The Behavioural Ecology and Evolution Podcast (the Beepcast)

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. And, in the Scientific Spark I ask James Russell, a conservation

biologist from the University of Aukland in New Zealand, what inspired him to research invasive

species biology, and what the hardest tasks are in trying to save New

Zealand’s endangered species.

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Photo by Flickr user Jon Pinder

Quicklinks:

Kirsty MacLeod's webpage

Turkey Vulture paper in Plos One

Travis DeVault's webpage

James Russell's webpage

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 help following the leader. And, in the Scientific Spark I ask Lesley Morrell (@biosciencemum), from the University of Hull what made her want to be a biologist, and how she came to work on why animals live in groups, rather than enjoying the single life.

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Quicklinks:

Milla Mihailova's webpage

Prairie dog paper

Jim Hare's personal webpage

Lesley Morrell's University webpage

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, that doesn't

have a brain but may be smarter than human beings. I find out about a double

deception in the animal kingdom: how an ant-mimicking spider sends misleading

visual and chemical cues to different predators. And, in the scientific spark I

ask Steve Jones, Emeritus Professor

of genetics at University College London what made him want to be a scientist, and how he came to be

one of the world’s experts on snail genetics

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An ant-mimicking spider Peckhamia image courtesy of Continis

Quicklinks:

Chris Reid's webpage

Divya Uma's paper on ant-mimicry

Steve Jones' column in the Telegraph

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. I also interview Culum Brown of Macquarie University, Australia, who studies how young rainbow fish sniff out lurking predators.

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A southern grasshopper

mouse eats the Arizona bark scorpion that it has just killed. Credit: Ashlee and Matthew Rowe

Quicklinks:

Culum Brown's webpage

Ashlee Rowe's webpage

Nicky Clayton's webpage

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, I speak to Tom Smulders of Newcastle University who explains what Coal tits do with unpalatable seeds.

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Barn swallows coutesy of Jim Benson http://www.flickr.com/photos/j_benson/

Quicklinks:

Tom Smulder's webpage

Masaru Hasegawa's paper

Tim Birkhead's webpage

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 raising their young. In the second of my interviews from the

Behavior 2013 conference, I speak to Jess Isden of Exeter University who

explains what female bowerbirds look for in a male’s fancy display. 

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Eggs used by Claire Spottiswoode. Host = little bee-eater eggs. Control = little bee-eater egg from a different nest. Honeyguide = honeyguide egg. Experimental= egg from a completely different bird, like a dove. Image: Claire Spottiswoode

Quicklinks:

Claire Spottiswoode's paper

Jes Isden's paper

Amy Cuddy's TED talk

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 from Carleton University, Canada. Plus in the Scientific Spark I ask Louise Barrett, from the University of Lethbridge in Canada, what sparked her scientific career.

Yorzisnki's paper

Caterpillar Eyespots: Tom Hossie's blog

More info on Louise Barrett