Three Zoologists and a Microphone

In this very belated episode, we are talking about jellyfish that can live forever (in theory), lobsters that can only survive until the crushing pressure of existence finally gets to them. We also discuss getting your favourite brogues resoled in the cobbler factory to stop your DNA breaking down and how 5000-year-old trees could potentially be considered youthful. The tangents in this episode may not go on forever but it probably will feel like it

Find us over on Twitter and Instagram @3_Zoologists to ask us questions or just tell us what you think. And if you want to learn more about anything we talk about in the episode just check out the references below for more information:

Geraldine Aubert, P. M. (2008). Telomeres and Aging. Physiological Reviews, 88(2), 557-579. doi:10.1152/physrev.00026.2007

Harris, J. (2000). Imitations of Immortality. Science, 288(5463), 59. doi:10.1126/science.288.5463.59

J Graham Ruby, M. S. (2018). Naked mole-rat mortality rates defy Compertzian laws by not increasing with age. elife, 7, e31157. doi:10.7554.eLife.31157

Jinru He, L. Z. (2015). Life Cucle Reversal in Aurelia sp. 1 (Cnidara, Scyphozoa). PLOS ONE, 10(12), e0145314. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0145314

Kirkwood, T. B. (2015). Deciphering death: a commentary on Gompertz (1825) 'On the nature of the function expressive of the law of human mortality, and on a new model of determining the valie of life contingencies'. Philos Trans R Sock Lond B Biol Sci, 370(1666), 20140379. doi:10.1098/rstb.2014.0379

Madalena C Carneiro, I. P. (2016). Telomeres in aging and disease: lessons from zebrafish. Disease Models & Mechanisms, 9, 737-748. doi:10.1242/dmm.025130

R.M. Lanner, K. C. (2001). Does bristlecone pine senesce. Experimental Gerontology, 36(4-6), 675-685. doi:10.1016/S0531-5565(00)00234-5

Simon R. W. L. Chan, E. H. (2004). Telomeres and telomerase. Philosphical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 359(1441), 109-122. doi:10.1098/rstb.2003.1370

Wolfram Klapper, K. K. (1998). Longevity of lobster is linked to ubiquitous telomerase expression. FEBS Letters, 439, 143 - 146. doi:10.1016/S0014-5793(98)01357-X

So, it’s something we’ve all wondered at some point or another; what are animals thinking, and can they talk to each other, or more importantly can our pets understand us? In this episode we are talking about language and how humans came to have such complicated ways of communicating. Are we the only ones who are able to talk to each other and pass information between individuals without having to physically demonstrate everything? You’ll have to listen on to find out. As usual our tangents have also reached new heights probably getting to their most… interesting in this episode with the standard unit for deer height being set as bananas of all things.

Find us over on Twitter and Instagram @3_Zoologists to ask us questions or just tell us what you think. And if you want to learn more about anything we talk about in this episode, check out the references below for more information:

- Fitch, W. T. (2005). The evolution of language: a comparative review. Biology and Philosophy, 20(2-3), 193–203.

- Lieberman P. Primer: Acoustics and Physiology of Human Speech (the-scientist.com/infographics/primer--acoustics-and-physiology-of-human-speech-64383)

- Hayes K., Hayes C., (1952). "Imitation in a home-raised chimpanzee". Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 45, 450–459.

- Seyfarth R., 1980. Vervet monkey alarm calls: Semantic communication in a free-ranging primate. Animal Behaviour. 28(4), 1070-1094.

- How language began | Dan Everett | TEDxSanFrancisco (youtube.com/watch?v=qFxg5vkaPgk)

- Animals and Human Communication — David Adger / Serious Science (youtube.com/watch?v=9b50ChtpfUU)

- Do animals have language? - Michele Bishop (youtube.com/watch?v=_1FY5kL_zXU)

We’re back with another episode this time with our first listener question; why don’t electric eels electrocute themselves? We go back to the basics of how animals use electricity and how the electric eels crazy powerful shock is generated and then talk about an interesting case study with Sparky the eel who we all agree was very aptly named. You’ll have to listen in to find out more and maybe even hear why electric eels just might be aquatic Jedi.

Find us over on Twitter and Instagram @3_Zoologists to ask us questions or just tell us what you think, and if you want to find out more about what we talked about in this episode, check out the stuff below.

References:

Catania, K. 2015. Electric eels use high-voltage to track fast-moving prey. Nature Communications, 6(1).

Catania, K., 2016. Leaping eels electrify threats, supporting Humboldt’s account of a battle with horses. PNAS, 113(25), pp.6979-6984.

Welzel, G. 2021. Efficient high-voltage protection in the electric catfish. J. Exp. Biol. 224(4), p.jeb239855.

Science News for Students. 2021. The shocking Electric Eel!. (sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/shocking-electric-eel).

How do fish make electricity? – Eleanor Nelson (youtube.com/watch?v=z0M7_HPSi14).

Nico, Leo. 1991. Fishes of the night. Part 1: The electric eel. Tropical Fish Hobbyist. 39 (January). 12-14, 17, 20, 22.

Bastos, D. 2021. Social predation in electric eels. Ecology and Evolution, 11(3), pp.1088-1092.

Curtis, C. 2003. Mate preference in female electric fish, Brachyhypopomus pinnicaudatus. Animal Behaviour, 66(2), pp.329-336.

Lavoué, S. 2012. Comparable Ages for the Independent Origins of Electrogenesis in African and South American Weakly Electric Fishes. PLoS ONE, 7(5), p.e36287.

Arnegard, M. 2010. Old gene duplication facilitates origin and diversification of an innovative communication system--twice. PNAS, 107(51), pp.22172-22177.

Kempster, R. 2013. Survival of the Stillest: Predator Avoidance in Shark Embryos. PLoS ONE, 8(1), p.e52551.

Arnegard, M. 2005. Electric organ discharge patterns during group hunting by a mormyrid fish. Proc. Royal Soc. B, 272(1570), pp.1305-1314.

This time around we’re looking skyward for todays topic and wondering what aliens would look like if they do exist. Have a listen to find out about what would be needed for life to evolve on another planet and what we might expect to see in the types of life that could be there. We’ve started a bit of a competition too so remember to vote for what your favourite fact was in our intro over on Instagram or Twitter.

Find us over on Twitter and Instagram @3_Zoologists to ask us questions or just tell us what you think. And if you want to learn more about anything we talk about in this episode check out the references below for more information:

1. The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy – Dr Arik Kershenbaum (2020)

2. What We Know About Extraterrestrial Intelligence (Foundations of Xenology) – Michael Ashkenazi

3. Eight ingredients for life in space | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk) (Accessed 02/02/2021)

4. NASA's Alternative Definition of Life - President's Dream Colloquium - Simon Fraser University (sfu.ca) (Accessed 02/02/2021)

5. Senter P. 2009. Vestigial skeletal structures in dinosaurs. Journal of Zoology. 280(1). p. 60-71.

6. Gingerich P. 1990. Hind Limbs of Eocene Basilosaurus: Evidence of Feet in Whales. Science. 249(4965). p. 154-157.

7. Brocks J. 2017. The rise of algae in Cryogenian oceans and the emergence of animals. Nature. 548.

8. Lauro S. 2021. Multiple subglacial water bodies below the south pole of Mars unveiled by new MARSIS data. Nature Astronomy. 5. p. 63-70

Our first official episode! We kick the podcast series off with a conversation where we try to answer a question that’s had people wondering for years; Do animals have accents? We talk about Cockney ducks, brummy cows and who knew that naked mole rats could sing the national anthem? Not us until we began looking into it, but listen to this episode and you will find out about all of those and more.

You can find us on Instagram and twitter @3_zoologists and if you’d like to see more about what we talk about in this episode feel free to check out some of the stuff below:

- nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/r/red-fox/

- Do Animals Speak in Regional Accents – TheNakedScientists.com

- news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3775799.stm

- Barker, A. J. 2021. Cultural transmission of vocal dialect in the naked mole-rat. Science. 371(6528): 503-507. DOI: 10.1126/science.abc6588.

- Buffenstein, R., 2021. Colony-specific dialects of naked mole-rats. Science. 371(6528): 461-462. DOI: 10.1126/science.abd7962.

- Deecke, V. B. 2010. The structure of stereotyped calls reflects kinship and social affiliation in resident killer whales (Orcinus orca). Naturewissenshaften. 97: 513-518. DOI: 10.1007.s00114-010-0657-z.

- Filatova, O. A. 2012. Call diversity in the North Pacific killer whale populations: implications for dialect evolution and population history. Animal Behaviour. 83(3): 595-603. DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.12.013.

- Luís, A. R. F., 2019. Multi-regional acoustic repertoires of bottlenose dolphins: common themes, geographical variations and ecological factors. Repositório do ISPA.

- Wycherley, J. 2002. Frog calls echo microsatellite phylogeography in the European pool frog (Rana Lessonae). Journal of Zoology. 258(4): 479-484, DOI: 10.1017/S0952836902001632

The preview episode of the new podcast series 3 Zoologists and a Microphone takes on an incredibly important question that we know you’ve all been waiting to hear the answer too. Are Zebras white with black stripes or black with white stripes? Taking on this question we cover some other interesting topics like, should humans have stripy legs too and take their fashion ideas from Zebras and Okapis, as well as how night-time on the Serengeti can leave you within feet of a zebra without you even knowing it.

Find us on instagram and twitter @3_zoologists

If you want to find out more about the topics we talked about please check out the following references:

1) Animals.sandiegozoo.org. 2021. Zebra | San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants. [online] Available at: [Accessed 16 January 2021].

2) Bard, J., 2009. A unity underlying the different zebra patterns. Journal of Zoology. 183(4), p.527 - 539.

3) Britten, K., Thatcher, T. and Caro, T., 2016. Zebras and Biting Flies: Quantitative Analysis of Reflected Light from Zebra Coats in Their Natural Habitat. PLOS ONE, 11(5), p.e0154504.

4) Caro, T. and Stankowich, T., 2015. Concordance on zebra stripes: a comment on Larison et al. (2015). Royal Society Open Science, 2(9), p.150323.

5) Caro, T., Izzo, A., Reiner, R., Walker, H. and Stankowich, T., 2014. The function of zebra stripes. Nature Communications, 5(1).

6) How, M. and Zanker, J., 2014. Motion camouflage induced by zebra stripes. Zoology, 117(3), pp.163-170.

7) Kojima, T., Oishi, K., Matsubara, Y., Uchiyama, Y., Fukushima, Y., Aoki, N., Sato, S., Masuda, T., Ueda, J., Hirooka, H. and Kino, K., 2019. Cows painted with zebra-like striping can avoid biting fly attack. PLOS ONE, 14(10), p.e0223447.

8) Larison, B., Harrigan, R., Rubenstein, D. and Smith, T., 2015. Concordance on zebra stripes is not black and white: response to comment by Caro & Stankowich (2015). Royal Society Open Science, 2(9), p.150359.

9) Larison, B., Harrigan, R., Thomassen, H., Rubenstein, D., Chan-Golston, A., Li, E. and Smith, T., 2015. How the zebra got its stripes: a problem with too many solutions. Royal Society Open Science, 2(1), p.140452.

10) Ljetoff, M., Folstad, I., Skarstein, F. and Yoccoz, N., 2007. Zebra stripes as an amplifier of individual quality?. Ann. Zool. Fennici, 44, pp.368–376.

11) Melin, A., Kline, D., Hiramatsu, C. and Caro, T., 2016. Zebra Stripes through the Eyes of Their Predators, Zebras, and Humans. PLOS ONE, 11(1), p.e0145679.

12) Ruxton, G., 2002. The possible fitness benefits of striped coat coloration for zebra. Mammal Review, 32(4), pp.237-244.

13) Skulls, G. and News, E., 2021. Green Woodpecker Tongues Are So Long They Wrap Around Their Skulls. [online] Earth Touch News Network. Available at: [Accessed 16 January 2021].

14) Stevens, M., Yule, D. and Ruxton, G., 2008. Dazzle coloration and prey movement. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 275(1651), pp.2639-2643.

15) Villazon, L., 2021. Are Zebras Black With White Stripes Or White With Black Stripes?. [online] BBC Science Focus Magazine. Available at: [Accessed 21 January 2021].