Animalia

Beetles are like little fashion icons. Some are as shiny and reflective as mirrors. Others change colour depending on their angle. In this special episode for the Pint of Science Festival, we ask Dr Amanda Franklin why. We also ask about Amanda’s experiences studying other animals, including mantis shrimp.Follow Amanda on Twitter: https://twitter.com/neptsnecklacePint of Science is an international festival which has been running in Australia for the last 7 years.This not-for-profit science festival aims to bring local researchers out of the lab to speak with the public about their current science research. Find out more: https://pintofscience.com.au/festival/2021

Summer is here in Australia, and that means one thing - you’ll be hearing a lot of a certain noisy insect.We spoke to Dr Nathan Emery to learn about these more often heard-than-seen creatures, including their life cycles, how they can be so noisy and just why Australia is the “cicada capital”. The jury is still out on the pronunciation however...Keen to get more involved with cicadas? Visit:https://www.facebook.com/cicadaramahttps://www.inaturalist.org/projects/the-great-cicada-blitz-nsw-australiaYou can find Nathan’s book at:https://cicadarama.square.site/We mention this classic song in our episode - “Cicada That Ate Five Dock - Outline”

In this spooky Halloween special, Ashton Dickerson joins us to discuss werewolves, vampires and zombies of the animal kingdom. We even throw in a witch and some Frankenstein’s monsters.We reference some visual media during our recording, see what we were seeing below:Vampire finches: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-vampire-finches.htmlLungfish: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/west-african-lungfish/To learn more about Ashton’s research, you can find her on Twitter (@aScienceBird).

In 1935, cane toads were introduced to Australia. This proved to be a terrible mistake. Australia now has hundreds of millions of toxic toads advancing across the country. How can we stop native predators from eating these highly poisonous toads?In this episode, we chat with Dr Ella Kelly and Dr Naomi Indigo about their innovative efforts to save the endangered northern quoll – involving not-so-silly sausages, toad-smart traits, and the smell of “death”.To read more about Ella and Naomi’s research, check out their peer-reviewed scientific papers (we provide a list on our website). You can also find Ella and Naomi on Twitter (@ecology_ella and @NaomiIndigo).

In the third and final part in our Isolation Animals series, we look into the negative effects of COVID-19 on animals. In keeping with this episode’s “bad news” theme, this episode was much harder to record and took much longer to get out than the others - one challenge being keeping up with news in rapidly changing situations.Here, we discuss how COVID-19 is changing attitudes towards some animals, how changing human behaviour is affecting wildlife conservation, and how certain wildlife protections are being weakened.

Need some good news? In this episode, we discuss how lockdown is affecting wildlife - in good ways. From brighter bees to healthier hedgehogs, find out how animals might be making the most of this situation.If this episode feels one-sided, don’t worry…there’s more to come in our next episode.This episode features audio from the Dawn Chorus project by BIOTOPIA and the Nantesbuch Foundation: https://dawn-chorus.org/. These audio recordings are from: Grampians, Australia Bengaluru, India South Africa Dresden, Germany Umeå, Sweden Taiwan North Carolina, USA Saskatchewan, Canada Playa del Carmen, Mexico São Paulo, Brazil

What have animals been up to, with humans in lockdown and isolation? In this episode, we chat about window-shopping goats, a kangaroo on the run, penguins viewing art, and bust some viral myths.Here are some other podcasts we’ve been listening to lately: Brothers In Birding On Word for Wildlife Black Nature Narratives Code Switch The Skyentists Full Story About Race

What were the greatest animal-related events of 2019? To bring in the new year, we chat with Tom Keaney about our personal favourites. From the discovery of an ancient amphibious whale, to a new record for world’s fastest ant, this episode brings together some of the weirdest and most interesting highlights of 2019.

The thylacine (or Tasmanian Tiger) was an Australian marsupial that looked a bit like a dog. In 1936, the last known thylacine died. But could we bring this species back?In this episode, we chat with Dr Axel Newton about what made the thylacine dog-like, what made it unique, and how close we are to bringing this species - and others - back from extinction. We also ask the question: even if we could, should we?

Mind-controlling viruses, vampire fish and crab-castrating barnacles. Sound like science fiction? Welcome to the real and terrifying world of parasites. In this episode, Kaya Moore joins us to chat about some of the world’s most incredible parasites - and what they can do to their animal hosts. Will it give you nightmares? Possibly. Is it worth listening anyway? Definitely.

How did the skunk get its smell, and why are so many stinky and spiny mammals black and white? In this episode, we chat with Dr Ted Stankowich about how animal defences evolve, the price animals pay for having them, and how he studies skunks without getting sprayed.Giraffe audio from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx8XtPBOGlU Read more about Ted’s research here: http://www.csulb.edu/biological-sciences/mammal-lab

Where have we been, and how have we been sleeping? In this short update, David reveals his first solo birding achievement (making Farley proud) and Annie describes the weird sleep patterns of arctic animals. We also provide some clues about our next major episode.

Animalia goes into the "wild" to search for the rarest bird in Australia: the Tufted Duck. Along the way we discuss birding culture, what a "twitcher" is, and spot many, many birds... but do we find the Tufted Duck?Episode features news segments from The Project. We now have a Patreon! If you'd like to help support us, please find us at https://www.patreon.com/animalia

Every winter, in the United States alone, more than 15 million tons of salt are spread over roads to remove ice. So what are the effects of all this extra salt on wildlife? In this episode, Dr Gareth Hopkins describes how increased salinity affects freshwater newts, and debunks a common myth about ‘environmentally-friendly’ de-icers. Read more about Gareth’s research here: https://garethrhopkins.com/

Swans are icons of love and fidelity, but what are their relationships actually like? And does the Queen really own them all? In this short episode, Annie presents a swan-themed Q&A. (With a brief introduction of our recent travels across four continents)Read more about Annie’s research here: http://www.lateralmag.com/columns/ethograms/swans-by-streetlight

What can a mantis shrimp see, and why does a chameleon need to change colour? In this episode, Dr Devi Stuart-Fox shares some surprising facts about animal vision - and about the tricks animals use to hide in plain sight.Read more about Devi's research here: https://devistuartfox.com/

In this episode, Annie and Farley are joined by Izzy Taylor for a three-way debate on whose home country has the "best" animal. Australia versus America versus England, who will win?To check out some of Izzy's work, see this amazing video she made about the humble bumblebee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYkxYQ1d0NE

Want to learn more? You can read more about Dr Therésa Jones’ research here: https://urbanlightlab.com/research

In this short episode, Farley and Annie chat about chilly echidnas, accents and penis fencing.

Want to learn more? You can read more about Dr John Lesku’s sleep research here: https://leskulab.org/

Welcome to Animalia! A podcast all about animals, and the weird and interesting things they do.