Creature Feature

Please enjoy one of my favorite episodes, especially with the new season of that fungus zombie show!

In this interview with infectious diseases expert Professor David Boulware, we discuss the real impact ophiocordyceps  has on ants, and whether we humans should be concerned. 

Guest: Professor David Boulware 

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Nightmare noodles! Terror tubes! We talk about some of the strangest, creepiest, most ghoulish caterpillars and worms in the world! From the dreaded bone collector with a morbid fashion sense, to worms with a mouth full of copper. Discover this and more as we answer the age-old question: who is a squid's midwife? Joining me is friend of the show and comedy writer for American Dad, Soren Bowie! 

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I'm joined by children's writer Brooke Hartman, author of the book Cute Animals That Could Kill You Dead, to discuss the deadliest, most adorable animals out there! The ferocious feline deadlier than a lion and smaller than a house cat, toxic armpits, and more! 

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Today I answer your emails! News about mice genetically modified with a candidate for the "human speech gene!" Then we discover why baby penguins are so cute, and more! 

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An octopus riding a shark! I'm joined by comedian and writer Ella Yurman as we discuss the evolutionary biology concept of "phoresis," the symbiotic act of one organism riding another. Yeehaw! 

Footnotes 

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What happens in the mysterious, not-so-dusty behind-the-scenes of natural history museums? Today we're talking about how museum collections extend far beyond what's visible to the public, and how they are a repository of massive amounts of knowledge for amazing (and weird) research. I'm joined today by the assistant director of the Museum of Zoology at Cambridge University and author of the new book Nature's Memory: Behind the scenes of the world's natural history museums, Jack Ashby. 

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All the pee-news that's fit to print! We're talking whale pee, soft-shelled turtles peeing (out of a place you wouldn't expect) and the animal whose pee smells like movie popcorn? I'm joined by Alex Schmidt of Secretly Incredibly Fascinating! 

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I answer your questions, from potoos (aka, GHOST BIRDS), to bees who like perfume! If you have an evolutionary biology question you'd like answered, write to me at [email protected] 

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Owl the news that's fit to print! We've got bird news stories today, including an orange snowy owl, owl tinder, and a real life "Wild Robot" situation! I'm joined by friend of the show, Bridgett Greenberg! 

Episode Images

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From the shiny and splendiferous scale worms of the deep, to scuba diving lizards, these animals all have one thing in common: they are 100% glam. I'm joined by Danl Goodman to rock out! 

Footnotes: Elvis worm! https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-elvis-worms-shimmer-and-sparkleand-fight-tough-180974989/
Elvis worms fighting, oh no! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgQvuYljX8g

Scale worm jaws, extra oh no! https://anatomytoyou.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/openmouthteeth_2144136i.jpg?w=640

Living beetle jewelry https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/meet-makech-bedazzled-beetles-worn-living-jewelry-180955081/

Shiny diving lizards, oh my!

https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/web/196097_web.jpg

Shiny diving lizards caught on video! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-03/bu-lc032019.php#:~:text=Lindsey%20Swierk%2C%20assistant%20research%20professor,time%20to%20escape%20from%20predators

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