Monitor lizards are charismatic, surprisingly diverse, full of surprising biological features, and on top of all that, they include the largest terrestrial lizards in history. Also, they’re closely related to snakes (it is Snake Month, after all). That’s a cool group of lizards! In this episode, we discuss what makes these lizards so unique and fascinating, and we dive into their long but often mysterious fossil record to address some major questions about monitor evolution.In the news: vampire squids, dinosaur eggs, octopus intelligence, and pickled snakes.Time markers: Intro & Announcements: News: Main discussion, Part 1: Main discussion, Part 2: Patron question: IT’S SNAKE MONTH! Check out our Snake Month activities on our social media, Discord, and Patreon!Links to the organizations we mentioned in the Intro: National Network of Abortion Funds: https://abortionfunds.org/about/ Answer: https://answer.rutgers.edu/page/aboutusintroCheck 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_descentJoin the Common Descent Discord server! https://discord.gg/CwPBxdh9EvFollow 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/