14 episodes
The Backpacker's Guide To Prehistory David Mountain
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- Science
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5.0 • 16 Ratings
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The podcast that provides top travel tips for time travellers. Each episode host David Mountain will be asking experts in palaeobiology about the most interesting, exciting and important aspects of prehistory.
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S2 E6: The Jurassic
Pack your raincoat, because this week we're heading to a very stormy Jurassic. As the only geological period with bona fide movie star status, the Jurassic is full of prehistoric celebrities, from the first birds and mammals to - of course - the dinosaurs. But what should you wear? And where should you visit?
Fortunately, Dr Evelyn Kustatscher of the South Tyrol Museum of Nature (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Evelyn-Kustatscher) and Dr Elsa Panciroli of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History (https://oumnh.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-elsa-panciroli; https://twitter.com/gsciencelady; https://elsapanciroli.wordpress.com/) are on hand to provide some much-needed travel advice. Be sure to check out their research!
Follow the podcast on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.
Sound effects from Zapsplat.com. Special thanks to Rachel Holmes. -
S2 E5: The Silurian
Love warm, sandy beaches? Tropical azure seas? Metre-long sea scorpions? Then the Silurian is the backpacking destination for you! Join host David Mountain as he scuba dives through the Silurian period, the hidden gem of the Palaeozoic. Lasting from 444 to 419 million years again, this stretch of time sees the emergence of jawed fish, terrestrial arthropods, vascular plants and much, much more.
Providing the expert advice are Dr James Lamsdell, a palaeobiologist at West Virginia University (http://jameslamsdell.com/; https://twitter.com/FossilDetective), and Dr Sandy Hetherington, a palaeobotanist at the University of Edinburgh (https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/dr-sandy-hetherington; https://www.ed.ac.uk/biology/groups/hetherington; https://twitter.com/Sandy_Heth). If you want to find out more about the Silurian, be sure to check out their research!
Follow the podcast on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.
Sound effects from Zapsplat.com. -
S2 E4: The Neogene
Wide open skies, grand horizons and the promise of adventure: the Neogene has it all. Join host David Mountain as he explores the varied environments of this time period and the plants and animals that made them up. You might even come face-to-face with your own ancestors in the plains of East Africa!*
Providing valuable travel tips are two Neogene experts: Dr Aly Baumgartner, a palaeobotanist at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History (https://twitter.com/PaleoLorax; https://scientiaandveritas.wordpress.com/) and Dr Laurence Dumouchel, a paleoanthropologist at Wichita State University (https://twitter.com/paleolau; https://www.wichita.edu/profiles/academics/fairmount_college_of_liberal_arts_and_sciences/Anthropology/Dumouchel-Laurence.php). If you want to discover more about the Neogene, be sure to check out their research!
Follow the podcast on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.
Sound effects from Zapsplat.com.
*Hominin sightings not guaranteed. -
S2 E3: The Palaeogene
Join host David Mountain as he ventures into the tropical world of the Palaeogene, 66-23 million years ago. If you’re looking for volatile climates, volcanic activity and some of the most remarkable mammals to have ever walked the Earth, then the Palaeogene could be the perfect getaway!
Providing the travel advice are two Palaeogene experts: Dr Monica Carvalho, a palaeobotanist with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (https://moccada.wixsite.com/paleobiology; https://twitter.com/moccada) and Dr Sergi López-Torres, a palaeontologist at the University of Warsaw (http://www.paleo.pan.pl/pracownicy/lopez_torres/lopez_torres.html; https://twitter.com/S_LopezTorres). If you want to learn more about the plants and animals of the Palaeogene world then be sure to check out their research!
Follow the podcast on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.
Sound effects from Zapsplat.com. -
S2 E2: The Ordovician
For this episode of The Backpacker’s Guide To Prehistory, host David Mountain is setting his time machine for the distant Ordovician period, 485-444 million years ago. Dive into oceans teeming with long-lost wildlife, from trilobites to orthocones to the nightmarish conodonts.
Providing some much-needed travel tips are Dr Lucy McCobb, a palaeontologist at the National Museum Cardiff (https://museum.wales/staff/184/Lucy-McCobb/) and Prof Dave Harper, Professor Emeritus of Palaeontology at Durham University (https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/david-harper/). If you want to learn more about the Ordovician world then be sure to check out their research!
Follow the podcast on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.
Sound effects from Zapsplat.com. -
S2 E1: The Carboniferous
For the first episode of The Backpacker's Guide To Prehistory season two, host David Mountain travels back to the Carboniferous period, 359-299 million years ago. In this weird world of giant horsetails and monster arthropods, what creatures should you look out for? What clothes should you pack? And is it really such a good idea to light a campfire?
Providing the answers are two Carboniferous experts: Dr Bill DiMichele, Curator of Palaeobotany at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (https://naturalhistory.si.edu/staff/bill-dimichele), and Dr Russell Garwood, a palaeontologist at the University of Manchester (https://russellgarwood.co.uk/; https://twitter.com/RussellGarwood). Massive thanks to Bill and Russell for sharing their travel advice. If you're interested in the plants and animals of the Carboniferous - and I know you are - then make sure to check out their research!
Follow the podcast on Twitter @prehistoryguide. Find out more at prehistoryguide.co.uk.
Sound effects from Zapsplat.com.
Customer Reviews
Such a Fun Premise
This podcast has such a great concept behind it: you are vacationing in one of the great past eras of Earth's history. What's the flora and fauna like, and how's the weather? David Mountain engages with scientists from around the world to explore each age. Highly recommend.
Educational and Excellent podcast!
They make the podcast fun and knowledgeable by pretending that time traveling existed and what to expect. It gives knowledge and true description of major animals of a era. The sounds of nature contained really gives a imaginative soundscape for any listener to enjoy .
If you’re wanting to experience deep time in a fun format, this is your pod
Really fun podcast that does what the title says: takes you “time traveling” through all the geologic periods. The host is great and the concept is a lot of fun.
The host is joined by a couple experts in the particular geologic period for each episode and they go time traveling back to that period to discuss what earth was like. They discuss the atmosphere (better bring an oxygen mask if you’re traveling to anytime before the Carboniferous), the weather (if you’re traveling to the Pleistocene ice age, pack extra layers), the animals, how the continents looked, etc. It’s a great way to travel through the geologic time periods and the host is informative and does a great job driving the narrative.
The show has done two seasons so far and it’s covered all geologic periods from the Cambrian Explosion when complex animals first appeared 541 million years ago to the most recent period, the Ice Age. I, personally, didn’t listen to the shows in the order that they were released. I went chronologically, from episode 1.4 the Cambrian, to 2.2 Ordivician, all the way to the Pleistocene ep 1.6, which allowed me to time travel chronologically through the Phanerozoic Eon.
Anyway, the podcast is good fun and very informative. Only wish the episodes were a bit longer. I do wonder if he’s finished now that he’s done the entire Phanerozoic, or if he’ll do another season exploring the Pre-Cambrian and maybe the Neolithic or something. 5 stars for the ingenuity of the show’s concept and the host’s ability to pull it off. Well done.
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