Filthy Animals – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Content Warning: References to sex and nonviable pregnancies.

Spending every moment of waking life trying to get laid has its downsides, and for some organisms, the business of reproduction is just too much of a hassle. So why bother with mating at all? If you want something done right, sometimes you just have to do it yourself. In this episode, Nicole runs down the fascinating asexual strategies of plants and animals, from self-printing bananas to all-female lizards to condor virgin birth.

Nicole's Sources:

1. Sexual Reproduction and the Evolution of Sex. Scitable.
2. Asexual Reproduction In Plants- Types and Methods. Byju’s.
3. Engelstädter J. 2008. Constraints on the evolution of asexual reproduction. Bioessays 30(11-12).
4. Osborne, M. 2022. Mice Birthed From Unfertilized Eggs for the First Time. Smithsonian Magazine.

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Content Warning: graphic descriptions of STIs, death, some sprinkling of thinking too much about how much of a horror bodies are.

Koalas are well known for being disease ridden (at least in our circles) so lets talk about it. Chlamydia is highly contagious and deadly in koalas as well as birds, cows, and many other animals. This is a trip down sex education memory lane and details the horrible death that is untreated STIs.

Rachel's Primary Sources:

1. Wang, H., Jensen, J.-K., Olsson, A., Vorimore, F., Aaziz, R., Guy, L., Ellström, P., Laroucau, K., & Herrmann, B. (2020). Chlamydia psittaci in Fulmars on the Faroe Islands: A causative link to South American psittacines eight decades after a severe epidemic. Microbes and Infection, 22(8), 356–359.
2. Phillips, S., Quigley, B. L., Aziz, A., Bergen, W., Booth, R., Pyne, M., & Timms, P. (2019). Antibiotic treatment of chlamydia-induced cystitis in the koala is linked to expression of key inflammatory genes in reactive oxygen pathways. PLOS ONE, 14(8).
3. Van Wettere, A. J. (2020, February). Avian chlamydiosis - avian chlamydiosis. Merck Veterinary Manual.
4. Chen, C.-J., Casteriano, A., Green, A. C., & Govendir, M. (2023). A retrospective study on antibacterial treatments for koalas infected with chlamydia pecorum. Scientific Reports, 13(1).
5. Willson, G., & Cimon, K. Y. (2024, June 3). Bursa - cyst. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Secondary Sources:

1. Li, Z., Liu, P., Hou, J., Xu, G., Zhang, J., Lei, Y., Lou, Z., Liang, L., Wen, Y., & Zhou, J. (2020). Detection of Chlamydia psittaci and Chlamydia ibidis in the endangered crested ibis (nipponia nippon). Epidemiology and Infection, 148.
2. Marti, I., Pisano, S. R. R., & Wehrle, M. (2019). Severe conjunctivitis associated with chlamydia felis infection in a free-ranging Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx). Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 55(2), 522.
3. Laroucau, K., Aaziz, R., Lécu, A., Laidebeure, S., et al. (2020). A cluster of Chlamydia Serpentis cases in captive snakes. Veterinary Microbiology, 240, 108499.
4. Laroucau, K., Ortega, N., Vorimore, F., et al. (2020). Detection of a novel chlamydia species in captive spur-thighed tortoises (Testudo Graeca) in southeastern Spain and proposal of Candidatus Chlamydia Testudinis. Systematic and Applied Microbiology, 43(2), 126071.
5. Laroucau, K., Vorimore, F., Aaziz, R., Solmonson, L., et al. (2019). Chlamydia buteonis, a new chlamydia species isolated from a red-shouldered hawk. Systematic and Applied Microbiology, 42(5), 125997.
6. Santoro M, Iaccarino D, Di Nocera F, Degli Uberti B et al. (2019). Molecular detection of Chlamydia abortus in a stranded Mediterranean striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba. Dis Aquat Org 132:203-208.

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Content Warning: graphic descriptions of sex, violent acts

Turns out lots of animals just wait around till maturity and then turn into horny little guys. The genus Antechinus is no exception as males will mate over and over until exhaustion.

Allan's Sources:

1. Book: “The Secret Lives of Carnivorous Marsupials” by Andrew Baker and Chris Dickman.
2. Kraaijeveld, K. et al. (2006) Does female mortality drive male semelparity in dasyurid marsupials? Proc Biol Sci. 2003 Nov 7; 270(Suppl 2): S251–S253.  doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2003.0082
3. Holleley CE et al. (2006). Size breeds success: multiple paternity, multivariate selection and male semelparity in a small marsupial, Antechinus stuartii. Mol Ecol. 2006 Oct;15(11):3439-48. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2006.03001.x. PMID: 16968281.
4. Brandies, P.A. et al. (2020). The first Antechinus reference genome provides a resource for pinvestigating the genetic basis of semelparity and age-related neuropathologies. GigaByte. 2020; 2020: gigabyte7. Published online 2020 Nov 5. doi: 10.46471/gigabyte.7
5. Zangrandi, P.L., Vieira, E.M. (2023). Semelparous Reproductive Strategy in New World Marsupials. In: Cáceres, N.C., Dickman, C.R. (eds) American and Australasian Marsupials. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08419-5_19

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Content Warning: This episode is WEIRDLY explicit for an episode about plants. Contains explicit discussions about sex, sexual acts, and genitalia.

Nicole's Notable Sources:

1. Heiduk, A., Brake, I., Tolasch, T., Frank, J., Jurgens, A., Meve, U., Dotterl, S. 2010. Scent chemistry and pollinator attraction in the deceptive trap flowers of Ceropegia dolichophylla. South African Journal of Botany.
2. Greenhood orchid. YouTube. Shows trap mechanism.

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Content Warning: descriptions of sexual acts and genitalia, mild body horror

Rachel's Sources:

1. Arikawa, K. 2001. Hindsight of Butterflies: The Papilio butterfly has light sensitivity in the genitalia, which appears to be crucial for reproductive behavior. BioScience.
2. Arikawa, K. 2009. Genital Photoreceptors Have Crucial Role in Oviposition in Japanese Yellow Swallowtail Butterfly, Papilio xuthus. Zoological Science.

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Content Warning: descriptions of sexual acts and genitalia

Allan's Sources:

1. De Waal, Franz. Bonobos: The Forgotten Ape. 1st ed., published 1997.
2. De Waal, Franz. “Bonobo Sex and Society”, Scientific American. June 1, 2006.
3. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bonobo-sex-and-society-2006-06/
4. Annicchiarico, G., Bertini, M., Cordoni, G., & Palagi, E. (2020). Look at me while having sex! Eye-to-eye contact affects homosexual behaviour in bonobo females. Behaviour, 157(10-11), 949-970. https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539X-bja10034
5. Gruber T, Clay Z. A Comparison Between Bonobos and Chimpanzees: A Review and Update. Evol Anthropol. 2016 Sep;25(5):239-252. doi: 10.1002/evan.21501. PMID: 27753219.

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Filthy Animals is an ecology podcast for adults. Episodes may contain strong language and graphic descriptions of natural phenomena. A more detailed list of content warnings is included in each episode description.

Science educators will talk about the unusual adult activities of the natural world that we believe you need to know about. Every month, we’ll expose you to the latest research on all the filthy topics your high school science teacher was too embarrassed to talk about.

This podcast is produced by Grassland Groupies, and the music for this trailer is from Haydn London Trios, Hob. IV:1-3, accessed through MusOpen.

See you on April 25!

Content Warning: descriptions of sexual acts and genitalia

Allan's Sources:

1. Coming soon!

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Content Warning: none

In this month's Filthy Animals, Rachel tests the strength of monogamous bonds in the animal kingdom by seeing what the data says about their infidelity. As it turns out, even in species where pair bonds are key to the social survival of the animals, reckless passion can play a big role in their breeding systems. Our host graciously brings us examples ranging from the expected (cuckoos, the species that gives us the word "cuckold") to the obscure (carrion beetles, whose relationship drama plays out in carcasses the world over).

Rachel's Sources:

•  Wysocki, D., et al (2023). Low level of extra-pair paternity in an urban population of blackbirds. The European Zoological Journal, 90(1), 307–312. https://doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2023.2193433

• Gao, L.-F., Zhang, H.-Y., Zhang, W., Sun, Y.-H., Liang, M.-J. and Du, B. (2020), Effects of extra-pair paternity and maternity on the provisioning strategies of the Azure-winged Magpie Cyanopica cyanus. Ibis, 162: 627-636. https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12800

• Li M-H, Välimäki K, Piha M, Pakkala T, Merilä J (2009) Extrapair Paternity and Maternity in the Three-Toed Woodpecker, Picoides tridactylus: Insights from Microsatellite-Based Parentage Analysis. PLoS ONE 4(11): e7895. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0007895

• Niida, T., Yao, I., Nisimura, T. & Suzuki, S. (2024) Detection of extra-pair maternity in a carrion beetle under natural conditions. Ecological Entomology, 49(5), 734–738. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13334

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Content Warning: Discussion of cancer and related illnesses

Cancer is scary. A transmissible, STI-based cancer is even scarier. Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumor (CTVT) is the oldest, most prolific, cancer known in nature. And it's not alone. Nicole illustrates this bizarre disease which is expanding our understanding of cancer itself, and may have given one particular animal the key to immortality.

Nicole's Sources:

• Murchison, E., et al. 2014. Transmissible Dog Cancer Genome Reveals the Origin and History of an Ancient Cell Lineage. Science.
• Gori, K., et al. 2025. Horizontal transfer of nuclear DNA in transmissible cancer. PNAS.
• About Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease. Dept of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania.
• Bruzos, A. 2022. Heterogeneity of cockle transmissible cancers. YouTube.
• Brain Bleach: Correia-Caeiro, C., Guo, K., Mills, D. 2020. Perception of dynamic facial expressions of emotion between dogs and humans. Animal Cognition.
• Hank Green. The Truth About the Single-Celled Dog. SciShow. YouTube.

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