The Backpacker's Guide To Prehistory

Love warm, sandy beaches? Tropical azure seas? Metre-long sea scorpions? Then the Silurian is the backpacking destination for you! Join host David Mountain as he scuba dives through the Silurian period, the hidden gem of the Palaeozoic. Lasting from 444 to 419 million years again, this stretch of time sees the emergence of jawed fish, terrestrial arthropods, vascular plants and much, much more.Providing the expert advice are Dr James Lamsdell, a palaeobiologist at West Virginia University (http://jameslamsdell.com/; https://twitter.com/FossilDetective), and Dr Sandy Hetherington, a palaeobotanist at the University of Edinburgh (https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/dr-sandy-hetherington; https://www.ed.ac.uk/biology/groups/hetherington; https://twitter.com/Sandy_Heth). If you want to find out more about the Silurian, be sure to check out their research!Follow the podcast on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.Sound effects from Zapsplat.com.

Wide open skies, grand horizons and the promise of adventure: the Neogene has it all. Join host David Mountain as he explores the varied environments of this time period and the plants and animals that made them up.  You might even come face-to-face with your own ancestors in the plains of East Africa!*Providing valuable travel tips are two Neogene experts: Dr Aly Baumgartner, a palaeobotanist at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History (https://twitter.com/PaleoLorax; https://scientiaandveritas.wordpress.com/) and Dr Laurence Dumouchel, a paleoanthropologist at Wichita State University (https://twitter.com/paleolau; https://www.wichita.edu/profiles/academics/fairmount_college_of_liberal_arts_and_sciences/Anthropology/Dumouchel-Laurence.php). If you want to discover more about the Neogene, be sure to check out their research!Follow the podcast on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.Sound effects from Zapsplat.com.*Hominin sightings not guaranteed.

Join host David Mountain as he ventures into the tropical world of the Palaeogene, 66-23 million years ago. If you’re looking for volatile climates, volcanic activity and some of the most remarkable mammals to have ever walked the Earth, then the Palaeogene could be the perfect getaway!Providing the travel advice are two Palaeogene experts: Dr Monica Carvalho, a palaeobotanist with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (https://moccada.wixsite.com/paleobiology; https://twitter.com/moccada) and Dr Sergi López-Torres, a palaeontologist at the University of Warsaw (http://www.paleo.pan.pl/pracownicy/lopez_torres/lopez_torres.html; https://twitter.com/S_LopezTorres). If you want to learn more about the plants and animals of the Palaeogene world then be sure to check out their research!Follow the podcast on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.Sound effects from Zapsplat.com. 

For this episode of The Backpacker’s Guide To Prehistory, host David Mountain is setting his time machine for the distant Ordovician period, 485-444 million years ago. Dive into oceans teeming with long-lost wildlife, from trilobites to orthocones to the nightmarish conodonts.Providing some much-needed travel tips are Dr Lucy McCobb, a palaeontologist at the National Museum Cardiff (https://museum.wales/staff/184/Lucy-McCobb/) and Prof Dave Harper, Professor Emeritus of Palaeontology at Durham University (https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/david-harper/). If you want to learn more about the Ordovician world then be sure to check out their research!Follow the podcast on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.Sound effects from Zapsplat.com.