Thanks to Oceana and Leo for suggesting this week's episode about the javelina! We'll even learn about a mystery peccary too. Further reading: New Species of Peccary--Pig-Like Animal--Discovered in Amazon Region A javelina, also called the collared peccary [By Wing-Chi Poon - Own work by uploader; at Cottonwood Campground, Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4394434]: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host,...
Apr 03, 2023•9 min
We have merch available again! Thanks to Eilee for suggesting this week's topic, Archaeopteryx! Further reading: Dinosaur feather study debunked Archaeopteryx fossil provides insights into the origin of flight An Archaeopteryx fossil [By H. Raab (User: Vesta) - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8066320]: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. We’ve had a lot of mammal episodes lately, so this week let’s learn about a r...
Mar 27, 2023•9 min
Thanks to Connor and Pranav who suggested this week's episode about elephants! It's been too long since we had an elephant episode and there's lots more to learn. Further reading: Asian elephants could be the maths kings of the jungle Many wild animals 'count' A big difference between Asian and African elephants is diet Study reveals ancient link between mammoth dung and pumpkin pie The Asian elephant (left) and the African elephant (right): The African bush elephant (left) and the African fores...
Mar 20, 2023•12 min
Thanks to Kristie for suggesting this week's topic, the phascogale! Further reading: Red-tailed phascogales (all photos below come from this site) Sleeping phascogale: Wide-awake phascogales: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. Ages ago, Kristie suggested I look up the phascogale, a really cute Australian animal. It’s definitely adorable and a little bit weird, so let’s learn about it this week! Like most mammals that live in Australia, the phascogale i...
Mar 13, 2023•7 min
Thanks to the Tracing Owls podcast for this week's suggestion. I'm a guest on that podcast so make sure to check it out (but while my episode is appropriate for younger listeners, most episodes are not, so be warned). Further reading: Huge Hippos Roamed Britain One Million Years Ago Kenyan fossils show evolution of hippos The Kilopilopitsofy, Kidoky, and Bokyboky: Accounts of Strange Animals from Belo-sur-mer, Madagascar, and the Megafaunal “Extinction Window” A sort-of Malagasy hippo: Actual hi...
Mar 06, 2023•16 min
Thanks to Leo for suggesting this week's topic, the ponies of Assateague Island! Further reading: Assateague Wild Ponies Some ponies running free on Assateague Island [photo taken from the site linked above]: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week we’re going to learn about the feral horses of Assateague! Thanks to Leo for the suggestion! That’s the grown-up Leo; we also have a young Leo who’s sent some great suggestions, including one we’re hope...
Feb 27, 2023•14 min
This week we learn more about the blobfish thanks to Matilde's suggestion, and we'll also learn about a primitive rabbit. Further reading: In Defense of the Blobfish: Why the 'World's Ugliest Animal' Isn't as Ugly as You Think It Is A rare rabbit plays an important ecological role by spreading seeds The Amami Rabbit: A Living Fossil in the Wilds of Amami Ōshima [amazing photos in this article!] The blobfish as we usually see it: The blobfish as it looks when it's in its deep-sea home: The Amami ...
Feb 20, 2023•9 min
Thanks to Fabiana and Hazel for their suggestions this week, where we learn more about dogs and cats! Further reading: Gene mutation that makes dogs small existed in ancient wolves Feline genetics help pinpoint first-ever domestication of cats Cats Learn Names of Their Feline Friends A cat (Dracula, specifically, with Dracula the toy): A dog, in case you've never seen a dog before: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week we’re going to revisit two...
Feb 13, 2023•10 min
Let's learn about some of the animals discovered in 2022! There are lots, so let's go! Further Reading: In Japanese waters, a newly described anemone lives on the back of a hermit crab Rare ‘fossil’ clam discovered alive Marine Biologists Discover New Giant Isopod Mysterious ‘blue goo’ at the bottom of the sea stumps scientists New Species of Mossy Frog Discovered in Vietnam A Wildlife YouTuber Discovered This New Species of Tarantula in Thailand Meet Nepenthes pudica, Carnivorous Plant that Pro...
Feb 06, 2023•17 min
This week we learn about two interesting animals from opposite parts of the world! Thanks to Felix and Jaxon for suggesting the wolverine and the kakapo. Further reading: Study: Wolverines need refrigerators Kakapo Comeback [this article has some fantastic pictures!] The wolverine likes cold weather: So many young kakapos! The kakapo is a really big bird: (Photo by Matu Booth) Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week we’re going to cover two animal...
Jan 30, 2023•14 min
Thanks to Zachary and Oran for this week's topic, some little animals that bounce around like tiny kangaroos! Further reading: Evolution of Kangaroo-Like Jerboas Sheds Light on Limb Development Supposedly extinct kangaroo rat resurfaces after 30 years High-Speed Videos Show Kangaroo Rats Using Ninja-Style Kicks to Escape Snakes Williams's jerboa [picture by Mohammad Amin Ghaffari - https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/177950563, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=115769436]...
Jan 23, 2023•12 min
Thanks to Llewelly for this suggestion, and thanks to Dr. Thomas A. Hegna for providing me with the two papers I reference in this episode! Images are taken from the papers. The mystery "spider": Long-legged isopods: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. My carefully planned out episode schedule has already gotten messed up, but I got excited about this topic and couldn’t wait to share it! It’s a mystery invertebrate from the deep sea that has been solved...
Jan 16, 2023•8 min
Thanks to Dean for this week's suggestion, the crab-eating fox! Further reading: Jaguars could prevent a not-so-great American biotic exchange The crab-eating fox is not actually a fox: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. I’m happy to report that I’m feeling healthy and testing negative for covid now. Even my lingering cough has pretty much cleared up! I hope you’re healthy too. Anyway, this week let’s learn about an unusual animal suggested by Dean, th...
Jan 09, 2023•6 min
Thanks to Zola for suggesting this week's topic, the red panda! Further reading: Study Reveals Key Differences in Skulls of Red and Giant Panda A red panda: A red panda asleep in a tree [photo by By Aconcagua - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2169002]: Not exactly a real red panda but pretty darn cute (from the Disney/Pixar movie Turning Red): Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. Happy new year! I’m still getting o...
Jan 02, 2023•9 min
Yay, we're at the end of the year and looking forward to 2023! Boo, I caught covid and I'm still recovering, so here's a repurposed Patreon episode about whale strandings and how people help the whales! A minke whale calf being transferred via rescue pontoon to a boat to tow her farther out to sea than the pontoon could manage for such a big whale (photo from this article, which explains that she rejoined her mother and swam away safely): Pilot whales being rescued after stranding: Show transcri...
Dec 26, 2022•11 min
Thanks to Miranda and Henry for this week's frog suggestions! Further reading: Shattering the Glass Frog Ceiling The Puerto Rican wetland frog, AKA coquí llanero: The golden coquí in happier times: Glass frog from above and below: A female granulosa glass frog named Millie (in one of the few successful breeding programs of these frogs), looking demure: Laura's glass frog, rediscovered after almost 70 years [photos from this article]: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your ...
Dec 19, 2022•11 min
This week we're going to learn about a brand new study in Nature about animals and plants that lived in Greenland about two million years ago. Happy birthday to Dillon! Further reading: A 2-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland uncovered by environmental DNA Scientists Reconstruct 2-Million-Year-Old Ecosystem from Environmental DNA No bones? No problem: DNA left in cave soils can reveal ancient human occupants Greenland now: Greenland two million years ago [art by Beth Zaiken, taken from the s...
Dec 12, 2022•12 min
Thanks to Isaac for suggesting the chamois, our main topic this week! Further reading: The chamois in New Zealand Extinct goat was cold-blooded Myotragus balearicus: Extinction of mouse-goats A chamois in its summer coat: A chamois in its winter coat: Myotragus, the "cave goat," may have looked something like this museum restoration: Nuralagus's femur (left) compared to a regular rabbit femur: Show Transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week we’re going to...
Dec 05, 2022•9 min
Thanks to Pranav for suggesting this week's topic, animals of the Paleogene, the period after the Cretaceous! Thanks also to Llewelly for suggesting the horned screamer, now one of my favorite birds. Further watching: Southern Screamers making noise Horned Screamers making noise Further reading: The Brontotheres Presbyornis looked a lot like a long-legged goose [art by Smokeybjb - CC BY-SA 3.0] The southern screamer (left) and horned screamer (right), probably the closest living relation to Pres...
Nov 28, 2022•18 min
Thanks to Emory for suggesting this week's topic, mysterious animal sounds! Further reading/watching: The Story of Elk in the Great Smoky Mountains Terrifying Sounds in the Forests of the Great Smoky Mountains Evidence found of stingrays making noise This New AI Can Detect the Calls of Animals Swimming in an Ocean of Noise The wapiti [pic from article linked above]: The stingray filmed making noise [stills from video linked to above]: The tawny owl makes some weird sounds: The fox says all kinds...
Nov 21, 2022•8 min
Thanks to Oceana, Leo, and Alexandra for suggesting the coatimundi this week! Further reading: Caught red handed: The mystery of an unusual Panamanian plant’s dispersal The coatimundi has a long tail and a long nose: The olingo sitting on a cloud cycad seed pod. Mystery solved! The olingo in daylight: My new podcasting studio! Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week we’re going to talk about an animal suggested by several people. Thanks to Oceana,...
Nov 14, 2022•12 min
Thanks to Liesbet for this week's suggestion, about two mammals that have evolved to be hairless! Happy birthday this week to Declan and Shannon! The hairless bat has a doglike face and a doglike tail but (and this is important) it is not a dog [photos from this site]: The naked mole-rat's mouth is behind its teeth instead of the usual "my teeth are in my mouth" kind of thing: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week we have a suggestion from Liesb...
Nov 07, 2022•8 min
Here it is, our 300th episode! Which just happens to fall on Halloween! We have a spooooooky episode for sure this time, a full five out of five ghosts on our spookiness scale. Beware!! Don't forget to order your copy of Beyond Bigfoot & Nessie, available wherever you buy books! Check out the great podcast Bring Birds Back. They were kind enough to run a promo for us in the middle of their Halloween episode so I've returned the favor. Further reading: 'Loveland Frogman' Spotted Again? The Lo...
Oct 31, 2022•31 min
This week's episode rates one out of five ghosts on the spookiness scale. It's not too spooky unless the thought of being ENTOMBED IN STONE creeps you out! Which it might, if you are a frog. Further reading: A Tenacious Pterodactyl Further watching: "One Froggy Evening" A frog supposedly found mummified in a stone: The Texas horned lizard kind of looks like a pointy toad with a tail: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. We’re getting really close to Hall...
Oct 24, 2022•11 min
This week we're examining the Tantanoola Tiger, a mystery animal that probably wasn't a tiger...but what was it? This episode is rated two ghosts out of five for monster month spookiness! Thanks to Kristie for sharing her photos of the Tantanoola tiger! Happy birthday to ME this week! I've decided to turn 25 again. That was a good year. Further reading: The Tasmanian tiger was hunted to extinction as a 'large predator'--but it was only half as heavy as we thought The grisly mystery of the murder...
Oct 17, 2022•13 min
This week we have a two-ghost rating for our episode about dinosaur mummies! It's a little spooky because we talk about mummies, but it's mostly an episode about dinosaurs, which are not spooky. Further reading: The lost Tarbosaurus mummy Dinosaur Mummy Found with Fossilized Skin and Soft Tissues Dakota the Dinomummy: Millenniums in the Making Spectacularly Detailed Armored Dinosaur "Mummy" Makes Its Debut Was a Dinosaur Mummy Dubbed 'Appalachiosaurus' Found in Tennessee? An Edmontosaurus mummy ...
Oct 10, 2022•16 min
Monster month is upon us, October, where all our episodes are about spooky things! This episode is only a little bit spooky, though. I give it one ghost out of a possible five ghosts on the spooky scale. Happy birthday to Casey R.! Further reading: All you ever wanted to know about the "Cuero" Mystery Creatures of China by David C. Xu Freshwater stingrays chew their food just like a goat A 1908 drawing of the hide (in the red box) [picture taken from first link above]: The Caribbean whiptail sti...
Oct 03, 2022•15 min
Thanks to Nikita for this week's suggestion that we learn all about the peregrine falcon! I'll be at the Next Chapter Book Fair in Dalton, Georgia on October 1, 2022! Come say hi! Further listening: Crossover episode with Arcane Carolinas from ConCarolinas 2022! Further reading: Falcons see prey at speed of Formula 1 car A peregrine falcon in flight: Baby peregrine falcons. Look at those giant peets! [photos by Robin Duska, taken from this site] Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcas...
Sep 26, 2022•10 min
It's our fifth updates and corrections episode, with some fun information about a New Zealand parrot, suggested by Pranav! Thanks also to Llewelly, Zachary, Nicholas, and Simon who sent in corrections. Further reading: Vitiligo Tyrannosaurus remains hint at three possible distinct species Study refutes claim that T. rex was three separate species The reign of the dinosaurs ended in spring Impact crater may be dinosaur killer’s baby cousin California mice eat monarch butterflies 'Hobbit' human st...
Sep 19, 2022•18 min
We'll have a real episode next week but for now, here are two Patreon episodes smashed together into one! Happy birthday to Speed! Further reading: Yi qi Is Neat But Might Not Have Been the Black Screaming Dino-Dragon of Death Yi qi could probably glide instead of actually flying: The Dayak fruit bat [photo by Chien C. Lee]: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. I’ve finally finished moving, although I’m still in the process of unpacking and finding place...
Sep 12, 2022•16 min
