Creature Feature

Today on the show we’re talking WEIRD DIETS! Animals eating other animals eating other animals! Humans eating well… some pretty freaky things. Discover this and more as we answer the age old question: is cannibalism good for you? With special guest Smart Mouth's Katherine Spiers.

FOOTNOTES:

1. A lotl Axolotl

2. Greenland sharks

3. Horrifying Fine Dining Lovers article

4. Vilhjalmur Stefansson

5. Butterflies drinking turtle tears

6. Tear drinking moths harassing birbs

7. Vegan ortolan

8. Marijuana-fed pigs

9. Potato-washing macaques

10. Red colobus monkeys detoxing

11. Peruvian parrots eating dirt

12. Spices as defensive weapons

13. Blind snakes survive being eaten and escapes toad's b-hole

14. The Honey Hunters of Nepal

15. Bee getting punched in the face by a flower

16. Tapir "climbing" a tree

17. GET ON THE CHEVROTAIN TRAIN

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We’re going to explode some myths about human and animal biology & psychology, and discover that the truth really is stranger than fiction. With special guest comedian and Nerdificent co-host Ify Nwadiwe.

Footnotes:

1. Komodo dragon venom

2. Bees are angered by the color red

3. Mathematician & grandfather of the scientific method, Ḥasan Ibn al-Haytham

4. Unihemispheric slow wave sleep

5. Lionesses synchronize their "periods" (estrus)

6. Immortal jellyfish

7. Scallop eyeballs

8. Horse mustaches!!!

9. Bornean bearded pig

10. The mystery of wombat cube poop, solved?

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The truth behind Mothman, The Chupacabra, and Bigfoot! Today, we’ll be looking at the facts behind cryptids, what it would mean if they actually existed, and the real animals that are just as crazy as the cryptids themselves. With special guest Tess Lynch of the Night Call podcast.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Mothman

2. Sandhill crane

3. Barred owl

4. Owls or aliens?

5. Owl without feathers (artistic rendering)

6. Do those legs go owl the way up

7. Vampire bats

8. Giant Gippsland earthworm

9. Giant Gippsland earthworm sounds

10. Gigantopithecus blacki

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Right now, the Amazon is burning — we’re going to talk about why this is happening, what’s at stake, and what you can do to help. With special guest Miles Gray.

FOOTNOTES:

How you can help the Amazon!

1. WWF 5 Ways To Help The Amazon

2. Donate to protect an acre of rainforest

3. Rainforest Trust

4. Defend Indigenous rights and protect the rainforest by donating or signing a pledge

5. Signal boost the Indigenous Women's March

6. Learn more about Indigenous Rights

Images of the beautiful animals on this episode!

7. The glass frog

8. A very Kermit looking glass frog

9. The incredible & freaky decoy building spider

10. Boto river dolphins (plus bonus picture of a boto dolphin peeing)

11. Giant otters KILL A FREAKING CAIMAN while squeaking adorably

12. Bald Uakari monkey looking red-headed and pink-faced

13. Adorable hyacinth macaw interview

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Today we’re talking about getting bamboozled, pulling shenanigans, getting conned by caterpillars and hoaxed by horses. With special guest Laci Mosley.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Chinstrap penguin stealing rocks

2. Gelada male

3. Firefly femme fatale

4. Hawk moth caterpillar mimics viper

5. Passion flower mimicry

6. Automimicry

7. Conformity elevator experiment

8. Jumping spider ant mimics

9. Jumping spider mimicking one ant carrying another (this is ONE spider)

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Today, we’re going to talk about CUTENESS! Why do we love baby animals? Do baby animals love us? What are some of the cutest studies in science? Discover this and more as we answer the age old question: yikes, what’s it like to give birth to a baby porcupine? With special guest Bridgett Greenberg.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Peak-a-boo researcher

2. Sea turtle swim suits

3. Cutest age for a dog study

4. Sea lion puppy covered in sand

5. Prehensile Tailed Porcupine "talking"

6. Image of Prehensile Tailed Porcupine's boopable snoot

7. Daily Herald cuteness article

8. Hamster wheel study

9. Mosha the elephant gets a prosthetic leg

10. Rampaging elephant stops to save baby

11. Selfie quokkas

12. Image of Quokka

13. Dik Dik alarm call

14. Shy Dumbo Octopus

15. "Venezuelan Poodle Moth"

16. Birb bounces golf ball

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Join us today as we talk about the history and stories behind mythological creatures, and find out that they have real-life animal counterparts who are just as magical. With special guest Alex Shifman.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Bombardier Beetles

2. Warsaw Basilisk

3. Basilisk lizard running on water

4. Argentavis Magnificens

5. Terror Birds

6. Detachable penis

7. Horrible picture of a Stegodyphus lineatus spider being eaten by her babies

8. Atacama skeleton

9. Horrible picture of a "real" Jackalope (papilloma virus infected rabbit)

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We’re answering some of the weirdest questions about evolution and anatomy, like how do woodpeckers keep from scrambling their brains? What animals have not one, not two, but three vaginas? Why would a doctor want to sew your leg on backwards? Discover this and more as we answer the age old question: what are some of the most bodacious boobs in the animal kingdom. With special guests hosts of the podcast Ridiculous History, Noel Brown and Ben Bowlin.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Weird woodpecker tongues

2. A kangaroo's three amazing vaginas

3. Elephant honkers

4. The Colugo Flying Lemur (who is not a lemur)

5. Woman whose organs were flipped

6. The popcorn-smelling Binturong

7. The dank Maned Wolf

8. The beautiful Snub-nosed Monkey

9. Pterosaurs were flying death machines

10. Video of the Iranian Spider-Tailed Viper

11. Video of the Mexican Mole Lizard

12. Katie's slideshow!

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We’re going to look at some wild animal teams, how they compare to humans, and what the robot-dominated future may hold! Discover this and more as we answer the age old riddle: what animal doesn’t feel pain and loves eating poop? With special guest comedian Blake Wexler.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Dog frees friends from a kennel

2. Dog frees tied up dog

3. Do Dogs Know Other Dogs Are Dogs?

4. More info on nake mole rats than you even want to know

5. Naked mole rats eat poop

6. Zombees

7. Social spider web

8. Dogs and humans dream team defeat neanderthals

9. Cattle tyrant majestically riding a capybara

10. Devil's gardens

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Today we’re talking about some adorable animals who look so sweet and cute, and who want to murder you to death. We’re talking the most surprisingly scary animals you should be afraid of. Discover this and more as we answer the age old question: what the heck is catfish noodling? With special guest Sofiya Alexandra.

FOOTNOTES:

1. World's Weirdest: Killer Cone Snail

2. Noodling for catfish

3. Poison pass: the man who became immune to snake venom

5. Slow Loris

6. Platypus venom

7. leopard seal feeds photographer

8. Hippo's skull, showing the large canines and incisors used for fighting.

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