Episodes

Thanks to Oz from Las Vegas for suggesting this week’s topic! Further reading: Bobi, the supposed ‘world’s oldest dog’ at 31, is little more than a shaggy dog story Greenland sharks live for hundreds of years Scientists Identify Genetic Drivers of Extreme Longevity in Pacific Ocean Rockfishes Scientists Sequence Chromosome-Level Genome of Aldabra Giant Tortoise Giant deep-sea worms may live to be 1,000 years old or more A Greenland shark [photo by Eric Couture, found at this site]: The roughey...

Thanks to Wilmer and Carson for suggesting we revisit the dodo! Further reading: Dodos and spotted green pigeons are descendants of an island-hopping bird On the possible vernacular name and origin of the extinct Spotted Green Pigeon Caloenus maculata Giant, fruit-gulping pigeon eaten into extinction on Pacific islands A taxidermied dodo: The Nicobar pigeon, happily still alive [photo by Devin Morris – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=110541928]: The 182...

Thanks to Murilo for suggesting this week’s episode about the sawfish and the sawshark! Further Reading: Sawfish or sawshark? Two New Species of Sixgill Sawsharks Discovered Do not step: The underside of a largetooth sawfish [photo by J. Patrick Fischer – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17421638]: The sawshark has big eyes [photo by OpenCago.info – Wikimedia Commons [1], CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25240095]: A compari...

Welcome to 2024! Let’s learn about some exciting new discoveries in our own family tree! Further reading: 476,000-Year-Old Wooden Structure Unearthed in Zambia Mysterious 300,000-year-old skull could be new species of human, researchers say Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. It’s time to start the new year off with an episode that has me really excited. I was initially going to include this in the updates episode that usually comes out around summert...

Apologies to patrons for redoing an old Patreon episode, but I have a cold and it’s the holidays. The noble emu: A baby emu (picture from this site, which has lots of good info about emus and lots more great pictures): Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. I had a different episode planned to finish off the year, but I had lots of stuff to do for the holidays so I put it off, and then I came down with a cold. It’s just a cold, at least, and it’s not t...

Thanks to Morgan for suggesting this week’s topic, the Antarctic Death Star! Further reading: Giant Monster Starfish ALERT Echinoderm Tube Feet Don’t Suck! They Stick! Bodies of Starfish and Other Echinoderms Are Really Just Heads, New Research Suggests The Antarctic death star [from first link listed above]: The “beartrap” structures, magnified [from first link listed above]: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. It’s been way too long since we talke...

Thanks to Dean, Mia, and Lydia for their suggestions this week! The tayra looks kind of like a canid but is a mustelid [photo by Bob Johnson – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=85291909]: The bush dog looks kind of like a mustelid but is a canid: The maned wolf looks like a fox with reallllllly long legs: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week we have a suggestion from Dean, who wanted to learn about the...

This week we’re going to talk about stories of scientists, explorers, and other modern people eating meat from long-dead extinct animals. Did it ever really happen? Check out the great new podcast Herbarium of the Bizarre! I highly recommend it even though they don’t eat any mammoth meat. Further reading: Was frozen mammoth or giant ground sloth served for dinner at The Explorers Club? Study Proves the Explorers Club Didn’t Really Eat Mammoth at 1950s New York Dinner Company Serves World’s Fir...

Thanks to Eva for suggesting the adorable volcano rabbit this week! Further watching: American Pikas Calling Out The volcano rabbit is not a volcano but it is a very small rabbit: The volcano rabbit is SO CUTE: The American pika looks kind of like its rabbit cousin [photo by Justin Johnsen, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=91574]: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week we have a suggestion from Eva, who wanted to...

This week we learn about two tiny owls! Thanks to Elizabeth and Alexandra for their suggestions! Further reading: Burrowing Owl Elf Owl The burrowing owl is tiny but fierce [photo by Christopher Lindsey, taken from page linked above]: The elf owl is also tiny but fierce [photo by Matthew Grube, taken from page linked above]: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week we’re going to learn about two tiny owls. Thanks to Elizabeth and Alexandra for ...

Thanks to Hannah, who suggested sheep as this week’s topic! We’ll also learn about a few other hoofed animals, including the weird giraffe relative, sivatherium. Further reading: The American Jacob Sheep Breeders’ Association What happened with that Sumerian ‘sivathere’ figurine after Colbert’s paper of 1936? Well, a lot. A Jacob sheep ewe with four horns (pic from JSBA site linked above): The male four-horned antelope [photo by K. Sharma at this site]: A modern reconstruction of sivatherium ...

This week we’re going to learn about some fish that feature warm-bloodedness! Thanks to Eilee for suggesting the moonfish, or opah. Further reading: Are all fish cold-blooded? The Opah Fish Is Warm-Blooded! Basking Sharks Are Partially Warm-Blooded, New Research Suggests Megalodon Was Partially Warm-Blooded, New Research Shows The opah, or moonfish, looks like a pancake with fins but is an active swimmer [picture from first article linked above]: An opah not having a good day [photo by USA NOA...

Happy Halloween! We have a super spooky episode for you this week, a full five out of five bats on the spookiness scale, all about the not-deer of modern folklore! Join our Patreon and get bonus episodes and other perks! You can also buy copies of the Beyond Bigfoot & Nessie book and Kate’s other books! Further reading: Not Deer, or a Deer? Days before Halloween, creepy trail photo reveals deer standing on 2 legs in NC woods Sharon A Hill’s Spooky Geology (not about the not-deer but a lot of f...

Thanks to Will and Henry for their suggestions this week! This episode is two bats out of five on the spookiness scale for monster month, so it’s only a little spooky. Further reading: Does the Bunyip Really Haunt the Australian Wetlands? A map and drawing of the original earth carving of a bunyip, from the mid-19th century: An elephant seal can really look like a monster: So can a leopard seal [photo by Greg Barras and taken from this site]: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podca...

It’s another spooky episode (three out of five bats on this year’s spookiness scale), with suggestions from Will and Pranav! Further reading: Tracking the Swamp Monsters Further watching: The Harlan Ford Footage (Honey Island Swamp Monster) A crab-eating macaque: A plaster cast purportedly from the Honey Island Swamp Monster’s footprints [photo from article linked above]: Alligator tracks in the mud [photo from this site]: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, K...

Thanks to Pranav for suggesting one of the monsters we’re talking about this week! This episode is rated three out of five bats on our spookiness scale. Further reading: The Return of Spring-Heeled Jack Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. As monster month continues, this week we have a really spooky episode on a topic Pranav suggested a long time ago. I’m rating it three out of five bats, meaning that if you’re one of our younger listeners, you might...

Thanks to Anbo for suggesting Australopithecus! We’ll also learn about Gigantopithecus and Bigfoot! Further reading: Ancient human relative, Australopithecus sediba, ‘walked like a human, but climbed like an ape’ Human shoulders and elbows first evolved as brakes for climbing apes You Won’t Believe What Porcupines Eat Past tropical forest changes drove megafauna and hominin extinctions An Australopithecus skeleton [photo by Emőke Dénes – kindly granted by the author, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commo...

Thanks to Max for suggesting one of our slightly spooky amphibians this week! Further reading: New crocodile newt discovered in Vietnam Further watching: Brave Wilderness Giant Screaming Frog! The new Halloween-y crocodile newt discovered in Vietnam [photo by Phung My Trung and taken from the article linked above]: A smoky jungle frog: A screenshot from the video linked above: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. It’s the end of September and you kn...

Thanks to Mia for suggesting the black rhino this week! We’ll also learn about other rhinos and their relations, including a mystery rhino. Further reading: Photos suggest rhino horns have shrunk over past century The Blue Rhinoceros – In Quest of the Keitloa A rhino with a very small third horn: Some rhinos have really big second horns [photo by David Clode and taken from this site]: The “blue rhinoceros,” or keitloa, as illustrated in the mid-19th century: Show transcript: Welcome to Stran...

This week let’s learn about some astonishing giraffes and zebras that don’t look like you’d expect! Further reading: See the Rare, Spotless Giraffe Born at a Tennessee Zoo Giraffe Conservation Foundation Brights Zoo A tale of two zebras: South African photos used in misleading posts about Kenya’s polka-dot foal Zebra News: Spotted Tira, Zonkeys and Zorses Further viewing: The Mysterious Return of Tira the Spotted Dark Zebra in Masai Mara Kipekee the spotless giraffe [pic is from the first link ...

Thanks to Clay for suggesting this week’s topic, psittacosaurus! Thanks to Will for a correction about kangaroos too. Don’t forget to check out the great podcast I Know Dino for all the best big dinosaur info! Further reading: What dinosaurs’ colour patterns say about their habitat Unusual fossil shows rare evidence of a mammal attacking a dinosaur A countershaded psittacosaurus model [photo by Jakob Vinther, from first article linked above]: Repenomamus and psittacosaurus, fighting forever [...

This week we finish out Invertebrate August with some mysterious jellyfish, including a suggestion by Siya! Further reading: Mystery giant jellyfish washes up in Australia New jellyfish named after curious Australian schoolboy Mysterious jellyfish found off the coast of Papua New Guinea intrigues researchers Newly discovered jellyfish is a 24-eyed weirdo related to the world’s most venomous marine creature Rare jellyfish with three tentacles spotted in Pacific Ocean The Immortal Jellyfish A mys...

Thanks to Tobey and Anbo for their suggestions this week! We’re going to learn about some giant invertebrates! Further reading: The Invasive Giant African Land Snail Has Been Spotted in Florida A very big shell: The giant African snail is pretty darn giant [photo from article linked above]: The largest giant spider crab ever measured, and a person: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week we’re going to learn about some giant invertebrates, su...

Thanks to Murilo and an anonymous listener for their suggestions this week! Further reading: The ‘sheep’ that can photosynthesize Meet the ‘mold pigs,’ a new group of invertebrates from 30 million years ago A leaf sheep: Shaun the sheep: A mold pig: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week let’s learn about two animals that sound like you’d find them on a farm, but they’re much different than their names imply. Thanks to Murilo for suggesting ...