Just the Zoo of Us

Ellen and Christian return from their travels to review the good, the bad, and the ugly of the mongooses. We discuss the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum, historical plurals, neurotoxin Darth Vader, checking in with Pliny the Elder, the most "mean girls" scientific study ever, mysteriously weird pupils, the global issue of mongoose-induced ecological destruction, and so much more. 

Works Cited:

"Mongoose" - Etymonline

“How the mongoose can fight the snake: The binding site of the mongoose acetylcholine receptor” - Dora Barchan et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, August 1992

“Why the honey badger don't care: Convergent evolution of venom-targeted nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in mammals that survive venomous snake bites” - Danielle Drabeck et al., Toxicon, March 2015

Book 8, chapter 36 of Natural History - Pliny the Elder, 77 CE

“Experimental evidence for delayed postconflict management behaviour in wild dwarf mongooses”  - Amy Morris-Drake et al, eLife, September 2021

Hawaii Invasive Species Council - Mongoose (Urva auropunctata)

“Negative Impact of an Invasive Small Indian Mongoose Herpestes javanicus on Native Wildlife Species and Evaluation of a Control Project in Amami-Ohshima and Okinawa Islands, Japan” - Fumio Yamada & Ken Sugimura, Global Environmental Research, December 2004

Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, Schedule 2 - New Zealand government

Links:

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Ellen & special guest, science journalist and host of Radiolab and Terrestrials Lulu Miller, discuss the lifelong impact of science communication, review bald eagles, and share a very special podcast treat. Terrestrials: The Trio originally aired on July 26, 2024: https://radiolab.org/podcast/terrestrials-the-trio240726

From the original episode description:

"High above the banks of the Mississippi River, a nest holds the secret life of one of America’s most patriotic creatures. Their story puzzles scientists, reinforces Indigenous wisdom, and wows audiences—all thanks to a park ranger named Ed and a well-placed webcam. If you want to spoil the mystery, here ya go: it’s a bald eagle. Actually, it’s three bald eagles. A mama bird and daddies make a home together for over a decade and give new meaning to our national symbol."

Links:

Learn more about Terrestrials: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab-kids

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Join Ellen & special guest science communicator, infectious disease researcher, and the Khaleesi of Mosquitos for a review of some of the animal kingdom’s most controversial creatures. We discuss whether our guest would rather fight 10,000 mosquitos or a gorilla, evil squiggles and how malaria works, larval cannibalism and mosquito-on-mosquito crime, what the insectary is doing with all those soup cups and dental dams, and so much more. 

Links:

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Learn more about the the Kaushansky Lab at Seattle Children's Hospital's Center for Global Infectious Disease Research!

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We add another string to our bow by learning about the fiddler crab. We discuss the arc of history bending towards crab, the MogBot 2000, bad dating advice, non-orientable wormholes, and so much more. 

Works Cited:

“The Design of a Beautiful Weapon” - John Christy, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

“On the Other Hand: The Myth of Fiddler Crab Claw Reversal” - Judith S. Weis, BioScience, April 2019

“Sexual selection for structure building by courting male fiddler crabs: an experimental study of behavioral mechanisms” - John H. Christy et al., Behavioral Ecology, May 2002

“Synchronous waving in fiddler crabs: a review” - Patricia Ruth Yvonne Backwell, Current Zoology, July 2018

“Robotic crabs reveal that female fiddler crabs are sensitive to changes in male display rate” - Sophie L. Mowles et al., Biology Letters, January 2018

“Not what it looks like: mate-searching behaviour, mate preferences and clutch production in wandering and territory-holding female fiddler crabs” - M. Peso et al., R. Soc Open Sci.. August 2016

“Dishonest signalling of fighting ability and multiple performance traits in the fiddler crab Uca mjoebergi” - Simon P. Lailvaux et al., Functional Ecology, March 2009

“The effects of neighbor familiarity and size on cooperative defense of fiddler crab territories” - Isobel Booksmythe et al., Behavioral ecology, November 2011

“Beyond Abiotic Decay: Fiddler Crabs Accelerate Plastic Fragmentation in Pollution Hotspots” - Jose M. Riascos et al., Global Change Biology, December 2025

Links:

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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

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