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PODCAST

Just the Zoo of Us

Ellen & Christian Weatherford

Join us, Ellen and Christian Weatherford, while we review your favorite species of animals and rate them out of ten in the categories of effectiveness, ingenuity and aesthetics. More information can be found at justthezooofus.com 😊 Got a species you want us to review? Submit your animal friend to us at ellen@justthezooofus.com and when we review your animal we"ll give you a shoutout! 😊 Cover art by Mrs. Brainbow (Taylor Gordon-Wood). Theme music by Louie Zong.

science nature

All Episodes

00:44:04

325: Triops (AKA Tadpole Shrimp)

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2026/02/25

Ellen goes on a journey through time and space with Triops, the tadpole shrimp. We discuss book fairs, vernal pools, whether saltwater or freshwater came first, trips to space, prehistoric scampi, surprise guests at Burning Man, and so much more.Sources: "Ontogenetic sequence comparison of extant and fossil tadpole shrimps: no support for the “living fossil” concept" - Philipp Wagner et al., Paläontologische Zeitschrift, August 2017 “Survival of dormant organisms after long-term exposure to the

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01:12:11

324: Egg-Eating Snake w/ Lyn!

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2026/02/19

Join Ellen & special guest artist and reptile keeper Lyn for an up close and personal look at a little snake with a big appetite. We discuss how it feels to handle a snake, stress dreams specific to pet owners, gastoning it, spine teeth, snacktivities, how snakes flirt with each other, and so much more.Links:Check out Lyn's art and comic on Instagram! Denver folks, check out Lyn's upcoming snake shed jewelry & painting workshop!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our

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00:56:26

323: Banana Slug

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2026/02/12

Ellen takes things slow with the iconic banana slug. We discuss mobile slip 'n' slides, recreationally poisoning yourself, liquid crystals, oobleck, robosnail, slime trains, moisture farming, apophallation, college mascots, and so much more.Works Cited:"Banana Slugs: Secret of the Slime" for Mallory Pickett, KQED, February 2015"Mechanical Devices for Snail-like Locomotion" - Brian Chan et al., Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, February 2007"Tough adhesives for diverse wet

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01:09:15

322: The Bird Hall w/ Shannon Hackett & John Bates!

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2026/02/05

Join Ellen & special guests, power couple Shannon Hackett and John Bates from the Field Museum, here to talk about the intersection of science, history, and of course, birds in a love letter to the natural history museum. We discuss working alongside SUE the T. rex, specimen pickles, harlequin romance novels, and explore bigger questions like how museum collections can reveal evolution happening around us right now in real-time and help us look into the future, what the average everyday person can

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01:03:51

321: Norway Lemmings

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2026/01/29

Ellen sets the record straight on Norway lemmings, busting over 400 years of myths. We discuss rodent audacity, ecological impacts that can be seen from space, spontaneous generation, Ole Worm, Atlantis, a Disney lie, and so much more.Works Cited:“Genome analyses suggest recent speciation and postglacial isolation in the Norwegian lemming” - Edana Lord et al., PNAS, June 2025“Aposematism and crypsis in a rodent: antipredator defence of the Norwegian lemming” - Malte Andersson, Behavioral Ecology and

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00:59:15

320: Vinny Thomas's Top 3 Urban Wildlife Species!

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2026/01/22

Join Ellen & special guest comedian, writer, and nature enthusiast Vinny Thomas for a review of some of the furry, feathered, and scaly neighbors making themselves at home right in our very own cities. We discuss domestication, dogs with human feet, inflatable snoods, ostriches for self-defense, kaiju battles at the park, life in a shipwreck, and so much more.Links:Follow Vinny on Instagram, Threads, and TikTok!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo

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01:07:10

319: Tasmanian Devil

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2026/01/15

Ellen gives the Tasmanian devil his due. We discuss mythbusters, cranial real estate, the masculine urge to bite your fingers off, which came first: the chicken or the egg, dump stats, contagious cancer, and so much more. Works Cited:"Too hot for the devil? Did climate change cause the mid-Holocene extinction of the Tasmanian devil Sarcophilus harrisii from mainland Australia?" - Shane D. Morris et al., Ecography, Dec 2021"Holocene Demographic Changes and the Emergence of Complex Societies in

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00:56:00

318: Jungle Jordan's Top 3 Friend-Shaped Carnivores!

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2026/01/08

Join Ellen & special guest, wildlife educator and zookeeper Jungle Jordan, as we round up his top 3 friend-shaped carnivores, all the cutest critters that could absolutely wreck you. We discuss hidden mickeys, toxic friend groups, modern-day sabertooths, delicious hair, an unlikely pair of woodland best friends, and so much more.Links:Learn more about Jordan's work at his website: https://www.junglejordan.com/Follow him on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook!For more information about us & our

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00:48:37

317: Sea Angel

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2025/12/24

Ellen gets into the festive spirit with sea angels. We discuss Christian's beachfront disaster, secret tentacles, teeny titan battles, undismissable companions, Hello Kitty merch, and so much more.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!

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00:55:34

316: Southern Cassowary w/ Marco Wendt!

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2025/12/18

Joined Ellen & special guest wildlife ambassador and care specialist Marco Wendt from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park for a review of the towering birds that are ready to literally rumble: cassowaries. We discuss short kings and feminine rage, a secret bird language humans can’t hear, nature’s best dads, getting a modern dinosaur to be brave for his shots, and so much more.Links:Cassowary rumble audio: Marc Anderson, XC337534. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/337534.Learn more about the San Diego Zoo

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00:56:21

315: Kinkajou

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2025/12/11

Ellen irons out the kinkajous. We discuss Thomas Jefferson's giant moose sidequest, the dessert hypothesis, bad pets, who the real Frankenstein monster is, and so much more.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on BlueSky!

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00:58:53

314: Sarah Suta's Top 3 Dream Comebacks!

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2025/12/04

Join Ellen & host of Bizarre Beasts Sarah Suta for a lineup of some animals she’d like to see get a second chance, whether they’re species we’ve already lost or ones that might still have a shot. We discuss foreign exchange student accents, the ecological impact of the invention of the telegraph, bird call sheet music, the scientific fumble of the century, bison where you least expect them, and so much more.Links:Watch Bizarre Beasts and Endlings on YouTube:

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00:55:02

170: Wild Turkey (REPLAY)

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2025/11/26

In this week's re-broadcast of an episode from November of 2022, Ellen goes on an odyssey through history with the wild turkey. We discuss their path alongside humans for thousands of years, from prehistoric America to praise from Benjamin Franklin, the brink of extinction and nets fired out of cannons. Further viewing:Rocket Netting Turkeys, a video demonstration by the LSU AgCenter Paul Kelly's Gobbling Demonstration

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01:07:34

313: Turkey Vulture

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2025/11/20

Ellen has a bone to pick with turkey vultures. We discuss aura farming, our gripes with the pH scale, a check-in with our resident Dragon Ball Z correspodent, screaming inside your heart, laser harassment campaigns, and so much more.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on BlueSky!

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00:57:33

312: Common Snapping Turtle w/ Emma Ratway!

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2025/11/13

Join Ellen & special guest from the world of wildlife rehabilitation Emma Ratway for a review of the chompy rogues lurking at the bottom of ponds all over the country: snapping turtles. We discuss working with wildlife and getting to raise and release baby snapping turtles, a jury of one’s deers, a cat named Crunch Wrap Supreme, butt breathing, magnets, simple English wikipedia, eating board game pieces, and so much more.Links:Follow Emma on Instagram!For more information about us & our podcast,

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01:09:41

311: Cleaner Wrasse

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2025/11/06

Ellen comes clean about the bluestreak cleaner wrasse. We discuss trust, cheating, fish patriarchy, manipulation, deception, game theory, the prisoner's dilemma, marketing, the mirror test, the horrors of self-awareness, and so much more. Christian drinks a Capri-Sun. Works Cited:“Testing the Low-density Hypothesis for Reversed Sex Change in Polygynous Fish: Experiments in Labroides dimidiatus” - Tetsuo Kuwamura et al., Scientific Reports, March 2014“Punishment and partner switching cause

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01:02:00

310: Lindsay Nikole’s Top 3 Periods of Life on Earth

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2025/10/30

Join Ellen & special guest, zoology and science communication powerhouse Lindsay Nikole, for a review of some of the animal kingdom’s greatest hits throughout the history of the Earth. We discuss ecological gossip, mass extinctions, the Cambrian explosion and evolution’s “experimental” phase, swimming potatoes with googly eyes, giant bugs, bizarre prehistoric sharks, imaginary friend lore, and so much more.Links:Pre-order your copy of Lindsay's book, Epic Earth!Follow Lindsay on Instagram, YouTube,

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00:54:21

309: Hairy Frog

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2025/10/24

Ellen gets her claws out for the hairy frog. We discuss what the tooth fairy dispatch system is doing with all those teeth, frog gigging, Wolverine lore, the scariest horror of all: Chytridiomycosis, and so much more.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on BlueSky!

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00:51:03

308: Cara Giaimo's Top 3 Surprises from the Animal...

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2025/10/16

Join Ellen & special guest, writer and science journalist Cara Giaimo, for a highlight reel of some of the animal kingdom’s biggest surprises. We discuss Lego trebuchets, the scifi potential of a projectile-based language, endangered relationships, biofluorescence, the great pacific garbage patch’s number 1 fan, and so much more. Links:Find Atlas Obscura: Wild Life and Leaving the Ocean Was a Mistake where books are sold!Follow Cara on BlueSky!Get updates from Cara's newsletter, What's New in

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00:51:07

307: Jack Jumper Ants

Just the Zoo of Us ·

2025/10/09

Ellen jumps to conclusions about jack jumper ants. We discuss Metazooa, is it cake, a menace to public health, lime in the Coke, gamergate, casual abductions, learning walks, and so much more. Links:Play Metazooa: https://metazooa.com/For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on BlueSky!

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106 results

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