Lingering Fingerlings and Dingalings 

(Vestigial Structures)

Today we're answering the big questions, like why do whales have hips when they don't have legs? And why did Tyrannosaurus rex have such tiny tiny arms? 

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Genitalia, cursing, discussion of unwanted sexual contact in whales 

Images From the Episode

References

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Canale 2022 Convergent trends in therapod arm reduction https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982222008600 

Padian, Kevin. "Why tyrannosaurid forelimbs were so short: An integrative hypothesis." Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 67.1 (2022): 63-76.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221025-why-did-t-rex-have-such-puny-arms 

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/need-a-hand-dont-ask-an-abelisaurid-88125248/ 

McCrea, Richard T., et al. "A ‘terror of tyrannosaurs’: the first trackways of tyrannosaurids and evidence of gregariousness and pathology in Tyrannosauridae." PLoS One 9.7 (2014): e103613. 

https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2017AM/webprogram/Paper297346.html

Titus, Alan L., et al. "Geology and taphonomy of a unique tyrannosaurid bonebed from the upper Campanian Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah: implications for tyrannosaurid gregariousness." PeerJ 9 (2021): e11013. 

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-discover-new-primitive-cousins-of-t-rex-finding-sheds-light-on-the-end-of-the-age-of-dinosaurs-in-africa/ 

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Simmons, L. W., & Fitzpatrick, J. L. (2019). Female genitalia can evolve more rapidly and divergently than male genitalia. Nature Communications, 10(1), 1312.

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https://www.newscientist.com/article/2303662-what-dolphins-reveal-about-the-evolution-of-the-clitoris/ 

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