This week’s episode is about two solved mysteries that aren’t exactly solved after all, the water owl and the devil bird! Let’s figure out what those two might really be! Cuvier’s Beaked Whale: A swordfish, swording everywhere it goes: Seems definitive: A possible culprit for the devil bird, the spot-bellied eagle owl: The brown wood ... [Read more...]

This week’s episode is about nonhuman musicians. It’s rarer than you’d think. The palm cockatoo. Nature’s drummer. In possibly related news, I know what my next tattoo is going to be. Snowball the Dancing Cockatoo. Members of the Thai Elephant Orchestra at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center:

Episode 22 is all about megatherium, the giant extinct ground sloth–and a little bit about glyptodon, the giant extinct…thing. Megatherium vs trees was basically no contest. Giant ground sloth FTW! Giant sloth big, yeah yeah yeah, it’s not small, no no no Glyptodon. Like a giant armadillo that can’t roll up and doesn’t need to. ... [Read more...]

Episode 21 is all about the Tatzelworm, a mysterious reptile from the Alps, and some of its mystery reptile friends from around the world! Bipes, a two-legged amphisbaenid from Mexico. A cute little skink. Big eyes, little legs. A modest-sized monitor lizard in a tree.

We’ve reached the big two-oh! Episode 20 catches us up on listener suggestions. Crossover University podcast wants to know about geckos and Bearly Ready Broadcast wants to know about the shoe-billed stork! Your wish is my command! Also those are some neato animals. Behold the majestic shoebill! 12/10 would pet softly: Pterodactyl-y: Adorable crested gecko, ... [Read more...]

Thanks to Varmints! podcast for suggesting the dodo for this week’s topic. And thanks to Two Clams Gaming podcast for suggesting clams as this week’s topic. It’s two suggestions in one fun episode! Learn all about that most famous of extinct birds and all about a thing that tastes great deep-fried. (Well, okay, everything tastes ... [Read more...]

This week’s episode is about a couple of mystery elephants and a non-mysterious animal, the tapir…but there might be some mystery associated with that little-trunked cutie too. The tapir and its weird snoot: The Moeritherium probably looked something like this: Some super cute Borneo elephants with super long tails: A baby tapir omgimgoingtodieofcuteomg Show transcript: ... [Read more...]

We’re talking about Thunderbird this week and the huge North American birds that may have inspired Thunderbird’s physical description. Thanks to Desmon of the Not Historians podcast for this week’s topic suggestion! Further listening: While I was in the middle of researching this episode, Thinking Sideways did a whole episode on Washington’s Eagle. Further reading: ... [Read more...]

If you look at this episode and think, “Oh, ho hum, think I’ll skip this one because snore, jellyfish,” you are so wrong! Jellies are fascinating, creepy, and often beautiful. Come learn all about our squishy friends in the sea! A Portuguese man o’war. Creepy as heck. A lion’s mane jelly. You do not want ... [Read more...]

This week’s episode is all about some awesome sharks: the hammerhead shark, which used to scare the poop out of me when I was a kid, and the unbelievably huge but fortunately for all the whales extinct megalodon! Thanks to Zenger from Zeng This! for recommending such a great topic! The great hammerhead, a huge ... [Read more...]