With every breath you take, you’re collecting information about your surroundings. We humans are actually pretty skilled smellers, as these things go, but olfactory abilities vary widely across the animal kingdom (and beyond). In this episode, we discuss how smelling works, what smelling is good for, and how scientists explore the evolutionary history of smell.In the news: giant ichthyosaurs, giant millipedes, long-tongued birds, and oviraptorid embryos.Time markers: Intro & Announcements: News: Main discussion, Part 1: Main discussion, Part 2: Patron question: Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures: http://commondescentpodcast.wordpress.com/Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast Or make a one-time donation via PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/4c68u4hpFind merch at the Common Descent Store! http://zazzle.com/common_descentFollow and Support us on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/CommonDescentPC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/commondescentpodcast Instagram: @commondescentpodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePRXHEnZmTGum2r1l2mduw PodBean: https://commondescentpodcast.podbean.com/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-common-descent-podcast/id1207586509?mt=2You can email us at commondescentpodcast(at)gmail.com Or send us physical mail at: The Common Descent Podcast 1735 W State of Franklin Rd. Ste 5 #165 Johnson City, TN 37604The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org.Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/