Just the Zoo of Us

Join Ellen & special guest, podcasting powerhouse Steven Ray Morris, for a long-anticipated review of those furry little predators that have inspired devotion and admiration for thousands of years: the cat. We discuss the history of humans’ relationship to cats, ancient Egypt, fluid dynamics, how they manipulate the laws of physics, the future of cats in space, what makes each cat special to us, and so much more.Links:Find more of Steven's work on his website: https://www.stevenraymorris.com/Check out Steven's podcast See Jurassic Right!Follow Steven on Twitter and Instagram!Learn more about how you can celebrate World Okapi Day!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen fawns over the viral pygmy hippopotamus & Christian goes big with the harpy eagle. We discuss the evolution of hippos, blood sweat, poocoptering, Moo Deng, smooch breaks, sloth staredowns, and so much more.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!Source for harpy eagle call: https://xeno-canto.org/316474 Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Spider scientist Dr. Sebastian Echeverri returns to share with us his top 3 favorite spiders. We discuss spiders who go from moving like shadows to soaring through the air, spider cowboys with sick lasso moves, wife guy spiders who move in on the first date, how spiders appear in video games and movies and how they could be so much cooler, and of course so much more.Links:Check out Sebastian's book, Spiders of the United States & CanadaLearn more about Sebastian and see more of his work at spiderdaynightlive.comFor more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Christian hoots with siamangs & Ellen hollers with laughing kookaburras. We discuss defying gravity, how screaming fits into any good morning routine, birds' double-barreled voices, the true identity behind the SpongeBob dolphin sound, and more.Links:Audio source for siamang calls: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Symphalangus_syndactylus_20170623_Dou%C3%A9-la-Fontaine.oggAudio source for kookaburra calls: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dacelo_novaeguineae_ANWC_X00516.opusFor more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest, science communicator Lucca of Lucca's BioHub, for a look back on the half-a-billion year history of bugs. We discuss ancient millipedes as long as a horse, whether we’d rather fight 2 million ant-sized humans or one human-sized ant, the arms races and tiny empires and intertwined symbiotic relationships that have shaped the very planet into the world we know today, and so much more.Links:See more of Lucca's BioHub at their website!Follow Lucca on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen gets the ball rolling with dung beetles & Christian jaws away about the giant moray eel. We discuss tiny boots, field trips to the planetarium, The Mummy (1999), secret jaws, why moray eels make that face, teamwork on the reef, fact checking The Little Mermaid, and more.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

We're out traveling this week! In the meantime, please enjoy this episode of Bugs Need Heroes, in which Ellen joined hosts Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman to settle a debate: are shrimps bugs? Are mantis shrimps shrimps? We discuss how they may or may not be turning into crabs and what they might think of sunsets. Tangents include Godzilla, weddings, pet store stories, internet memes, Sailor Moon and anime translations. Originally aired on the Bugs Need Heroes podcast on June 23, 2024.Links:Find the original version of this episode, episode notes and links over at the Bugs Need Heroes podcast!Learn more about the podcast on their website!Follow Bugs Need Heroes on Instagram, Twitter and Reddit!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!Bugs Need Heroes theme music: "Ladybug Castle" by Rolemusic Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest, biodiversity champion Kai Gómez D'hers, for a journey through the skies of Argentina on some of the biggest wings in the world. We’re talking about the important role of scavengers as nature’s sanitation engineers, the cascading impacts of poison on entire ecosystems, how communities can work together to make ecological miracles happen, what’s up with the puppets, and so much more. Links:Learn more about the Andean Condor Integral Conservation Plan at the PCCA's website: English / EspañolFollow the PCCA on Instagram!Connect with Kai on Instagram!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Christian chews on the Gila monster & Ellen struts her stuff with the Indian peacock. We discuss Christian's Duolingo streak, lizard venom, yet another hot take from Charles Darwin, how to haze a peacock, and so much more. Real G's move in silence like the Gila monster.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & wildlife educator Sarah Skebba for a review of a modern-day dinosaur with some pretty extreme approaches to life: the rhinoceros hornbill. We’re talking about bizarre beaks with built-in resonance chambers, the most unpleasant nesting situation I have ever heard of, how zoos are helping conserve endangered birds in the wild, and so much more.Links:Learn more about edZOOcating and find educational resources for nature-loving kids at edzoocating.com!Follow edZOOcating on Instagram and YouTube!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen gets back in the saddle with seahorses & Christian goes dumpster diving with raccoons. We discuss why seahorses are the chameleons of the ocean, how males give birth, corn etiquette, a surprisingly common myth about America's most iconic furry bandits, and so much more.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen & special guest, marine biologist Jasmin Graham, review some of the coolest, cutest and sometimes the goofiest sharks in the ocean: hammerheads. We discuss what it’s like to study sharks in the wild, shark evolution and the huge questions scientists still have about it, the puppiest shark, and so much more.Links:Pre-order Jasmin's book, Sharks Don't Sink!Learn more about Jasmin's work on her website!Follow Jasmin on Twitter!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Christian keeps an eye out for sand boas & Ellen clears her cache with black-capped chickadees. We discuss googly eyes, troubleshooting reptile poop, skin of Theseus, borbs, inventory management, brain barcodes and factory resets, and so much more.Links:Report beak deformities to the Alaska Science CenterFor more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

join Ellen & special guest, naturalist and author of Secrets of the Octopus Sy Montgomery, for a look into the life and mind of some of the ocean’s most mystifying aliens: the giant Pacific octopus. We discuss an octopus’s least favorite texture, what happens when an arm goes rogue, the underwater city of Octopolis, how to make interspecies friendships, and so much more.Links:Find Secrets of the Octopus wherever you get books!Find more of Sy's work at her website: symontgomery.comFor more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen comes out of her shell with hermit crabs & Christian is tickled pink by flamingos. In this week's beach episode, we discuss vacancy chains, shell economies, crustacean diss tracks, Florida postcards, and making new enemies in a flamboyance.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guests Owen Ever and Laine Kaplan-Levenson for a revue of gay animals! We discuss manatee wuzzles, elephant matriarchy, giraffes necking in more ways than one, eagle throuples, the impact of prejudice on science, and so much more. This episode is a celebration of love, family, and community in - as our guest puts it - the animal queendom. NOTE: Since a lot of this episode is about the diversity of sexual behavior in animals, naturally it does contain more discussion of sex than most of our episodes, including behaviors that aren’t just motivated by reproduction. These discussions are not graphic or explicit, but it is a focal point of the conversation so I do encourage any young listeners to please check in with your grown-ups before listening.Links:Check out A Field Guide to Gay Animals!Follow the podcast on Instagram!Follow Owen on Instagram and learn more about their work on their website!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Christian bubbles over with hype for the diving bell spider & Ellen tells some fish tales about the legendary oarfish. We discuss Hotwheels sisyphus, Doordash for spiders, diving technology, Pokemon, sea serpent mythology, bioluminescence and so much more.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest, naturalist and birder Dara Miles Wilson, about some of the brightest and boldest members of the corvid family: the tenacious and charming blue jays. We discuss the audacity of jays and their amazing hawk impressions, what to put in your birdfeeder and why you might want to add a little spice, why blue jays aren’t actually blue, and so much more.Links:Follow Black AF in Stem on social media (linktree here) and check out the virtual and in-person events for this year's Black Birders Week!Follow Dara on Instagram or Twitter!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest, wildlife biologist and author Sophie Osborn, for a review of the skydiving champions of the animal kingdom: peregrine falcons. We discuss the adaptations that let these incredible birds tear through the sky at literally breakneck speeds, biomimicry in aircraft design and sporting goods, the plague of pesticide and how we almost lost some of our most iconic birds, and the lessons that birds can teach us about our own role in the environment.Links:Get your own copy of Feather Trails: A Journey of Discovery Among Endangered Birds by Sophie Osborn!Follow along with Sophie's work at her website!Watch peregrine falcons on the National Aviary's livestream, Peregrine FalconCam!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen earns her stripes with zebras & Christian DOES care about the honey badger. We discuss the mysteries of stripes, video games as scientific experiments, the important role of cool jackets in wildlife rehabilitation, zebras in unusual places, viral videos from 2011, venom resistance, cheetah mimicry, and so much more.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest, biologist Dr. Chris Anderson, for a review of the funkiest lizards in the world: chameleons! We discuss ballistic tongue projection, color changing and how cartoons get it wrong, eyes that move independently of each other, prehensile tails that act like a fifth leg, and so much more.Links:Learn more about International Chameleon Day & Wildlife Madagascar's mission on their website here!Follow the IUCN Chameleon Specialist Group on Facebook or Twitter to learn more about chameleon conservation!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest, conservationist and co-host of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Peter Gros, to talk about the iconic red wolf and their ongoing recovery from the brink of extinction. We discuss the shifting landscape and attitudes in wildlife conservation over the last few decades, the role that captive breeding and re-introduction have played in reviving nearly lost red wolf populations, what makes these iconic animals so special, why large predators are so integral to a thriving ecosystem, and so much more.Links:Check out Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, now airing on NBC!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen & special guest Isaac answer questions from young listeners! We discuss the smallest animals, giraffe sounds, polar bear buoyancy, sturgeon skin, metabolism, and more. Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & corvid scientist Dr. Kaeli Swift for a review of the clever little goths rummaging through a trash can near you: American crows. We discuss the twists and turns of a career in science, what crows can learn from funerals, how to tell a crow from a raven, and lessons in crucial skills like cheeto thievery and pizza crust gardening.Links:Learn more about Dr. Kaeli Swift and her work on her blog, corvidresearch.blog!Follow Dr. Kaeli Swift on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook or Twitter!Follow Marianas Nature to learn more about the wildlife of the Mariana Islands!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Christian explains why not to mess with the coral snake & Ellen puts the common cuckoo on blast. We discuss deadly neurotoxin, microfarts, what's up with those annoying flickering lightbulbs, sneaky disguises, evolutionary arms races, brood parasitism, bird genetics, and so much more. Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & evolutionary morphologist Dr. Kassandra Ford as we get amped up about electric fishes. We discuss fish who use electricity to make mind maps, sabotage each other by jamming their signals, starve themselves with their own teeth, and ask the important questions like, “do you have a favorite fish skull?”Links:Learn more about Dr. Ford's work at her website: https://www.kassandraford.com/Follow Dr. Ford on Instagram or Twitter!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Curious about the exclusive bonus content for Maximum Fun members? Enjoy some free samples from special episodes: "The Dewlap-Foraging Slug," Let's Learn Everything's "RATS! Cheddar Heist," "The Fakémon Lab," and "Our Favorite Animal." If you like what you hear, head over to https://maximumfun.org/join and sign up to get access to the entire bonus content library and SO much more! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen & Christian answer questions from the audience! We discuss the podcast's humble origins, magical spells, our favorite ducks, and more.Be a part of the MaxFunDrive & sign up to become a supporting member of the network and get access to exclusive content and beautiful gifts!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen softens up to the chinchilla & Christian breaks the ice with the walrus. We discuss Jackie Chan Adventures, fur slips, dust baths, tusks, whiskers, bells & whistles, Odysseus, and Lewis Carroll. Goo goo g'joob.Links:Get involved with the MaxFunDrive & check out this year's awesome gifts & bonus content!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

This special network wide event is a celebration of the MaxFunDrive! If you’d like to support podcasts you love for just $5 a month and get bonus gifts in the process, go to maximumfun.org/join. We’re kicking off the most exciting time of the year for the MaxFun Network with a trivia game show featuring hosts from tons of great podcasts!J. Keith van Straaten and Helen Hong from “Go Fact Yourself” are joined by:Ellen & Christian Weatherford - “Just the Zoo of Us” Alex Schmidt & Katie Goldin - “Secretly Incredibly Fascinating”If you’d like to hear more hosts competing for trivia supremacy, visit Maximumfun.org for the full version of this show. Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen & special guest, marine biologist Amani Webber-Schultz, suck up to the brilliant little moochers of the ocean: remoras. We discuss shark scales, suction cups, the most efficient way to eat tacos, scrapped Pokemon designs, and so much more.Links:Check out Amani's podcast, Sharkpedia!Follow Amani on Instagram and TikTok!Learn more about MISS!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest Owen Klessel for some well-deserved PR for the most bizarre and fascinating and incredible animal you’ve never heard of: solenodons. This episode, much like the animal itself, is full of surprises like nose bones, echolocation, an unexpected defense mechanism, butt nipples, and a scourge of mongooses.Links:Follow Owen's work on YouTube and TikTok!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Christian fishes for compliments about the fishing cat & Ellen goes rock climbing with rock hyraxes. We discuss cat eyes, fishing strategies, buck toothed vampires, toe shoes, Wikipedia drama, and more.For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest Shannon Roivas who brings us first-hand insight straight from her time spent in the forests of Tanzania studying our very own wild cousins: chimpanzees! On top of fascinating topics like the primate family tree, toe thumbs, termite popsicles and fear grimaces, our guest shares her unique experiences like naming chimpanzees, getting punched by one, and having the opportunity to watch them grow and learn in their very own home.Links:Follow Shannon on Instagram!Learn more about Roots & Shoots and how you can get involved with conservation over at their website!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Romance is in the air as Ellen commits to the trumpeter swan & Christian catches the lovebug bug. We discuss clown shoe runways, air horn duets, bird monogamy, a mysterious case of missing bugs, and the true meaning of going out with a bang.Links:Trumpeter swan sound found here via freesound.orgLearn more about native swan conservation & how you can help: Trumpeter Swan SocietyFor more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & science educator and nature hype man Nick VanAcker to sing praises for some of our favorite true bugs: cicadas! We discuss how and why cicada choruses sing the song of the summer, why they spend so much of their lives underground before emerging and what’s so special about prime numbers anyway, the real parasitic fungus that inspired a cicada-themed Pokémon, and so much more.Links:Follow Nick on TikTok!Check out more of Nick's work at his website!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Christian makes some noise for the Freddy Kreuger frog & Ellen picks a bouquet of bone-eating snot flowers. We discuss life as a mouth with legs, being born into literal Hunger Games, meme lore, whalefalls, and eating the bones.Links:It Is Wednesday My DudesWhale Fall (After Life of a Whale) by Sweet Fern ProductionsFor more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest, deep sea biologist Dr. Thom Linley, for a literal deep dive into an animal that just might change the way you think about the creatures of the abyss: the ethereal snailfish. We discuss what it’s like to be among the first humans to ever see a species, life in the trenches - like, the actual Mariana trench, freedom from beauty norms and justice for the blobfish, slurping up meat-flavored jellybeans off the ocean floor, and the adorable side of the hadal zone.Links:Check out Thom's podcast, Deep Sea Podcast!Follow the podcast on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram!Follow Thom on Twitter or Instagram!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen gets the zig-zagging zoomies with tiger beetles & Christian has an existential crisis over the giant siphonophore. We discuss the REAL fastest land animal on Earth, literally blinding speed, reverse Naruto running, world record technicalities, zooids (not Zoids), and what it means to be an organism.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest, environmental educator Jamison Cole, for a review of our very own backyard apex predators: bobcats! We discuss topics including but not limited to tail nubs, ear tufts, coyote pee, the bobcat’s Final Smash, relationship tips from nature, tomcat jowls, and the interconnectedness of every member of the ecosystem from the tiniest rodent all the way up to the bald eagle.Links:Check out the Ocean Advocacy Workshop and Plastic Ocean ProjectFor more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen & Christian share stories, observations and inspiration from special guest: you! We discuss what sounds fish make, memory transfer via cannibalism, and what to do when you're attacked by a zebra. Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & returning special guest, wildlife biologist Alex Troutman, for a review of some of our favorite mohawked chatterboxes: belted kingfishers. We discuss topics including but not limited to the vicious mockery of birds who fish better than us, biomimicry in train engineering, the truth behind Hollywood bird calls and lion roars, and stories from the field including spooky sounds in the forests of Borneo.Links:Check out Alex's books, including Critters of Georgia: Pocket Guide to Animals in Your State!Learn more about Alex and his work over at his website!Follow Alex on Instagram and Twitter!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

We're out traveling this week! In the meantime, please enjoy this episode of Bugs Need Heroes, in which Ellen joined hosts Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman for a conversation about bug-type Pokemon, the real-world bugs that inspired them, and the ecology we can learn from the world of Pokemon. Originally aired on the Bugs Need Heroes podcast on November 5, 2023.Links:Get the original full version of the episode, including additional quiz segment, over at the Bugs Need Heroes podcast!Learn more about the podcast on their website!Follow Bugs Need Heroes on Instagram, Twitter and Reddit!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Christian digs into the star-nosed mole & Ellen goes for a deep dive into the Devil's Hole pupfish. We discuss flowery tentacles, mole lore in Avatar: the Last Airbender, waves in the desert, a Supreme Court ruling, and the future ecological impacts of nuclear testing.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen is joined by a familiar voice, science communicator Ralph Crewe, back with us to review the wiggly little living fossils full of teeth and blood: Pacific lampreys. We discuss the intersection between the natural and manmade world, what lampreys can tell us about the history of vertebrate evolution, the unique adaptations that have let them thrive from riverbeds all the way to the open ocean and back for hundreds of millions of years, and why you should thank a lamprey today. Links:Check out Ralph's work on YouTube over at Practical Engineering!Follow Ralph on Instagram and Twitter!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen gets hooked on the loggerhead shrike & Christian makes a clean getaway with the five-lined skink. We discuss tomial teeth, impalement, dropping tails, and regeneration.Links:Check out Sparkbird and listen to their music on Spotify!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest, fish biologist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Brenda Pracheil, for a review of the gentle giants that have been swimming up and down our rivers since the dinosaur age: sturgeon. We discuss being a fish lawyer, ancient genetics, scales, whiskers, caviar, woosh tubes, and more.Links:World Fish Migration DayThe North American Sturgeon & Paddlefish SocietyPacific Northwest National LaboratoryFor more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Christian leaves a glowing review for the bark scorpion & Ellen casts a vote for the pūteketeke. We discuss neurotoxin, biofluorescence, the ghostly penguin dance, and John Oliver's impact on the Bird of the Century.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen & special guest, Bachelor star turned science communicator Kendall Long, review pigs! In this episode, we discuss pigs and their achievements in some surprising endeavors, from digging up truffles and thriving in the wilderness to playing video games and basking on the beaches of the Bahamas.Links:Check out Kendall's podcast, Little Curiosities!Follow Kendall on Instagram and TikTok!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen falls down a rabbit hole with the stoat & Christian looks up to the barreleye. We discuss the weasel war dance, rabbit assassins, paradoxical eyes, and deep sea body horror.Links: For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo