The Creature Feature holiday special episode will air next week! In the meantime, please enjoy this soothing Q&A where I answer your questions about animals! And though we talk about alien parasites and the horrifying truth behind guinea pigs, let the soothing tones of my voice and ambient music bring you some tranquility. Footnotes: Parasitic salminicola Sun bear epic tongue Plough snails absolutely booking it Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omny...
Dec 16, 2020•36 min•Ep 83•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the show, we’re talking about those tubular dudes, those little wiggle pipes, those cylindrical squamates, SNAAAAAKES! From the goofiest, to the cutest, to the most dazzling snakes, we’re going to find out how truly odd snakes can be with our guest, Maggie Mae Fish! Footnotes: Arabian sand boa! Madagascar leaf-nosed snake Male and female leaf-nosed snakes Tentacled snake Elephant trunk snake Hognose snake Blunthead tree snake Big-eye green whip snake Sunbeam snakes Brazilian Rainbow boa...
Dec 09, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep 82•Transcript available on Metacast Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 02, 2020•30 min•Ep 82•Transcript available on Metacast This year I know a lot of your responsible folks are modifying your normal holiday season to be safer. But we don’t have to isolate from turkeys, so I’m gonna invite a whole flock of turkeys into your home! We’re gonna talk turkey facts, turkey romance, turkey history, and alternative turkeys with our guest Alison Stevenson! Show Notes: A turkey snood that's... um... Turkey sounds! Ocellated turkey! Ocellated turkey sounds! Australian brush turkey! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www...
Nov 25, 2020•50 min•Ep 79•Transcript available on Metacast The past few weeks have been pretty hectic when it comes to news, so here are some animal news stories that you may have missed with our guest Alex Schmidt! Footnotes: Anti-bear robot wolves! Dystopian bear facial recognition! Bear raids convenience stores! Wolves got voted in! Giant murder hornet nest found! Two new species of greater glider discovered, found to be TOTALLY CUTE! Somebody let the devils back into Australia! GLOWING. PLATYPUS. Half male, half female bird, split right down the mid...
Nov 18, 2020•59 min•Ep 78•Transcript available on Metacast I don’t know about you guys, but my brain is completely melted after this election week! So I thought I’d take it easy today and answer some fascinating listener questions! Footnotes: Baby pygmy hippo ;) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Nov 11, 2020•31 min•Ep 77•Transcript available on Metacast Today we’re discussing some horror tropes you can find right in nature! Evil deadly lakes, fungus that isn’t fun, terrifying ANT-ics, and things that go bump in the night! Stay tuned for an audio guessing game with David Bell & Tom Reimann ! Footnotes: Lake Natron Dead animal statues of Lake Natron Alien fungus Uh oh more alien fungus Jumping spider ant mimic Predatory female spider ant mimic Predatory male spider ant mimic Ant algorithim Extinct vampire ant trapped in amber Mystery caller #...
Nov 04, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep 76•Transcript available on Metacast Today we’re visiting the spookiest, smartest, most spectacular family in the animal kingdom: the corvids! Crows, ravens, rooks and more! Are crows the smartest being on earth? Do they mourn their dead? Featuring crow expert Dr. Kaeli Swift! Footnotes! Dr. Swift's spooky crow study! DO NOT BE ALARMED! CROW RESEARCH! Genius New Caledonian crows Crow gifts? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Oct 28, 2020•1 hr 26 min•Ep 75•Transcript available on Metacast On this first episode of our two-episode spooktacular, Bridgett Greenberg and Abe Epperson help us flee from a chitinous terror, a ten-legged devilish decapod, a creepy crustacean crawling closer and closer! ATTACK! OF THE KILLER CRAAAAABS! Footnotes: King "crab" Porcelain "crab" Hairy stone "crab" Inspirational tweet Flower crab spider Another crab spider Happy face spider Clown face on a green crab spider! Pubic lice, aka, "crabs" Halloween crab, spooooky! Christmas island crabs! Coconut crab!...
Oct 21, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Ep 74•Transcript available on Metacast From slimy love unicorns to sexy eight-legged twerking, we’re looking at all the beautiful and bizarre mating habits of all sorts of creatures, gastropods, arthropods, birds, and mammals with our guests Carolina Barlow & Devin Leary. Footnotes: Snail love dart, aw yeah... Black widow males twerk for love! Cosmophasis umbratica rave! Twelve-wired bird of paradise video Wilson’s bird of paradise video Six-plumed bird of paradise video Naked mole rat mutant sperm Mouse sperm swim teams You know...
Oct 14, 2020•48 min•Ep 73•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the show we’re scouring the animal kingdom to look for a new species of animal to cast as the replacement Garfield! Will it be the pygmy bluetongue skink? The gulper eel? Reticulated python? Or another candidate? Discover this and more as we answer the age-old question: is Garfield measured more by his laziness, his hatred for Mondays, or his ability to eat an entire tray of lasagna in one bite? Find out with our guests Hana Michels and Joey Clift. Footnotes: Pygmy bluetongue skink poki...
Oct 07, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep 72•Transcript available on Metacast I got my brother, Aaron Goldin, to come on the podcast to talk about siblings in the animal kingdom! From siblicide to unstoppable armies of siblings! Footnotes: Baby sand tiger sharks eat each other in the womb! Tiger salamander cannibal morph! Baby bald eagles A giant caterpillar? Millipede baby buddy ball! Black lace weaver spiders at a uh, family dinner... Copidosoma floridanum wasp caterpillar thunderdome (warning: NSFE, not safe for eating) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.i...
Sep 30, 2020•1 hr 20 min•Ep 71•Transcript available on Metacast While us humans are all trying to figure out our favorite hobbies to occupy our time, animals are already running, crocheting, and baking circles around us! We’re talking bee bakers, web-spinners, carpenters, fake astronomers, and dolphin shenanigans with our guest, Teresa Lee! Footnotes: Bee bread! Bee sorbet! Webspinner! Carpenter ants handiwork! Honeypot ants! Carnivorous stars! Dolphin vape tricks! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/li...
Sep 23, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep 70•Transcript available on Metacast Reproduction is the key to evolution, which means that mother nature can get a little strange when it comes to sex. We’re talking about strange equipment, bizarre courtship, and fatal attraction with Arden Myrin! Footnotes: Crane Fly! Echidna! Echidna penis (NSFW) Bull penis cane? Whiptail lizards Hanging flies hanging out North American Porcupine! Old world porcupine Brown widows (yes that little guy is a male) Anaconda breeding ball Dawson's burrowing bees (NSFW: BEE SEX) Learn more about your...
Sep 16, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep 69•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the show, we’re talking about INTERSPECIES BUDDIES! We’ll talk about the difference between mutualism and commensalism, why every birdy loves a capybara, how the beaches of the Galapagos are a great place for friendship, and the only time you want to be inside the mouth of a giant moray. Footnotes: Marine iguana! https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Amblyrhynchus_cristatus_%283838137696%29.jpg Marine iguana and lava lizard! https://i.pinimg.com/originals/28/f5/aa/28f5aab7...
Sep 09, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep 68•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the show we’re talking about ridiculous species names, and learning all about the animals behind them. Can you really judge a pigbutt worm by its name? Or a screaming hairy armadillo? Or a lumpsucker fish? Footnotes: Pigbutt worm : Pigbutt worm face : Lumpsuckers! Lil lumpsucker sucking on a finger Lumpsuckers on balloons Lumpsuckers sucking on lumpsuckers Tassled wobbegong Hellbender salamander Screaming hairy armadillo Screaming hairy armadillo, well, screaming Cinereous mourner Ciner...
Sep 02, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Ep 67•Transcript available on Metacast Animal pranks aren’t always just for fun, they can be crucial for survival. We’re going to fall down a web of lies, deceit, and outright mockery. Discover this and more as we answer the age-old question: you can pick your nose, you can pick your friend’s nose, but can you pick a monkey’s nose? Footnotes: Portia spider Iranian spider-tailed viper Fork-tailed drongo Capuchins pranking eachother Chimps pranking visitors Octopuses pranking everyone Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.ihe...
Aug 26, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Ep 66•Transcript available on Metacast Why are some animals nocturnal? What evolutionary adaptations do you have to make to be awake during the GRAVEYARD SHIFT with horror expert with Sabina Graves? And what lurks in the ocean… at night? Discover this and more as we answer the age-old question, why is owls? I mean, why… why is owls? Footnotes: T he cathemeral fossa Barking gecko mating call Australian greater glider THE TAILS The tarsier Incredible zooplankton Sp iny tiger shrimp Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheart...
Aug 19, 2020•1 hr•Ep 65•Transcript available on Metacast We’re talking animals that are unusually musical, from up in the skies to deep under the ocean. We have a special guest Dajae Williams, an Engineer at NASA, who uses music to educate and inspire, as answer the age-old question: do all birds like Taylor Swift, or just the swifts? Footnotes: Dajae Williams' website SongHive Musician wren Wood thrush Humpback whale song Blue whale song Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...
Aug 12, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep 64•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the show we’re going to look at the truth behind viral stories about animals! Which claims are real, and which are dirty lies? Footnotes: Salmon shark pictures on Twitter? Dwarf lantern shark Pygmy shark Famous orca pregnant again? Decapitated wolf eel head biting? A live wolf eel Spotted zebra? Melanistic fox? Cross fox? Many different fox color morphs Unicorn puppy? Seal trying to impress a cat? Margay mimics Orangutan handwashing? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.ihear...
Aug 05, 2020•1 hr 18 min•Ep 63•Transcript available on Metacast The animal kingdom is full of devoted parents, whose child rearing skills are incredible, shocking, and gross! Some parents, like our guest Steph Williams, would give you the shirts off their backs, and others would give you the skin off their backs... literally. Footnotes: Horned marsupial frog Horned marsupial frog with eggs (warning, yucky) Blue poison dart frog with tadpole on his back Suriname toads (warning, trypophobia trigger) Killdeer mating Killdeer faking injury Rhea dad with babies O...
Jul 29, 2020•1 hr 20 min•Ep 62•Transcript available on Metacast What happens when you stick two different animals together and let nature take its course? Some whacky evolutionary mixups! We’re talking scientists who accidentally created a hybrid, how hybridization works in the first place, and the mysteries of animals like the narulga and pizzly. Discover this and more as we and guest Kayla Maria answer the age-old question: how come scientists tried to make a Jesus fish? Footnotes: Sturddlefish!!! Geep! The Narluga The Leopon Pizzly!! Learn more about your...
Jul 22, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Ep 61•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the show we’re talking about D-D-D-DANK ANIMAL MEMES, KIDS with Alex Schmidt! Did you know humans aren’t the only ones spreading sweet memes? That’s right, we’re talking about viral birdsong that’s getting retweeted like crazy, otter tupperware parties, and dolphins engaging in the hottest new trend, “shelling.” Footnotes: Otter tupperware parties Dolphins shelling! Tandem recruitment in ants Viral birdsong Sperm whale dialects Baby meerkat eating scorpion Orangutan building nests Learn...
Jul 15, 2020•1 hr 21 min•Ep 60•Transcript available on Metacast Summary: This week we're talking about something very important. We’re going to cover the use of dogs in cases of police brutality, the history of how dogs have been used as weapons, and the harm this does to people as well as to the dogs themselves. And at the end, we'll cover some of the positive jobs that dogs can do that are better for people and better for dogs. Guests: Pallavi Gunalan, Joelle Monique Footnotes: Police dog bite study Cancer sniffing dogs Little "fairy" penguin Oddball the s...
Jul 08, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Ep 59•Transcript available on Metacast Catch some Z’s with nap-time transformers, contortionists, animals who barely need a wink, and animals who slept in past their alarm by a few years. Discover this and more as we answer the age old question: how do you sleep floating in the middle of the sea? You’ll be otter-ly surprised with guest Alexis Torres! Footnotes: Dead leaf butterfly More of the dead leaf butterfly Malachite sunbird Malachite sunbird asleep Sea otter use kelp to babysit Giraffe sleeping with its head on its butt Sperm w...
Jul 01, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep 58•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the show, we’ll be talking about a BRIEF HISTORY OF BIRDS. Are there secretly still dinosaurs still lurking among us? How did birds learn how to fly? Why did some birds decide to be so small? Discover this and more as we answer the age old question, is birds dinosaurs? Footnotes: Birds is dinosaurs? Archaeopteryx WONDERCHICKEN Sandhill crane Baby blue heron Baby southern ground hornbill Adult southern ground hornbill The hoatzin Inca tern mustache! Inca tern calls Indohyus (whale ancest...
Jun 24, 2020•1 hr 15 min•Ep 57•Transcript available on Metacast Today, we’re going to be playing a little game: see if you can guess which one of these animals we’re about to discuss is more likely to kill you than to cuddle you with Joey Cliff? Discover this and more as we answer the age-old question: can you trim your hedges with a crocodile? Footnotes: Striped Eel Catfish The Gharial Crocodile The Basking Shark Blue-Ringed Octopus (if you see this RUN AWAY) Be Wary of the Cassowary The Shoebill Stork is not a Stork (but is kinda a dork) Learn more about y...
Jun 17, 2020•1 hr 13 min•Ep 56•Transcript available on Metacast We’re talking about animals who are all about the presentation with Katie Cullen! Sequined spiders, mantises with deadly cosplay, fish who prove the devil really does wear Prada, 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 age old question: have you ever watched a crab swim? I mean, really watched it? Footnotes: Sequined mirror spiders These spiders look like jewels Pine processionary caterpilla...
Jun 10, 2020•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we’re talking about PETS with Dr. Lisa Lippman and Richie Redding! When did humans decide to own pets? Do we own pets, or do pets own us? We’re also going to go into depth on animals, coronavirus, and zoonotic diseases, and how you can protect yourself and your pet. Discover this and more as we answer the age old question, should we be making dog arcades? Footnotes: History of pet ownership Domestication of dogs Farmers brought their dogs with them when migrating The evolution of domestica...
Jun 03, 2020•1 hr 22 min•Ep 54•Transcript available on Metacast Today I'm joined by particle physicist Daniel Whiteson to talk about RADIATION! What does it do to humans? How have animals adapted to radioactive contamination? Also: killer bananas!?! Footnotes: Birds Adapting to Chernoby l Study on Chernobyl's Birds Chernobyl Wildlife 30 Years Later Tardigrades Have Radiation Shields! How Tardigrades Might Help Human Cells Conan the Bacterium Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...
May 27, 2020•1 hr 23 min•Ep 53•Transcript available on Metacast 
