In this episode, you, the listener, will gate crash the gala event of the century: Darwin’s 200th birthday party at Melbourne Museum. It’s a spectacular celebration of the evolution of life on earth called Evolution – the dinner.

You’ll love the menu; we get to eat our way up the evolutionary tree course by course.  The menu starts at the Precambrian earth 4.5 billion years ago represented by arancini balls with crusty textures of proto earth over hot fillings. The early oceans of primeval soup 3.6 billion years ago will be superb servings of seafood bisque. The menu offering then moves to the Cambrian explosion of life on earth which saw the origins of molluscs and crustaceans like prawns and scallops. The era of bony fishes is a serving of salmon and caviar. The menu then celebrates life emerging on land with reptilian crocodile skewers.

You know that old chestnut of which came first, the chicken or the egg? We can answer that; life on, dry land was only possible due to emergence of the hard-shelled eggs which came well before the chicken! The dinosaur era course will remind us that the chicken drummettes we eat are identical to the pattern of bones found in Tyrannosaurus leg, only thankfully smaller.

Enjoy this edible version of access all areas pod cast adventures.

Watch out for chocolate meteorites,

Cheers, Dr Andi

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Brain Choo a palaeontologist about to submit his PhD thesis, Darwin impersonator Bernard Caleo, and Dr Andi Horvath | Darwin’s 200th birthday cake, Galapagos tortoise ornament made by Museum preparators | Chris Darwin (the great great grandson) and Dr John Long signing books for dinner guests

Show notes

Museum Victoria Resources

Museum Victoria’s Darwin portal
Documenting Change by Martin Gomon
John Long's Science prize for fossil discovery
Ancient Gogonasus advances evolution

More information

Celebrations in Melbourne across 2009 see 'Evolution the experience'
Australian Fish Biodiversity site

Glossary

Arteodactyl mammals – animals with hooves

Credits

Voices

Dr John Long - Head, Sciences
Wayne Gerdtz - Curator, Science & Life Gallery
Dr Martin F Gomon - Senior Curator, Ichthyology
Shannon Henriksson - Multimedia assistant & virtual dinner MC
Dr Jane Melville - Senior Curator of Terrestrial Vertebrates

Technical

Mr Archie Cuthbertson - Podcast Recording Services