Creature Feature

Happy October everyone! This week: Dunanunanunanuna BAT FACTS! Why do bats hang upside down? How did bats become associated with Dracula? What are some of the craziest bat species in the world? Discover this and more as we answer the age-old question: If Batman was bitten by a radioactive bat, what powers would he have? With special guest Molly Lambert from the Night Call Podcast.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Bats in folklore2. Common vampire bat3. Hairy legged vampire bat4. Trumpet-nosed bat5. Lesser long-nosed bat covered in pollen6. The effects of myth on attitudes towards bats7. Bats and Halloween8. BATS ON A TREADMILL! 9. Madagascar Sucker footed bats10. Bats & Rabies facts11. Flying fox bat12. Bumblebee bat13. Big-eared bat14. Hammer headed bat15. Honduran white bat16. Honduran white bats snuggling17. Wrinkle-faced bat18. Chapin's bat (punk rock bat)19. How to do bat real estate20. DANCING BATS

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Giant bugs, animals that clone themselves, things that come back to life after being eviscerated... if you're looking for aliens, you can find them under the sea. And later on the show, we’ll be speaking to a professor of marine biology who invited an octopus into his home! With special guests comedian Chris Crofton and Professor of Marine Biology David Scheel.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Goblin Sharks (they look like MR. BURNS not MR. SMITHERS whoops)

2. Giant isopod

3. Atolla jellyfish

4. Proboscis worm

5. Sand dollars are freaky

6. Planarians regrow their bodies

7. Octopus, Making Contact

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Today on the show we’re talking PSEUDOSCIENCE! Did you know that sometimes people claim things are scientific, but whoops, they’re not? We’ll be looking at some scammers, some flim-flammers, some people who claim things are scientific but they’re maaaaaaybe not really. With special guests Katy Stoll and Cody Johnston.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Study on redness and association with sex

2. Snub nosed monkeys

3. Bearded vulture makeup

4. Baboon utopian society

5. Testosterone not correlated with attractiveness

6. Races do not differ genetically

7. LET'S GIVE BIRDS TEETH

8. Whoops, sometimes snakes have legs

9. Horses with extra hooves

10. Neural crest cells are what make dogs so cute

11. Pseudoscience whistleblowers

12. Hey, guess what? Physiognomy is still dumb!

13. Darwin almost thwarted by pseudoscience

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Today on the show we’re talking WEIRD DIETS! Animals eating other animals eating other animals! Humans eating well… some pretty freaky things. Discover this and more as we answer the age old question: is cannibalism good for you? With special guest Smart Mouth's Katherine Spiers.

FOOTNOTES:

1. A lotl Axolotl

2. Greenland sharks

3. Horrifying Fine Dining Lovers article

4. Vilhjalmur Stefansson

5. Butterflies drinking turtle tears

6. Tear drinking moths harassing birbs

7. Vegan ortolan

8. Marijuana-fed pigs

9. Potato-washing macaques

10. Red colobus monkeys detoxing

11. Peruvian parrots eating dirt

12. Spices as defensive weapons

13. Blind snakes survive being eaten and escapes toad's b-hole

14. The Honey Hunters of Nepal

15. Bee getting punched in the face by a flower

16. Tapir "climbing" a tree

17. GET ON THE CHEVROTAIN TRAIN

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We’re going to explode some myths about human and animal biology & psychology, and discover that the truth really is stranger than fiction. With special guest comedian and Nerdificent co-host Ify Nwadiwe.

Footnotes:

1. Komodo dragon venom

2. Bees are angered by the color red

3. Mathematician & grandfather of the scientific method, Ḥasan Ibn al-Haytham

4. Unihemispheric slow wave sleep

5. Lionesses synchronize their "periods" (estrus)

6. Immortal jellyfish

7. Scallop eyeballs

8. Horse mustaches!!!

9. Bornean bearded pig

10. The mystery of wombat cube poop, solved?

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The truth behind Mothman, The Chupacabra, and Bigfoot! Today, we’ll be looking at the facts behind cryptids, what it would mean if they actually existed, and the real animals that are just as crazy as the cryptids themselves. With special guest Tess Lynch of the Night Call podcast.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Mothman

2. Sandhill crane

3. Barred owl

4. Owls or aliens?

5. Owl without feathers (artistic rendering)

6. Do those legs go owl the way up

7. Vampire bats

8. Giant Gippsland earthworm

9. Giant Gippsland earthworm sounds

10. Gigantopithecus blacki

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Right now, the Amazon is burning — we’re going to talk about why this is happening, what’s at stake, and what you can do to help. With special guest Miles Gray.

FOOTNOTES:

How you can help the Amazon!

1. WWF 5 Ways To Help The Amazon

2. Donate to protect an acre of rainforest

3. Rainforest Trust

4. Defend Indigenous rights and protect the rainforest by donating or signing a pledge

5. Signal boost the Indigenous Women's March

6. Learn more about Indigenous Rights

Images of the beautiful animals on this episode!

7. The glass frog

8. A very Kermit looking glass frog

9. The incredible & freaky decoy building spider

10. Boto river dolphins (plus bonus picture of a boto dolphin peeing)

11. Giant otters KILL A FREAKING CAIMAN while squeaking adorably

12. Bald Uakari monkey looking red-headed and pink-faced

13. Adorable hyacinth macaw interview

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Today we’re talking about getting bamboozled, pulling shenanigans, getting conned by caterpillars and hoaxed by horses. With special guest Laci Mosley.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Chinstrap penguin stealing rocks

2. Gelada male

3. Firefly femme fatale

4. Hawk moth caterpillar mimics viper

5. Passion flower mimicry

6. Automimicry

7. Conformity elevator experiment

8. Jumping spider ant mimics

9. Jumping spider mimicking one ant carrying another (this is ONE spider)

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Today, we’re going to talk about CUTENESS! Why do we love baby animals? Do baby animals love us? What are some of the cutest studies in science? Discover this and more as we answer the age old question: yikes, what’s it like to give birth to a baby porcupine? With special guest Bridgett Greenberg.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Peak-a-boo researcher

2. Sea turtle swim suits

3. Cutest age for a dog study

4. Sea lion puppy covered in sand

5. Prehensile Tailed Porcupine "talking"

6. Image of Prehensile Tailed Porcupine's boopable snoot

7. Daily Herald cuteness article

8. Hamster wheel study

9. Mosha the elephant gets a prosthetic leg

10. Rampaging elephant stops to save baby

11. Selfie quokkas

12. Image of Quokka

13. Dik Dik alarm call

14. Shy Dumbo Octopus

15. "Venezuelan Poodle Moth"

16. Birb bounces golf ball

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Join us today as we talk about the history and stories behind mythological creatures, and find out that they have real-life animal counterparts who are just as magical. With special guest Alex Shifman.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Bombardier Beetles

2. Warsaw Basilisk

3. Basilisk lizard running on water

4. Argentavis Magnificens

5. Terror Birds

6. Detachable penis

7. Horrible picture of a Stegodyphus lineatus spider being eaten by her babies

8. Atacama skeleton

9. Horrible picture of a "real" Jackalope (papilloma virus infected rabbit)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.