meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The John Batchelor Show

2/8: The known as well as yet incomplete fossil record: 2/8: Otherlands: A Journey Through Earth's Extinct Worlds, by Thomas Halliday.

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Books, News, Society & Culture, Arts

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 29 January 2023

⏱️ 11 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Photo: No known restrictions on publication.
Japan
@Batchelorshow


2/8: The known as well as yet incomplete fossil record: 2/8: Otherlands: A Journey Through Earth's Extinct Worlds, by Thomas Halliday.

https://www.amazon.com/Otherlands-Journey-Through-Earths-Extinct/dp/B097CL2BVX/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr1

The past is past, but it does leave clues, and Thomas Halliday has used cutting-edge science to decipher them more completely than ever before. In Otherlands, Halliday makes sixteen fossil sites burst to life on the page.

This book is an exploration of the Earth as it used to exist, the changes that have occurred during its history, and the ways that life has found to adapt―or not. It takes us from the savannahs of Pliocene Kenya to watch a python chase a group of australopithecines into an acacia tree; to a cliff overlooking the salt pans of the empty basin of what will be the Mediterranean Sea just as water from the Miocene Atlantic Ocean spills in; into the tropical forests of Eocene Antarctica; and under the shallow pools of Ediacaran Australia, where we glimpse the first microbial life.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Is your new year still falling flat?

0:03.4

Do you avoid stairs with multiple steps?

0:06.1

You are not alone.

0:07.4

This year millions will be diagnosed with low energy or low E.

0:10.6

But there's a cure.

0:12.0

Now for January 31st, join Planet Fitness for just $1.10 a month no commitment.

0:16.4

With clean, spacious clubs and tons of equipment you can boost your energy after just one workout.

0:20.7

Leave low E behind and find your big fitness energy at Planet Fitness.

0:24.2

Join in the free PF app for $1.10 a month cancel anytime.

0:27.4

DLN's Tuesday January 31st. See home club for details.

0:57.4

Today, Gagano is a peninsula on the east coast of Italy about two thirds of the way down

1:26.6

to the Atlantic Sea.

1:28.6

It's this large, hilly limestone region, full of these wonderful caustic caves with stalactites

1:36.6

and so on.

1:38.6

Those caves are really where the fossils have been found.

1:44.2

The rocks themselves are considerably older than the fossils.

1:47.6

The fossils, when they formed about 5 million years ago, they are washed into the caves.

1:51.6

So we find them in these caustic deposits.

1:54.6

Do you find the saber tooth deer there?

1:57.6

Is that where his and her bones are?

2:01.6

Absolutely.

2:02.6

There are a few species of deer, like Mustere for example, that have saber teeth.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Batchelor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of John Batchelor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.