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In Defense of Plants Podcast

Ep. 429 - Ancient Leaf Homes Revisited

In Defense of Plants Podcast

In Defense of Plants

Botany, Natural Sciences, Ecology, Nature, Plants, Science

4.81.3K Ratings

🗓️ 9 July 2023

⏱️ 51 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Plants and arthropods have a long evolutionary history that involves plenty of interaction. If you know where to look, evidence of such history can be found in fossil plant remains. We revisit a discussion with Dr. Gussie Maccracken who discovered the oldest remains of one of the most common, yet poorly understood plant/animal mutualisms on our planet. Did you know that many flowering plants produce tiny homes in their leaves for mites? They do, and it looks like this relationship is very old and very important. Join us for a fascinating discussion about how paleontologists can use plant fossils to gain insights into so many aspects of the living world. This episode was produced in part by Thomas, Will, Jamie, Waverly, Brent, Tanner, Rick, Kazys, Dorothy, Katherine, Emily, Theo, Nichole, Paul, Karen, Randi, Caelan, Tom, Don, Susan, Corbin, Keena, Robin, Peter, Whitney, Kenned, Margaret, Daniel, Karen, David, Earl, Jocelyn, Gary, Krysta, Elizabeth, Southern California Carnivorous Plant Enthusiasts, Pattypollinators, Peter, Judson, Ella, Alex, Dan, Pamela, Peter, Andrea, Nathan, Karyn, Michelle, Jillian, Chellie, Linda, Laura, Miz Holly, Christie, Carlos, Paleo Fern, Levi, Sylvia, Lanny, Ben, Lily, Craig, Sarah, Lor, Monika, Brandon, Jeremy, Suzanne, Kristina, Christine, Silas, Michael, Aristia, Felicidad, Lauren, Danielle, Allie, Jeffrey, Amanda, Tommy, Marcel, C Leigh, Karma, Shelby, Christopher, Alvin, Arek, Chellie, Dani, Paul, Dani, Tara, Elly, Colleen, Natalie, Nathan, Ario, Laura, Cari, Margaret, Mary, Connor, Nathan, Jan, Jerome, Brian, Azomonas, Ellie, University Greens, Joseph, Melody, Patricia, Matthew, Garrett, John, Ashley, Cathrine, Melvin, OrangeJulian, Porter, Jules, Griff, Joan, Megan, Marabeth, Les, Ali, Southside Plants, Keiko, Robert, Bryce, Wilma, Amanda, Helen, Mikey, Michelle, German, Joerg, Cathy, Tate, Steve, Kae, Carole, Mr. Keith Santner, Lynn, Aaron, Sara, Kenned, Brett, Jocelyn, Ethan, Sheryl, Runaway Goldfish, Ryan, Chris, Alana, Rachel, Joanna, Lori, Paul, Griff, Matthew, Bobby, Vaibhav, Steven, Joseph, Brandon, Liam, Hall, Jared, Brandon, Christina, Carly, Kazys, Stephen, Katherine, Mohsin Kazmi Takes Pictures, Manny, doeg, Daniel, Tim, Philip, Tim, Lisa, Brodie, Bendix, Irene, holly, Sara, and Margie.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello everyone and welcome to the Indefensive Plants podcast, the official podcast of IndefensivePlants.com.

0:05.3

What's up? This is your host Matt, welcome to the show. How is everyone doing this week?

0:09.2

Today we are revisiting a conversation I had with the now doctor, Gussie McCracken, back in 2019.

0:16.6

I want to give a shout out to my favorite blogger, Charlie Eisman, who recently wrote an article

0:21.6

inspired by this conversation. I will put a link to that in the show notes, but the reason it

0:26.4

inspired him is because Dr. McCracken studies the history of plant insect interactions using

0:32.3

the fossil record. Obviously, when you walk around any natural place, today you will see plenty

0:37.9

of evidence of insects, even if you don't see the insects themselves, and those come in the form

0:42.9

of bite marks, gals, and stuff like that. But Dr. McCracken takes it a step further and looks at

0:48.1

might-domacia in the fossil record. Did you know that many flowering plants today produce tiny

0:54.2

homes in their leaves that are specifically geared to house mites? Why they do this is fascinating,

0:59.8

but it's amazing to think how long this relationship has been going on. And who better to talk about

1:05.6

that than Dr. McCracken? But before I get to that, I just want to say that if you are enjoying

1:10.4

podcasts like this, I couldn't be doing it without support, and there are many great ways to support

1:15.2

this show. One of the best is to pick up some of our customizable merch. There are links over at

1:20.2

indefenseaplants.com, just click on apparel at the top of the screen, or follow the show notes

1:25.4

over at indefenseaplants.com slash podcast, where I post a link for every episode. All of our

1:30.8

merch, as I mentioned, is customizable, so there's always going to be a style that works for you.

1:35.2

But that's entirely enough out of me. Let's jump back into this conversation without further

1:39.3

ado. Here's my conversation with Dr. Gussi McCracken. I hope you enjoy.

1:57.6

Gussi McCracken, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. How about we start off with a little

2:01.2

bit about who you are and what it is you do? Fantastic. Well, thank you for having me on this podcast.

...

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