Sign up for our mailing list! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo! Thanks to Enzo and Lux for their suggestions! Let's learn about the sun bear and the water bear this week! Sun bear just chillin: Sun bears got long tongues: The water bear, AKA tardigrade, is not actually a bear. For one thing, it has twice the number of legs as bears have: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. It’s summer in the northern hemisphere, which means hot weather and s...
Jul 26, 2021•12 min
Sign up for our mailing list! We also have merchandise! Thanks to Elaine, Molly, and Oliver for suggesting the aye-aye! I guess it's an idea whose time has finally come. Further reading: Gimme six! Researchers discover aye-aye's extra finger Ah yes, I have many many many fingers: S p i d e r h a n d s: A baby aye-aye (blep): Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. I can safely say that this week’s episode is brought to you by popular demand. It was suggeste...
Jul 19, 2021•15 min
Sign up for our mailing list! Buy our merch! Thanks to "dog freak Ruby," we're going to learn about some animals that aren't exactly domesticated but aren't really wild either. Further reading: Memories of Ángela Loij Mongolian horse and its person: Mongolian horses: OH MY GOSH HEART HEART HEART (photo from this website): Dingos! An artist's rendition of the Fuejian dog (left) and a picture of the cuelpo (right): The cuelpo, happy fox-like canid: A very fancy rat: Show transcript: Welcome to Str...
Jul 12, 2021•16 min
Sign up for our mailing list! We also have merch! Let's learn about some strange fish of the mesopelagic, or the twilight zone deep in the ocean! Thanks to Page, Joel, Anonymous Animal Lover, Brigham, and Fireburster for suggestions this week! Further reading: In Defense of the Blobfish Further viewing: Pacific viperfish (video embedded) The Pacific viperfish, head-on (or rather teeth-on), still from video linked above: Sloane's viperfish, rocking those teeth: The blobfish as it's usually seen o...
Jul 05, 2021•17 min
Sign up for our mailing list! Let's learn about some strange dog breeds (including a mystery dog!) and what may be the cutest frog ever. Thanks to Brad and Dan for their suggestions this week, and a special thanks to Richard from NC for suggesting the Carolina dog at just the right time. Check out Dan's podcast, "Sure, Jan!" Further viewing: World's Cutest Frog - Desert Rain Frog A talbot dog from the olden days: The Xoloitzcuintli dog: Norwegian lundehund hard at work: The Norwegian lundehund h...
Jun 28, 2021•19 min
Sign up for our mailing list! I got to meet some listeners this week to see the synchronous fireflies, so thanks to Shannon, Diana, Derek, and Autumn for hanging out with me! This week we'll learn about a different kind of lightning bug as well as a shark mystery! Derek's photography, Enchanting Ectotherms Further reading: A shark mystery millions of years in the making I suspect this is a doctored image but it's gorgeous so here it is anyway, supposedly some blue ghost fireflies: This is a real...
Jun 21, 2021•11 min
Sign up for our mailing list! We have a merch store now too! Thanks to Ethan for this week's topic, two weird animals that developed after the Great Dying we talked about last week! Further reading: Monkey Lizards of the Triassic Placodonts: The Bizarre 'Walrus-Turtles' of the Triassic Drepanosaurus (without a head since we haven't found a skull yet, but with that massive front claw): Drepanosaurus's tail claw: Hypuronector had a leaf-like tail: Placodus was a big round-bodied swimmer: Some plac...
Jun 14, 2021•14 min
Sign up for our mailing list! It's another extinction event episode! This one's about the end-Permian AKA the Permian-Triassic AKA the GREAT DYING. Further Reading: Ancient mini-sharks lived longer than thought Lystrosaurus's fossilized skeleton: Lystrosaurus may have looked something like this but I hope not: This artist's rendition of lystrosaurus looks a little less horrific but it might not be any more accurate: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. I...
Jun 07, 2021•16 min
Sign up for our mailing list! It's the 2021 brood of 17-year cicadas! Thanks to Enzo (and several others) who suggested it! Further listening: Varmints! Podcast - "Cicadas" Our local Brood X cicada (photo by me!): The holes that cicadas emerged from (photo also by me): Discarded cicada shells. My work keys and Homestar Runner keychain for scale: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week we’re going to talk about cicadas, specifically the 17-year cic...
May 31, 2021•11 min
Talking animals! It's not what you're thinking about. No parrots here, just mammals. Our new logo is by Susanna King of Flourish Media! If you'd like to JOIN OUR MAILING LIST!, I'll be sending out a discount code soon for merch with our logo on it--but only for people on the mailing list (and patrons). Further listening: The MonsterTalk episode about Gef the Talking Mongoose (this episode has no swearing that I recall but some other episodes may have a little bit of salty language) Mongolian Thr...
May 24, 2021•27 min
Thanks to Ruby and Tex for their suggestions this week! Diprotodon was big and had a big nose: Koala! The bush thick-knee looks like it has regular knees, actually: Show Transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week let’s head to Australia for a short episode about three interesting animals. Thanks to Ruby and Tex for their suggestions! Recently, we had an episode about the wombat—episode 208, to be exact. Ruby suggested we talk about an extinct giant wombat...
May 17, 2021•8 min
Sign up for our mailing list! This week let's learn about an amazing little fish and an awesome tortoise! All the pictures here were taken by ME at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga! Further Reading: Star tortoise makes meteoric comeback The astonishing elephantnose fish: Burmese star tortoises: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. I’m fully vaccinated now so I’m able to go out and about cautiously, still wearing a mask of course, and this weekend I ...
May 10, 2021•12 min
This week let's learn about a couple of dangerous birds of New Guinea! They're not what you might think. Join our mailing list! Further Reading/Watching: How Dangerous Are Cassowaries, Really? Inside the Cassowary's Casque Breakfast Club Ep. 34: Jack Dumbacher on Poisonous Birds (a long video but a really great deep dive into the pitohui) The mighty cassowary with a mighty casque on its head, looking like a modern dinosaur, which it is: A cassowary and babies: A hooded pitohui, looking surprised...
May 03, 2021•15 min
Thanks to Ella for this week's suggestion. There may not technically be spiders in the Antarctic, but there are mites. A nunatak (note the size of the research vehicles at the bottom left): I don't have any pictures of the Antarctic mites, so here are some red velvet mites, although they're giants compared to their Antarctic cousins: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week we’re going to have a short episode, because I get my second Covid-19 vacci...
Apr 26, 2021•10 min
This week let's learn about a mystery panda and a few small panda mysteries! Join our mailing list! Further Reading: Mystery of the brown giant panda deepens The Qinling panda is not like other pandas: The giant panda is subtly different from the Qinling panda. Can you spot the difference? Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. I usually like to shake things up from week to week, but April has turned into mammal month. We’ve got another interesting mammal ...
Apr 19, 2021•10 min
Thanks to Phoebe for suggesting the tarsier, this week's strange and interesting primate! Further Reading: Decoding of tarsier genome reveals ties to humans Long-lost 'Furby-like' Primate Discovered in Indonesia Tarsiers look like weird alien babies: A tarsier nomming on a lizard: A tarsier nomming on an insect: The pygmy tarsier and someone's thumb: There's probably not much going on in that little brain: Show Transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week w...
Apr 12, 2021•14 min
So many interesting hoofed animals in this episode, so many awesome suggestions! Thanks to Page, Elaine, Pranav, Richard E., Richard from NC, and Llewelly! Further Reading: Meet the Takin: The Largest Mammal You've Never Heard Of New hope for the elusive okapi, the Congo's mini giraffe The Resurrection of the Arabian Oryx Eucladoceros was not messing around with those antlers: Megaloceros and Thranduil's elk in the Hobbit movies. COINCIDENCE? The stag-moose. What can I say? This thing is AWESOME...
Apr 05, 2021•25 min
This week we're going to look at three small mystery animals! Well, the mysteries are small. The animals are not particularly small. Further Reading: Long-Extinct Gibbon Found Inside Tomb of Chinese Emperor's Grandmother Ancient Egypt's Mona Lisa? An elaborately drawn extinct goose, of course A case of mistaken identity for Australia's extinct big bird Bones of a mystery gibbon found in a noblewoman's tomb: Gibbons painted about a thousand years ago by artist Yi Yuanji: A couple of gibbons at MA...
Mar 29, 2021•14 min
Let's learn about some of the biggest sharks in the sea--but not sharks that want to eat you! Further reading: 'Winged' eagle shark soared through oceans 93 million years ago Manta-like planktivorous sharks in Late Cretaceous oceans Before giant plankton-eating sharks, there were giant plankton-eating sharks An artist's impression of the eagle shark (Aquilolamna milarcae): Manta rays: A manta ray with its mouth closed and cephalic fins rolled up: Pseudomegachasma's tooth sitting on someone's thu...
Mar 22, 2021•19 min
Thanks to Lorenzo and Page for suggestions used in this week's episode, and a belated thanks to Ethan for last week's episode! Let's learn about some of the cutest invertebrates out there! Further reading: Photosynthesis-like process found in insects Mystery of the Venezuelan Poodle Moth Further viewing: Dr. Arthur Anker's photos from his Venezuela trip, including the poodle moth The pea aphid, red morph and regular green So many ladybugs: The sea bunny is a real animal, but it's not a real bunn...
Mar 15, 2021•18 min
It's the next in our short series of episodes about mass extinctions! Don't worry, it won't be boring, because we're going to learn about a lot of weird ancient fish too. Further reading: Titanichthys: Devonian-Period Armored Fish was Suspension Feeder Behind the Scenes: How Fungi Make Nutrients Available to the World Dunkleosteus was a beeg feesh with sharp jaw plates that acted as teeth: Titanichthys was also a beeg feesh, but it wouldn't have eaten you (picture from the Sci-News article linke...
Mar 08, 2021•22 min
Thanks to Nicholas for this week's suggestion! Let's learn about the Australian stingless bee and its relatives! Listen to BewilderBeasts if you want more fun, family-friendly animal facts! Further reading/watching: Australian Stingless Bees Women Work to Save Native Bees of Mexico (I really recommend the short video embedded on this page! It's utterly charming!) House of the Royal Lady Bee: Maya revive native bees and ancient beekeeping A Maya beekeeper's hut and some Central/South American sti...
Mar 01, 2021•12 min
Thanks to Pranav for his suggestion! Let's find out what the river of giants was and what lived there! Further reading: King of the River of Giants Spinosaurus was a swimming dinosaur and it swam in the River of Giants: A modern bichir, distant relation to the extinct giants that lived in the River of Giants: Not actually a pancake crocodile: A model of Aegisuchus and some modern humans: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. A while back, Pranav suggested...
Feb 22, 2021•16 min
This week let's venture into the ocean and learn about the fin whale! Further reading: The songs of fin whales offer new avenue for seismic studies of the oceanic crust Fin whales' big gulp The fin whale can hold a whole lot of water in its mouth (illustration from the second article linked above): A fin whale underwater. Look at that massive tail. That's pure muscle: A fin whale above water. It's like a torpedo: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. It’s...
Feb 15, 2021•13 min
Does the Shreve's lightbulb lizard really emit light? (Hint: sort of.) Let's find out! Further reading: The Lightbulb Lizard of Benjamin Shreve Shreve's lightbulb lizard, looking pretty ordinary really: A web-footed gecko in moonlight: A Jamaican gray anole showing off his dewlap: Show Transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week let’s learn about an interesting reptile with a mystery that’s mostly solved, but still really weird. It’s called Shreve’s lightb...
Feb 08, 2021•10 min
Here's a 2020 retrospective episode that looks at the bright side of the year! Thanks to Page for the suggestion! Let's learn about some animals discovered in 2020 (mostly). Further reading: Watch This Giant, Eerie, String-Like Sea Creature Hunt for Food in the Indian Ocean Rare Iridescent Snake Discovered in Vietnam An intrusive killer scorpion points the way to six new species in Sri Lanka What may be the longest (colony) animal in the world, a newly discovered siphonophore: New whale(s) just ...
Feb 01, 2021•19 min
Thanks to Phoebe for suggesting the quokka and the wombat, two of the cutest, happiest-looking animals in Australia! Further Reading: Viral stories of wombats sheltering other animals from the bushfires aren't entirely true Satellites reveal the underground lifestyle of wombats Giant Wombat-Like Marsupials Roamed Australia 25 Million Years Ago Further Listening: Animals and Ultraviolet Light (unlocked Patreon episode) The adorable quokka with a nummy leaf and a joey in her pouch: Quokka (left) a...
Jan 25, 2021•17 min
This week we're on the cutting edge of science, learning about the brand new genetic study of dire wolves that rearranges everything we know about the dire wolf and other canids! Also, a bonus turtle update. Further reading: Dire Wolves Were Not Really Wolves, Genetic Clues Reveal An artist's rendition of dire wolves and grey wolves fighting over a bison carcass (art by Mauricio Anton): The pig-nosed face of the Hoan Kiem turtle, AKA Yangtze giant softshell turtle, AKA Swinhoe's softshell turtle...
Jan 18, 2021•10 min
This week let's learn about two birds of New Guinea, bowerbirds and the Victoria crowned pigeon! Both are beautiful and the bowerbird is kind of weird. Thanks to M Is for Awesome for the suggestion! Further Reading: The Women Who Removed Birds from People's Hats Various bowers made by various species of bowerbird: The golden-fronted bowerbird: Not a bowerbird but a close relation, a dead bird of paradise from New Guinea, decorating an old-timey lady's fancy hat. I would not want to put this on m...
Jan 11, 2021•15 min
Happy new year! This week we'll learn about the oldest mass extinction event, some 450 million years ago, and also sea scorpions. Further reading: Coming up for air: Extinct sea scorpions could breathe out of water, fossil detective unveils Sea scorpions could get really, really big: A fossil Eurypterus: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. Hello, 2021, please be better than 2020 was. I’ve got lots of fun, interesting episodes planned for this year, but ...
Jan 04, 2021•17 min
