Strange Animals Podcast

My little cat Gracie got lost but she’s home! Let’s learn about some other rediscovered animals this week! A very happy birthday to  Seamus ! I hope you have the best birthday ever! Further listening: The Casual Birder Podcast (where you can hear me talk about birding in Belize!) Further reading: Bornean Rajah Scops Owl Rediscovered After 125 Years Shock find brings extinct mouse back...

Show transcript: Hi. If you’re hearing this, it means I’m sick or something else has happened that has kept me from making a new episode this week. This was a Patreon bonus episode from mid-August 2019. I think it’s a good one. If you’re a Patreon subscriber, I’m sorry you don’t have a new episode to listen to this time. Hopefully I’ll be feeling better soon and we can get back to learning about l...

Thanks to Pranav for this week’s suggestion! Happy birthday to  MaxOrangutan ! Have a great birthday! Further reading: Scarlet macaw DNA points to ancient breeding operation in Southwest The glorious hyacinth macaw: Roelant Savery’s dodo painting with not one but TWO separate mystery macaws featured: The blue-and-gold macaw: Eleazar Albin’s mystery macaw: Detail from Jan Steen&#8...

Thanks to Page for suggesting we talk about penguins this week! A big birthday shout-out to EllieHorseLover this week too! Further reading: March of the penguins (in Norway) Rare Yellow Penguin Bewilders Scientists Giant Waikato penguin: school kids discover new species An ordinary king penguin with the rare “yellow” king penguin spotted in early 2021 (photo by Yves Adams, taken from a...

This week we answer a question you probably didn’t ask, did dinosaurs ever get sick? The answer is yes (or else it would be a super short episode). (Thanks to Llewelly for some corrections!) A big birthday shout-out to Gwendolyn ! Have a great birthday! The unlocked Patreon episode about green puppies Further reading: Researchers discover first evidence indicating dinosaur respiratory infect...

Sign up for our mailing list ! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo ! Thanks to Ella and Jack for this week’s topic suggestion, animals that mate for life or develop pair bonds! Happy Valentine’s Day! Further reading: Wisdom the albatross, now 70, hatches yet another chick The prairie vole mates for life: Swans mate for life: The black vulture also mates for life: The Laysan al...

It’s the second annual discoveries episode! Lots of animals new to science were described in 2021 so let’s find out about some of them. Further reading: First description of a new octopus species without using a scalpel Marine Biologists Discover New Species of Octopus Bleating or screaming? Two new, very loud, frog species described in eastern Australia Meet the freaky fanged frog fro...

Sign up for our mailing list ! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo ! Thanks to my brother Richard for suggesting one of the fish we talk about this week–fish that can walk! (Sort of.) Further watching: Video of a gurnard walking Further reading: Walking shark moves with ping-pong paddle fins Walking sharks discovered in the tropics The Hawaiian seamoth (the yellowy one is a larval s...

Sign up for our mailing list ! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo ! Thanks to Enzo for suggesting this week’s topic, newts from least dangerous to most dangerous! Further reading: One snake’s prey is another’s poison The Corsican brook salamander is not toxic (photo by Paola Mazzei, from iNaturalist ): The smooth newt is a little bit toxic (photo by Fred Holmes and take...

Sign up for our mailing list ! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo ! Thanks to Nicholas and Emma for their suggestions this week as we learn about some (nearly) indestructible animals! Further listening: Patreon episode about Metal Animals (unlocked, no login required) Further reading: Even a car can’t kill this beetle. Here’s why The scaly-foot snail’s shell is made of...

Sign up for our mailing list ! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo ! A big birthday shout-out to  Penelope this week! Thanks to Isaac for this week’s topic suggestion. We’re learning all about the sable and sable antelope! Further reading (mostly for the pictures since there’s not much content otherwise): Woman Rescues This Sable from Becoming Someone’s Coat Furthe...

Sign up for our mailing list ! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo ! A big birthday shout-out this week to Yori !!! I was fortunate enough to visit the country of Belize in December and saw lots of amazing animals! I’ve chosen four to highlight in this week’s episode. Further reading: There may be more bird species in the tropics than we know The adorable proboscis bat, my fav...

Sign up for our mailing list ! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo ! Further reading: Million-year-old mammoth genomes shatter record for oldest ancient DNA Mammoth Genome Project (with pictures of cave art and ancient carvings of mammoths) The most famous cave painting of a mammoth, from a cave in France: Sivatherium: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Ka...

Sign up for our mailing list ! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo ! Thanks to Ethan and Simon this week for their suggestions! This week we’re looking at some extinct reptiles that each have a little something extra (and unexpected). Further reading: Two Extinct Flying Reptiles Compared Cretaceous ‘Four-Limbed Snake’ Turns Out To Be Long-Bodied Lizard Kuehneosaurids may...

Thanks to Elaine for suggesting the saola this week! Further reading: The saola: rushing to save the most ‘spectacular zoological discovery’ of the 20th century Striped rabbit revealed in Laos forest Saola horns: A saola from a 1999 camera trap (photo taken from link above): A female saola (named Martha) who unfortunately only survived in captivity a few weeks (photo taken from link ab...

Sign up for our mailing list ! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo ! This week let’s learn about a weird marine worm and its extinct ancestor! Further reading: Eunice aphroditois is a rainbow, terrifying The 20-million-year-old lair of an ambush-predatory worm preserved in northeast Taiwan Here’s the money shot of the sand striker with its jaws open, waiting for an animal to g...

Sign up for our mailing list ! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo ! Thanks to Zachary for suggesting this topic! Let’s learn about some sightings of what look like miniature theropod dinosaurs running around in the American Southwest! Further reading: All About Birds: Wild Turkey A collared lizard running (photo by Joe McDonald from this page ): Basilisks running: A female wild tur...

Sign up for our mailing list ! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo ! This week let’s look at some animals that have evolved rapidly to adapt to human-caused environmental pressures. Thanks to Otto and Pranav for their suggestions! Further reading: Long-term changes of plumage between urban and rural populations of white-crowned sparrows ( Zonotrichia leucophrys ) A light-colored pep...

Sign up for our mailing list ! This week let’s look at a scientific mystery: what caused the golden toad to go extinct, and is it still alive after all? Further reading: A deadly fungus is killing frogs, but the bacteria on their skin could protect them The male golden toad: The female golden toad (photo by Mary Crump): Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is gorgeous and hopefully still hides so...

Sign up for our mailing list ! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo ! Thanks to Richard from NC for his suggestion that leads us to learn about some interesting seals! Further reading: Mystery of Siberian freshwater seal food choice solved Under Antarctica’s ice, Weddell seals produce ultrasonic vocalizations Further listening/watching: Rarely-heard Weddell Seal Sounds in Antarctica...

Sign up for our mailing list ! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo ! We’re down to the last few days to back our Kickstarter ! We’ve got a slightly different type of episode this week. Follow along as I try to find out more about the giant jellyfish that nearly sank a ship! Further reading: Kraken: Monster of the Deep A lion’s mane jellyfish: A giant squid: The first pho...

Sign up for our mailing list ! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo ! Happy Halloween! Let’s learn about some shapeshifters of folklore, including the werewolf and kitsune (thanks to Joel, Pranav, and Emma!), and a real-life shapeshifter. Don’t forget the Kickstarter , as if I’d let you forget it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kateshaw/beyond-bigfoot-and-nessie Fur...

Sign up for our mailing list ! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo ! Don’t forget our Kickstarter ! I can’t believe it reached its funding goal THE FIRST DAY! We’re getting so close to Halloween! This week we’ll learn about Mothman! Is it a moth? Is it a ghostly entity from another world? Is it a bird? (hint: it’s probably a bird) Sandhill cranes (not mothmen...

Sign up for our mailing list ! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo ! Don’t forget the Kickstarter , as if I’d let you forget it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kateshaw/beyond-bigfoot-and-nessie Our next monster for monster month is the devil-pig! It’s probably not a devil although it might be a pig. The Asian tapir and its remarkable snoot: The New Guinea carving:...

THE KICKSTARTER IS LIVE AND I’M SO EXCITED! The Kickstarter campaign is HERE ! If you’re not sure how Kickstarter works, that’s what we talk about at the beginning of this episode. I then go over the different rewards available and finally we have a very short chapter from the audiobook. Kickstarter FAQ I talk about the Kickstarter for way too long, so if you don’t care you...