A roarsome episode
Unexpected Elements
BBC
4.4 • 565 Ratings
🗓️ 27 June 2025
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae has been unveiled at London's Natural History Museum. This newly described herbivorous dinosaur has inspired us to take a stomp through the science of ancient animals, mass extinctions and fossils.
First up, we hear about a shepherd who recently found a South African dinosaur, which has helped shed light on the period between the Triassic and Jurassic.
We then take a look at some new theories that suggest the mass extinctions that wiped out ancient creatures may not have been as massive as we thought.
But one extinction definitely is currently underway, according to ecologist Professor Dave Goulson. And that’s the mass extinction of insects.
Plus, we find out the latest theory of why the Tyrannosaurus rex had such tiny arms, and we meet the rat ancestors that munched on dinosaurs.
All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Candice Bailey and Camilla Mota Producer: Margaret Sessa Hawkins, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and Minnie Harrop
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Oh, hello. You have chosen a BBC podcast, but before you listen to it, we thought you might |
| 0:04.7 | like our podcast too. You might. You might. It is called Sightracked with me, Nick Grimshaw. |
| 0:09.2 | And me, Annie Mack. And we talk about the week in music. All the news, all the cultural |
| 0:14.0 | happenings in the UK and beyond. And great guests. And it's on BBC Sounds. Yes, where you can |
| 0:19.7 | also enjoy lots of playlists, music mixes and |
| 0:22.6 | live radio, everything from my six music breakfast show to Radio 3 Unwind. But obviously start |
| 0:29.2 | with our podcast, sidetrack. Obviously. Obviously. So if you like music, listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:37.2 | I'm Marnie Chesterton and this week I've taken a slight detour on my way to the BBC studios |
| 0:42.9 | because of an invite I just couldn't resist. |
| 0:46.8 | I'm at the Natural History Museum in London for the unveiling of their latest edition. |
| 0:53.0 | We're really excited this morning to be unveiling this brand new dinosaur, which is going on permanent display at Natural History Museum from Thursday. |
| 1:01.3 | And it's called Enigma Cursor Molly Bothwick. |
| 1:04.4 | It's longer than me. It only comes up to, say, my thighs. |
| 1:10.1 | It's got a tiny head. It's about the size of a dog, |
| 1:13.9 | lizard-like in the artist's impressions, |
| 1:16.4 | but these fossil bones were once, about 145 million years ago, flesh, |
| 1:22.8 | which makes this thing in front of me, an actual Jurassic dinosaur. |
| 1:28.6 | From the BBC World Service, this is unexpected elements. |
| 1:52.0 | And through the magic of editing, I'm now in the studio, joined as always by my panel of science broadcasters. |
| 1:55.0 | I say joined, but we are on three different continents. |
| 1:58.3 | So in Sao Paulo, Brazil, hello, Kamala Mota. |
| 1:59.5 | Oh, Mauny, hello. |
... |
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