In this episode, we talk to Dr. Adam Marsh, lead palaeontologist at the National Park. We explore the history, geology, and palaeontology of Petrified Forest, along with exciting research centred around specimens from the park. Research is ongoing, with many groups of palaeontologists working on Petrified Forest specimens, and we hear about directions it might go in the future.

Kligman, B.T., Gee, B.M., Marsh, A.D., Nesbitt, S.J., Smith, M.E., Parker, W.G., Stocker, M.R. 2023. Triassic stem caecilian supports dissorophoid origin of living amphibians. Nature 614(7946):102-107. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05646-5.

Marsh, A.D., Parker, W.G., Nesbitt, S.J., Kligman, B.T., Stocker, M.R. 2022 Puercosuchus traverorum n. gen. n. sp.: a new malerisaurine azendohsaurid (Archosauromorpha: Allokotosauria) from two monodominant bonebeds in the Chinle Formation (Upper Triassic, Norian) of Arizona. Journal of Paleontology 96(90):1-39. doi:10.1017/jpa.2022.49

Rhynchocephalians are related to lizards and snakes within Lepidosauria, but despite their outward appearance, are not lizards themselves and have a number of differences that make them distinct. In this interview, we speak to Dr. Victor Beccari, an expert in rhynchocephalians, and discuss this and more about this fascinating group of reptiles.

References:

Beccari, V., Guillaume, A. R. D., Jones, M. E. H., Villa, A., Cooper, N., Regnault, S., & Rauhut, O. W. M. (2025a). An arboreal rhynchocephalian (Lepidosauria: Rhynchocephalia) from the Late Jurassic of Germany, and the importance of the appendicular skeleton for ecomorphology in lepidosaurs. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 204(3), 39. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf073

Beccari, V., Villa, A., Jones, M. E. H., Ferreira, G. S., Glaw, F., & Rauhut, O. W. M. (2025b). A juvenile pleurosaurid (Lepidosauria: Rhynchocephalia) from the Tithonian of the Mörnsheim Formation, Germany. The Anatomical Record, 308(3), 844–867. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25545

Joining us in this episode are the lead authors Nathan Van Vranken (Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College) and Melanie During (Uppsala University & Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). Their study “King of the Riverside”, a multi-proxy approach offers a new perspective on mosasaurs before their extinction is open access and in BMC Zoology available now!

Since it’s not always possible to find the time and money to attend a conference in another country, we hope that such reporting can give you a sense of what it’s like to attend and speak to just some of the hundreds of people in attendance.

Cariocecus bocagei is a newly described iguanodontian from the Early Cretaceous of Praia do Areia do Mastro, Portugal. Whilst it is only know from a partial skull, there are numerous useful characteristics that help identify it as a new species and fill in our understanding of iguanodontians in this important time in their evolution.

Joining us in this episode is Dr Filippo Bertozzo of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.
(Video interview available here: https://youtu.be/2fviWUan97s)

Cariocecus bocagei was discovered in the Lower Cretaceous Papo Seco Formation of Praia do Areia do Mastro, Portugal.

As anthropogenic climate change threatens large scale uncertainty, it’s vital that we understand the controls that govern the success of this fundamentally important group. It is only by studying the evolutionary history of grasses that we might be able to predict how they will fare in future.

Joining us in this episode to speak about the challenges of piecing together the evolutionary history of grasses from a relatively poor fossil record is Prof. Caroline Strömberg of the University of Washington.

Extraordinary Mammals

Langebaanweg has produced some truly exceptional mammal remains. I want, I have written, so many versions of this article, trying to explore them in detail, but there is just too much to say, so let’s stick with what it all means and what exceptional finds have raised profound questions (many still lacking answers).

The first thing to note is that many animal groups or families are represented at the site by multiple species, and it is unclear in many cases how they were able to cohabitate. At the same time, you will quickly realise when investigating the fauna of Langebaanweg how little in-depth analysis much of this material has been subjected to. Examples of this among the herbivores include three species of Proboscideans (elephants) including the first mammoth in Africa, a relative to the African elephant and a four-tusked gomphothere. Readers might remember that the mammoth was the very first fossil recovered from the site. Similarly, there are three species of giraffid including the sivathere. This okapi-like animal, standing over 2 m at the shoulder, occurred in extraordinary abundance, and remains of over 500 individuals (not fossils, but animals) have been recovered. There is an astonishing assemblage of micromammals (rats and mice), including evidence for eusociality in mole-rats. One of my favourite fossils is the giant pig Nyanzachoerus, because side-by-side, its skull is larger than the bear. There are remains of aardvark and pangolin – usually extremely rare in fossil sites. There is also hippo – indicating substantial standing water, but no crocodiles. Similarly, there is a near lack of primates, despite extensive support for forested environments. There is no good explanation for these absences so far. In short the herbivores vary from grassland to closed environments and quite a lot inbetween.

The carnivore guild makes up as much as a third of the mammal species, which implies a comfortable abundance of prey animals. Possibly the most famous carnivore was the discovery of the first bear fossil in Africa, Agriotherium africanum. It is a large species, one of the best studied, and is today interpreted as a cursorial scavenger. There are 4-5 hyena species. This group at least shows evidence of niche differentiation with large and small species varying from durophagy (dental modifications for bone crushing – think spotted hyena) to hypercarnivory (exclusive meat eating – like big cats). I say 4-5 because there is an entirely undescribed species within the collection. Further, the hyper carnivorous hyenas didn’t manage to preclude the felines (another confused and understudied group). There are sabre-tooth cats, false sabre-tooth cats and more modern cats. The cats vary widely in size but there is a noticeable lack of small species. Of canids, there are only two; the family is basically unstudied, and it is not known why there are so few of them. Even the smaller carnivores make a better showing. The site has produced civet and genet and at least two (un-named and unstudied) mongoose species. There are otters, honey badger and the first occurrence of the wolverine in Africa, but there are no small mustelids (like weasels).

There are marine mammals in the form of whales and seals but no dolphins. The marine mammals tend to be disassociated and scattered and are often (like in the bonebed) mixed with terrestrial fauna, with signs of exposure on land. There are baleen and toothed whales. The seals are very common, even if attempts to identify and describe them are hamstrung by the lack of associated material. There is good evidence for a seal breeding colony in the vicinity.

There remain whole mammal families that are unstudied (bats, hyraxes, hares, golden moles) and as we saw above even within the ‘sexy’ groups there are species requiring reappraisal. There remains a host of work to be done just on the mammals.

Richness of Birds

Langebaanweg has been described as the best pre-Pleistocene bird site in the world, with over 90 species identified. This assemblage is, however, characterised by large gaps – whole unstudied families. Many of the bird species from the site are also isolated in time with huge temporal gaps between them and the next known members of their lineages, emphasising how exceptional the fossil preservation at the site is.

There are numerous marine birds, in fact a similar diversity has only been otherwise observed on certain subantarctic islands. Only the penguins (4 species) have been studied in detail. Further, the marine birds of Langebaanweg show no relationship to their relatives occurring in the region today, suggestions there has been a near complete turnover in the region, possibly even multiple independent colonisations. Mapping of sea-level changes, together with the presence of juveniles and neonates indicates that there were breeding colonies in the area, probably on offshore islands; which supports evidence from marine mammals.

The water birds are indicative of a perennial freshwater source with slow moving and marshy areas and dense vegetation. The most commonly occurring families of this group, ducks and gulls, are unstudied, although there may be as many as 15 gull species at the site. There is a single swan specimen (a first occurrence of the genus in sub-Saharan Africa), but there is some debate as to whether this might have been a vagrant occurrence. Further, there is one of the earliest occurrences of an ibis in Africa and at least two kingfishers. But there are notable exceptions like herons, flamingos and spoonbills.

There are numerous woodland birds, many of whom require tall trees for nesting. There are some of the oldest parrots and lovebirds in Africa, and the first appearance of a nightjar. There are hundreds of bones from songbirds (passerines), from at least 9 species, none of them studied. This includes the oldest African example of swallows.

The ostrich was the first bird material identified from Langebaanweg, but has never been studied in any detail. There are numerous grass-land, open-habitat and even arid environment species, of which the sandgrouse represents the oldest crown group appearance.  

The predaceous birds are also common, even if they are not useful palaeooecological indicators. There is an extraordinary four owl species, and over 100 vulture bones. This is the oldest crown-group appearance of vultures.

Thus, the birds of Langebaanweg paint a picture of a mosiac environment with forest, grassland and freshwater environments, as well as marine colonies nearby. But, some caution must be placed in considering the environmental signal of birds at Langebaanweg as the potential concentrating and depositional mechanisms are not well understood.

The ‘unsexy’ stuff

There are many ‘unsexy’ animal groups at the site – mostly unstudied – like fish, sharks, invertebrates and numerous reptiles of which only the tortoises have received any attention. The palaeoecologial implications of many of these groups has been overlooked. But I will give a quick overview of the few that have received attention.

Tortoise remains are arguably the most common bone material recovered at Langebaanweg and the underlying mechanism for their abundance is not well understood, although sampling bias is certainly a part of it. Recently, new analysis of the group has described a new species Chersina langebaanwegi, and identified the presence of as many as four other species. So far, no evidence of marine turtles has been documented, but freshwater terrapins are in evidence – the lack of the former can not be explained at this time. Other reptiles include chameleon (one described species), gecko, lizards, and snakes.

The other group that has received extensive analysis is frogs. Langebaanweg has produced an extraordinarily rich assemblage with over 19 species. For comparison there are only four in the region today. They show a diversity of habitats and have been used in palaeoecological studies to mark, for example, rainfall extent and seasonality.

One last comment is to note that the site does not preserve any plant macrofossils, but pollen and phytoliths (plant microfossils) have been used for environmental reconstructions.

Conclusion

What I hope is clear from this discussion of Langebaanweg is the scale of this site and the palaeontological quality of its fossil material. The broad range of environments it samples and the many research opportunities it offers. It provides an unparalleled glimpse into a period in time that is both poorly represented in the geological record of Africa, while also being of extraordinary importance. It is a site with a long and extraordinary history and one that continues to offer researchers unrivalled opportunities to expand our understanding of evolution.

And let’s be honest here, it is a source of cool fossils.

The bonebed dig site and a selection of the fossils discussed above can be visited at the West Coast Fossil Park, Western Cape, South Africa. https://fossilpark.org.za/

Selected References

Cohen, B.F. (2017). Sedimentaology and Taphonomy of Cenozoic vertebrates from Langebaanweg, Cape west coast, South Africa; with palaeoecological interpretations. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Delfino, M., Cohen, B.F., Govender, R., Haarhoff, P., Macaluso, L., Marino, L., Matthews, T., Wencker, L.C.M., and Pavia, M. (2024). Towards the origin of South African tortoises: a new Chersina species from the Early Pliocene fossil site of Langebaanweg. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 202 (3), zlae146. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae146

Groenewald, P.A., Sealy, J., Stynder, D., Smith, K.M. (2020). Dietary resource partitioning among three coeval proboscidean taxa (Anancus capensis, Mammuthus subplanifrons, Loxodonta cookei) from the South African Early Pliocene locality of Langebaanweg E Quarry. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 543, 109606.

Hendey, Q.B. (1981). Palaeoecology of the late Tertiary fossil occurrences in E’ Quarry, Langebaanweg, South Africa, and a reinterpretation of their geological context. Annals of the South African Museum, 84(1), 1–104.

Manegold, A., Louchart, A., Carrier, J., Elzanowski, A. (2013). The Early Pliocene avifauna of Langebaanweg (South Africa): a review and update. In Paleornithological Research 2013–Proceedings of the 8^th International Meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution. 135–152.

Matthews, T., Denys, C. & Parkington, J.E. (2007). Community evolution of Neogene micromammals from Langebaanweg “E” Quarry and other west coast fossil sites, south-western Cape, South Africa. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 245(3–4), 332–352.

Matthews, T., van Dijk, E., Roberts, D.L., Smith, R.M.H. (2015). An early Pliocene (5.1 Ma) fossil frog community from Langebaanweg, south-western Cape, South Africa. African Journal of Herpetology, 64(1), 39–53.

Rich, P. V. (1980). Preliminary report on the fossil Avian remains from Late Tertiary sediments at Langebaanweg, South Africa. South African Journal of Science, 76, 166–170.

Roberts, D.L., Matthews, T., Herries, A.I.R., Boulter, C., Scott, L., Dondo, C., Mtembi, P., Browning, C. (2011). Regional and global context of the Late Cenozoic Langebaanweg (LBW) palaeontological site: West Coast of South Africa. Earth-Science Reviews, 106 (3–4), 191–214.

Roberts, D.L., Neumann, F.H., Cawthra, H.C., Carr, A.S., Durugbo, E.U., Humphries, M.S., Cowling, R.M., Bamford, M.K. (2017). Palaeoenvironments during a Terminal Oligocene or Early Miocene transgression in a fluvial system at the southwestern tip of Africa. Global and Planetary Change, 150, 1-23.

Werdelin, L. (2006). The position of Langebaanweg in the evolution of carnivora in Africa. African Natural History, 2, 201.

Brigette Cohen was formerly a palaeontologist and museum scientist until she decided that academia didn’t suit her. Now she works as a science writer. Translating academic mumbo-jumbo into fascinating stories of past life on earth. South African born and raised, she is particularly keen on seeing the incredible palaeontology of Africa being shared. You can find more of her work here.

              Arguably the most important feat of this book is that it accomplishes the main task it sets out to do: overviewing a large number of recent and historical discoveries that collectively reveal the journey sharks (technically, cartilaginous fishes) have been on for almost half a billion years. One of my favourites was the identification of relatively large olfactory bulbs in the Early Devonian Doliodus through CT-scanning, indicating that even early on in their evolution, the ancestors of sharks had likely already evolved the powerful sense of smell we associate with them today. Others include the unveiling of the Late Cretaceous “manta-shark” Aquilolamna in 2021 and evidence for sixgill sharks scavenging Otodus angustidens – a close relative of megalodon- in the Oligocene. Beyond discoveries concerning fossil sharks, the final Part of the book highlights various discoveries surrounding modern sharks, in particular white sharks. While an ambitious amount of content is described throughout this book, it can somewhat leave the reader wanting more. Personally, I would have liked to have seen more on the Lebanese Cretaceous sharks, especially the charismatic fossil goblin sharks. Likewise, some information on how living chimaera (also known as ghost sharks and rat fish) survive at such great depths and what they prey on would be of value to a reader unfamiliar with them.

              Beyond the deep dive into the evolutionary history of sharks, the book also covers much of the fascinating connection we have had with sharks for thousands of years. It was fascinating to learn about how North American First Nations peoples used megalodon teeth as cutting tools and how Late Medieval European nobles believed they could detect poison in their drinks by dunking a fossil shark tooth. The human connection is not restricted solely to cultural links and practical use, but is also expressed as scientific discovery. Many of the adventures and exploits of scientists both historic and modern are highlights of this book. One such adventure, told from the author’s perspective while fossil hunting in the Antarctic, is the riveting opening of the very first chapter, and had me eagerly flipping through the first few pages. Another that made for one of the funnier moments was the encounter the author and colleague Mikael Siversson had with a flock of emus in the Australian outback. Some might argue that the inclusion of perilous tales of fieldwork to hook readers have become too common among the current popular palaeo-literature (or even the historic literature too), but in this case, it is refreshing to see such tales specifically focus on the discovery of fossil sharks and their relatives. Furthermore, the fieldwork adventures are not restricted to any one place but are instead almost all over the world.

              The third major strength of this book is how it uses the fossil record of sharks as a tool for describing key principles in evolutionary biology as well as how we as palaeontologists make sense of the fossils we find. For example, anagenesis is explained through the evolutionary sequence of megatooth shark species, where teeth gradually became more serrated and larger, culminating in the iconic megalodon. Some of the insight into palaeontological practices that the general public might find interesting include how we can identify if a coprolite originally came from a shark based on whether it has a spiral-shape, and how we can use synchrotron scanning to take a look at the brain of a 300-million-year-old shark relative. These primers into how we discover and reconstruct the evolutionary history of sharks are not only explained through text and informative figures (whether they be photos of fossils or diagrams) but also through key terms that are in bold type and have definitions listed in the glossary at the end of the book. Most of these terms relate to specific clades or informal groups of sharks and many other organisms that have existed alongside them like plesiosaurs, while other terms relate to important biological concepts ranging from homeobox genes to trophic ecology.

              My only noteworthy gripes with the book largely concern editorial decisions. Among my criticisms is that some of the language here and there felt a bit jarring to read. This relates to the use of certain phrases that are arguably too colloquial, such as ‘got the hell out of dodge’ and ‘an IMAX view of life of the past’. The reading experience would have been enhanced if the editing was focused more on tightening language as well as providing more room for the author to elaborate on fossil sharks and their history of discovery. Another issue I had was the lack of coloured artwork (although this could change in future editions). Julius Csotonyi’s artwork throughout the book is spectacular and brings to life a huge range of sharks and relatives, many of which are superbly bizarre and thought-provoking. Such artwork plays a huge role in shaping the general public’s imagination of these bygone animals, and so it is a shame to not see at least some of the art in colour. The same criticism also applies to the greyscale photographs of many of the figured fossils, particularly those from Lagerstätten, as the beauty of their exceptional preservation is harder to appreciate without colour.

              Despite my criticisms, I genuinely believe The Secret History of Sharks is one of my top recommendations for anyone who is a fan of sharks, fossils, or the evolution of life across a huge timeframe. The vast majority of popular palaeo-science books that have become modern staples of the subgenre primarily concern dinosaurs and many others centre around other tetrapods. Even those about ancient marine life focus predominantly on secondarily aquatic marine tetrapods. This is not a criticism of such works, but instead highlights that The Secret History of Sharks fills an important gap in the popular literature, hence why I strongly recommend it. I think any reader will walk away from this book having learnt something new and exciting, whether it be about some weird extinct fish with cartilage for a skeleton, the daring quests palaeontologists will brave to forage for fossils, or how the shark fossil record provides wonderful insight into evolutionary theory.

Hady George is a palaeontology PhD student at the University of Bristol researching jaw function across the fish-tetrapod transition among other things, and seemingly always has a pop science book somewhere.

The oldest known odontodes are from the late Cambrian Period and represent the very first evidence for vertebrates in the fossil record. Unfortunately, they are only ever found as part of fragmentary pieces of exoskeleton, however, given that their specific construction is only known in vertebrates, there is little else they could possibly be…

Joining us for this episode is Dr Yara Haridy, University of Chicago, who set out to use modern new scanning techniques to better understand the nature of these first teeth and what they tell us about the evolution of vertebrates. What she discovered was unexpected, but also led to better understanding of the purpose of odontodes in the dermal exoskeletons of our ancestors. Her research was recently published in Nature and is free to access.

The evolutionary history of ants is equally as impressive, with roughly as many fossil ant species known as there are of dinosaurs! Since their appearance in the Cretaceous, several early lineages of ants (stem ants) have gone extinct. In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Christine Sosiak of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology as we explore what some of these stem ants were like and ask how the different groups of ants fared over geological time.

Stem Ants

In cladistics (the science of classifying organisms), it is useful to be able to differentiate the crown and stem members of a group. The crown group is the branch of a tree that contains all the living members and traces back to their last shared common ancestor. So you could say “every living species came from this point on the tree”. Conversely, the stem group are those early evolutionary trajectories whose lineage diverged before that point and ultimately went extinct. (see diagram below). You can have crown ant that went extinct, but you can’t have a modern stem ant. Therefore, stem ants can only be found in the fossil record.