Before there were dinosaurs, Queensland, Australia was home to a fascinating array of reptiles, amphibians, and the ancestors of mammals. And then, 252 million years ago, just about everything on Earth died! So let’s talk who survived, and why! In an episode supported by National Science Week, host Michael Mills is joined by Dr Espen Knutsen, Senior Curator of Palaeontology at the Museum of Tropical Queensland, and James Cook University, and Ash Turner, PhD Candidate at James Cook University. Along the way, the three talk about some of the many and varied creatures of the Permian and the subsequent Triassic Periods. While Michael discovers an awesome new term for a particular group of animals... the Pigs of the Permian, which he's decided may well be the name of his next album or band! Dr Espen Knutsen is the Senior Curator of Palaeontology at the Museum of Tropical Queensland and James Cook University. He has a special interest in the diversity, evolution and ecology of Mesozoic reptiles, such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and dinosaurs.   You can check out his research portfolio at James Cook University at https://research.jcu.edu.au/portfolio/espen.knutsen/ and can follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/e_m_knutsen   Ash Turner is a palaeontologist from Adelaide, looking at vertebrates of Triassic South East Queensland, particularly the temnospondyl amphibians both large and small.   You can find Ash on ResearchGate at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ashten-Turner-2   You can find Palaeo Jam host Michael on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Heapsgood   To connect with Dinosaur University on Facebook, follow us at https://www.facebook.com/DinosaurUniversity   And on Twitter at… https://twitter.com/DinosaurUni