The Oddest Couple in the Fossil Record

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To figure out how Thrinaxodon and Broomistega became entombed together, scientists looked at the burrow itself, along with their fossilized bones. And it looks like their luck ran out, when a behavior that usually would’ve helped them survive just didn’t work.

Special thanks to Julio Lacerda (  / juliotheartist  ) for the excellent Thrinaxodon and Broomistega illustrations for this episode!

And thanks to Fabrizio de Rossi (  / artoffabricious  ) for the Thrinaxodon illustration that originally appeared in our episode on synapsids:    • When the Synapsids Struck Back  

Here is the study we primarily discuss in this episode:
Fernandez V, Abdala F, Carlson KJ, Cook DC, Rubidge BS, Yates A, et al. (2013) Synchrotron Reveals Early Triassic Odd Couple: Injured Amphibian and Aestivating Therapsid Share Burrow. PLoS ONE 8(6): e64978. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone....

Produced in collaboration with PBS Digital Studios:    / pbsdigitalstudios  

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References: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E...