Encore: Dinosaurs and the mammal ...

Encore: Dinosaurs and the mammal longevity gap, Evolutionary Biology - with Associate Professor Molly Burke

Whimsical Wavelengths - A Science Podcast by Canadian Volcanologist & Geophysicist: Jeffrey Mark Zurek, PhD, PGeo | Science Communicator
S1
Aug 4, 2025
39:57

Episode notes

This time we take a deep dive into an hypothesis The longevity bottleneck hypothesis: Could dinosaurs have shaped ageing in present-day mammals?” by João Pedro de Magalhães

https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.202300098

See our branch of the animal kingdom, mammals, first evolved around 200 million years ago. During the age of dinosaurs. To quote the paper “long evolutionary pressure on early mammals for rapid reproduction led to the loss or inactivation of genes and pathways associated with long life”

To talk about this and look at the evolution of aging, the wonderful and fantastic Dr Molly Burke agreed to talk about her research and the science of aging more generally! Her lab at the Oregon State university uses model organisms to experimentally study evolution. (https://ib.oregonstate.edu/directory/molly-k-burke).

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Keywords

science
evolution
biology
Dinosaurs
science communication
scicomm