Episode 222 - Shrews

The Common Descent Podcast

Common Descent

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

4.8 • 764 Ratings

🗓️ 20 July 2025

⏱️ 141 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On the outside, shrews might seem like standard tiny mammals, but their anatomy and lifestyle are highly specialized. This episode, with help from special guest Derek den Ouden, we explore the diverse habits of shrews, the anatomical features that set them apart, and how they thrive worldwide despite being perpetually on the brink of starvation. Then, we consider the extinct diversity of shrews in the fossil record. In the news: stubborn bass, choking fish, tomato defenses, and some really old rocks. Time markers:Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00News: 00:09:35Main discussion, Part 1: 00:45:25Main discussion, Part 2: 01:40:50Patron question: 02:12:35 Find Derek online at @DenoudenDerek 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 Check out our friends’ new data management app, Cnidarity: https://cnidarity.com/ 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, Will. Hello, David.
0:21.7	Hello, listeners, and welcome to the Common Descent podcast, where we talk about paleontology, evolution, and all sorts of stuff.
0:27.6	This is episode 22, and this episode's topic is Shrews.
0:35.3	Yeah.
0:36.8	I will, for the record, I will point out that somebody on the Discord exactly one hour ago
0:42.0	suggested that episode 2-2-2 should be Tu-A-Taras.
0:45.9	And you should have said that way earlier.
0:50.2	Yep.
0:50.7	Mm-hmm.
0:51.2	Yep.
0:52.0	Instead, 2-2 is Shrews, which is still, it still feels pretty good.
0:55.8	It almost rhymes.
0:58.1	We will be talking about Shrews, the not-so-generic tiny little mammals.
1:05.4	Their habits, their anatomy, what features of their lifestyle and morphology make them distinctive and unique.
1:12.1	And of course, we will be looking at their evolutionary history and their fossil record.
1:17.2	Now, Will and I are both very under-informed when it comes to Shrews.
1:22.6	So to assist us with this discussion, after the news break, we will be joined by special guest Derek
1:28.4	Danoudon, who loves Shrews and will geek out in our direction about Shrews for the
1:34.5	remainder of the episode. It's going to be a whole lot of fun. Yes, so ready to learn. We are
1:38.9	excited to talk about Shrews. We are excited to learn about Shrews, excited to have a guest on,
1:43.7	and excited to fulfill this request from several of our listeners.
	...

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