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Eons
Why We Only Have Ten Toes (It's a Long Story)
Season 4
Episode 22
Today, all mammals from humans to bats have five fingers or fewer. Yes, even whales, whose finger bones are hidden in their fins. Birds have four or fewer and amphibians get the best of both worlds, often having four digits on their “hands” and five on their “feet.” But no species of vertebrates have more than five digits, let alone eight!
9:34
We’re taking a look towards the deep future. After all, the story is far from over.
7:59
When did we start practicing medicine in its varied, complex forms?
9:11
For some, the rise of venomous elapid snakes was an almost apocalyptic catastrophe.
12:07
When you only have fossils, how do you know if a dinosaur is female or male?
11:57
What are animal-like fossils doing in rocks a billion years old?
9:41
Paranthropus lived alongside our ancestors. If we are still here, why aren’t they?
8:42
Exoskeleton fragments may have allowed microbes to sail the ocean and change the world.
10:45
Fire only exists only on Earth because fire can’t exist without life.
7:09
Turns out bats didn’t give us butterflies and we should be thanking bees and beans.
8:58
Graptolites show us how unpredictable the Silurian period really could be.
9:05
How can we figure out when we first started wearing clothes?
7:50
From an evolutionary perspective, is bigger always better?