Imagine you've just been cancelled for a controversial opinion about Taylor Swift's musical output, and you have to go to ground.

You can act like the Olsen twins, and hide behind big glasses and a big coat.

Or you could take a lesson from nature and blend in, like a proverbial spotty quoll into the bush.

When it comes to camouflage and animal markings, there's a lot we can learn from the animal kingdom.

Featuring:
Dr Belinda Wilson, The Australian National University.
Associate Professor Tanya Latty, University of Sydney.
Dr Quentin Fogg, University of Melbourne.
Dr Kaia Tombak, Purdue University. 
Professor Marc Holderied, Bristol University.

Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering: Isabella Tropiano.

This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.

Why do Quolls have spots?

The show with a mission to explore the mysteries of nature - especially the ones that make you go What the Duck?!

Natural Sciences

Science & Medicine

Science

Cassie and Claire have watched their parrot talk in its sleep... so is it dreaming?

And, if animals DO dream... will we ever know what they’re dreaming about? Ann Jones tries to find out.




Featuring:

Cassie, Claire and Pidgey the Parrot. 
Associate Professor Nicole Lovato, Flinders University. 
Associate Professor John Lesku, La Trobe University. 
Professor David Pena Guzman, author of ‘Animal Dreaming’ and San Francisco State University.  
Professor Sidarta Ribeiro, neuroscientist at Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. 
Dr Shauni Omond, @shauniomond.sleepsci on Instagram, La Trobe University.
Professor Niels Rattenborg, Research leader on Avian Sleep, Max Planck Institute. 


Production:

Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering:  Hamish Camilleri.


This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people and was originally broadcast in July 2023.

Do animals dream?

Birds can fly while half their brain is sleeping and some spiders sleep dangling on a silk thread, but what about worms.

Do worms sleep?

Featuring:
Associate Professor John Lesku, La Trobe University. 
Dr Shauni Omond, @shauniomond.sleepsci on Instagram, La Trobe University.  
Professor Niels Rattenborg, Research leader on Avian Sleep, Max Planck Institute. 
Dr Daniela Roessler, University of Konstanz. 

Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering:  Roi Huberman.

This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people and was originally broadcast in July 2023.

Do worms sleep?

Female sage-grouse birds have decided that they want to see a weird sexy dance when deciding on a mate.

Ann Jones explores the creativity of female choice in the animal world in this episode of What the Duck?!




Featuring:

Lucy Cooke, Zoologist and author of Bitch A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal.
Professor Gail L Patricelli,  University of California, Davis. 


Production:

Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.


Additional mastering:  John Jacobs.


This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people andwas originally broadcast in July 2023.

The Sage-grouse dance

Female lab mice have been bred to be passive and breed with ease.

But, in the wild they're feisty and even pugnacious.

How much of our biological understanding of the world is based on misogyny?

Featuring:

Lucy Cooke, Zoologist and author of Bitch A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal.
Professor Arthur Georges, University of Canberra.
Professor Catherine Dulac, Harvard University.

Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering: Carey Dell

This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people. It was originally broadcast in July 2023.

Hyenas and lab mice - does sex matter?

There's a whole world of mystery, and quite a bit of maths,  inside the humble sea shell.

Forget ancestry searches online, shells can tell you the history of the world!

Featuring:

Amy Prendergast, University of Melbourne.

Jann Vendetti, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. 

Dr Paul Butler, Researcher at the University of Exeter. 

This episode was originally broadcast in March 2023. 

Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering: Carey Dell

This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.

Why do Quolls have spots?

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