Animals Walk the Runway

And I made what I hope is the right decision to keep releasing the show on schedule because I do want it to be there for everyone who needs a bit of fun, learning and entertainment in the midst of the struggle. I'm including a link to some of the charities that I'm donating to, and if you're someone who can afford it, you can check those out. Thank you everyone for listening. Please stay safe out there as much

as possible given the circumstances. So today on the show, we're talking about animals who are all about the presentation sequence. Spiders Mantis is with deadly cosplay fish who proved the devil really does wear product, a bird who literally slays on the Runway and the cutest little Billie Eilish loving hyena on the planet. Discover this and more as we answer the angel question have you ever watched a crab swim?

I mean really watched it? Joining me today is I T professional by day, host and podcaster by night, and nerd of the highest order. You can hear her on Rooster Team Radio discussing everything Rooster Teeth, on Silver Screams, a podcast about horror films, and on the Point Pod, a podcast about Overwatch. Also, she's a cat person. Welcome, Katie Colin. Hi, all that that is. Thanks for having me on. Yeah, for sure, it's good to have another Katie on night. So yeah, today I'm talking about animals

who are all about the presentation. They have incredible stage presence. And I so I didn't realize you were an arachnophobe before writing these notes. Uh so we are actually going to start off with a spider. How do you feel about that? Yeah? Hey, well, I'm hoping to maybe convert you a little bit into a spider lover, or at least a spider neutral person, because these are really, really beautiful spiders. So these are mirror spiders who have the

best costume game in the spider world. So I know most people aren't too fond of spiders, but these look like living jewels. Now, Katie, are you going to brave it and look at these pictures I sent you? I mean, yeah, that's that's what I'm here for. I mean, not gonna lie. These are beautiful spiders, and it helps that they are still images and not in my house. Um. Yeah, they are lovely to look at, and there's something to be said for the aesthetic and for the reflectiveness, especially on

the tho acts. But oh my god, spiders though, Like, so, what Katie is looking at our pictures of two spiders whose bodies look like it's made out of glass and their abdomen looks like it's filled with diamond, ruby topaz and sequins and shards of gold. So there are a couple of species of mere spiders found in Australia. These are Let's see if I can do this in one go. Uh so I Tica Nigron Nosia and t Argentino wait

argent argentinoo punk Chata. Yeah, they really look like some jeweler has like a spider fixation and is making spider like what's swark Swarkovsky. What's the Crystalski Swarovski. There we go. I'm bad at being half Russian, but um, so they are. They look like they're made out of crystals or jewels. And the gyms that appear to be inside of these spiders are actually lining the outside of the spider's gut and they're excreted by the guts, So they are made

out of guanine crystals. You might recognize guanning as one of the amino acids that is present in DNA, but it can also form these crystalline structures and they sparkle when light hits them, like actual, you know, non non spider made crystals. So we're basically looking at spiders making their own minecraft. I'm and armor exactly on the inside, internal internal body diamond armor, and it's glorious. I'm curious as to how this works with the spiders in terms

of just natural camouflage. Yeah, so it seems counterintuitive to look heavily sequined and just super glamorous, like you're about to go down the red carpet as a spider and everyone's like, who are you wearing? It's like, oh, it's it's spider gut excretion made it myself. It's me. It's out of my spider guts. So but yeah, it is actually camouflage and it is great for rainy and wet days because the spiders will glisten and refract light just

like rain drops or dew drops. So if you're looking at a tree that has a bunch of de wanted or rain drops, it's gonna be hard to find the spider because it looks like rain being reflected through a rain drop. And if they actually they can turn off this sparkliness. So if they need to keep on the down low, they can contract their gut muscle which folds over the guantine crystals and hides them, allowing the spiders to do kind of like it's like an internal organ

costume change, which is quite impressive. So if we go back to the red carpet analogy, it's those transforming dresses, like it looks like a cute little black dress and then you undo the cape and let it fly and suddenly it's a red ball gown and suddenly it's your gut crystals exactly. It's that Grandmama, it's me Anastasia sort of moments I have arrived yes, and I'm I'm eating your guts and then making my guts all sparkly. Yes, welcome to my high fashion home. It's time for dinner.

I like to think that as they're eating some some little insect, they're like, so do you like and insects like, yes, it's beautiful. I mean, you're eating my head and face, but it's beautiful. It's gorgeous. I love what you've done. It's all about the aesthetic, that's right, that's right, the murder aesthetic. Anyhow, the name of a K pop band is it murders thattic? It sounds no, I'm joking. Don't don't don't hurt her K pop fans? She means no harm? They are they are they? I don't know the power

of K pop fans is truly something to behold. K pop fans are a specific, sparkly flavor of hardcore that is not to be trifled with. K pop fans. You know what, actually, could you start standing these mirror spiders, like, bring awareness to how awesome these mirror spiders are. I feel like it's very K pop and I think that this could be great for animal conservation if we get K pop fans to stand the mere spider. You know,

I'll take it. Sounds good, sounds good, let's go. So the next animal I want to talk about is it's actually when you just look at it at first, it seems rather drabbed, but its behavior is quite stunning. So these are the pine processionary caterpillars. So pine processionary is a species of moth and when they're in their larval caterpillar form, they have a very cute but inspiring habit of forming a huge congo line of caterpillars. So there is a picture if you want to look at it.

I don't know, do you have a caterpillar or phobia as well? Now, just you know spider scorpions and other things that would like to sting you. But this, this is the If you hadn't told me it was a congo line, I would be asking you who photoshoped this because it just looks like one extremely long caterpillar or what like depths of the ocean. This was fished out of, Yeah, an elder caterpillar from beyond. It's a ribbon eel, but it lives on the ground. So these caterpillars live in

Mediterranean regions as well. As North Africa and Central Asia and other parts of Europe that have pine trees, and they love pine and cedar trees because they use them for their whole life cycle. So the moths will lay their eggs at the top of the trees, and the caterpillars will eat the pine needles, and they can actually be really destructive for the trees, and they're one of the most destructive species for pine and cedar where they're found.

And then they will weave these silken nests for themselves to survive in the winter. And they're communal too, so they'll share nests, which which is kind of sweet. And this is so this is where they get their processionary names. So when they're ready to pupate, the caterpillars descend the tree and form a huge congo line of fuzzy little caterpillars faced a butt faced but face to butt, just like bumper to bumper, face to butt. It's I think

kind of cute. I would feel bad though, like if I was one of these caterpillars, and like what if one of them was kind of gassy, you know, because like you can't break formation, but then your face is in a butt, you went there because I went somewhere far, far worse. Oh, human centipede centipede? Yeah, yeah, this is humans,

this is caterpillar centipede. If they're doing a congo line, do you imagine they're going to a rhythm and just kicking out all of the little boo yeah, just like all their many many legs on one side boo, yes, exactly. So they are actually following pheromone trails left by other caterpillars. That helps them find the perfect trail to go and pupate.

So they will travel these well worn trails that goes by food and water, and then their final destination is where they will burrow into the gray ound to pupate into adult moths. And the reason they form a congo line is the safety and numbers. So they have what are called urticating hairs, which are highly irritating hairs that

will cause severe skin irritation and predators. So if you see a fuzzy caterpillar or or any insect that looks particularly fuzzy and fluffy, even though it's tempting to try to pet it, probably not a great idea because those hairs can be highly irritating. I don't know, if you've ever accidentally done that as a kid, pick up a caterpillar and pet it and then suddenly your palms are

really itchy. That I have not done. But we didn't really have many fuzzy caterpillars in like Montana so well, living in southern California, I picked up every insect I found, which in retrospect was probably a little bit of a gamble. They will use these highly irritating hairs in this giant congo line to deter predators because if you're just one caterpillar, you're face and button belly are kind of exposed to

a predator. But if you're this long, intimidating line, face too, but there's not really a great opening for predator to get you. And also the cost is higher because if a predator gets the urdicating hairs from this huge line of caterpillars, that's gonna be a real itchy, bad time. It is just not worth it. It's not it's really it's never worth it to interrupt a congo line. It just never is worth it. Well, and then it turns into one of those you came to the wrong neighborhood situations.

You came to the wrong congo line mr. Yes, exactly. So the last insect I want to talk about is the flower mantis. So, flower mantis is are a group of manted species who guess what are shaped like flowers. Finally, an animal's name that is really self explanatory. You know, before I look at the notes because I've been doing so much quarantine baking, I heard f l O, you are mantis, and I'm like, oh, are they white like flowers? They're bakers. They they they pull off one of their

mates heads and then put it in a pie. It's adorable, it's like free, it's great. So they're exoskeletons are shaped like petals or leaves, and they come in pretty flowered colors. Uh. And you have to look at these pictures. They are just absolutely beautiful. They look like living flowers. You know. I think I've seen that first one before, that bright pink one that's an orchid mantis. Yeah, just because the Internet being the Internet, passes around fun animal pictures and

I'm pretty sure I've seen that one before. But yeah, orchid mantises are pretty popular on the Internet. I think that people are. So if you've never seen this, it is a mantis imagine the classic mantis shape, but it is bright pink, and it's but looks like a flower petal, and its little arms have sort of a fringe on it that looks very flowery. And it absolutely looks like you crossed a mantis with an orchid. It's beautiful, it's gorgeous. It looks like someone photo shopped it. Honestly, Yes, it

looks like mantis airbrushing. It does these impossible mantis body standards. I'm sick of it. I'm tired of it. As normal green mantis. This just can't look up to that. Just let us eat our mates in peace. So they are obviously up to something when they are dressing as flowers. So what they will do is they actually climb on top of a plant, sit very still, and wait to

ambush prey. And they just blend in with the other flowers on the plant and a little fly or a little insect comes hoping to sip some nectar, and all they get is death. So that's not a good prize. No, No, you're you're going you're trying to sniff the flowers, get a little bit of nectar and oops, your head's gone.

So this is called aggressive mimicry. It's when a predator uses mimicry to trick prey into a false sense of security or lure them in, and it is bad for the prey, but for us it is very stunning to look at the these guys. They're beautiful. So there's another one called the Jeweled Flower Mantis of South and Southeast Asia. It has these pretty pink and blue wing fans. And not only that, but they have little eye spots on their outer wings that look like little yellow smiley faces,

like yellow emoticons. And this one's got it's a little pictures are not the right word. It's a little arms up. So this whole effect of this picture is and he's happy to see you, he's happy to eat you. More like it? Yeah, yeah, but yeah, I love how these have emojis on their wings. It's just it's wonderful. It's absolutely beautiful. Yeah, It's just all I can think of for the coggressive mimicry is. I play a lot of dungeons and dragons and there is a monster called a

mimic and it looks like a treasure chest. So when the unwary adventurer shows up and goes, oh, treasure. That's when they get eaten, and that's basically what this is. I have been fooled by mimic treasure chests in many a video game, and it's very frustrating every time. I also like the idea that they have these little emojis. It's kind of like when someone is tweeting or texting something really passive aggressive, and they toss a little emoji in,

just like a little winky or smiling. It's like, you're not being nice, you're being mean, but you're just trying to trick me. Yeah. Yeah, except in this case, the mantis eat you. It's not just passive aggressive. I would say that's aggressive aggressive. It's murder catfishing. Despite their reputation is being gross and icky. Bugs are fashion icons, not

just in nature but in the human world. Silk is of course made from silkworms, which aren't really a worm but a caterpillar of the bomb bix mori, a moth, and that silk comes from the cocoons they weave with a sticky substance produced by their salivary glands. So the next time you see a friend wearing some gorgeous silk, you can tell them nice larva spit. I mean that is, if you don't want any friends. When we return, we're going to dive into the water and look at some

fishy fashionistas. Why are reefs so colorful? I'm talking about the coral themselves. Coral may seem inanimate, but it's an animal, a stationary invertebrate within the phylum nider area, which also contains creatures like jellyfish and an enemies. Coral isn't colorful to be pleasing to the human eye and scuba divers, but rather those bulb pigments represent important information about the corals health. Some of the coral's colors, such as bright green,

maybe due to the symbiotic algae living upon it. The algae gets a nice place to live and the coral gets oxygen and waste management from the algae. Other times, bright pigment, made up of proteins, provide the coral protection from harsh you be raised from the sun. Generally speaking, the more colorful reef is, the healthier it is. Sometimes coral goes through bleaching due to an increase in water temperature,

which forces it to shed its symbiotic algae. This is bad news for the coral and a big warning sign that the reef is in danger of collapsing. So in nature, fashion isn't just fun, it's absolutely essential. So now let's talk about some of the beautiful critters under the sea. And I'm not talking about weirdly overly enthusiastic teenage mermaids singing crabs or singing crabs. So have you ever heard of the blue galacious? You know, I don't know. I'm

not even sure I'm pronouncing that right. So it looks Glaucus could be Glaucus, could be Glaucious, maybe Glaucus, and I just don't know. We just don't. Nobody knows. Honestly, nobody knows. And that's what I say when it's specifically me who does not know. But these are also called blue dragons, and they are found all over the world in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, in tropical and temperate waters. And if you want to be like a c. Kalisi and get your baby dragon, you gotta be warned.

These are actually more closely related to snails and slugs, so they're actually mollusks. Wait, so is everything on this list a lie? These? But they did? Have you seen that picture? They absolutely look like a little baby sky dragon or sea dragons. You know, I have I have seen this before and yeah, every single time. They are absolutely beautiful. This does look like something that you would see, you know, forty fifty yards long floating in the air

in a fantasy setting alongside a steampunk airship. Yeah, it does. It looks like it comes right out of a fantasy movie or some kind of Miyazaki film. It's stunning. It's beautiful. So if you haven't seen this, obviously, I'm including links to all these cool animals in the show notes, but here is a description. They have a long dragon like body tail and three sets of wings that splay out. They look like fans made out of feathers or flames, and they have blue and white coloration that looks like

blue fire. And it's it's stunning. It's it looks like a painting. It doesn't look like this is just a natural creature that someone didn't invent, But that coloration is actually really useful for them to blend in with the

ocean water. So if you're under the ocean looking up and over the ocean looking down, like when you're looking upwards, you see the light coming down through the ocean, so you see these lightbeings, so having that striation of white and blue actually helps them blend in with light streaming in through the ocean. So if you're fish looking up, you're it's gonna be really hard to see one of

these little guys. And they are very little. They're only about three centimeters long, so that makes it very important for them to try to avoid predators. So not really the final fantasy boss fight that they look like, then, not unless you are a man o war, which it sounds like a really badass thing to be like. If you're a man of war, you can take anything, but these little tiny guys will act rely nibble at you

and prey on you. So first of all, let me say so, man o wars are these weird floating hydrozoans that are related to and resemble jellyfish. And these little blue dragons are new to brinks, which are a type of marine gastropod mollusks. So, like I said earlier, they're related to slugs and snails and Newda brinks often like to have toxic skin so that they can award off predators.

And these guys, no matter how cute they are, are no exception, they will eat the stingers of man O Wars, these jellyfish like creatures who are in their own way, they look ridiculous. They look like weird glass blown art, like a they're basically a bubble that has these stingers attached to it and they float around. But the Blue Dragons eat their stingers and then incorporate them into the skin cells on their own little wing like protrusions, and

they can deliver a very powerful sting through that. So don't don't pick these guys up. So it's it's basically cooties, but actual cooties is like like circles, Yeah, circle, circle, dot dot, Now you got your cutie shot. Yeah. Yeah. If they touch you, they give you cooties, except stinging, terrible painful cuties and it so that is a great

way to deter predators that want to eat them. So that is they've got they've got themselves covered really, both by blending in and by just stinging the heck out of anyone who's like, hey, I want to be your colsi and try to pick them up and then sorry, you got stinged. Let's hold hands, let's not let's not, no, thank you. It's very kind of you social distancing from this guy. That's yes, yes, they are the social distancing masters.

Acute fact about them is that the reason they can sort of float and fly through the water is with the help of a little air bubble and its tummy that keeps it afloat, so it can swallow a little air bubble and just kind of float along and sting anyone that gets too close. Cute and deadly, yeah, exactly. Yeah. So another toxic cutie in the ocean is the yellow box fish. And it looks like a little yellow gift box with black polka dots, but the gift is toxins. Yay, surprise.

This looks like a Betty Page purse. You just put a little strap on that. And it's one of those like really weird out of the box person, that's what this SIPs those little schoolish face with the snow. That's just the weirdest fish it looks. It has an almost perfectly square body, these independently moving eyes, and a little protruding oh shaped mouth that looks like little like macaroni noodle mouth that pops out, and its skin is bright yellow with black polka dots. It looks made up. It

doesn't look real. It looks like if it had arms and legs, it would be a Star Wars alien. So many animals look like Star Wars aliens when you think about it. But yeah, it looks like a cartoon. It doesn't. It's absolutely surreal. So there's actually a whole bunch of species of box fish who are, as you would expect fish shaped like boxes, and they are related to puff

or fish. The yellow box fish is found in oceanic reefs all over the world, and so being a box seems like a really weird choice for fish because a lot of fish have that like undulating action. But box fish the same as puffer fish, their cousins, swim in a very different way. So they beat their fins and tails in very quickly like a hunting bird, and they just kind of hover rather than undulate and swim through the water like that. So they're more like little fishy

drones than other types of locomotion that fish use. But yeah, so by beating their tails and fins so quickly, they create this thrust and they can just they hover around like a little hummingbird, except it's a box and a fish. This is just I'm not over this I'm not over this. It looks like a box I. I'm having a real hard time getting past in the box murder. There are all sorts of box fish, the gift box, the bread box, the treasure chest, and they'll all kill you. That's not

a good prize. And you're correct because like their puffer fish cousins, they will release neurotoxic tetrodotoxin, which is lethal to predators who want to eat it. And that yellow polka dot bikini color ration is actually warning predators that it is toxic. So this is called epis semitism. So it's like saying like, hey, I'm toxic, Like, don't even mess with me. I know I look adorable, like a cute little clutch or purse or something, but if you

eat me, I'll kill you. We need yellow polka dot murder fish doesn't scan quite as well, but thing exactly exactly. But it's like those tropical tree frogs that are like bright orange, Yeah, the poison dart frogs. They are gorgeous to look at, bad to put in the mouth, even though they look like candy and like, you know, like that scene in they look like Lisa Frank. Yes, Lisa Frank exactly. So does this guy really does that bright

neon yellow? Like? The eyes aren't big and sparkly enough for Lisa, if that's true for the for these are very much like slid eyed goat pupils. It's gorgeous, but yeah, don't need it, don't need it, just admire. Don't touch it either, Don't touch it, don't need it. Admire it, though, says why I've never understood like puffer fish sushi, like, yes, if we do this incorrectly, it could kill you. But hey sushi, And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no,

no no, But what if it tastes just really good? Though, I'm gonna go with not worth the risk and stick with something that has a much lower chance of murdering me outright, like a California role at. Every sushi purist out there recoils and horror. Let me live my life. Mm hmmm. So have you ever seen a crab swimming in the ocean? Don't they just kind of flail? What

you would think? So? And it's so I was, actually, you know, my image of crab swimming is just like all legs going flailing around, but they seeing a crab swim especially there's a species of crab called a I think it's called it's a bath yell swimming crab, and they have these modified back leg parts that are called swimmerets, and they are adorable and goofy when they swim. Soap click on that week, it was just doing this cute

little paddle with its back legs. It's like, Yeah, if you've ever like watched a swimming class for three year olds and the instructor is kind of holding them up while they're learning to front stroke and they're just looking up and they're kicking really hard like that, that's what this is. That's what this is. This is so stare. It's like a flying squirrel. So it's holding its front arms out, those little pinchers out wide split out. It's kicking with its back legs, and it absolutely looks like

a scared toddler trying to learn how to swim. It is adorable. If you've never seen a crab swimming, you have to watch it. It's going to make your day a lot better. Well. And it also looks like it and this could just be an illusion, but it looks like it has its mouth open and that just helps. It looks like it's making a little like smiley face. Those are just its mouth parts, sort of natural configuration, but it does look like it's doing a little like

it does. I'm swimming and swimming and swimming, swimming, swimming, and once again he's happy to see you and to pinch you. Actually, there's a great Blue Planet scene where it's these blue footed boobies, which are a type of aquatic bird, and there are these little swimming crabs underneath. Pinching the booby feet. Pinching the booby feet is the name of a good ska band, Pinching the booby Feet with the boxfish featuring the boxfish featuring the box fish.

Humans have long been jealous of the ocean's vibrant beauty. In fact, kings and queens of the past were so jealous they decided to steal some of it for their own. Tyrian purple or royal purple is a vibrant purple dye invented as far back as fifteen seventy b c. Creating a purple dye that was so vibrant and could shock the eye with its purple nous was difficult and expensive, and thus reserved for the rich, a holes who ruled ancient Rome. But really these richie riches were covered in snail,

slimes and urine. The dye was created using mucus excretions from predatory sea snails from a gland similar to the ink sac found in the sea snails relatives squid and octopuses. The sea snails used the inky mucus to stun prey in ward off predators. So to get this ink, the dye makers had either milk the snails by pestering them

and collecting their angry excretions, or crushing them. However, crushing them meant using a huge number of snails, as it supposedly took up to twelve thousand snails just to die the trim of a royal robe. Also, in order to create the dye, fermented urine was used as the ammonia in the urine could be used as a reducing agent to produce the dye. So congratulations Caesar on your gross p snail robe. When we return, we're coming up out of the sea to see some spectacular runway shows on land.

Cashin inspired by animals can have a practical purpose. For instance, the furry wetsuit, which is definitely not what you're thinking it is. The furry wetsuit being developed by m I T researchers and might Professor Annette Peko Hosoi, is a wetsuit material that mimics the coat of an otter. The synthetic fur like protrusions on the wetsuit are designed to copy the function of the otter's fur, keeping the swimmer warm by trapping little air bubbles. Otters, unlike many other

marine mammals, have no blubber to keep them warm. They have an undercoat and over that an outer coat of longer hair, which seems to work by trapping those air bubbles and forming a wall of air between the water and that undercoat of warm fur, which acts as a thermal shield. Who says otter fashion can't combine both form and function. It's otterly fabulous. So now we are going to slowly move from the sea to the land and

talking about these animals with wonderful stage presence. So first let's talk about in Amphibian And have you ever thought about whether a bullfrog could be beautiful? Not really, No, they tend to just be loud mm hmm. Well, you know that's judgmental. First of all, sensing judgment. And I do think that bullfrogs can be beautiful too, and I want to highlight the Indian bullfrog. So normally the Indian bullfrog is sort of your average frog color, kind of

a drab all of green. But during mating season, the males put on a fresh coat of bright yellow paint. Uh, it's not really paint, it is their skin turning bright yellow during mating season, like bright bright neon, neon banana yellow. It's shockingly yellow. And it also turns its vocal sacks, which are these in bull frogs, is these two balloons that inflate to help their loud ribbit mating calls resonate. So you were mentioning they're extremely loud, that it's because

of these big vocal secs. And for the Indian bullfrog, during mating season, these vocal secs turn bright, bright blue, just the brightest blue you can imagine, and contrast that with this bright yellow. It's incredible. Do you see the picture? I sn't you. It looks like a sports fan if you. If we see the guys paint, they're like, you know, go barre chested and then paint themselves color. I just look at this and I go, so, whose colors are that?

Is that the Boston Uprising? Is that? Like? Whose colors are blue and yellow? Who are you rooting for? Sir? Yeah, subtlety is not the game here they have it looks like they have these two bright balloons stuck to their chin. They're bright yellow. It doesn't it looks like photoshop. I saw this picture and I really had to fact check this because I was very concerned it was just a photoshop and someone made up a story behind it. But no,

it's real. And actually there's a video if you want to check that out of a bunch of these horny guys all croaking and trying to mate with females. Okay, so you got on me for calling bull frogs loud and then you send me this video like where it sounds like construction. It's there's so many of them going on it. It sounds like construction, Like it's heavy machinery moving. Just look at all these loud, horny bananas. It's like a frat house, a bunch of loud, horny hop and bananas.

So it is a frat house. Yes, So those bright colors and loud voices actually do help them attract females. So you know, I guess learn from the bull frog guys. Wear bright yellow and wear bright blue balloons on your chins and just scream and that'll work. I promise that only works if you're a Boston Uprising fan and all of my overwatching people are going, um, excuse me. You know. So now I want to talk about something a little

more elegant. I want to talk about the secretary bird, which I think actually a lot of people might be familiar with. These are the runway models of the bird world. They are these beautiful birds that are found in the grasslands of sub Saharan Africa. They're quite tall, they can actually reach about four ft, which is a little over a meter, and they are mostly land dwelling birds that they are capable of flight, but most of the time

they're going to spend stomping around on the ground. So they have these long, elegant legs, black feathers that look like capris like they look kind of like cut off and they have black feathers on their wing tips, a white belly, gray backs, bright orange eyeshadow and yellow blush, and a black fan like display of feathers behind their heads. And what they're most famous for, perhaps is their long, luxurious eyelashes. Yeah, these these are beautiful birds, and that

eyelash game is on point. It's like maybe it's maybe line, maybe it's Sagittarius serpentarius, which is the that's the Latin name of the bird. But ump bump anyways, science joke. You love it? You guys like it, don't yea you like it? Maybe laying out here like that's too long of a catchphrase. They're actually related to birds of prey such as hawks and vulture, and that's because they are

also birds of prey, so they look gorgeous. They look like they belong on the runway, but they are vicious hunters. Rather than snatching prey from the skies, they actually use those runway ready legs to stomp on them, just absolutely crush them on the runway. Literally. That's amazing using that. Yes, yeah, I know there's this whole Oh I want someone so to step on me. Not here, not in this case,

you will die. You are not getting back up, especially if you are an insect, a small mammal, even mongooses, which as we know, are quite vicious and can hold their own ground, but not with these secretary birds. They'll also prey on small reptiles, tortoises, small birds, and once in a while they can even land bigger prey like baby gazelles and cheetah cubs. Yeah, it is nuts. Have

you actually have you ever seen that? It's this adorable anime call Bret suit grets Go is one amazing two on Netflix three required viewing for anyone who has ever held an office job. And yeah, well she be the presidents of the Company's secretary is a secretary bird, and she is a queen and she's the This is what I love about when creators slip in bio facts in their shows. It is the the secretary bird in this show will stomp on a desk when she's mad, and

that is what secretaries actually do. But they do it to kill their prey. I mean in an office setting. I think it's accurate. I think if secretary birds, like if we had sort of a Zootopia situation where secretary birds are now holding office jobs, they would stomp on

your desk when they're mad. It's absolutely true. So they It's interesting because like this very deadly bird river dance is it may actually be similar to some of their dinosaur ancestors, and it's it's interesting to see this evolution from dinosaurs to these birds and maybe it gives us some hints about how dinosaurs may have behaved like raptors. Yeah, that does not in any capacity surprise me. Yeah, birds are dinosaurs. Not many people know that. People think it's lizards. No,

it's birds. Nope, it's birds. It's birds. It's always been birds. I keep telling everyone, go and look up. I believe it's the archaeopterics that was kind of the missing link. M m yeah, yeah, yeah. Archaeopterics was a sort of gliding dinosaur that had these like weird feather like protrusions and it could sort of like get on a tree and then glide. So yeah, yeah, it's a it's really interesting. A lot of people I think, I think that birds

evolved from like pterodactyls. Uh, Pterodactyls are actually not dinosaurs. They're parosaurs, which are related to dinosaurs. But birds did not evolve from pterodactyls. That's just sort of a parallel evolutionary branch on the tree. Birds mostly evolved from dinosaurs like the t rex and other yeah, big predators and scientists are saying now that they think that dinosaurs likely had others. Yes, depiction that we have is not accurate.

It was cutting edge when Jurassic Part came out, Yes, and yeah, I mean I love to imagine a t rex is just a big angry chicken, and I think it's so accurate. It's probably accurate, and it's great to think about. So with these secretary birds, there's actually gender equity in how they own the runway. Males and females are morphologically pretty similar, so that means they look about the same. A lot of bird species, the female is

kind of drab and the male is really fancy. But in some bird species they're actually, you know, pretty similar. So if you see a secretary bird with those long, luxurious eyelashes and beautiful legs, it could be male or female, who knows. And they will do mutual mating displays for each other, so they will chase each other around and then like soar up into the air, so they're both trying to impress each other, and then they once they

select their mate, they will form these monogamous pairs. So I think that's quite lovely, you know, I think that's a good example. Yeah, Mary's fore Yeah, just like forming a power couple for life, stomping on your enemies. And also men should wear makeup, Yes, absolutely yeah. It makes your eyes pop, you guys, It just makes your eyes pop. A little bit of eyeline or a little mascara, super easy to take off. Calm tour. So, speaking of guyliner, I want to talk about the art wolf. So it's

not an art vark and it's not a wolf. It is a striped little insectivorous hyena. And it's actually called an ard wolf because it eats termites like an art vark. But it's not a wolf. It is a hyena species of hyena, so um like all hyenas, is actually more closely related to cats than canines. And I bring this up because this is the most fashionable runway ready hyena I have ever seen. It's like hot topic spilled all over a hyena. It's so cute, it's adorable. So what

you are looking at is an ard wolf cub. So they are, in my opinion, one of the cutest little hot topic baby animals ever. That is unbelievably cute, and I want to pick it up and give it scritches. And I know I would get like eaten if I tried, But I mean they are kind of on the smaller side, so maybe you wouldn't get eaten. Well if mom was near If mom was nearby, you would get mall the a for sure. Yeah, don't touch, don't touch the wildlife kids.

But it has a black mohawk along its back, this big fluffy black tail, a black muzzle and eyeliner, these fashionable black stripes all over its body and little black booties. It's super It's like, what what would you describe this style? Like punk, GoF or it's it's definitely more on the punk side, but it's like high end runway punk side, Like like I can see this like tiger striped dress such as it is, and the black eye heels, the

black elbow length gloves. Gucci punk. I feel like Gucci punk wouldn't be a real thing because I feel like punks would be kind of anti anti Gucci. But I don't know. Gucci Punk is the name of my Green Day cover band. Okay, okay, sorry, I didn't mean to infringe on your I p there. I should be done making band name jokes now, But it's just it's it's so easy to go back to that, well what is it? It's it's Gucci punk. And the other one is, uh

is one of them was murder something? Oh yeah, yeah then again murder boxes, murder present, that's a good one, some thing like yeah, but yeah, the the long the jokes that I've heard about hyenas and foxes is that hyenas are cats running dog software and foxes are dogs running cats soft. I love that. Yeah, that that's really funny. Yeah, they look pretty dog like and they're more related to cats,

and yeah, hyenas are are really interesting. I mean it's like I think when people think about hyenas, they don't realize that there are a lot of different species and they look very different from other species. So this one looks kind of like a zebra or raccoon and a fox just kind of scrambled up their DNA into an adorable salad. But you know, it's uh and unlike other hyenas, it actually is not known to eat that much carrion. It's mostly going around eating insects and it will eat

termites like an art vark, thus its name. So it's it's fashionable and it's kind of sweet because it just like goes around snore fling up bugs. See, in terms of bug eating things I would like in my home. I wouldn't much rather have a little baby art wolf than a spider. How how big are art wolves? How big are adult art wolves? Yeah, they get up to be about like fifteen to seventeen pounds, so they're not that big. It's like about mediumsh dog. We're fostering a

fourteen pound cat earlier, so that's that's fine. No, you can't have one of these. I keep telling people you can't have these as pets. Oh not just just in terms of if I had to have an insectivore in my Okay, that's what I do. Not keep exotic animals as pets. Don't do it. It's bad for you. It's bad, you said. I also said, don't touch the wildlife kids. That's true. That's true. That is true. Yeah. No, I'm mean I think like, it's okay to want to cuddle it.

That's normal. I want to cuddle it. I wish I was best friends with an art wolf and we just had all sorts of like termite eating adventures and stuff. But yeah, you know, you can't actually do it. Don't become an art Wolf king like, if we go back to D and D, this is why you play druids. You can talk to and occasionally be animals. But what do you think Like an art Wolf would say like like, hey,

what's bugging you? And then start laughing it termite? Uh, you want you win the prize on the creature feature pun off? That is great? Is it murder? Most of the prizes this episode seem to have been sorry it is it's a toxic tucher to toxins. Sorry, sorry about that, but that is your prize. Congratulations. As long as it comes in a box and I don't have to open it, you know, I could just kind of reverse Pandora that in an adorable little fish box cool Cooper, cool, cool, great, cool, awesome,

it's the l A aquarium open. Can I call them for a pickup remote pickup of dangerous deadly fishes? Yes? Yeah, Would you like this little Betty Page box fish that I have? It's super cute and also I think it wants to kill me, so I don't really live in

the house. Actually, in my research, I was seeing these things where people with these aquarium setups were debating whether to get these fish in their in their aquariums, and there's stuff like well like it could kill all the other fish in your aquarium, but it is really cool. Oh no, this is why you always do your research and you talk to experts, not self proclaimed experts on the internet, but like actual humans who know what they're

talking about. It's the same people that will sell you a beta fish in a tiny bowl would be like it's yeah, it's not fine. Yeah, oh they like it this way in nature. You know, the tiny bowls that happen in nature. Yeah, exactly. Benefici are known for living in tide ghouls. None of they need actually can't. They can live in like little like like freshwater areas, but again like there's gotta be there's flow of water and you know, more more to life for them than a

little plastic bowl. Yeah, and a human can live in a three square foot apartment, but that doesn't make it fun. Exactly exactly. Yep, yep, yep. Don't don't kill your fish with fox fish, uh, but do make friends with a secretary bird and litter her stomp on you, like queen, what I'm just gonna go back to. Don't touch the wildlife kids, Okay, fine, you're you're right, You're right, You're right. Maybe let the wildlife stomp on you. It's all. That's

all I'm saying. If that's what you're into, I'm not going to judge you. You're going to do it myself. This is a zero judgment zone. Well, thank you so much for joining me, Katie on my trip down the animal runway. Are you get anything to plug? Yeah? Thank you for having me on this. This has been a blast and included a lot more murder than I honestly expected. But well, you know, kilter it on the runway. What can I say? You know, I think you won the

pun off there. I am Katie Cullen. You can follow me all over the social media's as well as on YouTube and twitch at kia j that is k I a x et. If you enjoy watching me react to things, they live on that YouTube channel. I am also a co host on the Silver Screens YouTube channel, where we react to horror things and discuss horror things. I am also on a pair of podcast I am on Rooster Team Radio where we discuss all things rooster Teeth, and I am a co host of On the Point, which

is an overwatch and overwatch league focused podcast. We record weekly, even when league is on break. We do our best to record weekly because there's was something to talk about and you can find us on the internet. Well, let me take that again. You can find us on the internet at Creature Feature Pod on Instagram, where I will be posting all the pictures of these wonderful animals. You can find us at Creature Feet pod on Twitter. That's f e A T, not f E T. That is

onthing We're different. You can find me at Katie Golden that I just have a lot of my Katie thoughts on They're not necessarily show related, just Katie thoughts, And as always I am at pro bird Rites, where I argue for birds to be in charge of the planet. You know because hashtag just Katie thoughts. Thanks to the Space Classics for their super awesome song ex Alumina. Creature

Feature is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts like the one you just heard, visit the I Heart Radio app, I Heart Radio website, Apple podcast, or Hate Guess What. Wherever you listen to your favorite shows. See you next Wednesday.