This is the story of the domesticated animal that feralised itself.

Where did dingoes come from and when?

Where does a wild dog stop and a dingo begin?

How much can genetics really tell us about Australia's only native dog — and how long do you have to live somewhere to be 'native'?

Featuring:

• Professor Clive Wynne, animal psychologist, Arizona State University
• Dr Angela Perri, zooarchaeologist, Chronicle Heritage
• Kelly Ann Blake, Wadawurrung woman, and Jack the Dingo
• Professor Greger Larson, evolutionary genomics at the University of Oxford
• Professor Euan Ritchie, Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at Deakin University

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Nat Tencic, Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Jacinta Bowler, Producer
• Petria Ladgrove, Executive Producer

This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2025 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Taungurung people.

Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

Are puppy dog eyes really a sign of love, or does Fido just want a lil snack?

Can dogs really "speak" by pressing talking buttons, or do they just make great content for TikTok?

There's more to canine communication than howls and growls — and a wagging tail could be telling you more than you think.

Featuring:

• Dr. Mia Cobb, Chaser Innovation Research Fellow (Canine Welfare Science), Animal Welfare Science Centre at the University of Melbourne
• Professor Clive Wynne, animal psychologist, Arizona State University
• Associate professor Federico Rossano director of the comparative cognition lab at the University of California San Diego

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Nat Tencic, Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Petria Ladgrove, Executive Producer

This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2025 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Taungurung people.

Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

'Man's best friend' sure sounds better than 'obligatory symbiont', but what are the true dynamics at play?

There's no denying the bond people feel and the attachment dogs have for their humans, but if we put that beautiful relationship under scientific scrutiny, does it hold up?

Can any dog go 'full Lassie' if you (or Timmy) get stuck down a well?

Will your dog save you?

Featuring:

• Professor Clive Wynne, animal psychologist, Arizona State University
• Dr. Mia Cobb, Chaser Innovation Research Fellow (Canine Welfare Science), Animal Welfare Science Centre at the University of Melbourne
• Professor Chris Johnson, the University of Tasmania
• Dr. Annika Bremhorst, founder of Dogs and Science, and canine scientist at the University of Bern

Further reading:

• Importance of a species' socioecology: Wolves outperform dogs in a conspecific cooperation task
• Pet dogs release their trapped and distressed owners: Individual variation and evidence of emotional contagion
• Good dog! Using livestock guardian dogs to protect livestock from predators in Australia's extensive grazing systems

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Nat Tencic, Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Petria Ladgrove, Executive Producer

This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in May and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Taungurung people.

Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

There's designer clothes, but they have nothing on designer dogs!

They come in a huge range of shapes and colours and sizes, from the tiny Chihuahua to the Great Dane.

In the animal world this much variation usually means different species, but not for dogs — so where did they all come from?

And what role did Victorian-era rats play in the development of 'breed standards'?

Featuring:

• Joyce Sullivan, papillon breeder
• Wayne Douglas OAM, Afghan Hound breeder
• Esther Joseph, all breeds judge
• Michael Worboys emeritus professor the University of Manchester
• Professor Greger Larson, evolutionary genomics at the University of Oxford
• Dr Angela Perri, zooarchaeologist, Chronicle Heritage
• Dr. Elaine Ostrander, geneticist at National Institutes of Health (US)
• Dr Heidi Parker, geneticist at National Institutes of Health (US)

Further reading:

• Canine Genomics and Genetics: Running with the Pack
• The invention of the basset hound: breed, blood and the late Victorian dog fancy

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Nat Tencic, Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Petria Ladgrove, Executive Producer

This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in May and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Taungurung people.

Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

The relationship between humans and big scary wolves has come a long way to give us tiny fluffy lap dogs with very discerning tastes in expensive food.

Whose idea was it? Was it the wolves who wanted the warmth of the fire, or the humans who wanted protection from the other scary carnivores?

And take a look at the first archaeological evidence of a beloved family pet preserved with its human family for almost 15,000 years!

Featuring:

• Luc Janssens, Specialist in small animal surgery and archaeologist
• Professor Greger Larson, evolutionary genomics at the University of Oxford
• Dr Angela Perri, zooarchaeologist, Chronicle Heritage
• Professor Clive Wynne, animal psychologist, Arizona State University

Further reading:

• A new look at an old dog : Bonn-Oberkassel reconsidered
• Identification of genomic variants putatively targeted by selection during dog domestication
• Dog domestication and the dual dispersal of people and dogs into the Americas

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Nat Tencic, Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Petria Ladgrove, Executive Producer

This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in May and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Taungurung people.

Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

Nematodes are found in every environment on Earth and can survive in some seriously extreme conditions.

They will come back to life after being frozen for 40 thousand years! WHAT THE DUCK?!

There's so much more to these creatures than a chocolate square for an itchy rear end…

Sign up here for the nematode appreciation society.

Featuring:

• Dr Mike Hodda, senior principal research scientist, National Research Collections Australia, CSIRO
• Bethany Perry, PhD student at the ARC Training Centre in Plant Biosecurity, University of Canberra and CSIRO

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer

This episode of What the Duck?! was recorded and produced on the land of the Ngunnawal, Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.

Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

CSIRO's National Research Collection in Canberra is where millions of dead things bring life to Australian science.

The specimens, collected over many decades, have just been very carefully moved into a new purpose-built facility named Diversity.

The What the Duck?! team had a "sticky beak" inside to find DNA extraction robots, extinct birds, predatory flies, and a few thousand slides containing insect genitalia.

This episode was recorded in September, before recent announcements were made about CSIRO funding.

Featuring:

• Dr Alicia Grealy, research projects officer, National Research Collections Australia, CSIRO
• Dr Keith Bayless, research scientist, National Research Collections Australia, CSIRO
• Andrea Wild, science communicator, CSIRO
• Dr Anna Kearns, research scientist, National Research Collections Australia, CSIRO
• Dr Olivia Evangelista de Souza, curator and digital data manager, National Research Collections Australia, CSIRO

With thanks to Thea Williams and Ian Dewar at CSIRO

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer

This episode of What the Duck?!  was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.

Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

After receiving a heartbreaking email, Ann goes on a mission to prove that 'girls DO like spiders, frogs and all things nature'.'

Featuring:

• Lyra and Julie Gould from Canada
• Dr. Jodi Rowley- Australian Museum and University of NSW
• Professor Maydianne Andrade- University of Toronto
• Dr. Amber Beavis- Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer
• Associate Professor Tanya Latty- Sydney University

Plus excerpts from videos to Lyra from:

• Dr Federica Turco
• Dr Juanita Rodriguez
• Dr Kate Umbers
• Dr Perry Beasley-Hall
• Dr Jessica Fenker
• Josie Styles
• Ying Luo

Plus extra sounds from:

• Christopher MacGregor, ABC Radio National listener with an excellent frog chorus from Bayswater in Perth, WA
• Frank Lambert, with a Spot-throated Babbler recording from Thailand, via xeno canto XC200877 (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Petria Ladgrove, Producer
• Joel Werner, Script Editing

This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.

Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

It's like a classic horror film.

There are huge fangs, a segmented body, a remote location, the ocean bashing against cliffs, you're all alone and there's no one to help.

The first bodies that turn up are of the children… of petrels.

Featuring:

• Luke Halpin, PhD Researcher, Monash University

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Petria Ladgrove, Producer
• Joel Werner, Script Editing

This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.

Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

Turns out centipedes versus millipedes isn't as simple as a numbers game.

But here at What the Duck?! we never skip leg day.

Featuring:

• Dr Juanita Rodriguez, Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO.
• Dr Bruno Alves Buzatto, Flinders University.
• Luis Villazon, Science Educator UK.

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
• Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
• Additional mastering: Angela Grant.

This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.

Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.