Tag: wildlife
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Wait, What Exactly is Fire?
Everyone’s got an opinion on the best way to build one (the secret is good airflow, by the way), but what exactly is fire?
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Can Porcupines Shoot Their Quills?
While it’s true you should keep your distance, is there any truth to the tale of a tenacious porcupine shooting their quills?
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Wigglin’ In The Rain: Why Do Worms Come Out When It Rains?
Why do worms come out when it rains? Unfortunately, we can’t ask the worms, but we have some pretty good ideas!
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Do Ticks Fall From Trees?
Ticks, for as small as they are, strike a disproportionate amount of fear and disgust into our hearts and minds. And nothing quite leads to misconception like fear.
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Do Penguins Have Knees?
There’s something about penguins, isn’t there? They evoke our curiosity, our affection—nay, our adoration—at levels that other members of the animal kingdom would be hard-pressed to compete with. Perhaps it’s their wobbly gait. Maybe it’s the stark contrast they have with the often otherworldly habitats in which we often mentally…
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How a Puffin Problem Led to the Creation of a Star Wars Icon
Star Wars is as much a product of human ingenuity as it is a space odyssey. Just look at how they solved the Puffin Problem.
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Did Ben and Jerry, the Blue Ducks Who Married, Really Cause an Extinction?
In a sense, this is a story of a story that never needed to be one.
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Raccoon Problems
Raccoons and humans don’t always get along. There’s a reason for that, and a solution. Truth is, we’re more similar than you might think.
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Where the Earth Opened Up
Where the Water Reflects the Sky | Part One The depth of our history— humanity’s, life’s, earths, and that of the universe itself— is unfathomable. Yet that is where our series begins—deep time. Before you and I. Before everyone you’ve ever known, loved, or learned about. Before the pyramids, before…
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New Study Suggests the Dugong is ‘Functionally Extinct in China
According to a paper published on August 24th, 2022 in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the Dugong is now “functionally extinct” in China.
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Can Other Animals Get Sunburns?
When was the last time you saw a roseate rhinoceros, a bronzed bunting, or a peeling porcupine? Can other animals get sunburns?
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Sea Otters Have Secret Skin Pockets in Their Armpits
Yes, you read that right. Move over marsupials, you’re not the only mammals with skin pockets.
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Class S1E3 | The Demo Model (DEMOSPONGIAE)
Sometimes, things just work. In the case of sponges, there’s the Demo Model.
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Crocodiles Would Bankrupt the Tooth Fairy
Crocodiles go through an extraordinary amount of teeth in their lives, and the how and why are just as spectacular.
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This Pinocchio-Like Trait Means No Lyin’ Lions
As it turns out, Pinocchio’s nose isn’t the only one capable of revealing the truth. Want to know how old a lion is? The nose knows.
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Why Do Hedgehogs Have Spikes?
Hedgehogs are easily one of the most unmistakable little critters out there, but how much do you know about them
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Wild Speeds | Earth’s Top 20 Fastest Animals
The average human can run 7 mph. How do we measure up against our cousins across the animal kingdom? Let’s explore the Earth’s top 20 fastest animals.
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Class S1E2: The Art of Glass (Hexactinellids)
Aside from the obviously fascinating fact that these creatures have skeletons made of glass, what exactly are glass sponges?
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Bull Kelp
A couple of weeks back, I saw my first ever Bull Kelp at Huntington Beach! Technically, Bull Kelp is a broad name for a genus, Nereocystis, meaning mermaid’s-bladder in Greek. The thing about the genus is, it’s monotypic meaning it contains just one species: Nereocystis luetkeana. Depending on where you’re…
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On Birding and Time
This, like many things lately, is a different type of content from The Wild Life. Who knew you could learn so much about authentic expression and finding yourself from producing a podcast? In this episode, I go out for a birding excursion with a major time constraint and ponder on…
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Review | Sharks, Lies, and Videotape
“Sharks, Lies, and Videotape: A content analysis of 32 years of Shark Week documentaries” is a stunningly comprehensive report on the ways in which Shark Week, arguably the largest source of shark information consumed by the masses, mixes real science with spectacle and salacious stories.
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How to Build An Animal | Part Three
Life is full of branching points on the tree of animal life. The coelom is the next stop on our journey of how to build an animal..
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How to Build an Animal | Part Two
There really is no shortage of ways to build an animal, but there are rules to be followed. What better place to start than the beginning?
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How to Build an Animal | Part One
There really is no shortage of ways to build an animal, but there are rules to be followed—rules with deep roots.
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What Are Animals?
There are 1 to 2 M species of animals described today in every form imaginable. Here are some key traits they all share.
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New Episode| The Wild Life of the Mola mola
The Mola mola is one bizarre looking fish, but they are more than meets the eye. Learn more in this short episode from The Wild Life!
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The Wild Life| 2021 Podcast Year in Review
In 2021, we produced 41 episodes (42 if we get this next one out in the next 3 days) with 12,635+ downloads across 78 countries!
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Turns Out There’s a Reason for Rudolph’s Red Nose
Not every reindeer has a red nose. After all, that’s part of what makes Rudolph so special—and he’s not alone.
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Do Fish Blink?
“Do fish blink?” is a reasonable question to ask, but it raises another— “do fish have eyelids?”
