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For many years, scientists pondered the question: how and why do offspring inherit traits from their parents? And key to the answer to that question is another question: what determines an organism\u2019s traits in the first place? The pursuit of these answers ultimately led to the modern field of genetics, which itself is crucial to the study of evolution. This episode, we address just a few key points on this vast topic, with a focus on how our understanding of genetics allows us to interpret the history of evolution on our planet.\nIn the news: early fruit-eating, giant Australian birds, beaver evolution, and human speech.\nTime markers:Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00News: 00:06:00Main discussion, Part 1: 00:37:30Main discussion, Part 2: 01:08:30Patron question: 02:00:00\nCheck out our blog for bonus info and pictures:http://commondescentpodcast.wordpress.com/\nJoin us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast\xa0\nOr make a one-time donation via PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/4c68u4hp\nFind merch at the Common Descent Store! http://zazzle.com/common_descent\nJoin the Common Descent Discord server! https://discord.gg/CwPBxdh9Ev\nFollow and Support us on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/CommonDescentPCFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/commondescentpodcastInstagram: @commondescentpodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePRXHEnZmTGum2r1l2mduwPodBean: https://commondescentpodcast.podbean.com/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-common-descent-podcast/id1207586509?mt=2\nYou can email us at commondescentpodcast(at)gmail.comOr send us physical mail at:The Common Descent Podcast1735 W State of Franklin Rd. Ste 5 #165Johnson City, TN 37604\nThe Intro and Outro music is \u201cOn the Origin of Species\u201d by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org.\nMusical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/