Strange Animals Podcast

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...

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...

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 regula...

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 B...

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 makin...

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, Kat...

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 t...

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...

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 wi...

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 wa...

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 &#...

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 g...

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 th...

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 Im...

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...

This week let’s learn about a mystery that was solved by science! Happy birthday to Zoe ! Further reading: Let’s all do the kunga! The kunga, as depicted in a 4500-year-old mosaic: The Syrian wild ass as depicted in a 1915 photograph (note the size of the animal compared to the man standing behind it): Domestic donkeys: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host...

This week let’s find out what lived before the Cambrian explosion! A very happy birthday to Isaac ! Further reading: Some of Earth’s first animals–including a mysterious, alien-looking creature–are spilling out of Canadian rocks Say Hello to Dickinsonia, the Animal Kingdom’s Newest (and Oldest) Member Charnia looks like a leaf or feather: Kimberella looks like a lost...

Thanks to Pranav for this week’s suggestion, lobsters! Happy birthday to Jake !! Visit  Dr. Oné R. Pagán’s site for links to his podcast and his free book Arrow: The Lucky Planarian ! You can also order his other books from your favorite book store. Here’s the direct link to his interview with me! Further reading: Don’t Listen to the Buzz: Lobsters Aren’t Actually Imm...

This week we learn about some weird worms! Further reading: Otherworldly Worms with Three Sexes Discovered in Mono Lake Bizarre sea worm with regenerative butts named after Godzilla’s monstrous nemesis Underground giant glows in the dark but is rarely seen Giant Gippsland earthworm (you can listen to one gurgling through its burrow here too) Further watching: A giant Gippsland earthworm Glow...

Thanks to Joel for suggesting this week’s topic! Happy birthday to Fern this week! Further reading: Small, rare crayfish thought extinct is rediscovered in cave in Huntsville city limits Hundreds of three-eyed ‘dinosaur shrimp’ emerge after Arizona monsoon An invertebrate mystery track in South Africa The case of the mysterious holes in the sea floor Contemplating the Con Rit The...

Sign up for our mailing list! Even though I hardly ever send an email to it! It’s INVERTEBRATE AUGUST! Thanks to Elizabeth, Richard, and Llewelly for their suggestions this week! Further reading: Meet Phylliroe: the sea slug that looks and swims like a fish Hey, so these sea slugs decapitate themselves and grow new bodies Found, Then Lost, Then Found Again: Scientists Have Rediscovered the S...

Thanks to Vaughn for suggesting this week’s episode topic about Venus the cat and her unusual coat pattern! Further reading: Mystery Cats of the World Revisited by Dr. Karl P.N. Shuker Further listening: Half-siders and sea monkeys Patreon episode from December 2018 (unlocked episode) Venus the cat: “Half-sider” birds can be spectacular: Half-side chimeras are not just restricted...

This week we have a mystery animal from South America, the hueque! Further reading: Llamas are having a moment in the U.S., but they’ve been icons in South America for millennia Whatever happened to the hueque? Seeking the lost llama of Chile First complete mitochondrial genome data from ancient South American camelids – The mystery of the chilihueques from Isla Mocha (Chile) A dressed up pe...

Thanks to Pranav and Zachary for their suggestions this week, where we learn the story behind two cuddly toys and the animals that inspired them! The cartoon that inspired the toy: My own teddy bear: An American black bear (not William Taft although yes, there is a resemblance, including a willingness to eat entire possums in one sitting): William Taft: A Virginia opossum: A possum with babies! St...

Thanks to Max and Pranav for their suggestions this week! We’re going to learn about some crocodylomorphs and a few other ancient non-dinosaur reptiles. Further reading: Mammal-like crocodile fossil found in East Africa, scientists report Ancient crocodiles walked on two legs like dinosaurs Fossil Footprints Help Uncover the Mysteries of Bipedal Crocodiles Fossil mystery solved: super-long-n...