Following the world premiere of “A Curious Thing- The story of Mary Anning” at the 2023 Adelaide Fringe, Palaeo Jam host, and writer/director of the Mary Anning Fringe show Michael Mills sat down with three brilliant women in science to explore their thoughts on the show, its themes, Mary’s legacy, and their own experiences as women in science.   In a wide ranging discussion, Flinders University space archeologist, Dr Alice Gorman, University of Adelaide Palaeontologist Dr Liz Reed, and...

Imagine you’re that dinosaur kid! The one who knows all the names of all the things, and dreams of one day going to university to study palaeontology in order to become a palaeontologist. Of course, most dinosaur kids don’t get to do that. But imagine you are one who makes it. You do get accepted into a palaeontology degree, and even better, make it through the first year!   In this episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills chats with three students who’ve just completed their first year of a...

Late last year, while on a trip to Naracoorte, South Australia, Palaeo Jam podcast host Michael Mills sat down with three students from the University of Adelaide, all at different stages as palaeontology students.   One, Stephanie Massacci, was just at the beginning of Honours, where the focus will be on seeking to clarify the taxonomy of the Pleistocene Tasmanian Devil, compared with the extinct giant Tasmanian Devil. The second, Isabella Donato, was at the end of Honours, in a project that...

Caves can be the holders of great fossil collections. It’s important to remember, though, that they still exist as living ecosystems, and will continue to do so. In this episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills chats with Dr Liz Reed of the University of Adelaide, and South Australian Museum. This episode was recorded inside Blanch Cave, in the World Naracoorte listed Naracoorte Caves, where Liz is one of many to have conducted research into its remarkable trove of fossils.   On the ongoing...

Isolated islands can evolve remarkably unique flora and fauna, given enough time. None is more unique than New Zealand, the home of the Kiwi, but also the past home of multiple species of birds and frogs. Indeed, such was the nature of the islands in the not too distant past, that birds and frogs filled many of the ecological niches commonly filled by other forms of critter, including mammals.   Dr Nic Rawlence, Senior Lecturer in Ancient DNA, University of Otago, New Zealand, stopped in to...

Museums are custodians of story, and the collections that dwell within them belong to the community of which they are a part. In recent years, though, funding cuts have put significant pressure on many aspects of what museums do so well, in research, collection curation, and public programmes. In a wide ranging conversation, host Michael Mills chats with Dr Kailah Thorn, Curator at Edward de Courcy Clarke Earth Science Museum on why museums matter, and why they need to be properly...

When we think of palaeontology, we often think of the giant bones of dinosaurs assembled in museums. And when not thinking of the bones, we’re often enamoured by the size of fossilised teeth such as those of T.rex, Megalodon, Mosasaurs and other leviathans. There are more things than fossilise, though, than the bones and teeth. Trace fossils are the fossils of activity. They are evidence of something an animal did in the past. They include fossilised footprints, teeth marks, burrows, and...

One of the great challenges of palaeontology is to work out what a long dead animal actually looked like, and how it lived, when all you have is a fossilised bone or two. This is where Associate Professor Natalie Warburton, of Murdoch University, and her freezer full of dead things comes in! In a fascinating episode, we go on a journey to discover what lies beneath an animal’s skin, and how we might come to know that for prehistoric animals… Of how we reconstruct animals from the past. In...

On the 3rd August, 1969, some 53 years ago, a young biologist, Rod Wells, along with his friend, caver Grant Gartrell crawled through a narrow opening at Naracoorte's Victoria cave, and made a remarkable discovery. It was to be one of the most remarkable finds of megafauna fossils found anywhere in the world, and played a significant part in the Australian megafauna site being elevated to the World Heritage list in 1994   In this special one on one edition of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills...

When we think of Australia and its wildlife, the first thing that comes to mind is the iconic, often-hopping, marsupials! (Ok… and all the things might kill and maim you!) In exploring Australia’s recent prehistoric past, it’s also often the marsupials that we get to hear of. Giant wombats, rather large, short-faced kangaroos, and leopard-sized, scissor-toothed, tree-climbing pouched predators!   What we don’t often think of, is Australia as a land of vultures and flamingoes! And yet, the...

Or does it? In the latest episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills talks to Dr Diana Fusco and Nathan Phillips of Flinders University about what it’s actually like to head into the field, and dig up fossils. All three have had multiple opportunities to go out to dig sites and do so, and in this podcast, each of them give some great insights into life in the field, and what it is really like!   In so doing, we delve into some into the challenges of working remotely! What happens, for...

Art and Science are often thought to be polar opposites. The truth, though, as Palaeo Jam podcast host Michael Mills can attest having successfully worked in the Art/Science space for more than 25 years, is that the two can make for a remarkable and inspiring marriage.   Speaking of marriages, Michael’s guests in this episode, are Dr Heather Robinson and Professor John Long. In this episode we explore the importance of their art/science collaborations, and the things they each bring to...

In this episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills is joined by Alice, and Dr Vera Weisbecker, to discuss the impact and challenges having children has had on the careers of women in palaeontology, and whether or not things have changed over the years.

In this episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills is joined by Dr Aaron Camens, (lecturer in palaeontology at Flinders University), and Pheobe McInerney, (PhD Candidate at Flinders University) to discuss all the things, and what they think makes palaeontology such a valuable science.

In this introductory, test episode, Steve Davis asks producer, Michael Mills, about the content and the rationale for the Palaeo Jam Podcast.