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Innovations: The animals who once ruled the world

Artistic life reconstruction of the new horned dinosaur <em>Regaliceratops peterhewsi</em> in the palaeoenvironment of the Late Cretaceous ofAlberta, Canada.
Julius T. Csotonyi/Courtesy of Royal Tyrrell Museum, Drumheller, Alberta
A horned dinosaur called Regaliceratops peterhewsi from the Late Cretaceous period.

On today's show...

We're turning back the clock by millions of years to get a peek at creatures who once roamed the Earth.

To start, let's take a dive into the science of decomposition. What happens to animals after they die?

Sarah Keenan, Ph.D., is a paleontologist and assistant professor of geological engineering at South Dakota Mines. From a deer hit by a car last week to a dinosaur killed millions of years ago, she explains the biological and ecological processes of decomposition.

We'll then get a crash course on the work of Alex Dececchi, Ph.D. He's an assistant professor of biology at Mount Marty University. Dececchi joined the show in January to break down two of his research papers that ended up in the national spotlight.

His work shed light on how prehistoric birds took flight and on who ate whom in the world of dinosaurs and early mammals.

SDPB's Evan Walton reads us Katharine Lee Bates' poem "Geology Made Easy."

We learn about a scientist studying past eras of climate change through fossilized ankle bones. Rachel Short, Ph.D., is an assistant professor and Wizipan Program Coordinator at the SDSU Extension Rapid City Regional Center.

Plus, we meet a paleontologist who made some history. Laurie Anderson Ph.D., was the first woman in South Dakota to be named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science while working at a state university.

Ellen Koester is a producer of In the Moment, SDPB's daily news and culture broadcast.
Lori Walsh is the host and senior producer of In the Moment.
Ari Jungemann is a producer of In the Moment, SDPB's daily news and culture broadcast.