Smartest Year Ever

It’s Word Origins Week on Smartest Year Ever! Today, Gordy uncovers the strange story behind animal group names—like a murder of crows, a parliament of owls, and a gaggle of geese.

But who made these names up? And were they ever real?

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why many animal group names came from a 15th-century hunting manual
  

• How some were aristocratic memes, not scientific terms
  

• Which names were serious—and which were jokes (a drunkenness of cobblers?)
  

• Why the internet made it worse
  

It’s a fascinating mix of medieval wordplay, linguistic history, and modern mythbusting—perfectly bridging last week’s Weird Animals theme with this week’s word origin deep dives.

🔍 New here? Gordy does this every day. Hit follow and join the journey to become the World’s Greatest Conversationalist.

Sources:

• Berners, J. (1486). The Boke of Saint Albans. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/71266/pg71266-images.html
  

• Hodgkin, K. (2010). The Book of St Albans: The Language of Hunting and the Invention of Tradition. In Contesting Archives: Finding Women in the Sources. University of Illinois Press.
  

• Crystal, D. (2005). The Stories of English. Penguin Books.
  

• Oxford English Dictionary. (n.d.). Collective Nouns (Terms of Venery). OED Online.
  

• Pillion, D. (2023). What Do You Call a Group of Bunnies? Not a Fluffle. Alabama Media Group.
  

• Barry, D. (2014). Collective Nouns: The Unlikely History of a Gaggle, a Murder, and a Flamboyance. The New York Times.
  

• World Wide Words. (n.d.). Terms of Venery. https://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/collective.htm
  

#WordOrigins #AnimalGroupNames #Linguistics #languagehistory #FunFacts #Etymology #DailyFacts #DidYouKnow Music thanks to Zapsplat.

It’s the shocking finale of Weird Animals Week. Gordy dives into the strange biology of the so-called electric eel—which isn’t actually an eel at all. From the Amazon’s murky waters to real-life eel-powered Christmas trees, this episode uncovers how this bizarre knifefish creates the strongest bioelectric discharge in the animal kingdom—up to 860 volts.

But can it really kill a human?

Find out how electric eels use their biological Taser systems to hunt, navigate, defend, and even coordinate group attacks. Discover why they don’t just shock—they strategize. And why voltage alone isn’t what makes electricity dangerous.

This one’s packed with wild science, misunderstood myths, and one of the strangest natural weapons on Earth.

Don’t miss the electric end to Weird Animals Week.

Sources

• Catania, K. C. (2014). Electric eels use high-voltage to track fast-moving prey. Nature Communications, 5, 4788. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4788
  

• de Santana, C. D., et al. (2019). Unexpected species diversity in electric eels with a description of the strongest living bioelectricity generator. Nature Communications, 10, 4677. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11690-z
  

• Humboldt, A. von. (1814). Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America.
  

• Tennessee Aquarium. (2012). Electric Eel Powers Holiday Lights.
  

• Macintyre, B. (2016). Eel shock: The biology behind nature’s own Taser. New Scientist.
  

• Gallant, J. R., et al. (2014). Genomic basis for the convergent evolution of electric organs. Science, 344(6191), 1522–1525.
  

#AnimalFacts #ElectricEel #WeirdAnimals #biologyfacts #wildnature #DailyFacts #DidYouKnow #biology #naturefacts Music thanks to Zapsplat.

 While camping deep in the Belizean jungle, Gordy was jolted awake by a terrifying roar—a sound so intense it felt prehistoric. But it wasn’t a jaguar or dinosaur. It was a howler monkey, the loudest land mammal on Earth.

In today’s episode of Weird Animals Week, Gordy shares exclusive footage he filmed from inside his tent, and investigates how a monkey the size of a housecat evolved to roar like a beast from Jurassic Park.

From built-in subwoofers in their throats to wild trade-offs in evolution, this is one of the weirdest (and loudest) stories nature has to offer.

📢 Don’t forget to like, follow, and share if you want more strange animal science every day.

Sources:

• Dunn, J. C., et al. (2015). Evolutionary trade-off between vocal tract morphology and testes size in howler monkeys. Current Biology, 25(22), 2839–2844. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.09.029
  

• Kitchen, D. M., et al. (2003). Vocal frequency and related anatomy in howler monkeys. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 120(2), 184–188.
  

• National Geographic. (n.d.). Howler Monkey Facts.
  

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (n.d.). Macaulay Library Audio Archives.
  

• BBC Earth. (n.d.). Howler monkeys: The loudest land animal.
  

#AnimalFacts #HowlerMonkey #animalsounds #belize #WeirdAnimals #biologyfacts #wildnature #DailyFacts #DidYouKnow Music thanks to Zapsplat.

Why does this strange, armored mammal give birth to four identical clones—every single time?

Welcome back to Smartest Year Ever, where Gordy shares daily deep-dives into the wildest facts on Earth. And during Weird Animals Week, things only get stranger. Today’s episode investigates one of the most bizarre reproductive strategies in the animal kingdom—a cloning method used by the nine-banded armadillo. From delayed implantation to medical research, and even a connection to leprosy, this little creature packs more surprises than most science fiction.

Watch to find out what makes this natural Xerox machine tick—and why it might hold secrets about cloning, immunity, and stem cells.

Sources:

• Loughry, W. J., & McDonough, C. M. (2013). The Nine-Banded Armadillo: A Natural History. University of Oklahoma Press.
  

• Prodöhl, P. A., Loughry, W. J., McDonough, C. M., Nelson, W. S., & Avise, J. C. (1996). Molecular documentation of polyembryony and polygamy in the nine-banded armadillo. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 93(2), 810–813.
  

• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. (n.d.). Armadillos and Leprosy.
  

• Taulman, J. F., & Robbins, L. W. (1996). Recent range expansion and distributional limits of the nine-banded armadillo in the United States. Journal of Biogeography, 23(5), 635–648.
  

#AnimalFacts #Armadillos #WeirdAnimals #biologyfacts #wildnature #DailyFacts #DidYouKnow #naturefacts

Music thanks to Zapsplat.

 It’s Weird Animals Week on Smartest Year Ever, and today, Gordy dives into one of the most unbelievable stories in the animal kingdom.

You’ve heard of sibling rivalry—but what if it started before you were even born?

Inside the womb of a sand tiger shark, something wild happens. This isn’t a nursery. It’s an arena. And survival means developing early, growing teeth fast, and doing whatever it takes to be the last one standing. Adelphophogy, oophagy, all of it!

This episode explores a brutal evolutionary strategy you truly have to hear to believe—complete with half-sibling warfare, womb-gladiators, and the most savage form of natural selection on Earth.

One of the most shocking facts in marine biology—and yes, it’s 100% real.

Watch until the end to find out how this strategy might actually make shark moms… better parents?

Sources:

• Chapman, D. D., Prodöhl, P. A., Gelsleichter, J., Manire, C. A., & Shivji, M. S. (2004). Evidence of multiple paternity and sperm storage in the sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus). Molecular Ecology, 13(2), 1057–1065.
  

• Tomita, T., Toda, M., & Motomura, H. (2016). Functional morphology of feeding in fetal sand tiger sharks. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 117(3), 476–488.
  

• Hamlett, W. C. (Ed.). (1999). Sharks, Skates, and Rays: The Biology of Elasmobranch Fishes. Johns Hopkins University Press.
  

• Aquarium of the Pacific. (n.d.). Sand Tiger Shark Research Archive.
  

• Gilmore, R. G., Dodrill, J. W., & Linley, P. A. (2005). Reproduction and embryonic development of the sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus). Environmental Biology of Fishes, 74(3-4), 361–377.
  

• Smithsonian Ocean Portal. (n.d.). Sand Tiger Shark.
  

#AnimalFacts #SharkEmbryos #WeirdAnimals #biologyfacts #wildnature #DailyFacts #DidYouKnow #sandtigersharks #sharks Music thanks to Zapsplat.

 It’s Weird Animals Week on Smartest Year Ever, and today, Gordy dives into one of the ocean’s strangest adaptations: how dolphins sleep without drowning—and what that reveals about their brain structure, breathing, and even the limits of REM sleep.

Dolphins are mammals, just like us. But unlike us, they can’t go fully offline—because every breath they take is voluntary. So how do they survive without sleep paralysis dragging them under?

This episode explores:

• Unihemispheric slow-wave sleep (USWS)
  

• Dolphin brain hemisphere independence
  

• Real EEG studies on split-brain sleeping
  

• Whether dolphins can dream
  

• Evolutionary comparisons to whales, birds, and even humans
  

And if you’ve ever slept poorly in a new hotel bed, your brain might’ve done something weirdly dolphin-like too…

Sources:

• Lyamin, O. I., et al. (2008). Unihemispheric slow wave sleep and the state of the eyes in a white whale. Brain Research Bulletin, 77(5), 239–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresbull.2008.08.012
  

• Rattenborg, N. C., et al. (1999). Sleep in the avian brain: unihemispheric slow-wave sleep and the first-night effect. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 23(6), 817–835. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0149-7634(99)00021-9
  

• Mukhametov, L. M. (1987). Sleep in marine mammals. Experimental Brain Research, 65(3), 395–400.
  

• Mascetti, G. G. (2016). Unihemispheric sleep and asymmetrical sleep: Behavioral, neurophysiological, and functional perspectives. Nature and Science of Sleep, 8, 221–229. https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S71970
  

• Tamaki, M., et al. (2016). Night watch in one brain hemisphere during sleep associated with the first-night effect in humans. Current Biology, 26(9), 1190–1194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.02.063
  

#AnimalFacts #DolphinFacts #dolphins #unihemisphericslowwavesleep #WeirdAnimals #biologyfacts #wildnature #DailyFacts #DidYouKnow Music thanks to Zapsplat.

It’s Weird Animals Week on Smartest Year Ever—and today, Gordy investigates one of the most infamous creatures in the Amazon: the candiru, also known as the vampire fish.

This needle-thin parasite has a reputation that’s spread far beyond the rainforest—thanks to a viral legend that it swam into a man’s urethra. But how much of that is true? And how did this obscure fish become one of the most feared animals in the world, despite being only a few inches long?

In this episode, Gordy digs into the science, the myth, and the real biology of a translucent fish that feeds on blood, lurks in murky waters, and somehow still manages to be one of the least understood creatures on Earth.

🦇 Yesterday we talked about vampire bats. 🩸 Today, it’s vampire fish. Tomorrow? You’ll just have to wait and see.

Like, comment, and subscribe to stay on the quest to become the World’s Greatest Conversationalists.

Sources:

• Spotte, S. (2002). Candiru: Life and Legend of the Bloodsucking Catfishes. Creative Arts Book Company.
  

• de Carvalho, M. R., et al. (2013). The case of the alleged candiru invasion of the human urethra in Brazil. Journal of Fish Biology, 82(1), 22–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.12029
  

• Shepard, G. H. (2004). A sensory ecology perspective on the Candiru. Amazonian Ethnobiology, 9(3), 305–312.
  

• French, K. (2011). The fish that isn’t: myths and misrepresentations of the candiru. Skeptic Magazine, 17(1), 38–43.
  

#AnimalFacts #CandiruFish #VampireFish #Candiru #WeirdAnimals #biologyfacts #wildnature #DailyFacts #DidYouKnow

Music thanks to Zapsplat.

Vampire bats don’t just live in horror stories—they’re real, they’re precise, and they might be the most unexpectedly polite bloodsuckers in the animal kingdom.

In this kickoff to Weird Animals Week, Gordy dives into one of the strangest mammals on Earth—a warm-blooded, heat-seeking crawler that walks, leaps, and drinks blood without waking its victim. From the Amazon jungle to modern medicine, this episode uncovers the biological marvels behind a creature that’s as unsettling as it is fascinating.

Why don’t their victims feel a thing? How can they drink blood for 40 minutes straight? And how did their saliva end up in stroke research labs? (draculin)

Stick around for some of the weirdest facts you’ll ever hear about a mammal that can run like a frog, share meals like a best friend, and maybe—just maybe—save your life one day.

Weird Animals Week runs all week long with a new strange creature every day. Subscribe so you don’t miss tomorrow’s.

Sources:

• Greenhall, A. M., & Schmidt, U. (1988). Natural History of Vampire Bats. CRC Press.
  

• Streicker, D. G., et al. (2012). Ecological and anthropogenic drivers of rabies exposure in vampire bats. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279(1742), 3384–3392. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.0538
  

• Park, Y., et al. (2019). Comparative genomics reveals insights into the evolution of vampire bat adaptations. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 3(4), 587–595. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0839-5
  

• Catania, K. C. (2015). Leaping vampire bats. Nature, 522(7556), 267–270. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14421
  

• Riskin, D. K., et al. (2006). Bats go head-under-heels: The biomechanics of jumping in the common vampire bat. Biology Letters, 2(3), 505–508. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2006.0508
  

• Galetti, M. (2004). The Lost City of Z. Excerpts referencing vampire bats in South America.

  
  

  #VampireBats #WeirdAnimals #AnimalFacts #NatureIsMetal #WeirdNature #SmartestYearEver #biologyfacts #DailyFacts Music thanks to Zapsplat.

 The Taj Mahal is more than a postcard. It’s a monument to obsession, grief, and imperial love, built by a shattered emperor for the woman he couldn’t live without.

In today’s finale of Wonders Week, Gordy explores the breathtaking symmetry, engineering secrets, and emotional legacy of India’s most iconic landmark. Why did it take 20 years and 20,000 workers to build? What’s hidden beneath the marble dome? And what really happened to the so-called “Black Taj”?

This isn’t just about architecture—it’s about power, heartbreak, and the pursuit of something timeless.

We have been discussing the New Wonders of the World all week, which was your favorite?

Sources:

• Koch, E. (2006). The Complete Taj Mahal and the Riverfront Gardens of Agra. Thames & Hudson.
  

• UNESCO World Heritage Centre. (n.d.). Taj Mahal. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/252
  

• Asher, C. B. (1992). Architecture of Mughal India. Cambridge University Press.
  

• Gascoigne, B. (1971). The Great Moghuls. HarperCollins.
  

BBC Travel. (2020). The Truth About the Black Taj Mahal. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20201115-the-truth-about-indias-black-taj

#TajMahal #WorldWonders #sevenwonders #wondersoftheworld #Historyfacts #SmartHistory #ArchitectureLovers #DailyFacts Music thanks to Zapsplat.

What kind of empire builds a stadium where trapdoors launch tigers, elevators lift rhinoceroses, and ships fight naval battles on floodwater—all in front of 50,000 fans breathing rose-scented mist?

In this episode, Gordy explores the Colosseum: not just an ancient arena, but a precision-engineered machine of blood, power, and propaganda. From hypogeum trapdoor systems that rival modern stagecraft, to naumachiae—actual sea battles fought inside the arena—this isn’t just a story about gladiators. It’s a story about control, spectacle, and the very human urge to turn violence into theater.

And wait until you hear what was happening underneath the arena floor.

Come for the lions. Stay for the scent machines.

Sources:

• Hopkins, K. (1983). Death and Renewal. Cambridge University Press.
  

• Futrell, A. (2006). The Roman Games: A Sourcebook. Blackwell Publishing.
  

• Suetonius. The Twelve Caesars.
  

• Cassius Dio. Roman History.
  

• Coarelli, F. (2007). Rome and Environs: An Archaeological Guide. University of California Press.
  

• Golvin, J.-C. (1992). L’Amphithéâtre Romain: Essai sur la Théorisation de sa Forme et de ses Fonctions.
  

• Hopkins, K. (2011). Colosseum. Harvard University Press.
  

• Beard, M. (2015). SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome. Liveright.
  

• Golvin, J.-C. (1988). L'Amphithéâtre Romain: Essai sur la Théorie de sa Construction. École Française de Rome.
  

• Coleman, K. (1990). “Fatal Charades: Roman Executions Staged as Mythology.” Journal of Roman Studies, 80, 44–73.
  

• PBS Nova. (2015). Colosseum: Roman Death Trap.
  

#AncientRome #Gladiators #RomanEmpire #colosseum #SmartestYearEver #sevenwonders #wondersoftheworld #historyfacts 

Music thanks to Zapsplat.