Joe Rogan Experience #2580 - Kenneth Lacovera

He frames denial of dinosaurs as requiring a huge, implausible conspiracy spanning continents, eras, and researchers who never interacted. He also emphasizes that paleontology makes testable predictions about where fossils should and shouldn’t be found based on rock type and age.

He says anyone can verify aspects of paleontology by looking in the right places: sedimentary rocks from roughly 237 million to 66 million years old for non-avian dinosaurs, and different fossils in regions with older or younger rocks. He notes birds are dinosaurs, so “dinosaurs” still exist today in that sense.

He and the host stress that fossilization is rare, so most organisms (including most dinosaurs) will never leave fossils, and preservation is biased toward environments where sediment accumulates (floodplains, coastlines). He adds that entire dinosaur ecosystems—like mountainous habitats—may be missing from the record forever.

He distinguishes permineralization (minerals filling pore spaces) from “subfossils” like La Brea material where original bone remains less mineralized. He notes scientists have found cases of preserved original tissue, while describing a debated report of dinosaur blood and why some researchers (including Mary Schweitzer, as he recounts) are cautious about the specific claim.

He says there is no non-avian dinosaur DNA and no DNA anywhere near that old, which is why ‘Jurassic Park’ style cloning isn’t feasible from dinosaur DNA. He describes an alternative pathway: modifying birds (like chickens) by reactivating or editing genes tied to ancestral dinosaur traits.