When it comes to sexual organs, the penis is really 'out there.' Name another organ that can change its form AND function in a matter of seconds!

There's a lot of variety in the animal kingdom; from spikes and nails to coils and collagen — so, this appendage is worth investigating… close up.

Sex is Weird is a series of What the Duck?! With Dr Ann Jones following the sexual evolution of the animal kingdom.

Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.

Featuring:

• Dr Emily Willingham, biologist, journalist and author
• Dr Diane Kelly, Senior Research Fellow, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• Associate Professor Andrew Durso, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida
• Associate Professor Patty Brennan, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, US
• Dr Bruno Buzatto, Flinders University, South Australia
• Philippa Holm, HFR Performance Horses, Victoria

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Petria Ladgrove, Producer
• Additional mastering: Isabella Tropiano

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

When you really think about it, sex to make babies is WEIRD! You take an outie that has to get stuck inside an innie that links into a production line of eggs to assemble a perfect tiny being. It's so damn complicated!

So why does it work like that?

Join us at What the Duck for the first episode of a series where we figure out how living things went from splitting ourselves in half to double the population, to periodically feeling compelled to copulate in such a vigorous, sometimes highly embarrassing, manner.

Earth — this is your sexual history!

Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.

Featuring:

• Emeritus Professor David Siveter, University of Leicester, UK
• Assistant Professor Emily Mitchell, University of Cambridge, UK and curator of non-insect invertebrates, University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, UK
• Dr Marissa Betts, geologist and palaeontologist at the University of New England, Armidale, Australia
• Dr Emily Willingham, biologist, journalist and author
• Associate Professor Patty Brennan, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, US

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Petria Ladgrove, Producer
• Additional mastering: Isabella Tropiano and Russell Stapleton
• Thanks also to Will Ockenden, Belinda Smith, Corey Hague and Joel Werner.

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

In 2002 Gigoo became the world's wealthiest chicken when her owner left her £10 million in his will.

How does a chook even open a bank account?

Within legal limitations there are ways to provide your pets the lifestyle they're used to after you die.

But what about divorce?

Can you have visitation rights to see your goldfish?

And when a dog's day in court climbs though the tiers of the Australian legal system, it might surprise you how little the pet is mentioned.

Featuring:

• Professor Katy Barnett, Melbourne Law School at the University of Melbourne, and co-author of Guilty Pigs
• Professor Prue Vines, Faculty of Law and Justice, the University of New South Wales
• Ian Charman, family law specialist, consultant solicitor, Adelta Legal

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Isabella Tropiano, 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 ABC Listen (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.

A lost monkey in an Ikea carpark is an illegally traded pet, so does he have a legal owner?

When it comes to animal ownership, courts turn to Roman-era laws to try and figure out if an animal is tame or wild.

It may work sometimes, but leaves out the modern idea of the animal's best interests.

And it doesn't explain how an elephant can have a criminal rap sheet.

Content warning: This program contains stories where animals are punished as if they are criminals. Some listeners may find this confronting.

Featuring:

• Professor Katy Barnett, Melbourne Law School at the University of Melbourne, and co-author of Guilty Pigs
• Dr Michelle Granden, psychologist
• Mary Roach, author of Animal, Vegetable, Criminal
• Professor Sindhu Radhakrishna, National Institute of Advanced studies in Bengaluru, India

With thanks to Dr Michelle Granden whose research inspired the title of this episode

And extra sounds from bird enthusiasts:

• Mike Dooher, XC402422. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/402422 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0)

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 ABC Listen (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.

How much booze does it take to intoxicate an elephant?

The answer isn't as much as you might expect, because not all guts are created equal when it comes to metabolising alcohol.

This explains why an elephant might be considered a lightweight and your donkey got into a fight last weekend.

But alcohol isn't the only cause of misbehaviour — so what motivated the legless serial doorbell pranksters?

Featuring:

• Dr Mareike Janiak,  postdoctoral associate at the University of Calgary
• Dr Christine Sutton, particle physicist and past editor of CERN Courier
• Kate Connolly, Berlin correspondent for the Guardian Newspaper
• Dr Imogen Cavadino, freelance malacologist

With news audio thanks to NPR

And extra sounds from bird enthusiasts:

• Mike Dooher, XC355140. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/355140 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0)
• Lonnie Bregman, XC373738. Accessible at  www.xeno-canto.org/373738 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0)
• Mike Dooher, XC402422. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/402422 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0)
• Frank Lambert, XC1031363. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/1031363 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0)

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 ABC Listen (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.

Forget feathered friends — these are our feathered foes.

They can wield knives, get involved in the world of organised crime and drug dealing, and even shut down the Large Hadron Collider.

But the most pressing question is, why did the duck cross the road at speeds so high local law enforcement was on the case?

Featuring:

• Dr Christine Sutton, particle physicist and past editor of CERN Courier
• Mary Roach, author of Animal, Vegetable, Criminal
• Dr Laura Adams, psychology instructor at Langara College
• Professor Dina Siegel, criminology at Utrecht University
• Dr Amber Lee, avian & exotic animal veterinarian at The Unusual Pet Vets
• Sven Montgomery, Police Inspectorate, municipality of Köniz

With extra sounds from bird enthusiasts:

• David m, XC116357. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/116357 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0)
• David m, XC164431. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/164431 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0)
• Romuald Mikusek, XC912877. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/912877 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0)
• Daniel Parker, XC949456. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/949456 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0)
• Ray Cooke, XC1058578. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/1058578 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0)

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Harvey O'Sullivan, 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 ABC Listen (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 fear of being eaten by an animal is so visceral that a mass psychosis, featuring a monkey man, once swept across Delhi.

But in the event of an actual attack, investigators look for specific forensic clues to identify which predator was responsible.

Was the perpetrator human or animal? Or in one infamous case in the US, was it human … or owl?

Featuring:

• Phoebe Judge, host of the podcast Criminal
• Euan Ritchie, Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at Deakin University
• Mary Roach, author of Animal Vegetable Criminal
• Professor Sindhu Radhakrishna, National Institute of Advanced studies in Bengaluru, India
• Professor Satish Kr. Verma, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Amrita University in Faridabad, India

With extra sounds from bird enthusiasts:

• Barry Edmonston, XC1001471. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/1001471 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0)

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 ABC Listen (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.

Leonardo da Pinchy is a literal cat burglar with more than 350 pieces of evidence against him — evidence that's easy to confirm because when he steals his neighbour's underwear, he brings it home with a satisfied look of great pride.

Steven Seagull is banned from the local corner store after a six-year beef-flavoured-chip-thieving spree.

Then there are the monkeys holding phones hostage for fruit juice.

These aren't the only creatures with a criminal record — far from it

So when animals steal, what is driving their behaviour?

Featuring:

• Dr Neeltje Boogert, associate professor in animal behaviour at the University of Exeter
• Helen North and Leonardo da Pinchy
• Julia Henning, PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide
• Professor Sindhu Radhakrishna, National Institute of Advanced studies in Bengaluru, India

With extra sounds from bird enthusiasts:

• Romuald Mikusek, XC912877. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/912877 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0)
• Мітла Андрій Володимирович, XC915767. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/915767 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0)
• Eetu Paljakka, XC1087274. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/1087274 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0)

And thanks to Dr Neeltje Boogert for sounds used in the study:

• Herring gulls respond to the acoustic properties of men's voices

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 ABC Listen (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.

Pigs tried for murder, weevils expelled from heaven and how a bloke dressed as an executed French monkey became mayor of an English town.

Topsy the elephant travelled the US performing for cheering circus-goers, but when her drunken trainer rode her into town wreaking havoc, was that her poor decision-making … or his?

Content warning: This program contains stories where animals are punished as if they are criminals. Some listeners may find this confronting.

Featuring:

• Professor Katy Barnett, Melbourne Law School at the University of Melbourne, and co-author of Guilty Pigs
• Dr Michelle Granden, psychologist
• Stuart Drummond, former Mayor of Hartlepool UK

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 ABC Listen (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.

Dr Ann Jones is bringing true crime and natural history together with Nature's Most Wanted, a new series from What the Duck!? investigating when animals get on the wrong side of the law.

From cats stealing underwear to roosters accused of witchcraft; human-eaters to parrots with opioid addiction; this series promises to get to the bottom of why animals turn to crime.

Dr Ann Jones examines the history of animals on trial in human courts, the responsibilities humans take when an animal goes rogue, and ultimately how we think of animals and ourselves.

Hear the evidence of episode one on Friday, March 20.

What the Duck?! is recorded and produced on the lands of the Kulin Nation.

Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (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.