The gang gins up a flimsy excuse to talk about short-faced bears and megalodon. Also, Amanda researches topics for future podcasts on air, Curt becomes transfixed by Google image searches, and James's mind is broken by the thought of Mr. T. 

References:

Soibelzon, Leopoldo H., et al. "South American giant short-faced bear (Arctotherium angustidens) diet: evidence from pathology, morphology, stable isotopes, and biomechanics." Journal of Paleontology 88.6 (2014): 1240-1250.

Pimiento, Catalina, and Christopher F. Clements. "When Did Carcharocles megalodon Become Extinct? A New Analysis of the Fossil Record." PloS one9.10 (2014): e111086.

In this episode, the gang looks at a few cases of fossil pathologies in arthropods, birds, and amphibians and discusses the interesting broader evolutionary ramifications of these studies. Meanwhile, Amanda wrangles cats, and Curt confuses everyone by consistently assigning taxa to the wrong groups (for example: loriciferans are not priapulids, even though they are closely related). Oh... and  James leads a legitimate discussion on science ethics.

References:

Mayr, Gerald. "Bizarre tubercles on the vertebrae of Eocene fossil birds indicate an avian disease without modern counterpart." Naturwissenschaften94.8 (2007): 681-685.

García-Bellido, Diego C., and Desmond H. Collins. "Moulting arthropod caught in the act." Nature 429.6987 (2004): 40-40.

Peel, John S., Martin Stein, and Reinhardt Møbjerg Kristensen. "Life Cycle and Morphology of a Cambrian Stem-Lineage Loriciferan." PloS one 8.8 (2013): e73583.

Fröbisch, Nadia B., Constanze Bickelmann, and Florian Witzmann. "Early evolution of limb regeneration in tetrapods: evidence from a 300-million-year-old amphibian." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281.1794 (2014): 20141550

After spending 2 hours fighting the internet (drinking the whole time), the gang finally starts recording a bit tipsy and ends the evening fairly wasted. And like an e-mail sent after a long night out at the bars, they record a podcast on properties of higher taxa that they immediately regret in the sobering light of day.

References

Humphreys, Aelys M., and Timothy G. Barraclough. "The evolutionary reality of higher taxa in mammals." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281.1783 (2014): 20132750.

Paul G. Harnik, Paul C. Fitzgerald, Jonathan L. Payne, and Sandra J. Carlson. “Phylogenetic signal in extinction selectivity in Devonian terebratulide brachiopods.” Paleobiology, 40(4):675-692. (2014)

The gang stumbles their way through several papers about kangaroos, particularly focusing on a meat eating rat kangaroo. Also, stressed and annoyed at the current internet climate, James and Curt spend most of the podcast relentlessly mocking GamerGate while Amanda decides to ignore them and play with the cat. Also.... texting. 

Scientific References

Wroe, Stephen. "Killer kangaroos and other murderous marsupials." Scientific American 280.5 (1999): 68-74.

Wroe, Stephen, Jenni Brammall, and Bernard N. Cooke. "The skull of Ekaltadeta ima (Marsupialia, Hypsiprymnodontidae?): an analysis of some marsupial cranial features and a re-investigation of propleopine phylogeny, with notes on the inference of carnivory in mammals." Journal of Paleontology(1998): 738-751.

Janis, Christine M., Karalyn Buttrill, and Borja Figueirido. "Locomotion in extinct giant kangaroos: were sthenurines hop-less monsters?." PloS one 9.10 (2014): e109888.

Summary of the current internet toxicity (Trigger warning, rape and death threats)

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/technology/gamergate-women-video-game-threats-anita-sarkeesian.html?_r=0

http://deadspin.com/the-future-of-the-culture-wars-is-here-and-its-gamerga-1646145844

http://jezebel.com/gamergate-trolls-arent-ethics-crusaders-theyre-a-hate-1644984010

and some catharsis  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr2JPjhtGZA

James, Curt, Liam, Brendan, and Aly discuss talks from the final paleo sessions at GSA 2014, and Brendan makes an impassioned plea to conserve a vital resource.

Amanda and the cat skype in to see what’s been going on at the Vancouver GSA 2014 meeting. Also, James’s brain is so broken that it makes a pun that doesn’t exist.

James, Curt, Liam, and Aly join up with biogeochemists Brendan and Charity to discuss some of the GSA 2014 paleontology talks, as well as the difference between a creek and a crick.

James and Curt are joined by fellow paleontologists Liam and Aly to discuss paleo talks from the first day of the Geological Society of America Meeting 2014 in Vancouver, as well as unusual Swiftian food sources.

The gang discusses the new Spinosaurus material while also trying to completely alienate their audience, starting at jingoistic humor and ending with mass suicide jokes. Meanwhile, Amanda discusses her misgivings about musicals, James compares the other podcast hosts to Peanuts characters, and Curt struggles to understand a perplexing metaphor.

References:

Rayfield, EMILY J. "Structural performance of tetanuran theropod skulls, with emphasis on the Megalosauridae, Spinosauridae and Charcharo− dontosauridae." Special Papers in Palaeontology 86 (2011): 241-253.

Ibrahim, Nizar, et al. "Semiaquatic adaptations in a giant predatory dinosaur."Science 345.6204 (2014): 1613-1616.

In this episode, the gang concludes their marathon of prerecorded episodes with two papers about the biomechanics of the Terror Birds. We also talk about chukars for pretty much no reason. Also, Curt freaks out about birds, James starts a rumor about Aristotle, and Amanda is assaulted by her cat.

References:

Blanco, R. Ernesto, and Washington W. Jones. "Terror birds on the run: a mechanical model to estimate its maximum running speed." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 272.1574 (2005): 1769-1773.

Degrange, Federico J., et al. "Mechanical analysis of feeding behavior in the extinct “terror bird” Andalgalornis steulleti (Gruiformes: Phorusrhacidae)." PloS one 5.8 (2010): e11856.