The Natural Selection Presents – Details, episodes & analysis

This week the Natural selection say goodbye.. at least for now. In this our final episode, we touched on some of our favourite topics or subjects that we haven’t discussed in previous episodes. We learned about some extinct species and some species that have reappeared after being thought extinct. We got meta and investigated the world of memes both in humans and other animals. We also tested our knowledge with not one but two quizzes this week! Listen now to see if you can answer some questions related to our past episodes.

And Finally from everyone here at the Natural Selection, we would like to say a huge thank you to anyone who has listened to any of our episodes or shared our podcast with someone. To anyone who has gotten in contact with us, thank you it means so much to know people are enjoying what we do. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Thanks for listening and goodbye for now.

animals and subjects discussed in this episode include:

lesser spectral tarsier  (Tarsius pumilus), also known as the mountain tarsier or the pygmy tarsier

Dusky Flying Fox (Pteropus brunneus)

Père David's deer (Elaphurus davidianus)

Megalodon (Otodus megalodon)

Simeulue hill mynas (Gracula religiosa miotera)

tree lobster (Dryococelus australis) commonly known as the Lord Howe Island stick insect

memes

Baron Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás

Chelicerata, Myriapoda, Pancrustacea/ Crustaceans & Hexapods

Thrips (order Thysanoptera)

Coleoptera - beetles

Lepidoptera butterflies

Hemiptera – true bugs

Hymenoptera – wasps bees and ants

Diapause

Rodents, mustelids, armadillos, marsupials, roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)

Quiz

Episode 9: parasites  Ophiocordyceps unilateralis –fungus that makes ants into zombies –

Episode 13: metamorphosis

Episode 14: myths Animal paradoxa -

Including Antelope, Pelicans, Deathwatch beetle (make a ticking noise associated with impending death), Barnacle goose (believed to grow from rotten wood thrown out to sea) and shrinking frog or paradoxical frog (Pseudis paradoxa) as well as dragons, hydras, Borometz (plant like a sheep - might be cotton, such as in The Travels of Sir John Mandeville)

Episode 19: brains dung beetles use the milky way to navigate

Episode 28: fossils – coprolite- Fossil poo

brontosaurus

Ep 33: blood - Ocellated ice fish

- Horseshoe crab

Ep 67: blue - the mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus)

Blue poison dart

Ep 29: beetles – luciferin is a group of light emitting compounds that make fireflies and other bioluminescent animals glow

Ep 36: DNA - marbled lungfish (Protopterus aethiopicus)

The Natural Selection is back! This week we talk all about why The Ordovician blew a little hot and cold, why the great dying was great news for us, and which pigeon once blocked out the sun.

In this episode we talk about:

Common Sydney octopuses (Octopus tetricus)

jacobin hummingbirds (Florisuga mellivora)

Titanoboa (Titanoboa cerrejonensis)

Passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius)

The Natural Selection is back - and this week we are talking all about Dinosaurs! Listen now and learn why T-Rex would make terrible podcasters, why Naomi hates Hollywood, and which 15 million years gets palaeontologists most excited.

Join us for this episode of the Natural Selection Presents… Bones! We got weird and wacky this week learning about manatee molars, the tiniest bone of them all, and what birds give up in order to fly.

This week's episode got deep as the Natural Selection explored the depths of the oceans. We discussed the challenges faced by the unique and bizarre animals found near the bottom of the ocean. From the aptly named "terrible-claw lobster" to giant squids we learnt about adaptations deep sea creatures have evolved. Marine snow, zombie worms, mysterious purple orbs, glowing gonads… this episode has them all! Listen now to find out more.

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The Natural Selection is back! Listen now and learn how to become a queen, why it might be useful to be 80% as big as a clown fish, and what finds their parents' skin… delicious.

This week the Natural Selection came out of their shells. We explored the wonderful variety of protective coatings and armour animals have, from snails to turtles (with the gentle giant glyptodon in between). Why did some cephalopods lose their shells? Why are bird eggs and reptile eggs different? Listen now to find out the answer to these big questions (and many more)!

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This week, the Natural Selection presents… marsupials! Listen now and learn which marsupial you might find in Antarctica, why opossums don't give birth through their noses, and which kangaroo didn't hop.

This week the Natural Selection talked about snakes. We explored how they move and interact with a variety of habitats from burrows to the air. We investigated how snakes differ from other limbless lizards and how they can reproduce in unique ways.

Listen now to discover more about these fascinating and often stigmatised creatures. Please like and share if you enjoyed this episode. For more content, you can find us at https://www.thenaturalselection.net/

The Natural Selection is back! Listen now and hear why aye-aye die, to better understand a panda hand, and whether you can (or should!) persue a kangaroo.