Episode Details

The gang discusses two papers that technically involve symbiosis. The first paper looks at fossil evidence for tape worms, and the second paper is a review of the various evolutionary hypotheses of the convergent origin of viviparity (live birth). Meanwhile, Curt imagines a new theme park, James has a good night, and Amanda surprises us all.

Up-Goer Five (Curt Edition):

The friends look at two papers that look at things that live inside of other animals. The first paper looks at an animal that lives inside other animals and eats their food from the inside. This paper finds very old shit and in some of this shit they find the things that these animals that live inside of you use to make more of themselves. The second paper goes over the ways that animals can grow smaller animals of themselves inside of themselves, and all of the reasons why that might happen.

References:

Dentzien-Dias, Paula, et al. "Multiple records of tapeworm eggs from Permian coprolites and their palaeoparasitological significance." Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 71.2 (2026): 323-335.

Whittington, Camilla M., Mitchell J. Hodgson, and Christopher R. Friesen. "Convergent evolution of pregnancy in vertebrates." Annual Review of Animal Biosciences 13.1 (2025): 189-209.