Tropical Mammoths, Dazzling Brain Map, And Perfectly Preserved Pterosaurs

Tropical Mammoths, Dazzling Brain Map, And Perfectly Preserved Pterosaurs

From IFLScience - Break It Down by iflsciencebreakitdown

September 5, 2025 · 42 min · Episode 76

About this episode

This episode discusses recent discoveries in paleontology and neuroscience, including tropical mammoths, brain mapping, and preserved pterosaurs.

This week on Break It Down: Queen ants are throwing the rules of reproduction out of the window by producing offspring of two different species, for the first time ever we have a complete map of brain activity and boy is it pretty, a new lineage of tropical mammoths have been discovered in Mexico, 150 million-year-old baby pterosaurs have been perfectly preserved thanks to some stormy weather, the controversy surrounding whether Homo naledi might have buried their dead is back, and we explore just how big the biggest egg on Earth really was. So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down... Links: AntsBrain mapUpload your brainTropical mammothsBacteria on mammoth teethPerfect baby pterosaursCougar submergedHomo nalediBiggest EggThe Big Questions Podcast

Topics covered

  • tropical mammoths
  • brain activity
  • pterosaurs
  • Homo naledi
  • reproduction in ants
  • largest egg

Keywords

  • tropical mammoths
  • brain map
  • pterosaurs
  • Homo naledi
  • reproduction
  • biggest egg

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: IFLScience

Places: Mexico, Earth

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