The Wild Episode

The Madison Cave Isopod is a small aquatic crustacean living an extraordinary subterranean life: not in underground rivers, but in the groundwater. In the aquifer.  Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episodes better! You can also follow the show on Facebook or Twitter ....

The Oilbird is a bird not quite like any other: first described by one of history's greatest naturalist-explorers, it is a cave-nesting nocturnal fruit-eater, whose nestlings had the misfortune to become a valuable fuel source for humans ... Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those...

Eleonora's Falcon  is a very elegant, very unusual bird of prey. It nests in big colonies on Mediterranean Islands, and on one of those islands may have been the first bird in the world to get specific legal protection. But here's the main question: why, unlike almost any other bird, does it breed not in the Spring or Summer, but in the Autumn? Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any...

The Greater Noctule bat is Europe's biggest bat, but also probably its most mysterious and least studied. In the last twenty years, though, remarkable details of its life have come to light. Such as: it's one of the very few bats in the world that is a major predator of birds ...  Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, sug...

The purple frog (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis) was only described by scientists in 2003. Naturalists actually knew about it - knew a little about it - way back in the early 20th century, but its existence had been kind of forgotten. And even now, we don't know much more than a little about it. But what we do know is enough to make it a pretty remarkable frog ... Subscribe to the show to make sure...

Cannibals on the march ... The Mormon Cricket ( Anabrus simplex ), which is found across western North America, is prone to outbreaks: the mass movement of millions upon millions of insects. And what happens within those outbreaks, inside the vast crowd, is pretty brutal ... Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestio...

Labord's Chameleon ( Furcifer labordi ) may look like just another chameleon, albeit a small one. But it isn't. In one crucial respect, it is one of the most unusual animals on Earth. Virtually unique among tetrapods, in fact ... Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episo...

The Lowland Streaked Tenrec ( Hemicentetes semispinosus ) is a small, worm-eating mammal from Madagascar. It has yellow stripes, a shared evolutionary history with elephants and sociable inclinations. It also has spines, and it does something with them that no other mammal can do ... Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections,...

Moths for Halloween! If you can drink nectar, or fruit juice, as many moths do, you can drink other kinds of liquids too. Such as ... the bodily fluids of other animals. Up to and including the one that earns you the name ... vampire. Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future...

The loricifera are a group of microscopic animals that, despite being abundant and widespread in marine sediments, no-one knew existed until the late 20th century. Once they were discovered, it soon became clear they are very, very unusual: including in one specific way that makes them unlike any other animal on Earth ... Thanks to Jack Wilkinson for research assistance with this episode! Subscrib...

The bat-eared fox ( Otocyon megalotis ) may not look out of the ordinary (apart from its big ears) but it is. Known as the only insectivorous dog in the world, it has the most teeth and the probably the fastest jaw of any wild dog. It also has a very unusual way of going about the business of raising the next generation ... Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes...

The Wandering Glider ( Pantala flavescens ) may look like just another dragonfly, but it is in fact one of the more remarkable insects on Earth, undertaking some of the most extraordinary journeys in the entire animal kingdom ... Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episo...

The Bearded Vulture ( Gypaetus barbatus ) is Nature's greatest bonebreaker and bone-eater, and it uses two very different tools to make that possible: gravity and acid. It also has a somewhat mysterious but apparently significant relationship with iron oxide ... Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedbac...

The glacier ice worm Mesenchytraeus solifugus might look unremarkable, but it is an extraordinary animal. Above all, it's extraordinary in where it lives: on and in glaciers. It is one of a tiny handful of non-microscopic animals that can not only tolerate but require glacial ice to survive ... Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, co...

The Greater Honeyguide ( Indicator indicator ) is famous for its extraordinary co-operative relationship with humans. Less famous is its ruthlessly destructive relationship with other birds ... Research assistance for this episode by Jack Wilkinson. Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help mak...

The Bonnethead Shark ( Sphyrna tiburo ) is a shark that packs quite a bit of unique into its smallish size. It's a member of the hammerhead family, so you know its head is going to be unusual, but the most surprising things about it are actually its teeth and its remarkable diet ... Research assistance for this episode by Jack Wilkinson. Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future...

The West Indian fuzzy chiton ( Acanthopleura granulata ) is a relatively unobtrusive, modest-looking marine mollusc with an extraordinary secret. Its shell is not just for protection; built into it are hundreds of tiny eyes. Eyes with lenses made of crystals. Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback t...

The Barbary Macaque ( Macaca sylvanus ) is the only macaque that lives outside Asia, hanging on in pockets of the wild Atlas Mountains in North Africa. And, famously, living a semi-wild life on the Rock of Gibraltar. It's also been responsible for at least a couple of interesting human deaths, and exploring those connections takes us all over the place, and all over time: monkeys in prehistoric Eu...

Yeti crabs ( Kiwa spp.). Hydrothermal vents. Life built not on sunlight, but on chemistry. We're going for a visit to some of the strangest places, with some of the strangest animals living the strangest lives, on the planet ... Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episod...

The Alpine chough ( Pyrrhocorax graculus ) is, as far as birds are concerned, pretty much the ultimate mountaineer. It has bred at higher altitude than any other bird, and been seen hanging out near the summit of Mount Everest. But it is also a bird with a remarkable, almost inexplicable, deep history; because the Alpine chough has a mysterious, but possibly profound, connection to the Neanderthal...

Solorzano's Peripatus ( Peripatus solorzanoi ) is the biggest velvet worm in the world. Which makes it the biggest example of a very, very unusual group of animals: cute, unique creatures that are highly secretive and mysterious. And are also dedicated hunters with an unusual secret weapon in their arsenal: glue. Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mai...

The Portuguese man o' war ( Physalia physalis ) is the most famous and spectacular member of the Blue Fleet. Questions to be asked and answered: What is the Blue Fleet? What obscure connection does it have to the Aquatic Ape theory of human evolution? Just how insanely weird is the Portuguese man o' war anyway, and what strange connection does it have to another member of the Blue Fleet – the impr...

Most spiders live solitary lives, but Anelosimus eximius is an example of a different lifestyle: colonial living. A very social spider, that maintains and defends a communal web and hunts in packs. And because it hunts in packs, it can target bigger prey than your average spider. But it is itself the target for some very unwelcome attention, from thieves and killers.  Subscribe to the show to make...

The Great Northern Tilefish ( Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps ) is a big, beautiful fish from the western Atlantic. It's one of those rare animals that is capable of reshaping its physical environment over vast areas. But it's also interesting for a rather unique reason. It was discovered, entirely accidentally, in 1879 and within 3 years of that discovery, something entirely unexpected and dramatic...

The Bone-House Wasp ( Deuteragenia ossarium ) is recently discovered species of spider wasp that has some remarkable habits. So, three questions. What is a spider wasp? What is an ossuary? And what connects the two to make for a suitable Wild Episode subject? Oh, and can I come with a tenuous excuse to talk about Beowulf and Old English? (Spoilers: yes, I can).  Subscribe to the show to make sure...