The Earth has ended before.

Five times in the last half-billion years, life on this planet has been nearly wiped clean—reset by asteroid impacts, volcanic winters, and cataclysms we can barely imagine. And now? We’re living through number six. The difference? This one’s caused by us.

But buried in those ancient endings are stories—lessons about resilience, adaptation, and the strange, beautiful creatures that made it through.

In this episode, I’m joined by JP, better known online as @paleoauthor, the mind behind the upcoming book Primordial: A Biology of Ancient Triumphs and Tragedies. Together, we explore:

• Previous mass extinction events and what they can teach us about the one we’re in now
• Why dinosaurs still capture our collective imagination
• The weirdest prehistoric animals you’ve never heard of
• The influence of media and film on our understanding of deep time
• How telling the stories of the past might help us change the future

It’s part science, part storytelling, and part love letter to life itself.

Links & Resources:

• Follow JP on Instagram: @paleoauthor
• Support The Wild Life on Patreon

Meet the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis), a creature so strange that early scientists couldn’t even decide if it was a rodent, a squirrel, or… something entirely new. Native to Madagascar and the largest nocturnal primate in the world, the aye-aye sports perpetually growing teeth, a bat-like ear for echolocation, and a freakishly long, bony middle finger that can hook grubs from deep inside tree trunks—or, yes, pick its own nose.

In this episode, we dive into its percussive foraging superpower, its evolutionary mystery, and why it fills the same ecological niche as a woodpecker.

Field Guide of Wonder is a companion to my main show The Wild Life, giving you quick, vivid snapshots of the planet’s most remarkable creatures.

If you enjoy the show and want to help keep it going, consider supporting on Patreon

Stay weird :)

-Devon

Meet the world’s largest rodent—the capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), a creature so wonderfully chill it makes a golden retriever look high-strung. In this episode, we dive beyond the memesto explore what makes capybaras such an evolutionary success story.

We’ll talk:

• Why “semi-aquatic social loaf of bread” might be the perfect lifestyle
• Their remarkable teeth, digestive superpowers… and yes, why they eat their own poop
• The wild variety of vocalizations they use to chat with each other
• How babysitting is a survival strategy
• The surprising ways their biology connects to the ecosystems they live in

From their South American wetlands to their unlikely friendships with everything from birds to caimans, capybaras prove that being laid-back is a legitimate survival tactic.

Listen, wonder, and maybe… book a ticket to the Pantanal.

Support The Wild Life's Field Guide of Wonder at www.patreon.com/thewildlife for as little as $1 per month

Hey everyone! I have some news to share 😊

Field Guide of Wonder—my social media video series— is getting a podcast companion!

And here is the first episode!

It'll be short, spectacular stories of the weirdest, wildest, most wonderful creatures on earth, in a format that hopefully gives these animals more room to stretch their wings, claws, pseudopods, or whatever it is they’ve got.⁠

It’ll be bite-sized but packed with questions you didn’t know you had, facts that feel like magic, and connections that make this tangled web of life feel even more alive.

If you'd like to support the creation of this series, you can join my patreon at www.patreon.com/thewildlife for FREE. You can also support its creation at patreon for as little as $1 per month. Y’all, you know I post A LOT 😅 $1 per month comes out to 1.33 CENTS per piece of content. Like, literally, I did the math 😂

Stay weird. Stay curious. Stay wild.

Hey everyone!

I’m really excited to share with you all my conversation with the thoughtful and inspiring Alexa Pavan, aka @GoGreenWithAlexa.

We dive into everything from accessible sustainability and composting, to coral bleaching, water bottles, and beach cleanups. It’s a chat about progress over perfection, the importance of small, everyday actions, and finding hope in the face of big, global challenges.

We talk:

• 🪸 Coral reefs and climate change
• ♻️ Reducing waste without shame
• 🌱 What it actually means to live sustainably
• 💚 How individual choices can ripple outward
• 🌍 Interconnectedness, agency, and actionable hope

It’s full of insight, encouragement, and gentle reminders that we don’t have to do everything—but we can all do something.

As always, thank you for listening to The Wild Life. If you’d like to help continue making episodes like this possible, you can join for as little as $1 per month (a penny per piece of content) at www.patreon.com/thewildlife. Your support means the world—and makes this work sustainable (see what I did there?).

-Devon

What happens when you follow curiosity wherever it leads?

In this episode of The Wild Life, I’m joined by Emily Hunter—a passionate environmental science educator, interpretation specialist, bushwalk guide, and nature communicator currently living and working along Australia’s Ningaloo Reef.

Emily shares her journey from being a "tree hugger" kid in Idaho to becoming a globe-trotting interpreter of nature's stories, using awe as a tool for connection. We explore the power of wonder as a precursor to knowledge, how interpretation helps break down scientific gatekeeping, and what it really means to talk on behalf of the land, sea, and sky.

Along the way, we dive into:

• Why knowledge alone doesn’t spark change—but wonder might
• The magic of the Ningaloo Reef
• What it's like to snorkel with first-timers and hike with strangers before sunrise
• Why environmental education needs weirdness, joy, and emotional honesty
• And how following a sticker or a Facebook post can change your life

Whether you’re a student wondering how to get started, a teacher trying to bring passion into your practice, or someone who’s just trying to rekindle that childhood spark of curiosity—this one’s for you.

🌏 You don’t have to live near a coral reef to live a rich, curious, nature-connected life.

Sometimes it starts with a question. Or a shell. Or a really good sunrise.

📣 Share this episode with someone who needs to be reminded that weird is good—and wonder matters.

What do a gaur, an aardvark, a flattened musk turtle, and a Matschie’s tree kangaroo have in common?

They’ve all been photographed beautifully, reverently, and intentionally by my next guest—wildlife and zoo photographer Jay Meredith.

In this episode, Jay shares the story behind his incredible project, The Animal Archives, documenting over 1,000 animal species across accredited zoos, aquariums, and conservation centers. But this is more than a numbers game. It’s a mission to help people fall in love with the overlooked, the endangered, and the often-forgotten.

We talk about how Jay transitioned from zookeeper to photographer, the difference between photographing wild vs. captive animals, what it means to truly see an animal, why education and storytelling are just as important as the image itself, and the little-known species Jay wants everyone to know about!

This episode is about photography, yes—but really, it’s about wonder. It’s about noticing. And it’s about how we grow empathy for the world when we take time to look closely.

📸 Follow Jay on Instagram: @photos_with_jay_108

🦥 Support The Wild Life and Get Early Access at www.patreon.com/thewildlife

Today is #WorldOceansDay and I’m feeling a whole lot of things. Wonder. Grief. Hope. Determination.

The ocean isn’t just a place to visit. It’s not just a good backdrop for photos.It’s breath. It’s mystery. It’s the engine of life on Earth. And right now? It needs us.

This isn’t a doom post. It’s a love letter.

To the sea slugs and phytoplankton.

To coral metropolises and whales that sing.

And to whoever has felt small in the best possible way, standing in front of something as vast and alive as our seas.

Let’s protect what’s left.

Let’s restore what we can.

Let’s be the kind of people the ocean would be proud of.

~Devon

What if the key to understanding our future was hidden in the teeth of creatures that lived millions of years ago? In this episode, we dive into the world of dental microwear with paleontologist Andrew Schwartz (@eyesonthedirt), who takes us from the fossil beds of ancient Wyoming to the jungles of Costa Rica and the highlands of the Wari Empire. Along the way, we uncover how past climate shifts reshaped life on Earth—and what that means for us today.

We explore:

• How capuchin monkeys and ancient Andean civilizations left clues in their teeth
• What the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) can teach us about modern climate change
• Why some mammals shrank while others thrived
• What a warming world could mean for our ecosystems, agriculture, and future survival

Links & Resources:

• Learn more about Andrew Schwartz’s research
• Deep dive into the PETM and its modern implications

Support The Wild Life on Patreon!

If you love deep dives into science and nature, consider supporting The Wild Life on Patreon. Your support helps me continue making episodes like this, bringing expert voices and fascinating stories. Plus, Patrons get bonus content, early access, and more! Join us at Patreon.com/TheWildLife.

Let me know what you think! Leave a review, share the episode, and keep exploring the wild world around you.

Giant river otters are social, intelligent, and deeply connected to the health of their ecosystems—but what happens when their food supply starts to dwindle? In this episode of The Wild Life, we’re joined by Katherine Foree, a researcher studying how these apex predators use their habitat in the Madre de Dios region of Peru. With a Fulbright grant supporting both her research and cultural exchange, Katherine is three months into her work at Cocha Cashu Biological Station and preparing for a second study on the impact of fish depletion on otter food-sharing behaviors. We also dive into her past experiences with orangutans, lemurs, and conservation challenges around the world. Join us as we explore the fascinating lives of giant river otters and what they can teach us about the delicate balance of the Amazon’s waterways, talk books, the often overlooked humanity of scientists, animal psychology, and so much more!

Support The Wild Life at www.patreon.com/thewildlife

Follow Kat on Instagram @a.kat.named.rin