The Biologic Podcast

Welcome to Episode 114! In today's show, we'll wrap up our series on the arachnids by exploring their relationship with humans, from our evolution and prehistory, to the modern day. In human cultural lore, arachnids are nuanced and complex entities. They have inspired many technologies, their biochemistry has provided many medicinal chemicals, and their influence on human culture and experience has been profound. 

Welcome to Episode 113! We're finishing up the two-part mini-series on the true spiders of Araneae with this in-depth look at the Araneomorphae. This group comprises the vast majority of modern spiders, and demonstrates a bewildering degree of biodiversity and ecological contribution. 

Welcome to Episode 112! Today's show will explore the early evolution of the true spiders, their anatomy and physiology, and the life strategies and behavior of early spider groups like the Mesothelae and Mygalomorphae. This is part 1 in the Araneae mini-series; part 2 will explore the Araneomorphae. 

In today's show, we'll take a look at the infamous scorpion, as well as several of its near relatives. It will be an exciting adventure in the life of a scorpion or scorpion-like creature, as they scuttle along in deserts or forests, using their claws or venomous tail to attack prey. These are incredible, charismatic and cryptic creatures, representing a modern scientific frontier waiting to be studied. 

Hello and welcome to Episode 110! Today we will explore the anatomy, lifestyle and ecology of two major arachnid groups; the acariformes and the parasitiformes, more commonly known as the mites and the ticks. Although they're most well known for the handful of groups that parasitize animals and sometimes even eat blood, most of them are herbivores whose collective consumption and metabolic activity plays a critical ecological role.

Welcome to Episode 109! Today's episode is an important one. It marks the beginning of our four part mega series on the arthropods. In this first part, we introduce the most basal arthropod clade, the arachnids, and explore their evolutionary origins. We'll look at the ecological challenges they faced, and the friends and relatives they made along the way. Today's show will set the stage for the rest of the arachnids we'll look at in upcoming episodes, and the rest of the arthropods that we'll explore in the later parts of this mega series. 

Welcome to Episode 108! Today we'll be exploring the unique and diverse relationships that humans have with the many types of molluscs that share this world with us. They are part of our myths and legends, they are sources of food and medicines, and they've inspired countless technologies. We have a surprisingly close relationship with these most alien-like of Earthly creatures. 

Welcome to Episode 107! This is part 2 in a 2-part series on the cephalopods. Today we will explore the evolutionary history of the coleoids, a "recent" branch of cephalopod. We will also examine their alien anatomy, their unusual life cycle, and their shockingly sophisticated intelligence. 

Welcome to Episode 106! This show is part 1 in a 2-part series on the cephalopods. Today we will explore the evolutionary history of the cephalopods, and take a closer look at the physiology and life cycle of the descendants of the strange, basal lineage of nautiloids.

Welcome to Episode 105! Today we'll be exploring the wild world of gastropods, including their unique and bizarre physiology, as well as their even more bizarre reproductive strategies. It'll be a thoroughly entertaining and provocative episode, exploring the biology of a quiet, innocuous, and infinitely weird group of invertebrates.