Palaeo Jam

Let’s talk about fish… Those creatures of the rivers and oceans that we often think of as somehow distant from us, but that from an evolutionary perspective, are central to the story of who we are.

In a wide ranging conversation, Palaeo Jam host Michael Mills chats with Dr Alice Clement of Flinders University about why understanding fish evolution matters in trying to understand ourselves, some key moments in fish evolution, and ...

What happens when you hurl the definitive biographer of palaeontology pioneer Mary Anning, and the writer of a musical about Mary Anning together?

In this episode of Palaeo Jam, host and writer of musicals, Michael Mills, is joined by Mary Anning biographer Tom Sharpe to explore the life, science, and enduring legacy of Mary Anning, one of the most important figures in the history of palaeontology. Drawing on years of meticulous ...

How do you go from being a young kid growing up around Riversleigh terrified of a reconstructed Thylacoleo, and a Diprotodon exhibit at the Queensland Museum, to be one of Australia’s most talented, interesting, emerging palaeo-artists? And how did her emotional responses to these exhibitions help shape the delightful career that Nellie Pease is now creating to much acclaim?

In the latest episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills...

In season 2 of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills chatted with Jake Kotevski about the identification of the oldest-known Megaraptorid skull fragment, found on an Eastern Victorian beach in Australia, and what that unique and important fragment might tell us. In this episode, Michael again chats with Jake to find out if any more fossils have been discovered, and if we’ve learnt anything new since then. 

Spoiler alert- A big YES! They...

When is a Dire Wolf not a Dire Wolf? When it’s a Grey Wolf made white and fluffy with a few tiny changes. When is a Woolly Mammoth not a Woolly Mammoth? When it's an elephant made hairy by a few tiny changes.

And yet one organisation has claimed, with much fanfare, to have brought back the Dire Wolf, and has plans to bring back other species, such as the Woolly Mammoth.

In this episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills chats with D...

Adele Pentland (Curtin University) and Sally Hurst (Macquarie University), are both Superstars of STEM with extensive experience in public engagement and media communication. They are both palaeontologists, which we think gives them a bit of an advantage over some of the other sciences, since we’re the ones with dinosaurs!

In a wide ranging conversation, host Michael Mills chats with Adele and Sally about why effective communicat...

What actually is a kangaroo? And how long have they been the giant red or grey hopping things so synonymous with Australia? In this episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills chats with Dr Isaac Kerr about the origin of kangaroos as “weird possums that lived in the trees a bit”, the significant gaps in the kangaroo origin fossil record, and how we make sense of what we’ve got. In a wide ranging conversation about kangaroo origins, t...

On Thursday October 9th, Dr Jim Gehling OA (Order of Australia) was awarded the Joseph Verco Medal by the Royal Society of South Australia for a remarkable life of research and public engagement in the field of palaeontology. Previous recipients have included Sir Douglas Mawson and Reg Sprigg.

Palaeo Jam host Michael Mills is a long time friend of Jim, with Jim having been a central part of the South Australian Museum's work in t...

Australia is land of reptiles, and in particular, a land of lizards. How and when did it become this? And why are there so many venomous snakes? In this episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills chats with Dr Mark Hutchinson about the evolutionary history of the lizards of Australia, why they become a life long passion, if he has a favourite lizard, (he does, and explains why), and the rewards of being a research supervisor.

Dr M...

And then what?

It tuned in to this very episode of Palaeo Jam!

Dr Heather Robinson and Professor John Long are the authors of two important books, “Beyond the Books: Culture, value and why libraries matter.” and “The Secret History of Sharks: The Rise of the Ocean's Most Fearsome Predators”, respectively.

Heather and John are also work partners and life partners, and in this episode of Palaeo Jam we explore the essence of eac...

Regional museums in Australia and elsewhere are the custodians of a remarkable collection of stories. What are some of those stories, and why do they matter? Why, indeed, do regional museums matter? And what kinds of science, including palaeontology, takes place in the regions?

Palaeo Jam host Michael Mills recently travelled to Geraldton in Western Australia for a series of National Science Week events. The events were held at B...

Just over 12 months ago, as part of National Science Week, we spoke with Eleanor Beidatsch, in an episode titled, “A Journey into accessibility: Digging for fossils from a wheelchair.”  Since that episode, Eleanor has graduated from the University of New England with First Class Honours, been awarded the $130,000 #ElevateSTEM scholarship for postgraduate research from the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering...

So, you want to become a fossil? Good luck with that! There’s a whole sequence of things that need to take place in order for that to happen, and in this episode of Palaeo Jam, we explore those steps, and how unlikely it is that you will be able to complete all of them.

Recorded underground in Blanch Cave, in the Naracoorte Caves, South Australia, this episode sees host Michael Mills in conversation with PhD candidate Nerita Turner...

In this episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills begins the conversation with Dr Natalia Jagielska, Engagement & Collections Curator at the Lyme Regis Museum by chatting about palaeontology pioneer Mary Anning, and what it means to be working in the very space Mary’s home in Lyme Regis once occupied. As the conversation continues, we learn about the first pterosaur ever found in Scotland, Dearc sgiathanach, and what it tells u...

Tens of thousands of years ago, in and around what is known as Lake Callabonna, in outback South Australia, all manner of now extinct Australian animals dwelt. But whether they walked, or slithered, or crawled, or hopped,  or flew, or swam in that place, it was soon to become what has been described in an ABC Australia documentary series as the “Lake of the Dead”.

In this episode of Palaeo Jam we travel back in time with host Mic...

In 1990, Mike Cleland was fossicking around a coastal region of the state of Victoria in Australia, when he came across a fossil discovery that was to change his life. The fossil he discovered was to become known as Koolasuchus cleelandi, and in 2022, Koolasuchus to became the state’s official fossil emblem, following a public vote.

In this episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills chats with Mike, and Lesley Kool, after whom the...

What happens when two people who create palaeontology podcasts get together for a chat? Tune in to find out!

In this episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills chats with vertebrate Palaeontologist and expert in Australian pterosaurs Adele Pentland of the “Pals in Palaeo” podcast about Australian pterosaurs, about each of their podcasts, and about science heroes.

Along the way we get an insight into where Australian pterosaurs f...

May 7th has come to be known as Australia’s National Dinosaur Day! A day in which Australians are being asked to celebrate the remarkable dinosaurs that once walked where we now walk. Or as we like to call them, the Dinosaurs Down Under!

What is the significance of May 7th? And how did this date, in particular, become the day now known as Australia’s National Dinosaur Day?

Phil Hore has worked in a lot of cool places, including...

We’re back for Season 3, and we begin in the palaeo lab at Flinders University!

We’re delighted that in this first episode of the new season, Palaeo Jam host Michael Mills chats with Dr Isaac Kerr about a remarkable research paper, just published, that seeks to more clearly define what is and what isn’t a Protemnodon… AKA a giant, prehistoric kangaroo!

During the course of the conversation, we hear from Isaac about the features tha...