Episode 160: The Evolution of Animals

A journey through the evolutionary history of animals, beginning with the split of the metazoans from protists about 760 million years ago and ending with the rise of the amniotes about 340 million years ago. The focus is the development of key morphological traits necessary for more complex animal forms, including the origin of true tissues, bilaterial symmetry, the complete gut, the coelom, internal skeletons, and limbs. We conclude with an analysis of key adaptions that allowed amniotes to life in a wider range of terrestrial habitats. Recommended pre-listening is Episode 155: Embryology and Development and Episode 157: The Geologic Time Scale. If you enjoyed the podcast please consider supporting the show by making a PayPal donation or becoming a Patreon supporter.

You can listen to Episode 160: The Evolution of Animals online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Episode 160: The Evolution of Animals is an episode from The Science of Everything Podcast by James Fodor.

This episode is 83:23 long.

This episode was published on May 1, 2026.

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