Join Ellen & special guest, wildlife veterinarian, filmmaker and science communicator Dr César Puechmarin, for a review of Australia’s masters of song: the lyrebird.  We discuss birdwatching drama, the ancient origins of songbirds, vocal anatomy, secret passwords, oral history and cultural memory passed down through generations and the ghosts remembered in birdsong, and so much more.

Links:

• Learn more about César and find more of his work on his website!
• Check out César's podcasts: Death By Birding & Every Animal Ever!
• Pre-order César's book, Nature People!
• Follow César on Instagram!
• 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!

Sound Credit:

• Superb lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) call: Greg McLachlan, XC368459. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/368459.

Ellen & Christian team up as a coyote and badger in a cozy duet TTRPG adventure. When a family of skunks accuse a reclusive bobcat of disturbing their peaceful home, the woodland's finest pair of peacekeepers are on the case. We use the Badger + Coyote game system by Pandion Games to improvise a collaborative story of mystery, fire, a waterfall cave, legend of stalking predators in the night, devious traps, and even romance.

Links:

• Check out Badger + Coyote, the cozy duet TTRPG of mischief and survival from Pandion Games!
• Check out more of the games and resources from Pandion Games!
• 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!

Ellen gives the mysterious wing-clapping nightjars a round of applause. We discuss Pliny the Elder, bird whiskers, what it really means to "raise one's standards," ecologically accurate sound effects in The Legend of Zelda, an acoustic mystery, El Chupacabra, 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!
• SOUND CREDITS: 
• Eastern Whip-poor-will call: Jonathon Jongsma, via Wikimedia Commons - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Antrostomus_vociferus_-_Eastern_Whip-poor-will_-_XC103418.ogg
• Chuck-wills-widow call: Wikimedia Commons user Jordgette - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chuck-wills-widow_call_01.ogg
• Nightjar wing clapping: Chris Packham and Wild Finca, via Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1125878613362748

Join Ellen & returning guest, science communicator and comedy writer Katie Goldin, for a roundup of her 3 weirdest facts about sharks. We discuss cage-free uranium, possible mermaid configurations, why sometimes people poop themselves when they’re scared, how fomo can conquer phobia, eye teeth, and so much more. 

Heads up: part of this episode’s conversation is about cocaine. When it comes up I will have edited in some guidance for skipping ahead for anyone who might not find that suitable. As always, there’s no profanity or anything graphic, but it is a topic of discussion.

Links:

• Listen to Katie's podcast, Secretly Incredibly Fascinating!
• Listen to Katie's other podcast, Creature Feature!
• Follow Katie on BlueSky!
• 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!

In this week's re-broadcast of an episode from September of 2022, Ellen lets Pallas's cat out of the bag & Christian probes into the world of the sensitive kiwi. We discuss grumpy cats, spawncamping, chilly beans, buff legs and giant eggs.

Links:

• Check out Benjamin Lancer's paper on dragonfly attention in Nature!
• Watch Wildlife Instincts: Pallas's Cat - Master of the Plains on YouTube!
• Learn more about how you can help the kiwi!
• 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!

Ellen explains what the red fox REALLY says. We discuss a chicken shakedown, the Siberian fox domestication experiment, aim assist, quantum entanglement, genetic surprises, 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!
• SOUND CREDIT: Fox screaming in the night.mp3 by craigsays -- https://freesound.org/s/537586/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

Join Ellen & special guest, marine biologist and seabird wrangler Melina Watson, for a review of the ocean’s bravest little walkerwalkers: Leach’s storm petrel. We swap whalewatching stories, discuss snot gutters and lost feet and baby chicks that look like soot sprites, and get firsthand insight into life among the seabirds, from falling asleep to a lullaby of screams to a surprising assessment of the smell situation.

Links:

• Follow Melina on Instagram!
• 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!

Ellen pokes her nose into the giant anteater's business. We discuss Fun Dip, sleeper builds, optical illusions, blankies, the shirshu, and so much more.

Links:

• Learn more about the ICAS on their website and follow them on Instagram!
• 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!

Join Ellen & special guest, digital artist and character designer Roxy Valdez, for a multimedia exploration of the intersection where real-world biology and ecology meets the imagination: speculative evolution! We discuss the world of the Amphiterra Project, the academic research and creative process that goes into designing creatures for science fiction and fantasy, and even team up to roll dice and make our very own creatures. Our guest provides illustrations and an interactive spec evo prompt generator that will be posted on our socials to accompany this episode!

Links:

• Follow Roxy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bighugefrog.bsky.social
• Find more of Roxy's work and info: https://bighugefrog.carrd.co/
• Find the Amphiterra Project: https://amphiterra.weebly.com/
• Roxy's Recommendations:
• Serina: https://sites.google.com/site/worldofserina/home
• Runaway to the Stars: https://www.runawaytothestars.com/
• The Snouters: Form and Life of the Rhinogrades: https://archive.org/details/snoutersforml00stum
• Dougal Dixon: https://www.dougal-dixon.co.uk/
• Curious Archive: https://www.youtube.com/@CuriousArchive
• 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!

Christian takes charge of rhinoceroses & Ellen gives bird-eating tarantulas a hair-raising review. We discuss unicorns, mmwonk, dragon calls, Ace Ventura, becoming the Thumbtacks Guy, recipes for a bag of spiders, and 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!