Afleveringen
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Join Ellen & special guest science communicator and ambassador for wildlife Rick Schwartz for a review of the wise old wizards of Asian forests: binturongs. We discuss career paths for yappers, monkey software on weasel hardware, the chemical coincidence that makes binturongs smell like snacks, the fulfilling experience of finally being considered one of the girls, and so much more.
Links:
Learn more about Rick's work on his website: www.zoologyrick.com Follow Animals, Nature and You: https://animalsnatureandyou.buzzsprout.com/ Follow Rick on social media: https://linktr.ee/ZoologyRick For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Ellen gets her claws out for seriemas. We discuss terror birds, reverse mullets, sickle claws, weird scenes from Jurassic Park, golf ball physics, and so much more.
Works Cited:
âObservation of Claw Use and Feeding Behavior of the Red-Legged Seriema and Its Implication for Claw Use in Deinonychosaursâ - Oswald et al., Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science, January 2023 "Seriema - modern day Velociraptor?" - Dr. Brian Curtice, fossilcrates.com November 2022 âBird bounces golf ball on the cart path!â - Alex Baggett, YouTube Audio: Guilherme de Barros BrandĂŁo, XC417496. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/417496 âCommentary: Defining Raptors and Birds of Preyâ - McClure et al., Journal of Raptor Research, November 2019Links:
For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Join Ellen & special guest, senior conservation scientist at Woodland Park Zoo and founder of the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program Lisa Dabek, as we celebrate World Tree Kangaroo Day by putting these charming ghosts of the forest in the well-deserved spotlight. We discuss the diversity of Papua New Guineaâs cloud forests where dinosaurs still have the run of the place, life as a joey in the towering treetops, a look at what went into designing a tree kangaroo habitat in Woodland Park Zooâs new Forest Trailhead exhibit, and so much more.
Links:
Learn more about the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program at their website: https://treekangaroo.org/ Learn more about the SAFE Program: https://www.aza.org/safe-species Check out the Woodland Park Zoo's new Forest Trailhead exhibit: https://zoo.org/foresttrailhead/ For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Join Ellen & special guest, technobiologist and professor Jack Koch, for a review of the iconic crustacean known and loved by many names: the crawfish. We discuss sea hare ink, a genetically modified super-soldier kaiju battle, the taxonomic classifications of rocks, bugs and squishy bags, the perils of growing up under the tail of a cannibal mom, and so much more.
Links:
Learn more about Jack's work at the Aquatic Germplasm and Genetic Resources Center Follow LSU Research on Instagram! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Ellen lets the sand cat out of the bag. We discuss dangerously approaching Hey Arnold, refusal to poop on unfamiliar toilets, blood gushers, a myth of dirty underwear, Cat Premium, and so much more.
Works Cited:
âThe Carnivores of West Africaâ - Donovan Reginald Rosevear, 1974. Page 396 âMammalian ear specializations in arid habitats: structural and functional evidence from sand cat (Felis margarita)â - G. T. Huang et al, Journal of Comparative Physiology A, June 2002 âSand cat in Iran - present status, distribution and conservation challengesâ - Taher Ghadirian et al., CATnews (newsletter of the IUCNâs Cat Specialist Group), 2016 "Sand Cat" - International Society of Endangered Cats (ISEC) Canada âHome ranges of African sand cats (Felis margarita margarita)â - Alexander Sliwa et al., Journal of Arid Environments, March 2023 âIsabellineâ - Paul Anthony Jones, HaggardHawks.com IUCN Red List: Sand Cat (Felis margarita) "DOMESTIC X SAND CAT AND PALLAS'S CAT HYBRIDS" - Sarah Hartwell, messybeast.comLinks:
For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Curious about the exclusive bonus content for Maximum Fun members? Enjoy some free samples from special episodes: "All Fun and Games with Isaac," "Just the Two of Us," and Let's Learn Everything's "Frogs! II A Royal Rescue"
If you like what you hear, head over to https://maximumfun.org/join and sign up to get access to the entire bonus content library and SO much more!
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Ellen & special guests, Ella Hubber and Tom Lum of Letâs Learn Everything, turn our gazes to the skies and talk animals in space. We discuss the fruit fly fan club, the great big farm on the moon, which earthlings were ACTUALLY the first to make the trip around the moon and back, a spider escape where you least want it, why dentistry researchers had a snake room, shooting tardigrades out of a gun, and so much more. This one is truly out of this world.
Works Cited & Further Reading:
"Bioastronautics Research" video "This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury" - Loyd S. Swenson, Jr., James M. Grimwood, Charles C. Alexander, NASA SP-4201 "Judith's Web - Student Experiment Aboard Skylab 3" - NASA.gov âURODELEAN AMPHIBIANS IN STUDIES ON MICROGRAVITY: EFFECTS UPON ORGAN AND TISSUE REGENERATIONâ - E.N. Grigoryan et al., Adv. Space Res, 2002 "From Undersea to Outer Space: The STS-40 Jellyfish Experiment" - NASA STI Program "For water bears, the glass is all full" - Tina Hesman Saey, Science News, December 2015 "Tardigrades survive exposure to space in low Earth orbit" - K. Ingemar Jonsson et al., Current Biology, September 2008 "What happened to those tardigrades sent to the Moon?" - Laurent Palka, The Conversation, February 2024 "Tardigrade Survival Limits in High-Speed ImpactsâImplications for Panspermia and Collection of Samples from Plumes Emitted by Ice Worlds" - Alejandra Traspas & Mark J. Burchell, Astrobiology, July 2021Links:
Support our shows with your membership during the MaxFunDrive! Check out Let's Learn Everything! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Ellen jaws away about the great white shark. We discuss making our own planetary rings, performance-enhancing Speedos, how sharks sleep, the White Shark Café, IRL baby shark, and so much more.
Works Cited:
âShark evolution: a 450 million year timelineâ - Josh Davis, Natural History Museum âSPEEDO FASTSKIN â A HISTORY OF THE WORLDâS FASTEST SWIMSUITSâ - SwimSwam.com, November 2023 âWhite Shark Bite Kinematics â Preliminary Exploration of a New Aspectâ - R. Aidan Martin, ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research âAn electrophysiological correlate of sleep in a sharkâ - John A. Lesku et al., Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological Genetics and Physiology, July 2024 âFor five days in 1980, a great white shark named Sandy lived in Golden Gate Parkâ - Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle, June 2024 âThe Great White Wayâ - Pete Thomas, Los Angeles Times, September 2006 âWhite Shark CafĂ©: The mysterious meeting spot for great whites in the middle of the Pacific Oceanâ â Sascha Pare, LiveScience, September 2024 âFirst-ever sighting of a live newborn great whiteâ - Jules Bernstein, UC Riverside, February 2024 âShark Management Lawsâ - NOAA FisheriesLinks:
Support our podcast by joining the Maximum Fun network at maximumfun.org/join For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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It's MaxFunDrive. And here, for the first time, we give you an exclusive look (well, listen) at the craft of podcasting: presenting Casters on Casters.
In this episode, Teylor Smirl (Still Buffering) and Ellen Weatherford (Just the Zoo of Us) bond over the media they consumed that shaped who they are today, and how that media informs their perspectives on their shows. Plus, each host reveals their dream guest.
If this glamorous, in-depth journey into what makes your favorite hosts tick inspires you, support them by joining as a member at maximumfun.org/join.
Edited by Laura Swisher and Produced by Hannah Muroz for Maximum Fun.
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Join Ellen & special guest, co-founder and CEO of conservation organization Wildlife SOS Kartick Satyanarayan, for a review of Asian elephants. We discuss the harm caused by wildlife exploitation, how they protect animals by uplifting human communities, how education can help tourists make more ethical choices, and of course our guest shares some stories of what itâs like living and working alongside these beautiful giants. Heâs got feel-good conservation success stories, workplace comedy, an adorable baby elephant, truly what more could you want from a podcast episode?
Links:
Learn more about Wildlife SOS's work on their website! See Baby Bani and more on Wildlife SOS's YouTube channel! Learn more about ethical tourism on RefuseToRide.org For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Follow Ellen down the jackrabbit hole. We discuss facial tilt, satellite dish ears, evolutionary ghosts of predators past, touchdown dances, jackalopes, Easter, and so much more.
Works Cited:
"A Field Guide to Jackrabbits" - Matthew L. Miller, The Nature Conservancy, Nov 2022 âEcological correlates to cranial morphology in Leporids (Mammalia, Lagomorpha)â - Brian Kraatz et al., PeerJ, Dec 2014 "Jackrabbit Gets a Touchdown!" - YouTube âCelebrating Easter, Christmas and their associated alien faunaâ â Malene Lauritsen et al., World Archaeology, Oct 2018 âThe Shifting Baselines of the British Hare Goddessâ - Luke John Murphy & Carly Ameen, Open Archaeology, August 2020 âWhat Do Eggs Have To Do With Easter?â - Encyclopedia Britannica "Meet Jack" - City of Douglas, Wyoming's websiteLinks:
Check out your local MaxFun Meetup Day - Ellen will be at the Seattle meetup! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Join Ellen & the Cryptonaturalist (Jarod K. Anderson) to talk about the ways that nature and wildlife can inspire our creativity and shape our stories, particularly the enticingly unknowable cryptids. We discuss being raised by a witch, the natural poetry in scientific facts about starfish, the value of enthusiasm, caked up Mothman and the tragic Squonk, getting emoted on by skunks, the surprisingly complicated history of dandelions, a vulture named Potato, and so much more.
Links:
Learn more about Jarod's work on his website Find Strange Animals and Jarod's other books on his Bookshop Follow Jarod as The Cryptonaturalist on Instagram Follow Jarod on Bluesky or Substack Check out The CryptoNaturalist Podcast For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Don't call it a comeback, coelacanth's been here for years. We discuss life on Earth 400 million years ago, a military escort mission, our own fish ancestors, five year pregnancies, underwater handstands, an unnecessarily complicated puzzle in the third generation Pokémon games, and so much more.
Works Cited:
âThe Coelacanthâ - Knysna Museum âThe Discoveryâ - UC Museum of Paleontologyâs website âEarliest known coelacanth skull extends the range of anatomically modern coelacanths to the Early Devonianâ - Min Zhu et al., Nature Communications, April 2012 âAnimated Life: The Living Fossil Fish | HHMI BioInteractive Videoâ âThe coelacanth rostral organ is a unique low-resolution electro-detector that facilitates the feeding strikeâ - Rachel M. Berquist et al., Scientific Reports, March 2015 âNew scale analyses reveal centenarian African coelacanthsâ - KĂ©lig MahĂ© et al., Current Biology, August 2021 âNeurocranial development of the coelacanth and the evolution of the sarcopterygian headâ - Hugo Dutel et al., Nature, May 2019 âBuoyancy and hydrostatic balance in a West Indian Ocean coelacanth Latimeria chalumnaeâ - Henrik Lauridsen et al., BMC Biology, August 2022Links:
Come hear Ellen talk about dragons LIVE at Nerd Nite Seattle! https://seattle.nerdnite.com/ For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Join Ellen & Dalton Mason, creator and bird parent behind Apollo and Frens, for a look into life alongside the world-famous African grey parrot. You may have seen their videos on social media showing off Apolloâs incredibly impressive vocabulary, answering questions and even speaking in full sentences, which have earned the bird a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2025 - on top of all the pistachios, of course. We discuss animal cognition and what makes parrots such great models for animal intelligence, the brain soup machine, bird-proofing a home, parrots video calling each other, and so much more.
Works Cited:
"Birds have primate-like numbers of neurons in the forebrain" - Seweryn Olkowicz et al., PNAS, June 2016 "Birds of a Feather Video-Flock Together: Design and Evaluation of an Agency-Based Parrot-to-Parrot Video-Calling System for Interspecies Ethical Enrichment" - Rebecca Kleinberger et al., Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, April 2023 African Grey Parrot flight calls: Peter Boesman, XC719450. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/719450Links:
Learn more about Apollo and Frens on their website: https://apolloandfrens.com/ Follow Apollo and Frens on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Ellen falls in love with the Mandarin duck. We discuss why waterfowl's webbed feet don't freeze in the winter, the evolutionary arms race between male and female ducks, New York City's local celebrity Hot Duck, your new favorite coffee order, and more.
Works Cited:
"Countercurrent Exchange" - Dr. Roger Lederer, ornithology.org âCoevolution of Male and Female Genital Morphology in Waterfowlâ - Patricia L. R. Brennan et al., PLOS One, May 2007 "Ducks, Geese, and Swans" - Ivan Phillipsen, scienceofbirds.com, December 2020 âConspecific Brood Parasitism and Nesting Biology of Mandarin Ducks (Aix galericulata) in Northeastern Chinaâ - Qiu-Ziang Deng et al., The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, September 2011 "Molecular Evidence for Interspecific Brood Parasitism and Successful Hatching by Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) on the Scaly-sided Merganser (Mergus squamatus)" - Shu Liu et al., BMC Zoology (under review Feb 2026) "Will You Still Love the Hot Duck When He Looks Like This?" - Andy McGlashen, Audubon Magazine, February 2019Links:
For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Join Ellen & special guest, science communicator and Certified Bug Friend Emily, for a review of the tiny little bugs that fly around your nearest kitchen sink. We discuss what Big Pest doesnât want you to know, convergent evolution between bugs and fish, the drain gods, secret spy languages that only bugs can read, and so much more.
Links:
Follow Emily on Instagram, YouTube, and more! Learn more about the Entomology Box! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Ellen goes on a journey through time and space with Triops, the tadpole shrimp. We discuss book fairs, vernal pools, whether saltwater or freshwater came first, trips to space, prehistoric scampi, surprise guests at Burning Man, and so much more.
Sources:
"Ontogenetic sequence comparison of extant and fossil tadpole shrimps: no support for the âliving fossilâ concept" - Philipp Wagner et al., PalĂ€ontologische Zeitschrift, August 2017 âSurvival of dormant organisms after long-term exposure to the space environmentâ - N. Novikova et al., Acta Astronautica, June 2010 âFrom antibiotics to yeast: Latest student science heads for spaceâ - NASA, Science Daily, July 2014 âHundreds of three-eyed 'dinosaur shrimp' emerge after Arizona monsoonâ - Laura Geggel, LiveScience, October 2021 âWhat are the three-eyed âdinosaur shrimpâ resurfacing after Burning Man?â - Faiza Saqib, The Independent, September 2023 They Might Be Giants song âTriops Has Three Eyesâ âAdult Triops cancriformis (Pancrustacea: Notostraca) mediates the hatching rate of its resting eggsâ - AlĆŸbeta DevĂĄnovĂĄ et al., Hydrobiologia, March 2022 âTadpole Shrimp Are Coming for Your Riceâ - PBS Deep LookLinks:
For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Join Ellen & special guest artist and reptile keeper Lyn for an up close and personal look at a little snake with a big appetite. We discuss how it feels to handle a snake, stress dreams specific to pet owners, gastoning it, spine teeth, snacktivities, how snakes flirt with each other, and so much more.
Links:
Check out Lyn's art and comic on Instagram! Denver folks, check out Lyn's upcoming snake shed jewelry & painting workshop!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Ellen takes things slow with the iconic banana slug. We discuss mobile slip 'n' slides, recreationally poisoning yourself, liquid crystals, oobleck, robosnail, slime trains, moisture farming, apophallation, college mascots, and so much more.
Works Cited:
"Banana Slugs: Secret of the Slime" for Mallory Pickett, KQED, February 2015"Mechanical Devices for Snail-like Locomotion" - Brian Chan et al., Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, February 2007"Tough adhesives for diverse wet surfaces" - J. Li et al., Science, July 2017"Emerging biotechnology promises to transform the materials we use to work and live" - L.G. Blanchard, University of Washington Magazine, September 1993"She studies slug sex by the seashore: UCSC researcher works to unlock secrets of banana slug sex" - Elise Overgaard, Lookout Santa Cruz, June 2023"Our Mascot: Sammy the Banana Slug", UC Santa Cruz (uscs.edu)Links:
For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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Join Ellen & special guests, power couple Shannon Hackett and John Bates from the Field Museum, here to talk about the intersection of science, history, and of course, birds in a love letter to the natural history museum. We discuss working alongside SUE the T. rex, specimen pickles, harlequin romance novels, and explore bigger questions like how museum collections can reveal evolution happening around us right now in real-time and help us look into the future, what the average everyday person can learn about themselves and what science actually looks like from a museum, and the hotly contested debate as to whether grey vireos are interesting or not.
Links:
Check out Birds of a Feather Talk Together on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Instagram!Learn more about the Field Museum on their website!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
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