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.

Can animals create, or even enjoy music?

Ann rips through the animal kingdom to check out the musical talent of some likely and unlikely performers.

Featuring:

• Dr. Stuart Watson, University of Zurich.
• Dr. Chiara De Gregorio, University of Torino.
• Assistant Professor Adena Schachner, University of California.
• David Teie, Musician and composer, Music for Cats.
• Associate Professor Cameron Webb, University of Sydney and NSW Health Pathology.

Featured sounds:

Musical Stimuli for Parrots by Adena Schachner, Fostog's Touch by David Teie (music for cats) and Marlene McCohen (YouTube) and her Amazon parrot Lucy.

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
• Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
• Additional mastering: Hamish Camilleri.

For more about bird song and music click here.

This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2023 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.

We'll all go to trouble to get a good meal, but some animals take it to the extreme.

Some build architectural masterpieces to entrap their prey, or use body parts as lures.

But what is your cat doing when it makes the 'ek ek ek ek?' Is it trying to bewitch the birds?

Featuring:

• Professor Kris Helgen, Australian Museum.
• Julia Henning, PhD candidate, University of Adelaide.
• Associate Professor Inon Scharf, Tel Aviv University.
• Dr David Merritt, Entomologist.
• Associate Professor Ajay Narendra, Macquarie University.

Extra audio: Cat Ek ek ek by @thiscatisdumpling.

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter/Producer.
• Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
• Belinda Smith, Producer.
• Additional mastering: Hamish Camilleri. 

This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2024 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.

Fungi are already hard at work helping trees survive drought, recycling fallen logs, rotting away carcases, and helping human digestive systems, but could they do more?

Is our future made of fungi?

Research has shown the fungi's potential to make medicine, clothing, and cheap fire-retardant housing, but trying to isolate and harness just one species is not an easy task given they get into pretty much everything.

Featuring:

• Dr. Tien Huynh, associate professor at the School of Sciences, RMIT
• Grace Boxshall, PhD student at the University of Melbourne and visiting junior research fellow at the University of New South Wales.
• Georgina Hold, professor of gut health at the School of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales
• Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher, fungal and plant ecologist at the University of New England
• Alistair McTaggart, mycologist and researcher at Psymbiotika Lab
• Justin Beardsley, researcher at the University of Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute and physician at Westmead Hospital

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.

Mushrooms were once lumped in with plants, and they stayed there well after science knew better.

But if a fungus is not a plant… is it a closer relative of yours than you might've thought?

With millions of species on Earth, and many that live inside you, it seems important to know about the kingdom of fungi.

Featuring:

• Tom May, senior principal research scientist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Victoria; and co-author of Planet Fungi 
• Grace Boxshall, PhD student at the University of Melbourne and visiting junior research fellow at the University of New South Wales
• Georgina Hold, Professor of Gut Health at the School of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales
• Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher, fungal and plant ecologist at the University of New England

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.