONS.  THE DISCOVERY WAS SO UNEXPECTED THAT IT LED MANY PEOPLE TO THINK DIFFERENTLY ABOUT DINOSAURS, AND IT LED TO AN EXPLOSION OF INTEREST IN FINDING DINOSAUR BONES.  

O:  THE HADROSAURUS LIVED 70 TO 100 MILLION YEARS AGO, AND IT WAS A HERBIVORE, SO IT WAS A VEGETARIAN.  IN 1991, THE HADROSAURUS OFFICIALLY BECAME THE NEW JERSEY STATE DINOSAUR.  WHAT TOOK SO LONG? 

D:  THE DISCOVERY OF THE HADROSAURUS WAS AMAZING, BUT THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER INCREDIBLE FOSSIL DISCOVERIES THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE MORE RECENTLY.

O:  BONES FOUND IN 2008 SUGGEST THAT THERE USED TO BE PARROTS THAT WERE ABOUT THREE FEET TALL.  THE MASSIVE PARROTS, WHICH LIVED AROUND 16 TO 19 MILLION YEARS AGO, HAVE ALSO EARNED THE NICKNAME SQUAKZILLA BECAUSE THEY ARE SO UNUSUALLY LARGE.

D:  IN 1989, A MAN NAMED WILLIAM ZINSMEISTER, THAT’S AN AWESOME LAST NAME, FOUND A GIGANTIC FOSSIL OF A DINOSAUR, CALLED THE ELASMOSAUR, WHICH WAS APPROXIMATELY 40 FEET LONG AND WEIGHED 15 TONS.  HE FOUND THE FOSSIL ON SEYMOUR ISLAND IN THE ANTARCTIC.  FOR THAT REASON, IT WAS VERY HARD TO EXCAVATE, OR GATHER UP, THE ENTIRE FOSSIL.  EXCAVATION OF THE FOSSIL DIDN’T END UNTIL THE YEAR 2017, 28 YEARS AFTER IT STARTED. 

O:  DINOSAURS AREN’T THE ONLY ANIMALS THAT HAVE BEEN PRESERVED AS FOSSILS.  IN THE YEAR 2010, THE FOSSIL SKULL OF A BIG CAT WAS DISCOVERED.  THE SKULL WAS OF A CAT THAT WAS A RELATIVE OF THE SNOW LEOPARD.  THE FOSSIL SHOWED THAT BIG CATS LIVED AS LONG AS 6 MILLION YEARS AGO, AND IT ALSO HELPED SHOW THAT BIG CATS EVOLVED IN ASIA.  IT WAS ORIGINALLY THOUGHT THAT BIG CATS ONLY EVOLVED IN AFRICA.  

D:  IT’S TIME TO GET A LITTLE GROSS.  ANIMALS AND PLANTS ARE NOT THE ONLY THINGS TO BE FOSSILIZED.  THERE IS ALSO SOMETHING CALLED COPROLITE, WHICH IS FOSSILIZED POOP.  IN 2014, A COPROLITE COLLECTOR BOUGHT A PIECE OF COPROLITE MEASURING 40 INCHES FOR $10,000.  

O:  I WOULD RATHER JUST CONTINUE TO COLLECT POKEMON CARDS.  

D:  YEAH, I WOULD PREFER THAT TOO.  IT’S TIME TO ANSWER THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK.  FOSSILS NEED TO BE OLD ENOUGH TO BE CONSIDERED FOSSILS IN THE FIRST PLACE.  HOW OLD DO FOSSILS HAVE TO BE?

O:  FOSSILS NEED TO BE AT LEAST 10,000 YEARS OLD TO EARN THE NAME  FOSSIL.  BY THE WAY, THE WORD FOSSIL COMES FROM THE LATIN WORD FOSSUS, WHICH MEANS “DUG UP”.  

D:  WELL, THAT’S A WRAP FOR THIS WEEK’S EPISODE.

O:  246 - FOSSILS.

D:  GREAT JOB OLIVIA, AND GREAT JOB VIVAAN, TRANG, AND TINTIN FOR DIGGING UP A FANTASTIC EPISODE TOPIC SUGGESTION FOR US TO GET CURIOUS ABOUT.  BEFORE WE SIGN OFF FOR THE WEEK, WE HAVE AN AMAZING LISTENER TO THANK.

O:  A BIG THANKS TO USERNAME SUPERCAT 159 FOR THE 5 STAR REVIEW.

D:  IT SAYS “I LOVE YOUR POCAST”.

O:  SHORT, BUT VERY, VERY SWEET.

D:  WE ARE SO APPRECIATIVE ANY TIME ANYONE TAKES THE TIME TO LEAVE A REVIEW FOR THE PODCAST.  WE READ EACH AND EVERY REVIEW.  THANKS FOR MAKING US FEEL SPECIAL, SUPERCAT 159, AND FOR MAKING IT EASIER FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO FIND CURIOUS KID PODCAST.  JOIN US NEXT WEEK WHEN WE WILL GET CURIOUS ABOUT PENGUINS FOR LISTENERS IN ONTARIO, CANADA, TENNESSEE, TEXAS, FLORIDA, AND BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA.  AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING AND GETTING CURIOUS WITH US.