Strange Animals Podcast

Further reading:

Rare pterosaur fossil reveals crocodilian bite 76m years ago

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

Let’s learn about a type of pterosaur that lived around 75 million years ago in what is now Canada, and we’ll specifically learn about an individual young pterosaur that had a very bad day, a bad day that’s preserved in the fossil record.

Pterosaurs were flying reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs, but weren’t actually dinosaurs. Some of them got as big as small airp...

The sewellel is a little rodent:

The superflea is a big flea (left, compared to a regular flea, right):

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

Let’s learn about a rodent you may never have heard of, unless you live where it does, and a parasite that makes that rodent its host. It’s not an ordinary parasite, but don’t worry, it’s not icky. You can continue to snack.

The rodent is called the sewellel, Aplodontia rufa. It’s...

The horned gopher:

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

This time we’re going to learn about some mammals with weird horns. Specifically, weird nose horns. Nose horns are properly called rostral horns, but that’s not as funny.

We’ll start with a family of extinct rodents called horned gophers, or more properly, mylagaulids. The horned gopher wasn’t a gopher, but it probably looked similar to ground squirrels like prairie dogs and marmots. It lived in what is now North America ar...

I took this episode from an article I wrote for Flying Snake magazine, which was published in December 2020 (Vol. 6, #18).

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

The Great Smoky Mountains is a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, which stretches from the middle of Alabama in the United States north into southeastern Canada. The Appalachians formed when the world’s continents crunched together to form the supercontinent Pangaea. The southern Appalachians formed separately and later than the northern Appalachians, around 270 million years ago.

The Appalachians were once...

This week we’ll learn about a long-forgotten animal of folklore!

Further reading:

https://www.anomalist.com/

The Pictish Beast:

A dragonesque brooch:

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

The Picts were a population of Celtic people who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland between around the third and tenth centuries. They had their own language, which is lost to time except for a handful of place-names, and made beau...

Let’s learn about some of the oldest life ever discovered!

Further reading:

Microbiologists Find Living Microbes in 2-Billion-Year-Old Rock

Chart of life extended by nearly 1.5 billion years

Show transcript:

Back in episode 168 we talked about the longest-lived organisms known, and finished the episode by discussing endoliths. I’ll quote from that episode as a refresher.

An endolith isn’t a particular animal or even a group of related animals. An endolith is an organism that lives inside a rock or other rock-like substance, such as coral. Some a...

Further reading:

Beavers Have Metal Teeth

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

Let’s find out about some animals that incorporate metal into their bodies in more than just trace amounts.

We’ll start with the scaly-foot gastropod, a deep-sea snail. It lives around hydrothermal vents in the Indian Ocean, about 1 and ¾ miles below the surface, or about 2800 meters. The water around these vents, referred to as black smokers, can be more than 350 degrees Celsius. That’s 660 degrees F, if you even...

Is there life on Europa? We take a look at Greenland and Antarctica to find out more about life on Jupiter’s icy moon.

Further reading:

Life on Venus claim faces strongest challenge yet

Stanford researchers’ explanation for formation of abundant features on Europa bodes well for search for extraterrestrial life 

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

Today we’re going to learn about the potential of life on Europa, a moon of Jupiter! To do that we’ll need to look at...

It’s Albert the Albanerpetontid!

Further reading:

Earliest example of a rapid-fire tongue found in ‘weird and wonderful’ extinct amphibians

Amphibian skullllll:

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

Let’s learn about a long-extinct amphibian that looked a lot like a reptile. It’s a family of animals called Albanerpetontidae. That’s a mouthful, so instead of talking about Albanerpetontids, I’ll talk about all the various species as though they were not only a single species, but a single individ...

Further reading:

Identifying the beasts in Caesar’s forest

Reindeer:

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

After the glaciers retreated from Europe at the end of the last ice age, around 11,000 years ago, forests grew wherever there was enough soil to support a tree. As these new forests spread, they joined forests that had survived the glaciations. By the time ancient Romans were writing about the things they encountered while exploring western Europe, around 2,000 years ago, the forest stretched across much...

This week let’s look at the work of a really astonishing number of spiders!

Further reading:

Megaweb!

Some of the webs:

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

Baltimore, Maryland is a city in the northeastern United States, in North America, with a population of 2.8 million people. In 1993 a new wastewater treatment plant was built called the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant, which filters water through big sand beds to trap any particles remaining in it after it’s been...

DRAMA! Bird drama! Here are some further-reading links if you want to verify that I’m not vilifying anyone:

Buff-breasted Buttonquail: An image claimed to be of this species revealed

Buff-breasted Buttonquail: Smoke & Mirrors

A review of specimens of Buff-breasted Button-quail Turnix olivii suggests serious concern for its conservation outlook

A painted button quail:

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

Back in episode 136 we talked about the button quail, because that episode was about tiny animals and...

This week let’s learn about some blue frogs!

Further reading:

Scientists make chance discovery of rare blue skin mutation in Kimberley magnificent tree frog

White’s True-Blue Green Tree Frog

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

When most of us draw a frog, we reach for the green markers, because most frogs are green. That’s true of the magnificent tree frog, also called the splendid tree frog, which is fairly common in the Kimberley region of western...

Further reading:

Parallels for cetacean trap feeding and tread-water feeding in the historical record across two millennia

Haggling over the Hafgufa

Many renditions of the hafgufa/aspidochelone:

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

Back in the olden days, as much as 1700 years ago and probably more, up through the 14th century or so, various manuscripts about the natural world talked about a sea monster most people today have never heard of. In ancient Greek it was called aspidochelone, co...

Further reading:

I Can Has Mutant Larvae?

200-Year-Old ‘Monster Larva’ Mystery Solved

‘Snakeworm’ mystery yields species new to science

Hearkening back to the hazelworm

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

A few weeks ago when I was researching big eels, I remembered the mystery eel larva we talked about back in episode 49, and that led me down a fun rabbit hole about other mystery larvae.

Let’s start with that eel larva. Eel larvae can be extremely ha...

It’s the annual discoveries episode! Thanks to Stephen and Aryeh for their corrections and suggestions this week!

Further reading:

Salinella Salve: The Vanishing Creature That Defied Science for Over a Century

Three new species of the genus Scutiger

Baeticoniscus carmonaensis sp. nov. a new Isopod found in an underground aqueduct from the Roman period located in Southwest Spain (Crustacea, Isopoda, Trichoniscidae)

A new species of supergiant Bathynomus

Giant ‘Darth Vader’ sea bug discovered off the coast of Vietnam

A New Species of easter egg weevil...

Thanks to Aila, Stella, George, Richard from NC, Emilia, Emerson, and Audie for their suggestions this week!

Further reading:

Creature Feature: Snipe Eel

How removing a dam could save North Carolina’s ‘lasagna lizard’

Why Has This North Carolina Town Embraced a Strange Salamander?

Scentists search for DNA of an endangered salamander in Mexico City’s canals

An X-ray of the slender snipe eel:

The head and body of a slender snipe eel. The rest is tail [picture by opencage さん http://ww.opencage.info/pics/ –...

Thanks to Conner, Tim, Stella, Cillian, Eilee, PJ, and Morris for their suggestions this week!

Further reading:

Extinct Hippo-Like Creature Discovered Hidden in Museum: ‘Sheer Chance’

The golden lion tamarin has very thin fingers and sometimes it’s rude:

The golden lion tamarin also has a very long tail:

The cotton-top tamarin [picture by Chensiyuan – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=153317160]:

The pangolin is scaly:

The pangolin can also be round:

<...

Thanks to Audie, Katie, Eilee, Emily, Maryjane, and Dylan for their suggestions this week! Sorry this episode is late–the site was down. 🙁

Further reading:

Bobolinks

A frill-neck lizard showing off:

A bobolink:

The great-eared nightjar [picture by Venkata Shreeram Mallimadugula, taken from this site]:

Another great-eared nightjar [Picture by Nigel Voaden from UK – Great Eared-Nightjar, Tangkoko, Sulawesi, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39857392]:

Here’s the big invertebrate episode I’ve been promising people! Thanks to Sam, warbrlwatchr, Jayson, Richard from NC, Holly, Kabir, Stewie, Thaddeus, and Trech for their suggestions this week!

Further reading:

Does the Spiral Siphonophore Reign as the Longest Animal in the World?

The common nawab butterfly:

The common nawab caterpillar:

A velvet worm:

A giant siphonophore [photo by Catriona Munro, Stefan Siebert, Felipe Zapata, Mark Howison, Alejandro Damian-Serrano, Samuel H. Church, Freya E.Goetz, Philip R. Pugh, Steven H.D.Ha...

Thanks to Holly for suggesting this week’s topic!

Further reading:

Mermaids: Myth, Kith and Kin [this article is not for children]

Feejee Mermaid

A manatee:

A female grey seal, looking winsome:

A drawing of the “original” Fiji (or Feejee) mermaid:

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

Let’s close out the year 2025 with a mystery episode! Holly suggested we talk about mermaids!

Mermaids are creatures of folklor...

Thanks to Emily, Jo, and Alexandra for their suggestions this week!

Further reading:

Highland Cattle Society

Mongolian Sheep

The Donkey Sanctuary

The Highland cow is so cute (picture taken from the first site linked above):

Some fat-tailed sheep (picture taken from the sheep article linked above):

Donkeys:

A happy donkey and a happy person (photo taken from the Donkey Sanctuary’s site, linked above):

It’s an episode just absolutely full of fish! Thanks to Arthur, Yuzu, Jayson, Kabir, Nora, Siya, Joel, Elizabeth, Mac, Ryder, Alyx, Dean, and Riley for their suggestions this week!

Further reading:

Study uncovers mechanics of machete-like ‘tail-whipping’ in thresher sharks

Business end of a sawfish:

Giant freshwater stingray!

The frilled shark looks like an eel:

The frilled shark’s teeth:

The thresher shark and its whip-like tail [photo by Thomas Alexander – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wiki...

Thanks to Måns, Sam, Owen and Askel for this week’s suggestions!

Further reading:

Shingleback Lizard

What controls the colour of the common mānuka stick insect?

The mossy leaf-tailed gecko has skin flaps that hide its shadow. There’s a lizard in this photo, I swear! [photo by Charles J. Sharp – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92125100]:

A shingleback lizard, pretending it has two heads:

The beautiful wood nymph is a beautiful moth but also it looks...

Further reading:

Study: Giant Therizinosaurs Used Their Meter-Long, Sickle-Like Claws for Display

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

I am delighted to report that Therizinosaurus lived in what is now Mongolia in Central Asia, in the Gobi Desert. 70 million years ago, the land wasn’t a desert at all but a forest with multiple rivers and streams flowing through it. Lots of other dinosaurs and birds lived in the area, including a tyrannosaurid called Tarbosaurus that was probably the only predator big enough to kill...

Further reading:

Mysterious ‘blue goo’ at the bottom of the sea stumps scientists

Three new species of ground snakes discovered under graveyards and churches in Ecuador

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

I’ve come down a cold this week, and while I’m feeling better, it is settling into my chest as usual and I’m starting to cough. Since I’m still recovering and need to be in bed instead of sitting up researching animals, and since my voice is alrea...

Thanks to Alexandra, Jayson, and Eilee for their suggestions this week!

Further reading:

Scientists have discovered an ancient whale species. It may have looked like a mash-up of ‘a seal and a Pokémon’

The nomenclatural status of the Alula whale

Field Guide of Whales and Dolphins [1971]

The little Benguela dolphin [photo taken from this site]:

The spinner dolphin almost looks like it has racing stripes [photo by Alexander Vasenin – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25108509]:

The Alu...

Thanks to Viki, Erin, Weller, and Stella for their suggestions this week!

Further reading:

Tasmanian tiger pups found to be extraordinary similar to wolf pups

The thylacine could open its jaws really wide:

A sugar glider, gliding [photo from this page]:

A happy quokka and a happy person:

A swimming platypus:

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

This week we’re going to learn about some mars...

Thanks to Fleur, Yuzu, and Richard from NC for their suggestions this week!

Further reading:

World’s rarest parrot, extinct in wild, hatches at zoo

Kakapo recovery

This Parrot Stood 3 Feet Tall and Ruled the Roost in New Zealand Forests 19 Million Years Ago

The magnificent palm cockatoo:

The gigantic kakapo:

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

This week we have a bird episode, specifically some interesting parrots. Thanks to Fleur, Yuzu...

Thanks to William who suggested we talk about the Loch Ness Monster for our big Halloween episode!

Further reading:

1888 (ca.): Alexander Macdonald’s Sightings

1933, July 22: Mr. and Mrs. George Spicer’s Loch Ness Encounter

The 1972 Loch Ness Monster Flipper Photos

White Mice, Bumblebees, and Alien Worms? Unexpected Mini-Monsterlings in Loch Ness

Further watching:

1933 King Kong clip: Brontosaurus attack!

The following stills are from the above King Kong clip:

The drawing by Rupert T. Gould for his 1934 book abou...

Thanks to Richard of NC, Richard my brother, Siya, Ezra, and Owen and Aksel for their suggestions this week!

Further reading:

Creature Feature: Googly-Eyed Stubby Squid

Nocturnal Spiders Use Trapped Fireflies as Glowing Bait to Attract Additional Prey

A male vampire deer:

The adorable googly eyed squid [still taken from video linked above]:

The snowy owl [photo by Bill Bouton from San Luis Obispo, CA, USA – Snowy Owl, Bubo scandiacus, male, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19899431]:

This week we’re going to learn about a bunch of bats! Thanks to John, Murilo, and Alexandra for their suggestions!

Further reading:

Why Bats Can’t Walk: The Evolutionary Lock That Keeps Them Flying

On a Wing and a Song—Bats Belt out High-Pitched Tunes to Woo Mates

Why some bats hunt during the day

Puzzling Proto-Bats

A pekapeka just walking around catching bugs on the ground [photo by Rod Morris, from link above]:

BLOOOOOOD! but a really cute smile too:

It’s October, AKA Monster Month! Let’s learn about some animals of the Skeleton Coast–which sounds spooky, but actually isn’t.

Lots of brown fur seals [photo by Robur.q – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0]:

The desert plated lizard [photo by redrovertracy, some rights reserved (CC BY) – https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/45483586, CC BY 4.0]:

Rüppell’s korhaan [photo by By Charles J. Sharp – Own work, from Sharp Photography, sharpphotography.co.uk, CC BY-SA 4.0]:

Thanks to Brody, Oz, and Sam for their suggestions this week!

Further reading:

Chasing gold

Two spectacled hare-wallabies hanging out under a spinifex bush [picture from this site]:

A regular swamp wallaby [photo by jjron – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4022233]:

The glorious golden swamp wallaby [photo by Jack Evershed, taken from the first article linked above]:

Thanks to Joelle, Jacob, and Anna for their suggestions this week!

Further reading/watching:

Gulper Eel Balloons Its Massive Jaws

Watch rare footage of a shapeshifting eel with ‘remarkably full tummy’ swimming in the deep sea

The beautiful stellar jay:

The maybe not quite as beautiful but really awesome gulper eel (with its mouth full of water, image taken from first video linked above):

The same eel as above but with its mouth open so you can see just how big it is!

Thanks for Preston and Pranav for suggesting this week’s topics!

Further reading:

DNA has revealed the origin of this giant ‘mystery’ gecko

Snow Leopards Dispersed Out of Tibetan Plateau Multiple Times, Researchers Say

Conquest of Asia and Europe by snow leopards during the last Ice Ages uncovered

The crested gecko AKA the eyelash gecko:

The fluffy snow leopard:

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

This week we have a couple o...

This is a chapter of the Beyond Bigfoot and Nessie book, which you can buy or request at the library!

Further reading:

Debunking a Great New England Sea Serpent

A narwhal. I use this picture all the time:

The diseased black snake that was taken for a baby sea serpent:

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

This week we’re going to have a sea monster episode! This is actually a chapter of the book...

While I’m at Dragon Con, here’s an old Patreon episode about Tennessee water mysteries, including some spooky sightings of what were probably bears, and some mystery fish!

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

As this episode goes live, I should be at Dragon Con, so I decided to go ahead and schedule an old Patreon episode to run instead of trying to get a new episode ready in time. It’s about some water mysteries in my home state of Tennessee, although I actually just mov...

Thanks to Mila for suggesting one of our topics today!

Further reading:

The mystery of the ‘missing’ giant millipede

Never-before-seen head of prehistoric, car-size ‘millipede’ solves evolutionary mystery

A centipede compared to a millipede:

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

Let’s finish invertebrate August this year with two arthropods. One is a suggestion from Mila and the other is a scientific mystery that was solved by a recent discovery, at least partially.

Mila suggested we...

Thanks to Yonatan and Eilee for this week’s suggestion!

Further reading:

Replanted rainforests may benefit from termite transplants

A vast 4,000-year-old spatial pattern of termite mounds

A family of termites has been traversing the world’s oceans for millions of years

Worker termites [photo from this site]:

Show transcript:

Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.

This week we have a topic I’ve been wanting to cover for a while, suggested by both Yonatan and Eilee. It...