Episodes
Monday Jun 26, 2023
Episode 51: Gender Swapping Fish
Monday Jun 26, 2023
Monday Jun 26, 2023
In a bit of a pride month themed episode, we're introducing you to some fish that can change between male and female! You may be aware of the ability of clownfish to change from male to female, but did you know other fish can do this as well? This week we talk about damselfish, their surprisingly complicated social lives, and how they benefit from the ability to swap gender.
Sources:
Male-to-female sex change in widowed males of the protogynous damselfish Dascyllus aruanus:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-015-0450-8
Sex change strategies and group structure of damselfishes: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327177449_Sex_change_strategies_and_group_structure_of_damselfishes
Behavior, socio-ecology and sexuality in damselfishes (Pomacentridae): https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/11250009809386853
Protogyny in a tropical damselfish: females queue for future benefit: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4933090/
Wednesday Jun 14, 2023
Episode 50: Snake-Eating Spiders
Wednesday Jun 14, 2023
Wednesday Jun 14, 2023
It's good to be back getting into the swing of things again! We're coming back from our break with an episode diving into yet another thing that spiders eat: snakes. Tune in to learn a bit more about spiders, who is mostly responsible for eating snakes, and which snakes are getting eaten. The main spider culprits might not be who you think!
Saturday Apr 29, 2023
Episode 49: 19 Molas Jumping
Saturday Apr 29, 2023
Saturday Apr 29, 2023
This week we have the Mola mola, or Ocean Sunfish, one of the largest bony fishes! Tune in to learn about just how big these fish can be, how and maybe why they breach, and even how to tell an ocean sunfish fin apart from a basking shark fin at sea!
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
Episode 48: History of Earth Day
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
Earth Day is just around the corner, so for this episode I decided to mix things up a little and talk about the history of Earth Day and how it came to be one of the most celebrated and observed secular holidays! We'll go into the environmental disasters as well as work by conservationists like Rachel Carson that brought environmental issues into the public eye that made the first Earth Day a huge success, and kickstarted a decade of conservation work.
Sources:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/cuyahoga-river-caught-fire-least-dozen-times-no-one-cared-until-1969-180972444/
https://www.earthday.org/history/
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/earth-day
https://www.epa.gov/archive/epa/aboutepa/earth-day-70-what-it-meant.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Spring
https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/ddt-brief-history-and-status
https://www.nps.gov/places/000/bald-eagle.htm
Monday Apr 03, 2023
Episode 47: Red Kites Back from the Brink
Monday Apr 03, 2023
Monday Apr 03, 2023
It's a little late but finally here! This week we have a conservation tale of recovery, bringing the UK and Irish populations of the red kite back from extinction after centuries of being targeted by humans. Join me as we hear about what happened to these birds and how we were able to bring them back through one of the longest running conservation projects in history!
Saturday Mar 18, 2023
Episode 46: The Bobbit Worm of Doom
Saturday Mar 18, 2023
Saturday Mar 18, 2023
This week we are back to the ocean, talking about a polychaete worm, the bobbit worm! Unlike other worms we've talked about, this one is not a parasite, but they are still quite the predator, giving us one more reason living on land is pretty cool: You don't have to worry that a worm is going to jump out and pull you underground. What a time!
Saturday Mar 04, 2023
Episode 45: Stella the Adventuring Sea Eagle
Saturday Mar 04, 2023
Saturday Mar 04, 2023
The Steller's Sea Eagle has been seen in Maine again for the last month or so, so that's our topic for today! Hear about this bird's incredible journey, as it made it's way from Alaska, to Texas, then moved between Canada and New England, and we'll also talk about where the sea eagle is supposed to live, and all that good stuff!
For more information on the eagle's tour through North America:
2022: https://maineaudubon.org/news/rare-bird-alert-stellers-sea-eagle/
2023: https://maineaudubon.org/news/rba-stse-2023/
Sunday Feb 19, 2023
Episode 44: How birds survive the cold of winter
Sunday Feb 19, 2023
Sunday Feb 19, 2023
We've had some episodes about crazy long bird migrations, but what about the birds that don't migrate and stay behind for winter? This episode talks about some of the ways birds survive the cold days of winter, including hoarding food, snuggling on up, and shivering. Birds have quite a few adaptations to survive winter, so tune on in to hear how they survive the cold!
Also corrections corner: blackpoll warblers fly over the Atlantic ocean, not the Arctic; see episode 40 for more info!
Saturday Feb 04, 2023
Episode 43: So...are bats primates? Part 2
Saturday Feb 04, 2023
Saturday Feb 04, 2023
Today we have the part 2 of our journey down the rabbit hole that is the Flying Primate Hypothesis! Without giving spoilers, this episode talks about the evidence against the hypothesis, and talks about what science is currently saying about how closely related bats are to primates (and therefore us!) and other groups. Find out in this episode if bats are more closely related to primates or to cats!
Saturday Jan 21, 2023
Episode 42: Are bats primates? Part 1
Saturday Jan 21, 2023
Saturday Jan 21, 2023
And we're back! You, the listeners picked the episode today, and we have quite the episode! In what will be a 2 part series, we will be exploring the flying primate hypothesis, the idea that the large bats, flying foxes and fruit bats, were descended from primates! In this episode, we introduce the flying primate hypothesis, and introduce some of the drama and controversy surrounding it, and the supporting evidence.
4 part paper drama:
Pettigrew, J. 1991. Wings or Brain? Convergent Evolution in the Origins of Bats. Syst. Zool. (40)2: 199-216
Baker RJ, Novacek MJ, Simmons NB. 1991. On the monophyly of bats. Syst Zool. (40)2: 216-231
Simmons NB, Novacek MJ, Baker RJ. 1991. Approaches, Methods, and the Future of the Chiropteran Monophyly Controversy: A Reply to JD Pettigrew. Syst. Zool. (40)2: 239-243
Pettigre1 J. 1991. A fruitful, Wrong Hypothesis? Response to Baker, Novacek, and Simmons. Syst Zool (40)2: 231-239