PODCAST

Strange Animals Podcast

Katherine Shaw

A podcast about living, extinct, and imaginary animals!

science natural sciences

All Episodes

17:40

Episode 183: BEES! AKA honey and “honey”

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/08/03

Thanks to Linnea for suggesting bees! Obviously we can't learn about ALL 20,000 bee species in this episode, but we'll learn about the honeybee and some other interesting bees! Further reading: Bee friendly? Pollinating California's almond crop The vulture bee Western honeybees on a honeycomb: A vulture bee thinking about "honey": The wholesome, solitary ivy bee: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. It’s August and we’re kicking off a full

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15:55

Episode 182: The Coconut Crab and Friends

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/07/27

Join us this week for some interesting crabs! Thanks to Charles for suggesting the aethra crab! Aethra crabs look like little rocks, although some people (who must be REALLY hungry) think they look like potato chips: A hermit crab using a light bulb bottom as an inadequate shell: The tiniest hermit crab: Gimme shell pls: THE BIGGEST HERMIT CRAB, the coconut crab. It really is this big: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. We have a bunch

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22:40

Episode 181: Updates 3 and a lake monster!

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/07/20

It's our annual updates and corrections episode, with a fun mystery animal at the end! Thanks to everyone who contributed, including Bob, Richard J. who is my brother, Richard J. who isn't my brother, Connor, Simon, Sam, Llewelly, Andrew Gable of the excellent Forgotten Darkness Podcast, and probably many others whose names I didn't write down! Further reading: Northern bald ibis (Akh-bird) Researchers learn more about teen-age T. rex A squid fossil offers a rare record of pterosaur feeding

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15:38

Episode 180: Synchronous Fireflies

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/07/13

Thanks to Adam for the great suggestion of synchronous fireflies! Let's learn about lightning bugs (or fireflies) in general, and in particular the famous synchronous fireflies! Further reading: How Fireflies Glow and What Signals They're Sending Further watching: Tennessee Fireflies Synchronizing Fireflies in Thailand (it shows an experiment to encourage the fireflies to start blinking by the use of LEDs) Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This

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13:25

Episode 179: Lost and Found Animals

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/07/06

This week let's learn about some animals that were discovered by science, then not seen again and presumed extinct...until they turned up again, safe and sound! Further reading: A nose-horned dragon lizard lost to science for over 100 years has been found Modigliani's nose-horned lizard has a nose horn, that's for sure: Before the little guy above was rediscovered, we basically just had this painting and an old museum specimen: The deepwater trout: The dinosaur ant: The dinosaur ant

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13:46

Episode 178: The Koolakamba

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/06/29

Let's learn about another mystery ape, the koolakamba (also spelled kooloo-kamba or other variations)! Further reading: Between the Gorilla and the Chimpanzee The Yaounde Zoo mystery ape and the status of the kooloo-kamba Mystery of the Koolakamba Antoine the Yaounde Zoo ape, supposedly a koolakamba: Mafuka (sometimes spelled Mafuca): A rare photo of the Bili ape: A handsome western gorilla: A handsome western chimpanzee: A western chimpanzee mother and baby: Show

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14:39

Episode 177: The Mush-khush-shu, AKA the Sirrush

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/06/22

This week we'll look at an ancient mystery from the Middle East, a mythological dragon-like animal called the Mush-khush-shu, popularly known as the sirrush. Thanks to Richard J. for the suggestion! The Ishtar Gate (left, a partial reconstruction of the gate in a Berlin museum; right, a painting of the gate as it would have looked): The sirrush of the Ishtar Gate: Two depictions of Silesaurus: The desert monitor, best lizard: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast

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13:01

Episode 176: More Globsters and Horrible Carcasses

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/06/15

We have more mystery animals this week, horrible carcasses that have washed ashore and are hard to identify! It's a sequel to our popular Globsters episode, episode 87. None of these are actual mysteries but they're all pretty gross and awesome. (I don't know what I did wrong with the audio but it sounds bad, sorry. I just got a new laptop and have been experimenting with improving audio, and this was obviously a failed experiment.) Further reading: The Conakry monster:

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12:02

Episode 175: Three Small Mystery Animals

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/06/08

This week we've got three more mystery animals, but they're small instead of gigantic! Also, I didn't say anything about it in the episode, but Black lives matter. Stay safe and fight for justice, everyone. The water chevrotain: The real-life face-scratcher monster, Schizodactylus monstrosus, more properly known as a dune cricket: Flying ants: It's flying ants, that's what it is: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week we’re going to

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14:40

Episode 174: MONSTER CEPHALOPODS!

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/06/01

It's a bonus monster month in June, because everything is awful and learning about monsters will take our minds off the awfulness. This week let's learn about some mysterious stories from around the world that feature huge octopus or squid! Further watching: River Monsters episode about the Lusca A colossal squid, up close to that gigantic eyeball: Blue holes in the ocean and on land: A giant Pacific octopus swimming: The popular image of the kraken since the 1750s: Show

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11:03

Episode 173: The Mystery of the Forest Raven

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/05/25

We have a fun mystery bird this week, the forest raven! Was it a real bird??? (hint: yes, but not a raven) The "forest raven" illustration from Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner's Historiae Animalium, published in 1555: Scans of the original pages about the forest raven. It's written in Latin: The Northern bald ibis. Wacky hair! Flying bald ibises: Further viewing: This Weird Bird May Have Been the First Protected Species Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your

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13:43

Episode 172: Temnospondyls

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/05/18

This week let's go back back back in time to more than 300 million years ago, when amphibian-like animals lived in enormous swamps. Don't be fooled by the word amphibian: many Temnospondyls were really big! Further reading: Palaeos Temnospondyli Dvinosaurus, three feet long and full of teeth: And Sclerocephalus, five feet long and full of teeth. This one has a couple of larvae nearby: Fayella (art by Nix) Nigerpeton's astonishing NOSE TEETH: Mastodonsaurus had nose teeth too and it

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10:37

Episode 171: The Animals of St. Kilda

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/05/11

Thanks to Emma for the suggestion! Let's learn about some animals that live on the St. Kilda islands off the coast of Scotland! St. Kilda: Soay rams (kept on farms, not the feral sheep): A small flock of Soay sheep (these are from a farm too): A Boreray ram (on a farm): A Boreray ewe with her babies (also on a farm, or at least I think so): The St. Kilda wren (not a sheep): The St. Kilda field mouse (also not a sheep) is the size of a hamster: Show transcript: Welcome to

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10:02

Episode 170: Spinosaurus

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/05/04

This week let's find out what has paleontologists so excited about this dinosaur! Further reading: The Nature article that kicked this all off (you can only read the abstract for free but it's full of good information) Paleontologist Who Uncovered Prehistoric River Monster's Tail Explains Why It's Such a Game Changer (Newsweek) Further watching: A good video about the new findings Spinosaurus's updated look: This trackway from a swimming animal may have been made by a Spinosaurus (photo by

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14:58

Episode 169: The Tarantula!

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/04/27

This week let's learn about my nemesis (in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, at least), the tarantula! Further reading: Tarantulas inspire new structural color with the greatest viewing angle My character in Animal Crossing (and the shirt I made her--yes, I know tarantulas are arachnids, not insects, but I think the shirt is funny): Boy who is not afraid of a tarantula: The Goliath birdeater and a hand. Not photoshopped: The cobalt blue tarantula: The Gooty sapphire ornamental: The

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14:18

Episode 168: The Longest Lived

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/04/20

This week let's take a look at some animals (and other living organisms) that live the longest! This isn't Methuselah itself (scientists aren't saying which tree it is, to keep it safe), but it's a bristlecone pine: The Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, a sacred fig tree in Sri Lanka, planted in 288 BCE by a king: Some trees of the quaking aspen colony called Pando: Glass sponges (this one's called the Venus Flower Basket): Further reading: Glass sponge as a living climate archive Show

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13:07

Episode 167: Animals That Just Look Wrong

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/04/13

Thanks to Sam for this week's topic suggestion and animal suggestions! This week we're looking at some animals that just look...weird? And wrong? And not what you expect? Like the gerenuk: And the Tibetan fox: And the maned wolf: And the proboscis monkey: And the bald uakari: Further watching: Shani the baby gerenuk (so cute!) Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week the theme and many of the animals we’ll cover are a

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28:20

Episode 166: The Domestic Cat

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/04/06

I just adopted two black cats, named Dracula and Poe, so let's learn about domestic cats! Thanks to RosyWindFox, Nicholas, Richard E., Kim, and an anonymous listener who all made suggestions and contributed to this episode in one way or another! Further listening: Weird Dog Breeds - an unlocked Patreon episode Two beautiful examples of domestic cats (Dracula on left, Poe on right, and it is really hard to photograph a black cat): The African wildcat, ancestor of the domestic cat: The

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8:04

Episode 165: Furry Fish

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/03/30

I hope you're all well and not too bored if you're one of the millions who are having to stay inside right now! This week let's learn about a fishy mystery, fish with fur! Further reading: Mirapinna esau - a Furry Fish from the Azores The so-called fur-bearing trout: A hairy frogfish: The hairyfish (I couldn't find any actual photos of one): This man is serious about moldy fish. He wants the mold to think about what it's done while it's in time out: Show transcript: Welcome to

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8:16

Episode 164: The Pronghorn

Strange Animals Podcast ·

2020/03/23

This week let's learn about the pronghorn! Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week let’s finally look at an animal I’ve wanted to cover for at least a couple of years now, the pronghorn! We’ve talked about the pronghorn before a few times, but it definitely deserves its own episode. The pronghorn is a cloven-hoofed mammal that lives in western North America, especially in open terrain where it can see any predators that might try to sneak up on

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