Quirky Creepy and Freaky

Olivia Streit
  • 5.0 (1)
  • NATURE
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY
Quirky Creepy and Freaky

Come along with Olivia Streit as we journey through the animal kingdom and investigate different animal traits that are quirky, creepy, or just plain freaky!

  1. FEB 15

    Episode 65: To be a crab or not to be a crab

    Do you ever think about how crabs evolved 5 times? Do you need more crab facts in your life? Then this episode is for you! In this episode, we talk about carcinization and the phenomenon behind crabs evolution. Paper mentioned in the episode about what it means to be a crab: Evolution of crabs - History and deconstruction of a prime example of convergence. Scholtz, 2014

    25 min

  2. 12/22/2024

    Episode 64: Christmas Worms

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 'Tis the season for some festive animals, and of course we all think about worms when we're looking to get into the holiday spirit. For this holiday special, we're talking all about the Christmas Tree Worm, a fun little polychaete worm in the coral reefs. How do they get their name? How old do they get? Are they festive? Tune in to find out!

    15 min

  3. 10/13/2024

    Episode 63: Spiders in disguise

    Camouflage is common in the animal world, but what about mimicry? Ant mimicry is surprisingly common, so in this episode, we talk about a few of the many animals that pretend to be ants! I highlight a few species of jumping spider that pretend to be ants, but also a snail that figured out how to join army ant colonies!

    22 min

  4. 06/29/2024

    Episode 62: Octopuses Dream of Punching Fish

    Today we're finally talking about dreams! We dream, but do other critters dream? Does your cat dream? Do platypuses dream? What about octopuses? Perhaps spiders? We'll talk about all of these questions! Learn a little bit more about dreams,  which other animals dream, and what animals don't dream!

    33 min

  5. 02/13/2024

    Episode 61: You've Got a Friend In Me

    We're back! Did you know about sea cucumbers? Did you know sea cucumbers sometimes have some fishy friends? Now you do! Tune on in to hear about sea cucumbers, some ramblings about their cousins, and the fishy friend that lives with them in one of the stranger of the symbiotic relationships in the ocean.

    26 min

  6. 12/14/2023

    Episode 60:The Science Behind the Purr

    We know why cats purr, but do we really know HOW cats purr? After a new paper was released in early November, now we do! Or at least we have some new insight into it. Tune in to learn more about cats, the aerodynamics behind your cat's purr, some new cat discoveries, and find out the nitty gritty behind how cats make their purring sounds. Sources: Herbst, C.T, Prigge, T., Garcia, M., Hampala, V., Hofer, R., Weissengruber G.E., Svec, J.G., Fitch W.T. 2023. Domestic cat larynges can produce purring frequencies without neural input. Current Biology, 33:4727-4732Why cats purr is a surprisingly long-standing mystery. Now we're one step closer to solving it. https://www.livescience.com/animals/cats/why-cats-purr-is-a-surprisingly-long-standing-mystery-now-were-one-step-closer-to-solving-it How cats purr: The mystery unraveled at last! https://cats-magazine.com/2023/10/11/how-cats-purr-the-mystery-unraveled-at-last/

    18 min

  7. 10/17/2023

    Episode 59: Butterflies That Have Parasites That Have Parasites

    What happens when you introduce a species of butterfly to a new island, and not one, but two new wasps also show up? A parasitic wasp version of nesting dolls! For our Halloween episode, we're talking about some butterfly body snatchers who also have body snatchers; a butterfly's parasitic wasp also has a parasitic wasp! Tune in to learn how one caterpillar can have two hidden parasitoids at once, just how tiny a wasp can be, and who the Glanville Fritillary Butterfly was named after!

    21 min

  8. 10/01/2023

    Episode 58:The Jellyfish are Learning!

    Can jellyfish learn despite not having a brain? This week we're talking about a recently published paper providing evidence that box jellyfish are capable of types of learning previously thought to require, well, a brain! Tune in to learn more about box jellyfish, their nervous systems, and what sorts of things a jellyfish can learn!   The paper:  Bielecki, J., Nielsen, S.K.D., Nachman, G., and Garm, A. 2023. Associative learning in the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora. Current Biology 33, 1-10.

    20 min
See All (65)

About

Come along with Olivia Streit as we journey through the animal kingdom and investigate different animal traits that are quirky, creepy, or just plain freaky!

Information

  • Creator
    Olivia Streit
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    65
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2021 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Quirky Creepy and Freaky

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes, and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada