Episode 213 - Decomposers

The Common Descent Podcast

Common Descent

Science, Education, Earth Sciences, Natural Sciences, Science:natural Sciences

4.8 • 764 Ratings

🗓️ 16 March 2025

⏱️ 138 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Leave a carcass or a log or a pile of poop out in the wild long enough and it will break down into its component parts. Decomposers are an often-overlooked but essential component of ecosystems past and present. This episode, we explore the varied processes of decomposition and how scientists study decomposers and use that information. We’ll also discuss the importance of decomposition to the fossil record, as well as how we can identify signs of decomposers from the distant past. In the news: temnospondyl extinction, hot crocs, foraging birds, narwhal tusks, and giant flying squirrels. Time markers:Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00News: 00:06:55 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:44:45 Main discussion, Part 2: 01:28:05 Patron question: 02:12:30 Check out our website for this episode’s blog post and more: http://commondescentpodcast.com/ Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast Got a topic you want to hear about? Submit your episode request here: https://commondescentpodcast.com/request-a-topic/ Lots more ways to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/common_descent The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the Common Descent Podcast.
0:19.0	Hello, David. Hello, Will.
0:21.3	And hello, listeners.
0:23.0	Welcome to episode 213 of the Common Descent Podcast.
0:28.4	This episode, we're talking about decomposers.
0:32.4	So fun.
0:33.2	It's going to get gross.
0:34.1	It's going to get a little gross this episode.
0:36.3	We will provide warnings at its grossest.
0:39.3	Yes, we're going to try not to be as morbid as we possibly could throughout.
0:44.0	But there are a couple of areas where that's kind of unavoidable.
0:47.3	Yeah.
0:47.9	Because we're talking about what happens after something dies.
0:51.1	Yes.
0:51.7	Which is in itself already pretty morbid and then gets real gross real quick.
0:59.0	Decomposers decomposition, the process of breaking down a dead organism is the topic of this episode.
1:08.0	We'll discuss what actually defines this concept and what other
1:12.7	definitions overlap with it, the features and lifestyles of some of the organisms that do it,
1:19.6	its importance, and then how it overlays with the fossil record, how it affects the fossil
1:25.9	record, how we recognize it, etc., etc.
1:29.0	This is a very cool, very multifaceted topic.
1:34.4	There's a lot of different avenues that we could go down.
	...

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