Strange Animals Podcast

Thanks to Vaughn and Jan for their suggestions this week! We’re going to learn about mutualism of various types. Further reading: The odd couple: spider-frog mutualism in the Amazon rainforest What Birds, Coyotes, and Badgers Know About Teamwork Octopuses punch fishes during collaborative interspecific hunting events An Emotional Support Dog Is the Only Thing That Chills Out a Cheetah Buddie...

This week we have a mystery fish from Australia, the ompax! Main source consulted: Whitley, G. P. (1933). Ompax spatuloides Castelnau, a Mythical Australian Fish. The American Naturalist , 67 (713), 563–567. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2456813 The fateful Ompax drawing: The freshwater longtom (picture by Barry Hutchins): Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw...

Thanks to Lorenzo for suggesting Tiarajudens! We’ll learn about it this week along with another extinct animal, Vintana. Further reading: Funky facial flanges [the skull picture below comes from this site] First Postcranial Fossils of Rare Gondwanatherian Mammal Unearthed in Madagascar The Earliest Saberteeth Were for Fighting, Not Biting [the skeleton picture below comes from this site] Vin...

Thanks to Alexandra and Pranav for their suggestions this week! Let’s learn about manatees and sloths, including a surprising extinct sloth. Further reading: Sloths in the Water A West Indian manatee: A three-toed sloth: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week we have a suggestion from Alexandra and Pranav, who wanted an episode about manatees...

Thanks to Richard from NC for suggesting Titanomyrma! Further reading: ‘Giant’ ant fossil raises questions about ancient Arctic migrations A fossilized queen Titanomyrma ant with a rufous hummingbird (stuffed) for scale: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week we have a suggestion from Richard from North Carolina, who sent me an article...

Thanks to Dean for suggesting this week’s topic, the marmot! Thanks also to Al-Ka-Lines Studio for the beautiful bat pin! You should definitely visit their online shop, because all their jewelry is hand-made by the two of them. Further reading: The secret to longevity? Ask a yellow-bellied marmot The yellow-bellied marmot doing a sit [By Inklein, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w...

Thanks to Eva and Anbo for suggesting the harpy eagle! Further reading: Crested Eagle Feeding a Post-Fledged Young Harpy Eagle Harpy eagle with a food [By http://www.birdphotos.com – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3785263]: The harpy eagle has great big feet and talons: The harpy eagle with its feather crown raised [photo by Eric Kilby]: The New Guinea h...

We have merch available again! Thanks to Will for suggesting this week’s topic, the burrunjor! Muttaburrasaurus had a big nose [picture by Matt Martyniuk (Dinoguy2) – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3909643 ]: The “rock art” that Rex Gilroy “found”: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate S...

We have merch available again! Thanks to Eva and Leo for suggesting the tenrec! Further reading: Marooned on Mesozoic Madagascar Introduction to Adalatherium hui The lowland streaked tenrec: The hedgehog tenrec rolls up just like an actual hedgehog [photo by Rod Waddington, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons]: Actual hedgehog, not a tenrec: Lesser hedgehog tenrec REALLY looks like an actual hedg...

Thanks to Lincoln for suggesting this week’s subject, the kinkajou! Further reading: Early Primates Groomed with Claws Not actually a monkey: Not actually a bear [photo taken from this site ]: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week we’re going to learn about an animal suggested by Lincoln. It’s the kinkajou, an adorable but weird little anima...

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....

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...

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...

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 littl...

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...

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 hors es of Assateague! Thanks to Leo for the suggestion! Th...

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 Ō shima...

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 tran...

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...

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: Wel...

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 &#821...

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 ab...

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...

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): Sh...

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...