Today I want to talk to you about animal homes! We’ll discover animals who built their homes out of straw, built their homes out of sticks, and built their homes out of bricks and… poop… and… mucus? Discover this and more as we answer the age old question: what the heck is that ant doing with that larva’s butt???  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Creature Feature

Home Sweet Home

Today we’re talking about POKEMON ANIMALS! These creatures are even more unbelievable than those fantastic little pocket monsters. I’m talking cute little critters crazier than Pikachu, sea animals that seem too cute to be real, and behavior that you’d think you’d only find in a Pokedex. ﻿Footnotes: Check out our new shirts in the shirt store! Lowlandstreaked Tenrec Someone did a fanart of a tenrec as a pokemon!  Armadillo Girdled Lizard David Attenborough bothering an armadillo lizard Pangolin SEA BUNNY!!!! Seriously though SEA BUNNY Sea bunny butt!  Lemon flavored sea bunny (just kidding, still toxic)  This is a real animal, the sheep leaf sea slug Mary river turtle rocking an algae mohawk Tadpoles with spiral bellies Diving bell spider Pipevine swallowtail caterpiller Tailed emperor butterfly caterpillar The Japanese emperor butterfly caterpillar Uh oh, the GUM LEAF SKELETONIZER Goofy phengodidae beetle Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Creaturemon! Gotta Snatch 'Em All!

Today we’re talking about ALIENS! Right here on earth. Does that sound paradoxical? Well, maybe you should think about whether we were the aliens all along??? We’ll be looking for aliens on earth from the bottom up: aliens under the sea, on land, and in the skies. Discover this and more as we answer the age-old question, do animals really need to breathe? With special guest Joelle Monique. FOOTNOTES: FINALLY SHIRTS! First ever animal discovered who doesn't breathe?!? The blanket octopus! Behold the blanket octopus's cape of wonder! Blanket octopus looking like an alien spaceship The sarcastic fringehead (open mouth for a surprise)  The pink fairy armadillo burrowing right into our hearts Treehoppers are out of control WHAT ARE YOU DOING TREEHOPPERS? WHAAAAAT?? The King Vulture is the most festive undertaker ever She colorful. She chic. But most importantly. She eats dead meat Cock-of-the-rock AKA Mr. Handsome Potoo's are alien ghosts, exhibit A Potoo's are alien ghosts, exhibit B Potoo's are alien ghosts, exhibit C Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Aliens: I Want To Believe!

On today’s episode we’re talking about WEREWOLVES! Where are they? What are they? And is there any truth behind the werewolf legends? Discover this and more as we answer the age-old question: does your dog want to eat your face? With special guest Nick Turner. FOOTNOTES: The weird origins of the werewolf Dire wolf skulls at the La Brea Tar Pits! Breeding a dire wolf dog? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Werewolf? There Wolf!

I want to take on a trip to Imagination Station for the WHOLE ENTIRE EPISODE! That’s right, we’re exploring the world of imagination. What is imagination? Do animals have imagination? And can your imagination run as wild as nature itself? Discover this as we answer the age old-question: what’s the point of having a broom for a butt! With special guest Kim Winder. FOOTNOTES: Sloth bears are smart! Vividness of visual imagery questionnaire PINK manta ray! Troll haired mystery bug! Another fuzzy-butt planthopper Another broom-butt Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Imagination Station

Happy Valentines times! Today I thought that we’d look at a different type of love… platonic love between species! That’s right we’re looking at some cross-species cuddles, some dynamic duos, and truly unusual friendships within the animal kingdom! Discover this and more as we answer the age-old question: is it fun to suck on a shark? With special guest comedian Blake Wexler. FOOTNOTES: Microhylid frog and tarantula best friends Coyote and badger going on adventures together! Coyote and badger hunting together (WARNING: squirrel carnage) Geladas and wolves have a diplomatic relationship Birds & people working together to screw over bees The weird sucker-head of a remora Shark with pilotfish groupies Urchin crab giving a piggyback ride to an urchin Owen the hippo adopted by Mzee the tortoise Dalmation adopts spotted lamb Sperm whales seemingly adopt dolphin with spinal deformation Check out the koala hospital where my daughter Twinkles (the koala) is from Potoroo Palace in NSW Australia Animal Tracks Sanctuary in Los Angeles Wild Haven Ranch in Lake Arrowhead Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Odd Couples

Let's discover the CUTEST bugs on the planet! Bugs are some of the most populous and diverse animals on the planet, with a fascinating range of behaviors. I think that bugs are often overlooked: everybody loves a cute cuddly panda, but an adorable jumping spider? Who will hug ITS eight fuzzy arms? With special guest Carmen Angelica. FOOTNOTES: Velvet worm in action Velvet worm looking absolutely adorable Another velvet worm looking cute as heck I AM IN LOVE WITH VELVET WORMS Velvet worm cuddle pile! Peacock spider dancing for its life!  Peacock spiders showing off all their moves Absolutely beautiful peacock spider Bee flies are fantasy fairy creatures Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Love Bugs!

These avians are some regular Fabios, wooing the ladies with spectacular displays of romance. Why do birds dance? Why do some birds do the moonwalk? Can you walk on water if you love someone enough? Then, we play the popular bird dating show, The MATING GAME! With special guest Kimia Behpoornia. FOOTNOTES: The grebe's beautiful mating dance The grebe's weed dance (heh) The red-capped manakin's moonwalk Lance-tailed manakin wingman dance Blue manakin's boy band dance Snowball the cockatoo's dance moves Sea lion dances Black-bellied bustard cork-popping call Club-winged manakin buzz pop and lock Capuchin bird's bizarre call Willow grouse call White bellbird's record-breaking loud call (warning: loud) Howard the bowerbird dance Frigatebird blows up his neck balloon Kiwi's awkward mating ritual Bald eagle mating spiral Check out the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital Habanera by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Thirsty Birds

Mother nature has whipped up some animals that are even weirder than what you can find in Star Wars. We talk about real life porgs, a monster scarier than a sarlaac pit, and an adorable alien-looking antelope. Discover this and more as we answer the age-old question: why does Fluke Skywater have hundreds of lightsabers? With special guest Maggie Mae Fish. FOOTNOTES: Puffin "flying" underwater The horned puffin's fantastic mascara Tufted puffin's weird head doodads Inside a puffin's mouth Japanese dwarf flying squirrel Desert rain frog squeakin' The horrifying bobbit worm Light saber sharks The saiga antelope Video someone took of a saiga antelope shaking its nose (warning: audio windy & loud) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Starwar Animals

As you may know, Australia is facing a human and ecological crisis right now, as fires ravage New South Wales. We’ll talk about the cause of these fires, how it’s affecting humans and animals in the area, and how human activity has influenced this disaster. Then we’ll talk about one of Australia’s most iconic animals, the Koala, as well as a whole bunch of other incredible animals found only in Australia. With special guest David Huntsberger. FOOTNOTES: VOTE on which koala we should adopt for the podcast SO many people have donated to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital that their website is down. We can still donate on behalf of the koala we adopt through their GoFundMe Video of the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital Koalas aren't the only ones in danger, check out the beautiful endangered Corroboree tree frog Bog skinks are in serious trouble Support the NSW Fire Service Donate to WIRES, an Australian wildlife rescue organization WWF has a wildfires donation fund On to some fun stuff, here's a wombat farting and attacking corn Australia's adorable pincushions, the echidna A bandicoot Just kidding, here's a real bandicoot The adorable quoll, call 1-800-QUOLL-ITY-QUOLLS The brushtail possum grabbing things with its little handsies A dingo doing some yoga instruction (do NOT try this at home) Long-nosed potoroo looking emo Noisy kookaburra The all-animals cover of Drowning Pool Pink robins Lyrebirds's standup impressions set Australian magpie mimicking emergency vehicles Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Australia

The Cats movie presents a lot of misinformation about felis catus! So today we'll be talking cat facts: what are the answers to some of the most common questions about cats? What are some of the wildest wild cats in the world? And finally, what's going on with that Cats movie, huh? With special guest comedian Joey Clift. FOOTNOTES: Cougar purring Cat tongue closeup Cat slo-mo drinking water The rusty-spotted cat, the world's smallest cat! Hercules, the liger The margay climbing a tree!  The flat-headed cat The Canada lynx's big ol' legwarmers Pallas's cat looking like a muppet Seriously Pallas's cats look like Yoda/Wookies The Löwenmensch figurine, AKA, world's first furry "Pinpointing the Exact Moment Cats Reviewers Lost Their Minds"  "I took my dad, a veterinarian, to see Cats — he has some thoughts" Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

CATS The Confusicle

Today on the show, HAPPY NEW FEAR! Let’s discover fears you didn’t even know you had with some horrifying creatures! Take a one way trip to decapitation station, check out some very creepy babies, and endure the existential crisis after finding out when a butt is NOT a butt. Discover this and more as we answer the age-old question, is 80 worms too many worms to have inside of you? With special guests Tess Lynch, Molly Lambert, and Emily Yoshida of the Night Call Podcast. CONTENT WARNING: the trypophobia section starts at 00:42:55 and ends at 00:55:47 Footnotes: The ant-head bursting fly, Euryplatea nanaknihali Another fly that decapitates ants Ants who decorate their homes with the heads of their enemies Ant who pretends to be a butt Study on Antman & Spiderman helping phobias Margays imitate baby tamarins Cats mimic the cry of babies WARNING: CATERPILLAR BODY HORROR. Glyptapanteles wasp larvae bursting from a parasitized caterpillar. Audubon Society's "When Is a Bird a ‘Birb’? An Extremely Important Guide" Creature FEET pod twitter Margay used in episode image Pied tamarin used in episode image Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Happy New Fear!

Happy holidays everyone, it’s me, Katie Goldin, your host of many parasites! Today, on the second part of our two-part holiday special, we’ll be creating our own non-denominational holiday using evolutionary biology to make this magical time of year scientifically accurate! We’ll talk the biology of reindeer, and the best bacteria-filled lightshow in the world! With special guest Jamie Loftus of The Bechdel Cast. FOOTNOTES:  Cute reindeer noses Reindeer eyeballs magically change color Glowing Firefly squid looks like festive holiday lights Glowing railroad worm Foxfire (not firefox) glowing fungus Angler fish's deadly but festive glowing light Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Creaturekringletimes Holiday Special Part 2

Happy holidays everyone, it’s me, Katie Goldin, your host of many parasites! On this two-part holiday special, we’ll be creating our own non-denominational holiday using evolutionary biology to make this magical time of year scientifically accurate! We’ll make our own, better Santa out of animal DNA, learning about these animals along the way! With special guest Jamie Loftus of the Bechdel Cast. FOOTNOTES: Hydra, an immortal wiener with tentacles Quetzalcoatlus northropi Peregrin falcon dive Elephants never forget Dolphins remember their friends Crows hold eternal grudges Ravens remember who's naughty and who's nice Blue whales win at having a jolly belly Howler monkey chorus Gorilla getting tickled via Cell Press Chimp laughing on the BBC Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Creaturekringletimes Holiday Special Part 1

Today we'll be talking about how animals prepare for winter! From hibernation, to magical wardrobe changes, to cryogenic freezing! Discover this and more as we answer the age old question: when, if ever, is the right time to breathe through your butt? With special guest Caitlin Durante of the Bechdel Cast. FOOTNOTES: My frozen bear heart Calendar cells Arctic fox faceplanting into snow Arctic fox's awkward wardrobe malfunctions Arctic fox shedding its coat Ancient snow goggles Frozen wood frog Siberian salamander Painted turtles breathe through their butts Wild Yakut horses MORE. FLUFFY. HORSES Kulning video by Jonna Jinton Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Remember To Breathe Through Your Butt!

We take a critter’s eye view to explore how animal behavior parallels humans. Join comedians and science-lovers as we get inside the minds of animals

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Creature Feature

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