Have you ever wondered what fossils really are? And how can looking into the past tell us anything about our future? In this episode of The Science Basement, we talk with Professor David Polly, a palaeontologist based at Indiana University, who studies ancient carnivores and the environments that shaped them. Join us to unpack what fossils are (and aren’t), how they record evolution, and how fossils can be used to predict future landscapes and the effects of climate change. Prof David Polly is the Chair of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Indiana University, Bloomington and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS) Your hosts for this episode are Emmi Olkkonen and Rhiannon Newman. Editing by Kerttu Kalander. Episode cover by Anubhuti Bhatnagar. TSB podcast logo by Tomás Garnier Artínano. Jingle by Havelocke: www.thisishavelocke.bandcamp.com Follow more about The Science Basement through our Website: www.thesciencebasement.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/ScienceBasement Instagram: @sciencebasement Twitter: @ScienceBasement Email: [email protected]