The Behavioural Ecology and Evolution Podcast (the Beepcast)

What's The Behavioural Ecology and Evolution Podcast (the Beepcast) about?

Want to discover more about how animals navigate their environment, find food, court mates and raise young? Then subscribe to the Behavioural Ecology and Evolution Podcast: The Beepcast! Every month Dr. Hannah Rowland of ZSL & Cambridge University brings you the newest, most fascinating research on the evolved behaviour of animals. Featuring interviews with emerging and established experts in animal behaviour from all over the world.

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The Behavioural Ecology and Evolution Podcast (the Beepcast) episodes:

10.22.2017
Oct 17: Iain Couzin's Scientific Spark, why do deer in Japan bow, and why are some plant nectars bitter?
This month I meet some very polite deer who have a special way of asking for food. I discover why some plant nectars contain poisonous toxins. And in the scientific spark, I talk to Iain Couzin from the Max Planck...
12.27.2015
Sept 2015: Kate Umbers, burying beetle parental care, and tasteless monkey thieves
This month I find out that animals should be careful when choosing a mate, picking a partner that matches them in quality, else they might face an early grave! I discover that a mutation in a taste receptor gene has...
09.16.2015
Aug 2015: ZSL Scientist Patricia Brekke, polar bear welfare at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, and self-medicating ants
This month I hear how a wildlife park in Yorkshire is providing the perfect retirement setting for an old polar bear. I discover that social insects make trips to natures pharmacy to fight infections. And in the scientific spark, I...
09.10.2015
July 2015: Johan Nilson, sea ducks, and horse facial expressions
This month I find out about sea ducks who enjoy a rather sophisticated fast food diet of mussels. I discover that horses horse around with lots of different facial expressions. And in the scientific spark, I talk to Johan Nilsson...
08.10.2015
June 2015: Lucy Nash from OUP, Dottybacks change colour to hide from prey, and moths that slow their brains down
In this episode I discover that some species of coral reef fish change colour, and they do this to grab a sneaky meal! I also find out how moths find flowers in the dark. And in the scientific spark I...
06.04.2015
May 2015: Marie Herbenstein, deception and disguise of orchid mantis and owl butterflies with @jamohanlon @JohannaMappes and @SebaDeBona
This month I’m joined by special guest James O’Hanlon from the Australian museum in Sydney for a deception and disguise special. James tells me about his PhD research on mantids that trick bees by mimicking flowers - or do...
06.01.2015
April 2015: Tristram Wyatt, the hormonal bond between humans and their dogs, and predator-prey flight and fight behaviour
This month I discover what black field crickets do when predatory lizards get too close. I find out how humans bond with their canine chums. In the Scientific spark I talk to Tristram Wyatt, from the University of Oxford, who tells me...
04.02.2015
March 2015: Shaun Killen, animal personality, and guppy food preferences
This month, I discover that a preference for a particular colour of food can be heritable, and I also have a chat with Niels Dingemanse from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology about how you test animal personality. In the...
03.31.2015
Feb 2015: Damien Farine, penguins who can't taste, and shiny tree swallows
This month, I find out that penguins can’t tell the difference between savoury and sweet. I also chat with Sonia Van Wijk from The Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada, about what makes a male tree swallow attractive to a...
03.10.2015
Jan 2015: Niels Dingemanse, animal arithmetic, and smooth billed ani alarm calls
This month, animal arithmetic from a research group in Italy who investigated how chickens order numbers – I put Naked Scientist Graihagh Jackson through her paces. Also in the episode, Leanne Grieves from McMaster University tells me what Smooth-billed anis...
01.02.2015
Dec 2014: Innes Cuthill, tropical lizard leaf mimicry, and bird infrasound
Professor Innes Cuthill from the University of Bristol describes his Scientific Spark. Danielle Klomp from the University of New South Wales, tells me about two populations of gliding lizard that have diverged in gliding membrane colouration to match the colours...
12.22.2014
Nov 2014: The Wiltschkos and magnetic navigation in birds
A sensory ecology bonanza! Professor Wolfgang and Roswita Wiltschko, the husband and wife team who were the first to show that birds have a magnetic sense and use the earth’s magnetic field to orientate, talk about their Scientific Spark. Tanya...
11.18.2014
Oct 2014: Ben Sheldon, rock goby camouflage, and lizard imitation
Professor Ben Sheldon, who is the Luc Hoffman Chair of field ornithology and director of the Edward Grey Institute of field ornithology at the University of Oxford tells me what sparked his interest in birds and gives advice to young...
10.10.2014
Sept 2014: Leigh Simmons, stickleback personality, and caterpillars with hats
Dieter Hochuli from the University of Sydney, tells me what life’s like for a caterpillar, and how one has evolved a cool mechanism to avoid being attacked. I find out how personality might influence your decision making, if you’re a...
09.10.2014
Aug 2014: Marlene Zuk, hummingbird taste perception, and magpie thieves
In this 1st birthday episode, I find out about some more avian criminals of the animal kingdom. I learn that most birds can’t taste sugar, but hummingbirds can, and I learn how. And in the Scientific Spark, I talk to...
08.08.2014
July 2014: Isabella Rossellini and mammas, spider mimicry, and secret communication in horses
This month over 1000 scientists flocked to New York’s Hunter College to attend the meeting of the International Society for Behavioural Ecology or ISBE. In the coming months I will be featuring interviews from researchers who attended the meeting, and...
07.08.2014
June 2014: Robert Hinde, and an antipredator defence special
Professor Robert Hinde, the Emeritus Royal Society Research Professor of Zoology at the University of Cambridge is this month's Scientific Spark. Robert talks about the early days of ornithology research just after the war, and his memories of David Lack...
06.03.2014
May 2014: Neil Metcalfe, ZSL's hihi, and cuckoo - hawk mimicry
This month, the masters of disguise: I find out about an animal that can mimic two different species, for two entirely different reasons. I learn about a colourful bird from New Zealand called the Hihi, who’s very good at eating its requisite 7...
05.01.2014
April 2014: David Sherry and marsh tits, zebra stripes, and Arabian babblers
David Sherry from the Western University in Canada tells me what inspired him to study the hoarding behavior of birds, in the Scientific Spark. Oded Keynan explains the benefits to having offspring stick around for an extended period of time....
03.21.2014
March 2014: Temple Grandin, autism, weaver birds, and tadpole social learning
The social lives of animals is this month's theme. I talk to Damien Farine from the Edward Grey Institute at Oxford University, who tells me how weaver birds decide how many house mates they want to live with. I discover...
02.21.2014
Feb 2014: Kirsty MacLeod and meerkats, birds and airplanes, and New Zealand conservation with James Russell
Meerkats may look cute and cuddly, but this month, Kirsty MacLeod from Cambridge University tells me that for some, life isn’t as picture perfect as it seems. I find out about the US Department of Agriculture’s latest research on the quest for safer skies....
01.20.2014
Jan 2014: Lesley Morrell, prairie dogs, and stinky parrots
This month, I speak to Milla Mihailova from Deakin University in Australia, who tells me about parrots with a particularly pungent stench. I get up close and personal with some black tailed prairie dogs, to find out why they can’t...
12.05.2013
Dec 2013: Steve Jones, slime mold, and spiders that mimic ants
This month, we leave backbones behind, for an invertebrate and protist special. I speak to Chris Reid from the the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, USA, about an ancient single cell animal that looks like a glob of luminous yellow gunge,...
11.04.2013
Nov 2013: Nicky Clayton and clever crows, and mice that eat scorpions
Nicky Clayton joins me in this month's Beepcast, telling me what sparked her interest in bird intelligence, and how she mixes science with the art of dance. I learn about a mouse with an unusual superpower: immunity to the sting of a scorpion....
10.04.2013
Oct 2013: Tim Birkhead, barn swallows, and coal tits who hide seeds
In October's BEEPcast Tim Birkhead tells me what ignited his interest in ornithology and sexual selection. I explore why male barn swallows don't act their age when courting females. In the third of my interviews from the Behavior 2013 conference,...
09.04.2013
Sept 2013: Amy Cuddy and power posing, honeyguides, and bower bird cognition
Amy Cuddy joins me in this month's Beepcast, telling me what ignited her interest in how people judge and influence each other. I explore the darker side of bird behaviour, looking at the sneaky tactics African honeyguides use to trick other birds into...
08.14.2013
Aug 2013: Louise Barrett, peacock eye tracking, and caterpillar eyespots
In the first episode I dig into peahen perception to find out what they look for in their ideal mate. I'll also present the first of a series of interviews from the Behaviour 2013 conference. I speak to Tom Hossie...

What's The Behavioural Ecology and Evolution Podcast (the Beepcast) about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The Behavioural Ecology and Evolution Podcast (the Beepcast) episodes:

Oct 17: Iain Couzin's Scientific Spark, why do deer in Japan bow, and why are some plant nectars bitter?

Sept 2015: Kate Umbers, burying beetle parental care, and tasteless monkey thieves

Aug 2015: ZSL Scientist Patricia Brekke, polar bear welfare at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, and self-medicating ants

July 2015: Johan Nilson, sea ducks, and horse facial expressions

June 2015: Lucy Nash from OUP, Dottybacks change colour to hide from prey, and moths that slow their brains down

May 2015: Marie Herbenstein, deception and disguise of orchid mantis and owl butterflies with @jamohanlon @JohannaMappes and @SebaDeBona

April 2015: Tristram Wyatt, the hormonal bond between humans and their dogs, and predator-prey flight and fight behaviour

March 2015: Shaun Killen, animal personality, and guppy food preferences

Feb 2015: Damien Farine, penguins who can't taste, and shiny tree swallows

Jan 2015: Niels Dingemanse, animal arithmetic, and smooth billed ani alarm calls

Dec 2014: Innes Cuthill, tropical lizard leaf mimicry, and bird infrasound

Nov 2014: The Wiltschkos and magnetic navigation in birds

Oct 2014: Ben Sheldon, rock goby camouflage, and lizard imitation

Sept 2014: Leigh Simmons, stickleback personality, and caterpillars with hats

Aug 2014: Marlene Zuk, hummingbird taste perception, and magpie thieves

July 2014: Isabella Rossellini and mammas, spider mimicry, and secret communication in horses

June 2014: Robert Hinde, and an antipredator defence special

May 2014: Neil Metcalfe, ZSL's hihi, and cuckoo - hawk mimicry

April 2014: David Sherry and marsh tits, zebra stripes, and Arabian babblers

March 2014: Temple Grandin, autism, weaver birds, and tadpole social learning

Feb 2014: Kirsty MacLeod and meerkats, birds and airplanes, and New Zealand conservation with James Russell

Jan 2014: Lesley Morrell, prairie dogs, and stinky parrots

Dec 2013: Steve Jones, slime mold, and spiders that mimic ants

Nov 2013: Nicky Clayton and clever crows, and mice that eat scorpions

Oct 2013: Tim Birkhead, barn swallows, and coal tits who hide seeds

Sept 2013: Amy Cuddy and power posing, honeyguides, and bower bird cognition

Aug 2013: Louise Barrett, peacock eye tracking, and caterpillar eyespots