1 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:10,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to Creature Feature production of I Heart Radio. I'm 2 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: your host of Many Parasites, Katie Golden. I studied psychology 3 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:16,759 Speaker 1: and evolutionary biology, and today on the show, it's a 4 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: real enchanted evening with some sexy rendezvouses, rande rendezvous rendezvouses, 5 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: and scandalous trysts from the loudest fishy love making in 6 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: the world to amphibians having a ball. Discover this more 7 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: as we answer the age old question what does ed 8 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:39,839 Speaker 1: Dean and marine biologists have in common? Joining me today 9 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: is friend of the show, host of the upcomping podcast 10 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,280 Speaker 1: Heidi World, The Heidi flysh Story, which is coming to 11 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio this year, and also frog appreciator Molly Lambert. Welcome, Hello, 12 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: thank you for having me. I'm excited to be back 13 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: on Creature Feature. Yes, yes, I am having you back 14 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: because you wanted to talk about frog balls, uh, the 15 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,559 Speaker 1: balls of frogs that is which we will talk about 16 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:10,479 Speaker 1: at the end of the episode. Very exciting and also 17 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: the rest of the episode I would say is a 18 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,199 Speaker 1: little bit risk a uh, we're definitely going to quack 19 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: out our curse words. But you know, if you have 20 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: young ears that you don't want to know about, like 21 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: the love making of fish, dolphins, and frogs. You know, 22 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: just consider that's what we're talking about. First, we're gonna 23 00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 1: talk about the loudest, one of the loudest underwater sounds 24 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: in the world, and this is due to a mass 25 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:46,120 Speaker 1: fish love fest. So there are obviously a lot of 26 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: problems when it comes to over fishing. It's bad for 27 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: the environment, it's bad for fish populations, it's bad for 28 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: populations of animals that survive on fish. And you know, 29 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: it's also bad for animals that get cotton fishing nets, 30 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: bad for coral reeves. It's terrible. But perhaps the worst 31 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: thing is that it is killing the vibe for these 32 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 1: giant fish orgies. So the Gulf Corvina is a fish 33 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: found in the Gulf of California between Baja California and Mexico. 34 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 1: And you know, there's sort of just a regular looking 35 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: silver fish. They're not too exciting, um, kind of just 36 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:34,640 Speaker 1: you're a very archetypical looking fish. They can grow up 37 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:37,919 Speaker 1: to be about a meter or three ft long and 38 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: up to about twelve kilograms or twenty six pounds. They 39 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: eat crab, sardines and other small marine mammals. There's really 40 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: nothing too special about them until you consider their mating habits. 41 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: Because it is it's loud, it's loud and wild, it's 42 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 1: it's wet, it's wet, wild and wonderful. Exactly. It is 43 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: a wet and wild kind of fun going on with 44 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:11,520 Speaker 1: a mass spawning event of millions of these goulf Corvina fish. 45 00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: And yeah, they do not keep quiet about it. Males 46 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 1: actually have a mating call, do you really like when 47 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,240 Speaker 1: you think about fish, you don't really think of them 48 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: as having mating calls, Right, that's like a bird's thing. Yeah, 49 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:30,040 Speaker 1: I mean it makes sense. Everybody's gotta gotta have a 50 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: little noise that helps them find people to make out with, right, Yeah, 51 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: I mean I like sort of to do a classic 52 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: siren just like boop poop and then hope you know 53 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: someone sees that, like, hey, you know, that's that's my 54 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: that's my call, you know, car al arm poop. Yeah, 55 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: they're perfect. That's I mean, I think that's how I 56 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: found my husband. So you know, it's uh, it's a 57 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: real winner of a call. And indeed, these fish have 58 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: a beautiful, alluring, sexy and sensual call. And I'm going 59 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 1: to play it for you. Try not to like dive 60 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:19,599 Speaker 1: into the ocean to romance one of these fish. Wow, sensual, 61 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: it is sensual. I mean I like it. I thought 62 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: kind of like a cat purring. It's comforting. I'm a 63 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:29,920 Speaker 1: strong and sensitive gulf corvina and I will inseminate your 64 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: eggs kind of kind of vibe. So imagine that call, 65 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 1: which is already pretty loud, times a million, because there 66 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: are millions of these males making this call at the 67 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:45,479 Speaker 1: same time. In fact, it's so loud you can hear 68 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: it outside the water and through the holes of ships 69 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 1: passing near the area. It's one of the loudest sounds 70 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 1: in the sea, only beaten by sperm, blue bowhead and 71 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:01,839 Speaker 1: fin whales. And in fact, each individual fish has a 72 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 1: mating call of a hundred and seventy seven decibels, which 73 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: is louder than a chainsaw and can actually damage the 74 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: hearing of other marine animals underwater, which I do. Feel 75 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: like if you're a sea turtle and you're going to 76 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:19,520 Speaker 1: like the sea turtle doctor and you're like, yeah, my 77 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: hearing has been I've been getting Tonita's and it's been 78 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: bad lately. It's like, well, why have you been going 79 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:27,600 Speaker 1: to rock concerts. It's like, no, it's just you know, 80 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 1: listening to fish sex, you know, a little embarrassing. Hey, 81 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,159 Speaker 1: you know you're into what you're into, that's true. I 82 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:38,080 Speaker 1: really shouldn't kink shame sea turtles. I need to like 83 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 1: cross stitch a thing to hang in my office so 84 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 1: that I can see, like, do not kink shames turtles, 85 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: so that I always remember. Unfortunately, for these fish, these 86 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: loud meeting calls are a great way for fishing boats 87 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:57,360 Speaker 1: to find the fish and they will fish them on mass, 88 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: which is really uncool. Speaking of kink shaming, and these 89 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:05,479 Speaker 1: poor fish are just trying to get down funky with it, 90 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: and it's there being real real spawn blockers. I think 91 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:13,160 Speaker 1: it's I mean, maybe the ultimate party foul is like 92 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: trying to fish you while you're trying to flirt with 93 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: other fish, you know what I mean. Speaking of fishy mating, 94 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 1: there is another species of fish that has a pretty 95 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: large impact on their environment and it is salmon molly. 96 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:37,279 Speaker 1: Are you familiar with the mating cycle of salmon um? 97 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 1: Is that when they swim upstream, yes exactly, right, spawn, 98 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:45,719 Speaker 1: yes exactly? Then yes a little bit, and I watch them, 99 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:49,560 Speaker 1: I love to watch the explore dot org bear cam 100 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,720 Speaker 1: nice where all the salmon are swimming and the bears 101 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: just trying to like fish them out of the water. 102 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: The most soothing thing. Do you ever watch that? No, 103 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:00,320 Speaker 1: but I want to know it's a bear. I'm gonna 104 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: send it to you. It's so it's incredible. Explore dot Org. 105 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 1: Guess this incredible website I talked about on every podcast 106 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: because obsessed with it. It's just nature cams, live cams 107 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: with their nature, and so one of them is a 108 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: feed of a river in Alaska and it's just bears, 109 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: bears and salmon. That's amazing. I love it and I 110 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: want it incredible. I put it on all the time 111 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: when I just like need to relax and don't want 112 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: to watch something like narrative. I mean there's a narrative. Well, yeah, 113 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: the narrative is a cute fuzzy bear getting a delicious 114 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:36,600 Speaker 1: snack of dying spawning fish, which is I think going 115 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: to be my new favorite bedtime bedtime show to watch. 116 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:46,240 Speaker 1: That sounds incredibly relaxing. I guess unless you're you kind 117 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: of identify with the salmon, then it's sort of more 118 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 1: of a horror situation. Yeah, but you know, yeah, I 119 00:07:56,240 --> 00:08:00,440 Speaker 1: love watching bears just just pulling fish out the water. 120 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: It just looks so satisfying, fun, having the time of 121 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: their lives, just watching like a group of teenagers descend 122 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: upon the sizzlers, right exactly, just just chilling. Yeah, all right, 123 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: thank you a link. It's actually I guess it's off 124 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: season right now because it's so they but they have 125 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:22,440 Speaker 1: the greatest hits real, of course, thank you so much. 126 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: I like to think that the greatest hits are just 127 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 1: some salmon getting decapitated in the bear looking so happy. Yeah. 128 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:34,559 Speaker 1: For every sort of dark turn that nature takes, it's 129 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:37,319 Speaker 1: there's also an adorable side to it. For every like 130 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: antelope that's ripped open, there's a cute little lion cub, 131 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: you know, chewing on. It's to watanum. So anyways, salmon, yes, 132 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: you're correct, Molly. They do spawn. They do go upstream. 133 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 1: They are anadromus, which means that they spend their adult 134 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: lives in the saltwater ocean and then to spawn, they 135 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: swim up into freshwater streams where they're young will hatch, 136 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: and then the young salmon will migrate back out to 137 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:11,559 Speaker 1: the ocean, which is a really fascinating life cycle. It's 138 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 1: unusual for fish to be able to transition from salt 139 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:19,840 Speaker 1: water to freshwater and back. But even more interesting is 140 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: that samina are architects of the river environment. So fish 141 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:30,560 Speaker 1: mating often involves external fertilization, So the female will lay 142 00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 1: her eggs and the male will pass over the eggs, 143 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:38,720 Speaker 1: releases sperm, fertilize them externally, and then hey, presta, you're done, 144 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 1: which you know, sufficient at least, maybe not all that intimate, 145 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: but definitely efficient. Hey, efficient can be intimate sometimes if 146 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:51,520 Speaker 1: you're on the go, I gotta get it in streamlined intimacy. 147 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:57,560 Speaker 1: So basically, once the eggs are fertilized, the male's job 148 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:01,160 Speaker 1: is somewhat done, but the theme ale will continue to 149 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 1: do a little bit of parental care for these eggs. 150 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: So she will lay her eggs in a little trench 151 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:13,480 Speaker 1: that she's dug, and the male will fertilize it. And 152 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:18,199 Speaker 1: then the female will actually bury the eggs in rocks, 153 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:21,680 Speaker 1: which you know, she's sort of artfully placing these rocks 154 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: so she's not crushing the eggs, so this will protect them. 155 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:30,480 Speaker 1: And this is called a red which I think it's 156 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: because there's like an Irish word red, which means to 157 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: make something ready. So basically, you know, she tidies up 158 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:44,480 Speaker 1: this area, covers the eggs with rocks, and then she 159 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:47,880 Speaker 1: will protect them for ten days and then die because 160 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 1: they are similar paris, meaning that they spawn once and 161 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: then die in a beautiful, beautiful cycle. Yeah, I mean, 162 00:10:57,559 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 1: just like all these sort of zombies amon like that. 163 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: The stress of spawning is so intense and they use 164 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: up so much energy that their immune system kind of 165 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 1: fails and they just start falling apart even while they're 166 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:16,560 Speaker 1: still alive. So they look like a bunch of zombie fish. Uh, 167 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:19,400 Speaker 1: And they use their last act to try to try 168 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:23,360 Speaker 1: to protect their their young eggs. So you know, who 169 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:28,320 Speaker 1: doesn't love a zombie fish. The act that the female 170 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:32,480 Speaker 1: takes in digging up these trenches to protect her eggs 171 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 1: actually has a massive impact on the environment. So the 172 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,680 Speaker 1: digging up of sediment and the movement of the rocks 173 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:46,720 Speaker 1: are thought to have a big impact on the river system. 174 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:51,439 Speaker 1: She is actually releasing small rocks and sediments into the 175 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 1: current of the water that can pick these up and away, 176 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:59,839 Speaker 1: which exposes more bedrock to the power of the water, 177 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:05,680 Speaker 1: which can cause more erosion, and even though it may 178 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: not be a really strong effect for a single fish 179 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:13,720 Speaker 1: during one mating season, researchers have actually modeled this behavior 180 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:17,680 Speaker 1: and scaled it up to millions of years and found 181 00:12:17,679 --> 00:12:22,200 Speaker 1: a significant impact on shaping the terrain. Uh. There was 182 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:26,679 Speaker 1: a paper called Sex that Moves Mountains the influence of 183 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:31,000 Speaker 1: spawning fish on river profiles over geological time scales, which, 184 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:35,040 Speaker 1: you know, I really do appreciate when researchers try to 185 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:39,520 Speaker 1: make their titled sexy, and I think it is charming. 186 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:44,480 Speaker 1: Charming is not really the word awe inspiring that salmon 187 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 1: sex can terraform the earth, like what is Elon Musk 188 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:51,800 Speaker 1: done lately? I don't think the same can be said 189 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 1: for him. Absolutely not. It's I think like that could 190 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: be sort of a response to whenever Elon Musk starts 191 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:04,960 Speaker 1: crying about terraforming Mars or whatever, it's like, well, salmon 192 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:11,840 Speaker 1: terraform earth just by having sex. So you know, call 193 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 1: me when you do that. Thank you, bye bye bye. 194 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 1: So now we're going to move on to some mammalian romance, 195 00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 1: but we are staying in the water because we're talking 196 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: about dolphin mating habits, which when you think about it, 197 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:42,560 Speaker 1: it's a little strange. Typically mammals will mate outside of 198 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:48,240 Speaker 1: the ocean, and our biology is not really suited for 199 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 1: submerged mating, whereas dolphins have some interesting adaptations to manage this. 200 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:01,880 Speaker 1: But there's a problem in terms of research because it's 201 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:06,480 Speaker 1: actually pretty difficult to connect research on the mating habits 202 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:11,360 Speaker 1: of large marine mammals because they're under the water and 203 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:16,120 Speaker 1: they're big. So, uh it's sounds kind of like it 204 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: would be obvious to know like the mechanics of sex 205 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:25,600 Speaker 1: with dolphins, but it's actually pretty uh, pretty difficult, pretty 206 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:30,880 Speaker 1: tricky to uh, you know, monitor without being a huge pervert. 207 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:33,800 Speaker 1: And as we'll talk about soon, like all the ways 208 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:37,480 Speaker 1: in which they try to study dolphins sex just makes 209 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:43,040 Speaker 1: them seem like serial killers. There are a few necessary 210 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:48,120 Speaker 1: adaptations that dolphins have to have for sex underwater, because 211 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 1: salt water is actually a spermicide, so they need to 212 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 1: make the uterus waterproof, otherwise they wouldn't be able to 213 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:02,840 Speaker 1: have a success ustible copulation because the salt water would 214 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:08,080 Speaker 1: immediately destroy any of the male sperm. So female dolphins 215 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:13,240 Speaker 1: actually have these very convoluted vaginal canals with a lot 216 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: of folds in it and a mucastle lining that protects 217 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:21,600 Speaker 1: the entrance of the cervix. Yeah, they're like kind of 218 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:26,440 Speaker 1: accordions shaped. It's wow, like a duck kind of yeah, 219 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:29,520 Speaker 1: kind of like a duck. They're not exactly corkscrew shaped 220 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 1: like ducks are. For those of you out there who 221 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:36,880 Speaker 1: have not had the privilege of hearing about uh duck genitals. 222 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:41,000 Speaker 1: The males have corkscrew shaped penises and the females have 223 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:46,040 Speaker 1: corkscrew shaped vaginas in sort of a arms race for 224 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:50,720 Speaker 1: the females to try to have more control over whose 225 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:57,440 Speaker 1: sperm she allows UH to fertilize her eggs. So dolphins 226 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:01,240 Speaker 1: have sort of a similar situation. It's made more complicated 227 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 1: by the fact that they need to make sure that 228 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:10,120 Speaker 1: the saltwater doesn't enter the uterus and kill the sperm. 229 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:14,720 Speaker 1: And male penises for dolphins are not weirdly shaped. I mean, 230 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:17,520 Speaker 1: I guess they are in the general sense, but they're 231 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 1: not like a corkscrew shaped like ducks are. So the 232 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:26,880 Speaker 1: folds actually in the female dolphins vagina are surrounded by 233 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:31,160 Speaker 1: muscles that may be able to essentially seal off the 234 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:35,120 Speaker 1: entrance to the cervix to prevent saltwater from reaching it, 235 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:40,200 Speaker 1: which has this sort of side benefit or even a 236 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 1: major benefit of potentially allowing her to control whether the 237 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: sperm ever reaches her cervix, so giving her sperm choice 238 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:56,120 Speaker 1: control over incimination, so she can just like get a 239 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: bunch of sperm in there and then just like like 240 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:02,080 Speaker 1: close off the sheet. That is the theory. Yes, I 241 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:08,120 Speaker 1: don't think that that conclusively, No, yeah, yeah, And there 242 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 1: are a lot of instances in the animal kingdom of 243 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 1: females exerting this sort of reproductive choice where they're able 244 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:23,760 Speaker 1: to control whether the sperm actually reaches their eggs or 245 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 1: you know, whose sperm they use. They can like save 246 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:30,919 Speaker 1: different sperm packets, and it's really interesting. And so I 247 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 1: think it is like for especially for mega fauna, something 248 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:38,080 Speaker 1: big like a dolphin. It is really interesting to see 249 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:43,840 Speaker 1: this kind of uh possible reproductive choice that the female 250 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:49,240 Speaker 1: dolphins are able to use. But to even understand the 251 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:53,879 Speaker 1: mechanics of dolphins sex is really difficult. You can try 252 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:57,399 Speaker 1: to like go underwater with some cameras, but that's not 253 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:01,560 Speaker 1: gonna help you understand all that much. As there are 254 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 1: these techniques that researchers can use for really little critters 255 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:10,399 Speaker 1: like insects where they can flash freeze them with liquid 256 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:14,360 Speaker 1: nitrogen during mating and then basically be able to like 257 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:20,679 Speaker 1: cut them open and see how their genitals interlock. Ah. Yeah, 258 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:24,119 Speaker 1: it's a real, real Edgeen territory here. I guess I 259 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:27,800 Speaker 1: should issue sort of a warning that it's gonna get 260 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:31,240 Speaker 1: worse from here on out. We're we're this is like 261 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:36,680 Speaker 1: serial killer Edgeen body parts horror. So if you don't 262 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:40,560 Speaker 1: want to listen about that, you know, maybe maybe skip 263 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:45,560 Speaker 1: the next the next section, it's like dolphins serial killer horror, 264 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,879 Speaker 1: which is even scarier. Yeah, they've got the perfect horror 265 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:54,800 Speaker 1: movie scream just going the whole time. But so researchers 266 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:59,200 Speaker 1: have to rely on the frozen body parts of dead 267 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:04,040 Speaker 1: dolphins in order to study the mechanics of mating. So 268 00:19:04,119 --> 00:19:08,760 Speaker 1: they'll use frozen dolphin genitals of a variety of species 269 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:16,639 Speaker 1: to recreate mating by artificially inflating the male's penis and 270 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:23,000 Speaker 1: then trying to fit it into the frozen vagina and 271 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:28,720 Speaker 1: then doing a CT scan to document this unholy abomination 272 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:34,199 Speaker 1: that I don't understand. How you know, the FBI hasn't 273 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 1: just like burst down their door. Sorry, I was just 274 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:38,680 Speaker 1: like I don't have it. I'm trying to think of 275 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: a joke, and I'm just like, ah, I know, it's 276 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:44,440 Speaker 1: just it is just kind of it's just kind of horrifying. 277 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:50,040 Speaker 1: It's like, I get that it's research, and I'm fairly 278 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:55,879 Speaker 1: certain the researchers are good, normal people, because I've never 279 00:19:55,960 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 1: met a nasty marine biologist, but damn you guys, like 280 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:06,680 Speaker 1: whoever wrote that grant must be a genius, because how 281 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:10,760 Speaker 1: you write that without getting arrested, I have no idea. 282 00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, we're looking for some government funds. Um, well, 283 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:19,439 Speaker 1: basically what we've done is we've frozen a bunch of 284 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:22,920 Speaker 1: dolphin penises and vaginas and we're just we're just kind 285 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 1: of kind of put them together like legos, you know 286 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: how you do that? You know, So we're gonna we're 287 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:33,840 Speaker 1: gonna need a grant for that. Yeah, No, that's it's uh, 288 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:42,680 Speaker 1: you know, science is fascinating, it's absolutely incredible. Uh So 289 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:48,000 Speaker 1: you know, if you gotta, if you gotta sometimes mash 290 00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:52,760 Speaker 1: some like dolphin popsicles made out of their genitals together 291 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:57,880 Speaker 1: in the name of better understanding their biology, I guess 292 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 1: I guess it's cool, you know, all right, Well, so 293 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:07,840 Speaker 1: through this research, they actually found that different species of 294 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 1: dolphins seem to have different interlocking shapes, if that makes sense, 295 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:19,840 Speaker 1: which seems to indicate that there's different levels of sex 296 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 1: based competition. Where in some species they're very competitive, so 297 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:30,240 Speaker 1: the females are kind of have evolved a vagina that 298 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:35,400 Speaker 1: is able to thwart male insemination more, whereas other species 299 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,280 Speaker 1: they don't have those kinds of mechanisms. So it's really 300 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:43,600 Speaker 1: interesting to see how, you know, we think about animals 301 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:48,719 Speaker 1: competing maybe in terms of food, or competing against other species, 302 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:52,480 Speaker 1: or competing for a mate, but there's also competition involved 303 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:57,639 Speaker 1: when it comes down to basically who gets to decide 304 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:02,159 Speaker 1: um what you know, what goes on during reproduction and 305 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:06,160 Speaker 1: whose sperm you get to use. And they're they're even 306 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:09,600 Speaker 1: animals that will collect sperm from different males and you know, 307 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:12,720 Speaker 1: use which one is the strongest. And it's really it's 308 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:19,560 Speaker 1: really interesting and obviously also really sometimes disturbing when researchers 309 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:25,000 Speaker 1: have to pick through frozen, frozen dolphin wieners. Just the 310 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:28,640 Speaker 1: mental image I think is enough for me right now. Yeah, Well, 311 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: I'm you're lucky you only have a mental image in 312 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:36,200 Speaker 1: researching this, I found a slide show that was at 313 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:39,800 Speaker 1: like a lecture of just a bunch of different you 314 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:44,119 Speaker 1: like animal uterus is and I wish I hadn't seen that. 315 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:47,400 Speaker 1: I wish you hadn't seen it too. Thank you all. 316 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:57,159 Speaker 1: I appreciate that. Alright, So now this is your favorite topic, Molly. 317 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:01,520 Speaker 1: We're going to talk about toad set balls, and I'm 318 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 1: talking about not like toad uh testicles. I'm talking about 319 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:13,240 Speaker 1: big balls of toads all having a good time. Question Mark, 320 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:18,040 Speaker 1: you actually uh talked about this on a previous episode 321 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:19,919 Speaker 1: where I had you and I think on the Squid 322 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:26,200 Speaker 1: Games episode, right, Molly, Yes, that's right, and you were 323 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 1: sort of saying you think that there are these uh 324 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 1: toads or frogs that form these big sort of mosh 325 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:39,280 Speaker 1: pit balls of sexual activity. And indeed you're absolutely right. Uh. 326 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:42,800 Speaker 1: First one that we're going to talk about is the 327 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:46,800 Speaker 1: western toad, which is found all along the West of 328 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:50,919 Speaker 1: America's so that's Canada, the US, and Mexico in the 329 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: western regions. It's this inconspicuous little green and brown toad. 330 00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,040 Speaker 1: It grows about two to five inches long, which is 331 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:03,959 Speaker 1: six to thirteen centimeters. It's found in forests meadows and bogs, 332 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:09,160 Speaker 1: and it seems like a pretty vanilla toad. Again, doesn't 333 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:12,680 Speaker 1: seem that interesting when you're just looking at this little toad, 334 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:17,280 Speaker 1: But it's actually what is known as an explosive breeder, 335 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:21,760 Speaker 1: which means that they made in huge flash mobs during 336 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:27,040 Speaker 1: breeding season. So usually it happens right after it rains. 337 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 1: They like to breed it in aquatic environments like ponds, 338 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:36,080 Speaker 1: calm rivers, or springs, and so like, when the conditions 339 00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:38,760 Speaker 1: are right, when the mood is right, there's just this 340 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 1: explosion of mating activity, which is complete chaos. I love it. 341 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,720 Speaker 1: I learned about mating balls, I think, um because I 342 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 1: would just get really mad at like evolutionary psychology people, 343 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 1: which is like, well it's used always for like men's 344 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:58,199 Speaker 1: rights type stuff. So there was all this stuff always 345 00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:01,119 Speaker 1: about like well men have to like spread their seed 346 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:04,840 Speaker 1: to the most you know, people possible because that's like 347 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:08,520 Speaker 1: what nature does, blah blah blah. And then it was like, yeah, 348 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:12,720 Speaker 1: guess what else happens in nature? Like a lady frog 349 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:16,639 Speaker 1: it's like a hundred dude frogs to collect all their sperm, 350 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,040 Speaker 1: or like a lady dolphins with all the dolphins and 351 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 1: then like decide switch dolphin she wants Like they all 352 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:25,520 Speaker 1: used it to frame it as like male selection chooses everything, 353 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:29,240 Speaker 1: you know, and I was like, actually, it's all chaos. 354 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:34,399 Speaker 1: And also the idea even mammalian creatures would reflect like 355 00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:38,320 Speaker 1: human sexual behavior. It's also just like not necessarily and 356 00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:41,320 Speaker 1: also it's not that scientific, Like people are different from 357 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:44,440 Speaker 1: each other too. You know, some frogs want to pack 358 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:47,720 Speaker 1: all the frogs, and some frogs just wanna one frog 359 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:49,240 Speaker 1: at a time, and some frogs don't want to pack 360 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:52,639 Speaker 1: any frogs at all. You know, that's what that's what 361 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:57,399 Speaker 1: makes up life beautiful. They're not necessarily very picky about 362 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:01,240 Speaker 1: what they are trying to hump as we'll talk about soon. 363 00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:03,639 Speaker 1: But no, I do completely agree with you. I get 364 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:08,560 Speaker 1: I get frustrated with pop evolutionary psychology. I studied both 365 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:12,159 Speaker 1: psychology and evolutionary biology, which I always say in my intro. 366 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:16,840 Speaker 1: But what's interesting is like I could by studying sort 367 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:22,119 Speaker 1: of the separate disciplines. Is like, there's very clear distinctions 368 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:27,760 Speaker 1: to me about what you can infer through evolutionary adaptations 369 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:36,160 Speaker 1: the path of evolution versus an individual psychology. Obviously, psychology 370 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:40,040 Speaker 1: in general, like our our brains in our physiology is 371 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:44,320 Speaker 1: a result of evolution. But to try to pin a 372 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:48,159 Speaker 1: thread from a specific behavior and wind it all the 373 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:51,040 Speaker 1: way back hundreds of thousands or millions of years ago 374 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:56,840 Speaker 1: to some path and evolution is extremely difficult. And anyone 375 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:01,560 Speaker 1: making that claim just suspicious and think it's also socialized. 376 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:04,320 Speaker 1: I think I think it's like even like there was 377 00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:08,040 Speaker 1: some study I think it was Bonobo's, but just about 378 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:13,040 Speaker 1: how different tribes of monkeys acted had different behaviors and 379 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:15,320 Speaker 1: that were based around like what other tribes of money 380 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,520 Speaker 1: and so I think also it's like like people who 381 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:23,280 Speaker 1: are really into evopsych and just being like this is hardwired. 382 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:26,880 Speaker 1: This is how it is. It's like, well, it's also socialized, 383 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:30,639 Speaker 1: and like if you ignore how how much everyone is socialized, 384 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:34,639 Speaker 1: especially socialized into like sexual identity and roles and stuff 385 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:38,720 Speaker 1: like that, and you're just like, you know, caveman have 386 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: to hunt. Like also like the hunting and gathering thing 387 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,159 Speaker 1: isn't true. I just I'm this is my my platform. 388 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:48,880 Speaker 1: I'm big on this topic. You're preaching to the choir here. 389 00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:54,679 Speaker 1: Monkeys and other apes do definitely have culture in in 390 00:27:54,760 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 1: my humble opinion, based on how different different groups different 391 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 1: troops of primates will have different behaviors, like they're specific 392 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:09,240 Speaker 1: types of tool use and communication methods that they'll use. 393 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:14,439 Speaker 1: Even different groups of like cetaceans which are whales and uh, 394 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:18,359 Speaker 1: dolphins will have like different dialects. So yeah, culture like 395 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:25,359 Speaker 1: socialization is really important in terms of behavior, which is 396 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:30,119 Speaker 1: true both in humans and in animals. It's always wild 397 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:33,359 Speaker 1: to me when people try to point to nature for 398 00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:38,240 Speaker 1: some kind of like socially conservative norm because they very 399 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:42,720 Speaker 1: rarely know what nature is actually up to, which is 400 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:48,720 Speaker 1: some real freaky stuff. So um, which we're going to 401 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:53,640 Speaker 1: talk about now. So the next time like someone tries 402 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:57,720 Speaker 1: to say like, oh, this isn't natural or whatever, remember 403 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:03,440 Speaker 1: the western toad because because they like to form giant 404 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:10,320 Speaker 1: sex balls where they're all just trying to hump each other, uh, indiscriminately. 405 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:16,120 Speaker 1: So because they have this what's called an explosive breeding event, 406 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:22,440 Speaker 1: the males obviously are trying to find a female and 407 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:27,000 Speaker 1: they unfortunately don't have a mating call, so they have 408 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:31,080 Speaker 1: to be very active in trying to find a female. 409 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:35,200 Speaker 1: And as a friend of the show, Greg Polly, who 410 00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:40,240 Speaker 1: have had on before to talk about herbs herpetology, who 411 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,040 Speaker 1: is a curator at the Natural History Museum of Los 412 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 1: Angeles has described these male toad mating strategies like this quote. 413 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:53,720 Speaker 1: They basically jump on everything that seems reasonably toadlike. So 414 00:29:54,840 --> 00:30:00,400 Speaker 1: the male toads have a high rate of um sort 415 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:03,760 Speaker 1: of misfires here, so they'll try to jump on clumps 416 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:09,520 Speaker 1: of mud, random garbage, other male toads. And actually male 417 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:13,400 Speaker 1: toads have a special chirp that they used to signal 418 00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:16,840 Speaker 1: other males that like, hey, I don't actually have eggs 419 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:21,040 Speaker 1: for your bud. And this is the chirp which you 420 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:24,200 Speaker 1: can hear if you pick up one of these toads, 421 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:26,920 Speaker 1: which I don't recommend, but this is what it sounds like. 422 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:43,959 Speaker 1: So that is the call for let go of me. 423 00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:47,000 Speaker 1: I do not have eggs. The way these big mating 424 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:51,880 Speaker 1: balls form is that competition for females is really fierce. 425 00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:55,800 Speaker 1: As I said before, these toads aren't very bright when 426 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:59,600 Speaker 1: it comes to finding a female. So once someone finds 427 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:03,160 Speaker 1: a fe male, it can lead to this domino effect 428 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:07,120 Speaker 1: of other toads trying to jump on the bandwagon, and 429 00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:12,360 Speaker 1: it just creates this mating ball which sounds like a 430 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:15,960 Speaker 1: real bad deal for the female. And I suppose it is, 431 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:20,600 Speaker 1: but females do have a choice in who they actually 432 00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:23,760 Speaker 1: mate with. So the way that mating works is that 433 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:27,640 Speaker 1: the females will release a string of eggs that the 434 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:32,800 Speaker 1: males release sperm onto. So it's external fertilization. Yeah, just 435 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:37,080 Speaker 1: like with the salmon. And so they like squeeze out 436 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:40,360 Speaker 1: the string of eggs that are connected by this very 437 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:43,000 Speaker 1: thick mucus. So it's kind of like this conveyor belt. 438 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:46,680 Speaker 1: And the male attaches himself to the female by holding 439 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 1: onto her, not so that they can have any internal insemination, 440 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:54,760 Speaker 1: it so that he is right there ready to fertilize 441 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:58,040 Speaker 1: the eggs as they come out, sort of like you 442 00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:01,880 Speaker 1: know that scene and I Love Lucy where she's trying 443 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:05,040 Speaker 1: to get all the candies in her mouth, except that 444 00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:09,320 Speaker 1: Lucy would be a male toad trying to inseminate the candies. 445 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:12,880 Speaker 1: Is this metaphor working, Oh, it's working perfectly for me. 446 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:17,720 Speaker 1: I'm following exactly. Great good. I'm a very good science educator. 447 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:22,440 Speaker 1: So yeah, So the female doesn't have to release her 448 00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:26,840 Speaker 1: eggs if she doesn't want to for these males. So, uh, 449 00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:29,600 Speaker 1: sometimes if she's nonplussed by the male, doesn't want to 450 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:32,080 Speaker 1: mate with them. She'll just scrape them off like against 451 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:36,600 Speaker 1: a tree root, uh, which is you know, sometimes what 452 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:40,040 Speaker 1: you gotta do and you've got a clinger. This uh 453 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:44,840 Speaker 1: is actually not the weirdest amphibian sex out there. There 454 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:49,640 Speaker 1: is a frog sex death cult in the Amazon, which 455 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:54,320 Speaker 1: is another free band name enjoy that everybody. The Amazonian 456 00:32:54,440 --> 00:33:00,200 Speaker 1: rainforest frog Ranella proboscietta is a small, rusty, brown, own 457 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:03,320 Speaker 1: leaf shaped frog which is usually under an inch long. 458 00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:07,920 Speaker 1: It's less than fifty five millimeters. Wow, I love a 459 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:11,440 Speaker 1: leaf shaped frog. Yeah, they're cute and they're kind of 460 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:15,800 Speaker 1: pretty and innocuous looking, which is why it's so shocking 461 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:19,800 Speaker 1: to find out that they are in a froggy sex 462 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:24,120 Speaker 1: death cult. Um, that's I really shouldn't do that. I 463 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:28,400 Speaker 1: need some water, but uh. The males, just like with 464 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:32,040 Speaker 1: the western toad, will form these mating balls, but they 465 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:36,920 Speaker 1: get so intense and heavy they will sometimes drown other 466 00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:41,880 Speaker 1: frogs that are in this ball, including the females. But 467 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:45,640 Speaker 1: even worse is that it doesn't stop these little perverts 468 00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:50,400 Speaker 1: from trying to successfully mate, so some of the frogs 469 00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:53,960 Speaker 1: will actually squeeze the dead females like a tube of 470 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:58,760 Speaker 1: toothpaste to extract the eggs so he can fertilize them 471 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:03,360 Speaker 1: like an app lute little freak, which is just they 472 00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:06,960 Speaker 1: look so innocent and then again boom, they're like little 473 00:34:07,080 --> 00:34:12,319 Speaker 1: ed geans, little horrible monsters. I just think their neat 474 00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:19,080 Speaker 1: seems cool. That is an interesting response to you know, 475 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:22,799 Speaker 1: frog sex death cult. But hey, you know, I guess 476 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:27,320 Speaker 1: all of nature should be appreciated in its uniqueness. Before 477 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:32,920 Speaker 1: we go, let's move on to the guests whose squawking 478 00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:39,480 Speaker 1: mystery animal sound game? So last week, uh, I played 479 00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:41,520 Speaker 1: a sound for you. You guys tried to guess it, 480 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:44,840 Speaker 1: as I do every week. Um, and the hint for 481 00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:48,359 Speaker 1: last week was, if you think this is a bird 482 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:51,960 Speaker 1: or a dog, you're barking up the wrong tree. In fact, 483 00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:55,080 Speaker 1: you shouldn't be looking in trees at all, but in burrows. 484 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:16,359 Speaker 1: M So, Molly, do you have any guesses for who 485 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:22,799 Speaker 1: is making that sound? Um? Maybe like a mere cat? 486 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:28,080 Speaker 1: M hmmm, that's my guess, your cat or groundhog? That 487 00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:31,920 Speaker 1: those are good guesses. Actually, I had some other listeners 488 00:35:32,120 --> 00:35:36,799 Speaker 1: guess Prairie dogs and mere cats also got guesses like 489 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:41,480 Speaker 1: foxes or badgers. All really good guesses, but only one 490 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:44,600 Speaker 1: person got it right and that was Sarah in c 491 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:50,560 Speaker 1: with the answer barking geck So congratulations Sarah, good guessing 492 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:55,920 Speaker 1: everyone else. So barking geckos or pe garrulous like their 493 00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:59,600 Speaker 1: name implies, like to bark, and they do not sound 494 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:02,160 Speaker 1: like echoes, do they. They kind of sound like some 495 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:06,480 Speaker 1: little little rodent or mammal. Oh yeah, I thought it 496 00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:09,080 Speaker 1: was gonna be a little rodent. Yeah yeah, but yes 497 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:14,840 Speaker 1: they are geckos. They're found in southern Africa and arid regions, 498 00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:18,040 Speaker 1: so in these kind of sandy areas where they dig 499 00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:22,439 Speaker 1: these little sandy burrows, males will stick their heads out 500 00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:26,080 Speaker 1: of burrows and bark trying to attract a female to 501 00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:31,440 Speaker 1: his burrow. He is both he's a lazy coward and 502 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:34,080 Speaker 1: doesn't want to risk predation by going out to find 503 00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:36,880 Speaker 1: a female himself, so he will make her come to 504 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:43,760 Speaker 1: him by making this little noise. But if the female 505 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:46,919 Speaker 1: likes him in mates with him, she will actually kick 506 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:49,640 Speaker 1: him out of his burrow and use it to raise 507 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:52,600 Speaker 1: their offspring, and he has to go off and dig 508 00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:56,560 Speaker 1: his new burrows. So I guess you know, everything evens 509 00:36:56,560 --> 00:37:02,279 Speaker 1: out in the end with these two. So now onto 510 00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:08,560 Speaker 1: today's mystery animal sound here is the hint. This guy 511 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:11,480 Speaker 1: has a face that looks a bit like US President 512 00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:27,360 Speaker 1: Chester A Arthur, but otherwise there's nothing American about him. So, Molly, 513 00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:35,240 Speaker 1: do you have any guesses? Wow? No, something cool, something cool. 514 00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:41,760 Speaker 1: That's correct, it's something cool. But for a more precise answer, 515 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:45,680 Speaker 1: tune in next week where we will reveal who is squawking. 516 00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:48,919 Speaker 1: If you out there think you know, you can write 517 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:51,840 Speaker 1: to me at Creature Feature Pod at gmail dot com 518 00:37:52,239 --> 00:37:54,719 Speaker 1: and also on Twitter at Creature feet Pod that's f 519 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:57,560 Speaker 1: A T not f E T. That's something very different, 520 00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:01,440 Speaker 1: and on Instagram a Creature Feature Pod. Molly, where can 521 00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:05,239 Speaker 1: people find you? Thank you so much for joining me. Oh, 522 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:07,400 Speaker 1: thanks for having me. You can find me on Twitter 523 00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:12,560 Speaker 1: at Molly Lambert and on Instagram Molly Underscore Lambert. And 524 00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:15,719 Speaker 1: soon enough you'll be able to check out Heidi World. 525 00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:19,160 Speaker 1: Exciting looking forward to that. What's what's Heidi World going 526 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:22,920 Speaker 1: to be about? It's about Heidi Flice, who was a 527 00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:28,680 Speaker 1: Hollywood madam who almost brought Los Angeles down, um, and 528 00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:33,120 Speaker 1: about why sex work needs to be decriminalized. That's amazing. 529 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:36,040 Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to that. Well, thanks for so much 530 00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:39,359 Speaker 1: for having me, absolutely, thanks for thanks for coming on, 531 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:42,040 Speaker 1: and thank you to the Space Classics for their super 532 00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:45,239 Speaker 1: awesome song Exo Alumina Creature features a production of I 533 00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:48,200 Speaker 1: heart Radio. For more podcasts like the one you just heard, 534 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:51,000 Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 535 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:54,000 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. See you next Wednesday.