POPeracast host Jennifer Miller Hammel sits down with Josh Shaw to discuss POP's upcoming 2024/25 season. Full season ticket packages on sale now! Don't miss the revival of the bilingual Japanese/English Madama Butterfly at the Aratani Theater in Little Tokyo. Two Weekends ONLY June 1,2,7,9 2024By Pacific Opera Project

Thanks to Khalil for suggesting the horny toad, also called the horned lizard or horned toad! Further reading: The Case of the Lost Lizard The Texas horned lizard: Texas Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) The rock horned lizard [photo taken from article linked above]: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. T…

Thanks to Elijah and an anonymous listener for suggesting that we talk about some more species of praying mantis! Further reading: The luring mantid: Protrusible pheromone glands in Stenophylla lobivertex (Mantodea: Acanthopidae) Dragons and unicorns (mantises) spotted in Atlantic forest Citizen scientists help discover new mantis species The drago…

Thanks to River for suggesting this week’s topic, the pufferfish! Further reading: Grass puffer fish communicate with each other using a non-toxic version of their deadly toxin Mystery pufferfish create elaborate circular nests at mesophotic depths in Australia Pufferfish, puffed: A starry puffer, un-puffed [picture by Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, ht…

Thanks to Carson, Mia, Eli, and Pranav for their suggestions this week! Further reading: RNA for the first time recovered from an extinct species Study finds ongoing evolution in Tasmanian Devils’ response to transmissible cancer Tasmanian devil research offers new insights for tackling cancer in humans The Tasmanian devil looks really cute but fig…

Thanks to Will and Måns for their suggestions this week! Let’s learn about some mystery bovids, or cows and cow relations! Further reading: A Book of Creatures: Songòmby Kouprey: The Ultimate Mystery Mammal A musk ox (top) and a wild yak (bottom): A young kouprey bull from the 1930s: Sculpture of two grown kouprey bulls [photo by Christian Pirkl – …

Thanks to Ari for suggesting this week’s episode, about the peacock! Further reading: Peacock tail feathers shake at resonance and hold eye-spots still during courtship displays Indian peafowls’ crests are tuned to frequencies also used in social displays An ocellated turkey (not a peacock but related): An Indian peacock male: An Indian peahen with…

Let’s look at some of the most interesting animals discovered last year! Further reading: Newly-discovered ‘margarita snails’ from the Florida Keys are bright lemon-yellow Tiny spirits roam the corals of Japan—two new pygmy squids discovered Strange New Species of Aquifer-Dwelling Catfish Discovered in India Bizarre New Species of Catfish Discovere…

Sorry to my Patreon subscribers, since this is mostly a rerun episode from April 2019. It’s a fun one, though! The teensy pumpkin toadlet [photo by Diogo B. Provete – http://calphotos.berkeley.edu, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6271494]: The electromagnetic spectrum. Look how tiny the visible light spectrum is on thi…

Thanks to Jason for suggesting this week’s topic, the bison! Further reading: New research documents domestic cattle genetics in modern bison herds Higgs Bison: Mysterious Hybrid of Bison and Cattle Hidden in Ice Age Cave Art A cave painting of steppe bison and other animals: An American bison [photo by Kim Acker, taken from this site]: Some Europe…

Thanks to Pranav for suggesting this mystery big cat this week, the marozi! Further reading: From Black Lions to Living Sabre-Tooths: My Top Ten Mystery Cats Spotted Lions A young lioness who still has some of her cub spots: Subadult lions who still have a lot of cub spots: The skin of an animal supposedly killed in 1931 and said to be a marozi: Tw…

Avery Boettcher, Schyler Vargas, and Chloe Sundet had some more funny stories to share! One Weekend ONLY February 17-18, 2024 Thorne Hall, Occidental CollegeBy Pacific Opera Project

Thanks to Chuck for suggesting this week's topic, a weird little deer called the muntjac!Further reading:Dam Project Reveals Secret Sanctuary of Vanishing DeerWildlife camera trap surveys provide new insights into the occurrence of two threatened Annamite endemics in Viet Nam and LaosGetting ahead (or two?) with Vietnam's Viking Deer - the Long-Run…

Let's take a look at some new findings about the temnospondyls this week!Further reading:Ancient giant amphibians swam like crocodiles 250 million years agoFossil of Giant Triassic Amphibian Unearthed in BrazilKwatisuchus rosai was an early amphibian [picture taken from article linked above]:Koolasuchus was a weird big-headed boi:Show transcript:We…

Jennifer Miller Hammel discusses the upcoming production of Die Fledermaus with cast members Avery Boettcher, Schyler Vargas, and Chloe Sundet. One Weekend ONLY February 17-18, 2024 Thorne Hall, Occidental CollegeBy Pacific Opera Project

Thanks to Oz from Las Vegas for suggesting this week's topic!Further reading:Bobi, the supposed 'world's oldest dog' at 31, is little more than a shaggy dog storyGreenland sharks live for hundreds of yearsScientists Identify Genetic Drivers of Extreme Longevity in Pacific Ocean RockfishesScientists Sequence Chromosome-Level Genome of Aldabra Giant …

Thanks to Wilmer and Carson for suggesting we revisit the dodo!Further reading:Dodos and spotted green pigeons are descendants of an island-hopping birdOn the possible vernacular name and origin of the extinct Spotted Green Pigeon Caloenus maculataGiant, fruit-gulping pigeon eaten into extinction on Pacific islandsA taxidermied dodo:The Nicobar pig…

Thanks to Murilo for suggesting this week's episode about the sawfish and the sawshark!Further Reading:Sawfish or sawshark?Two New Species of Sixgill Sawsharks DiscoveredDo not step:The underside of a largetooth sawfish [photo by J. Patrick Fischer - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17421638]:The sawshark has …

Welcome to 2024! Let's learn about some exciting new discoveries in our own family tree!Further reading:476,000-Year-Old Wooden Structure Unearthed in ZambiaMysterious 300,000-year-old skull could be new species of human, researchers sayShow transcript:Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.It’s time to start the new year off …

Apologies to patrons for redoing an old Patreon episode, but I have a cold and it's the holidays.The noble emu:A baby emu (picture from this site, which has lots of good info about emus and lots more great pictures):Show transcript:Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw.I had a different episode planned to finish off the year,…

Thanks to Morgan for suggesting this week's topic, the Antarctic Death Star!Further reading:Giant Monster Starfish ALERTEchinoderm Tube Feet Don't Suck! They Stick!Bodies of Starfish and Other Echinoderms Are Really Just Heads, New Research SuggestsThe Antarctic death star [from first link listed above]:The "beartrap" structures, magnified [from fi…

Thanks to Dean, Mia, and Lydia for their suggestions this week!The tayra looks kind of like a canid but is a mustelid [photo by Bob Johnson - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=85291909]:The bush dog looks kind of like a mustelid but is a canid:The maned wolf looks like a fox with reallllllly long legs:Show tran…

This week we're going to talk about stories of scientists, explorers, and other modern people eating meat from long-dead extinct animals. Did it ever really happen?Check out the great new podcast Herbarium of the Bizarre! I highly recommend it even though they don't eat any mammoth meat.Further reading:Was frozen mammoth or giant ground sloth serve…

Thanks to Eva for suggesting the adorable volcano rabbit this week!Further watching:American Pikas Calling OutThe volcano rabbit is not a volcano but it is a very small rabbit:The volcano rabbit is SO CUTE:The American pika looks kind of like its rabbit cousin [photo by Justin Johnsen, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9…

This week we learn about two tiny owls! Thanks to Elizabeth and Alexandra for their suggestions!Further reading:Burrowing OwlElf OwlThe burrowing owl is tiny but fierce [photo by Christopher Lindsey, taken from page linked above]:The elf owl is also tiny but fierce [photo by Matthew Grube, taken from page linked above]:Show transcript:Welcome to St…

Thanks to Hannah, who suggested sheep as this week's topic! We'll also learn about a few other hoofed animals, including the weird giraffe relative, sivatherium.Further reading:The American Jacob Sheep Breeders' AssociationWhat happened with that Sumerian 'sivathere' figurine after Colbert's paper of 1936? Well, a lot.A Jacob sheep ewe with four ho…

POPeracast host Jennifer Miller Hammel sits down with soprano Rachel Policar, tenor William Grundler, and conductor Caleb Yanez Glickman to discuss the Los Angeles PREMIERE! of Derek Wang's Scalia/Ginsberg, paired with the Gilbert & Sullivan early one act comedy Trial by Jury, which in true POP-style, is reimagined in 1980's LA Divorce Court. Scali…