Speaker 1: I guess, well, well, what's that man? Do you know
Speaker 1: that the kangaroo and the emu are on the Australian
Speaker 1: coat of arms. I mean it doesn't seem that surprising.
Speaker 1: I mean both of them are native to Australia, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: but there are so many animals in Australia and there's
Speaker 1: a reason they were chosen over like Tasmanian devils and platypus,
Speaker 1: and that's because neither animal can move backwards. Wait, kangaroos
Speaker 1: can't move backwards. No, it's like they're one design flaw,
Speaker 1: like everything else about kangaroos is perfect. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: one of those weird things like crocodiles can't chew. They
Speaker 1: can bite and swallow big chunks, but they can't actually
Speaker 1: chew their food. And kangaroos are kind of similar, like
Speaker 1: their tails aid their balance and their mobility, but it
Speaker 1: prevents them from moving backwards. But Australia has embraced it
Speaker 1: in that like they're constantly moving forwards and this symbolizes progress.
Speaker 1: It's a good way to look at it. They could
Speaker 1: have picked the shark though, right anyway, That's just one
Speaker 1: of nine facts we've got for you today. About Australia's animals,
Speaker 1: So let's dig in a their podcast. Listeners, welcome to
Speaker 1: Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm
Speaker 1: joined by my good friend Man Guesho Ticketer and sitting
Speaker 1: behind the soundproof glass, he just taped a crocodile Dundee
Speaker 1: poster to actually whoa crocodile Dundee two as well? Taped
Speaker 1: to the wall. That's our friend and producer Tristan McNeil's
Speaker 1: a busy guy. So you know what's funny is I
Speaker 1: looked up crocodile dundee because I thought would be fun
Speaker 1: to slip in as an animal fact. And uh, and
Speaker 1: Roger Ebert hated those movies. I thought he didn't like
Speaker 1: the sequels, like he called the last one less fun
Speaker 1: to wash than attacks on it. But I actually pulled
Speaker 1: a quote of his review for the first movie, which
Speaker 1: he barely gave two stars. And here's how it ends.
Speaker 1: The ending of the movie involves a love scene on
Speaker 1: a subway platform. If these were two lovers, we really
Speaker 1: cared about. The scene as written could have had the
Speaker 1: impact of that moment in an Officer and a Gentleman
Speaker 1: as it's acted in this movie. Last the scene is
Speaker 1: so unconvincing that the lovers are upstaged by the other
Speaker 1: people on the train platform. Alright, well, Mango, before we
Speaker 1: keep going with facts, we've actually got Gabe on the line.
Speaker 1: Hey Gabe, Hey, guys, how's it going. So I'm curious
Speaker 1: from both you guys. Have either of you been to Australia? Mango,
Speaker 1: have you been to Australia And I haven't been there? Gabe,
Speaker 1: you no, I've never made it. Well, I'm glad that's
Speaker 1: the three of us are are going to be talking
Speaker 1: about animals from Australia, none of us having been there.
Speaker 1: But but we've done our homework. So all right, well, Gay,
Speaker 1: why don't we throw the mic to you and lets
Speaker 1: you share your first fact? Yeah? Absolutely so, since you
Speaker 1: started with Kangaroo's, I'm gonna go with the fact about
Speaker 1: their diminutive cousins, the Wallaby. So in two thousand nine,
Speaker 1: farmers in Tasmania started noticing these strange crop circles popping
Speaker 1: up and they were wondering, you know what was trampling
Speaker 1: down their crops into these really unusual patterns, And it
Speaker 1: didn't seem to be the work of aliens. It wasn't
Speaker 1: you know, it wasn't that precise as aliens are with
Speaker 1: their crops circle right, But when they looked a little closer,
Speaker 1: the farmers discovered it was actually the work of wallabies,
Speaker 1: and not just any wallabies specifically. It was wallabies who
Speaker 1: had been getting high on opie. They were eating these
Speaker 1: wild poppies and then just going crazy, jumping in big
Speaker 1: circles in the fields all night long. Yeah, it wasn't
Speaker 1: just the wallabies though either. They were also local sheep
Speaker 1: who were also getting high and going on these strange
Speaker 1: walkabouts through the crops, and the wallabies were the primary offender.
Speaker 1: That's pretty good. I've never heard about that, all right,
Speaker 1: why don't we keep them our supial talk going. I've
Speaker 1: actually got a kangaroo fact as well, and I've never
Speaker 1: heard this before, but this is from our pal Eves.
Speaker 1: She's been on the program before and she told me
Speaker 1: that she said that during the gold Rush, people started
Speaker 1: importing all sorts of animals as food, you know, partially
Speaker 1: because there wasn't enough local food for the people hunting
Speaker 1: for gold. So there were things like tortoises, cod turkeys,
Speaker 1: but a few kangaroos were also imported, and the funny
Speaker 1: thing is that people didn't want them for food though.
Speaker 1: Instead they were imported live and kept around for entertainment.
Speaker 1: They were kangaroo petting exhibits. They were sold for quick
Speaker 1: cash as pets. I can't imagine having a kangaroo as
Speaker 1: a pet. And there's even an ad from a saloon
Speaker 1: at the time that offered, quote peach and honey, brandy
Speaker 1: by day and night a genuine live kangaroo. That's pretty funny,
Speaker 1: and I kind of love the discriminating clientele who looked
Speaker 1: for a place and think, oh, it's got a pool
Speaker 1: in a great view, but no kangaroo. I can't say that. No,
Speaker 1: not not acceptable. All right, mango, what's your next fact? Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, if we're talking strange Australian animals, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm going to talk about my favorite insect of all time,
Speaker 1: the Lord Howse stick insect. Of course, what is that?
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a funny looking critter with the best
Speaker 1: nicknames on Earth. It's also known as the tree lobster
Speaker 1: and the walking sausage, which gives you a sense of
Speaker 1: you know, how awkward it looks. But the story is
Speaker 1: kind of amazing because it's also known as a Lazarus species.
Speaker 1: So those are the ones that everyone thinks are extinct
Speaker 1: but then then came back from the dead, right yeah,
Speaker 1: and they're too great. Taxonomy is the Lazarus species, which
Speaker 1: is animals that everyone thinks are dead and come back,
Speaker 1: and the elvis taxon, which is animals that are dead.
Speaker 1: But then you see an animal impersonator in the wild,
Speaker 1: one that looks like the original. But that is not
Speaker 1: that actually a real thing is I thought that was
Speaker 1: a big set up to this joke. But back to
Speaker 1: the stick insect. So it was supposedly made extinct by
Speaker 1: an invasive rat population. But then in two thousand one,
Speaker 1: on this pretty harsh island with really strong winds, scientists
Speaker 1: found about twenty four of these tree lobsters in the wild.
Speaker 1: They were like under a rock or something, and they've
Speaker 1: slowly been bringing them back. But the cutest thing about
Speaker 1: this totally disgusting species is how they sleep. The males
Speaker 1: actually cuddle up with the females when they sleep, spooning
Speaker 1: them with their six legs curled around them. But scientists
Speaker 1: are quick to point out that this might be an
Speaker 1: evolutionary measure and not the mark of of I mean,
Speaker 1: I find that a little cinical. There's such a romantic mega. Alright, well, gab,
Speaker 1: what do you got next? Alright, so you probably know
Speaker 1: Australia has a reputation for a lot of dangerous animals.
Speaker 1: You know, there are sharks and sidewinders and poisonous spiders
Speaker 1: and even the cuddly little platypus is dangerous. You know,
Speaker 1: they have these venomous spurs on the bottom webb. But
Speaker 1: here's a super weird fact I didn't know before this.
Speaker 1: More Australians have been killed by horses in recent years
Speaker 1: than all of the country's venomous animals combine. I don't
Speaker 1: think that I'm not buying that gay. We're gonna have
Speaker 1: to fact check this well. According to a recent study, UH,
Speaker 1: from the year two thousand to seventy four people were
Speaker 1: killed by horse trampling or being tossed by horses, while
Speaker 1: only twenty seven were killed by snakes, bees or spiders
Speaker 1: you know, during that same period. And of course the
Speaker 1: hospitalizations from animal bites was was far greater. You know,
Speaker 1: are like thirty five thousand people hospitalized for bites and
Speaker 1: stings in Australia. But because there's so much anti venom available,
Speaker 1: and also because a lot of those were just you know,
Speaker 1: allergic reactions. Deaths from snakes and spiders isn't that big
Speaker 1: a thing. In fact, there was a death from a
Speaker 1: red back spider in and it was the first spider
Speaker 1: bite death in Australia since nineteen seventy nine. So I
Speaker 1: was looking this up all Gabe was sharing this fact
Speaker 1: because honestly, I just didn't believe it. You know, sometimes
Speaker 1: he makes stuff up. We don't ever let that on
Speaker 1: on the actual show, but this is I mean that
Speaker 1: that's pretty impressive. Gave good job on that one. Alright. Well,
Speaker 1: since Mango was talking about the Lazarus species, I've got
Speaker 1: one from my own to discuss, and that's the Tasmanian tiger,
Speaker 1: which also might be back from the dead now. The
Speaker 1: Tassi tiger is the largest carnivorous marsupial and it looks
Speaker 1: like a big striped dog, but it has a kangaroo's
Speaker 1: tail and this small pouch. It also is one of
Speaker 1: the only two marsupials were both the male and the
Speaker 1: female members have pouches, and I didn't know this existed
Speaker 1: among any of them, but I guess the other is
Speaker 1: a water possum. Anyway, that the tiger has been extinct
Speaker 1: since nineteen thirty six, but there have been some recent
Speaker 1: sightings reported. Sometimes the creatures are confused for dingoes or
Speaker 1: wild pigs, but the reports have had similar descriptions and
Speaker 1: they've actually come from two different people in the same location. Now,
Speaker 1: one of the key things that's convinced some skeptics that
Speaker 1: the species might still be alive is that the Tasmanian
Speaker 1: tiger's eyes shine differently from a wild pig or a dingo,
Speaker 1: so they actually reflect light back in a very different way.
Speaker 1: And it's generated enough excitement that a number of scientists
Speaker 1: are now camped out in this secret part of Australia
Speaker 1: with hundreds of cameras all trying to locate this tiger.
Speaker 1: That's really exciting. I hope they find it. Anyway, We've
Speaker 1: got a few more facts for you guys, so stay
Speaker 1: tuned and we'll be right back after this break. Welcome
Speaker 1: back to Part Time Genius where we're talking about Australian animals.
Speaker 1: And then go, am I misremembering this? Was there some
Speaker 1: story about your sister and Australian ants? Yeah, good memory,
Speaker 1: So My sister actually studied in Queensland and college and
Speaker 1: as a kid she was kind of squeamish about insects
Speaker 1: and arachnet so I was talking to her about it
Speaker 1: when she came back, and she was saying that you
Speaker 1: just find these crazy bugs in your room every day
Speaker 1: in the dorms, but you kind of got used to
Speaker 1: taking a magazine or whatever. I'm flicking them outside. But
Speaker 1: the weirdest thing she told me was the story about ants.
Speaker 1: And there's a type of ant there that tastes like
Speaker 1: lemon lime, so people actually crunch up the ants and
Speaker 1: eat it for that flavor, or use it in lemonade,
Speaker 1: like you can crush them and add water and get
Speaker 1: your protein in as well. Well. I asked her, you know,
Speaker 1: knowing she was vegetarian, like, did you actually tried these ants?
Speaker 1: And she said, you know, I refused to eat them,
Speaker 1: but I did lick their bum. This reminds me of
Speaker 1: when you briefly went from being vegetarian and the first
Speaker 1: thing ate was ribs in the state of Alabama pretty
Speaker 1: much just licked at them. This must run in the family.
Speaker 1: You don't want to eat the meat, but you just, oh, gosh,
Speaker 1: let's just move on from that. But so, how did
Speaker 1: they taste to her really like lemon lime? I'm not
Speaker 1: sure that counts, is your fact. But but do you
Speaker 1: want to do you want to kick us off with
Speaker 1: one last one mango? Yeah? So I've actually been a
Speaker 1: little obsessed with camels this year. I've been reading about
Speaker 1: this camel scandal in this camel beauty pageant in Saudi
Speaker 1: Arabia where a number of the camels had been given botox,
Speaker 1: and how Joe Camel came from France. But well, one
Speaker 1: of the things I only recently realized is that Australia
Speaker 1: has the largest feral camel population in the world. And
Speaker 1: apparently they were brought over as be suburden to help
Speaker 1: transport things, but then once they were that useful anymore,
Speaker 1: they were let loose into the wild and they just
Speaker 1: went crazy. Like they're awful because they're so hardy and
Speaker 1: they can walk like forty miles in a day, and
Speaker 1: there aren't any real natural predators out in the outback.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna say they're like seven thousand or eight
Speaker 1: hundred thousands of these beasts just wandering around, drinking up
Speaker 1: all the water from wells and causing camel coos. I
Speaker 1: have to be honest, if you had told me name
Speaker 1: twenty animals in Australia, I wouldn't have thought tonight, camel.
Speaker 1: That's not where I would have assumed they were from.
Speaker 1: So is there anything that can be done about them? Yeah?
Speaker 1: So like Australia is still trying to figure it out.
Speaker 1: I read one account of a guy who's been rounding
Speaker 1: them up for meat, which is apparently pretty good, but
Speaker 1: also to try to sell the camels for camel races
Speaker 1: and also beauty pageants, Like people will come to Australia
Speaker 1: to like scout aussee camels for their thin necks. Apparently,
Speaker 1: like I don't know what makes a pretty camel, but
Speaker 1: apparently that's part of it. Wow, all right, well that
Speaker 1: that is very interesting. Okay, Well my fact is about
Speaker 1: the wombat, and there are lots of cool things about wombats.
Speaker 1: You know, their pouches face the wrong way for some reason,
Speaker 1: so you know, instead of looking forward, a baby wombat
Speaker 1: will face out back as the mom wombat is scurry.
Speaker 1: Also their superpower, it's their big butt. It's full of
Speaker 1: cartilage and totally resistant to snake bites and dingo bites
Speaker 1: it's kind of like a shield for them, so when
Speaker 1: they jump into a burrow and their butt sticks out,
Speaker 1: it's totally safe from predators. But my favorite thing about
Speaker 1: the wombat is that you can tell if you have
Speaker 1: a wombat infestation by looking at their scat, So their
Speaker 1: poop comes out in perfect little cubes. So funny and
Speaker 1: so nerdy and so gross. I also love the names
Speaker 1: of wombats, like all the different species, just they're all
Speaker 1: really cute sounding. So there's the Southern hairy nose wombat
Speaker 1: and of course the Northern hairy nosed wombat. There's also
Speaker 1: the common wombat. Yeah, that one kind of got screwed,
Speaker 1: you know, get the Southern hairy nose and the northern hair.
Speaker 1: I'm curious to see the difference between the northern hairy
Speaker 1: nose and the Southern hairy nose. Alright, Gabe, so I
Speaker 1: think it's time for you have one last fact, right, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: My last fact is is about black swans. And this
Speaker 1: is pretty great. So for centuries, Europeans for some reason,
Speaker 1: like to ponder the existence of black swans, and some
Speaker 1: by the sixteenth century, the idea of a black swan
Speaker 1: became an idiom for an impossible thing, something that couldn't exist.
Speaker 1: But that had all changed in the late sixteen hundreds
Speaker 1: when Dutch explorers actually found black swans in western Australia,
Speaker 1: which you know, just completely killed the idiom. But it
Speaker 1: gets more interesting from there because about a century later,
Speaker 1: Napoleon sent an expedition to Australia and in addition to
Speaker 1: bringing back, you know, various animals and plant species, he
Speaker 1: asked for a special collection of animals to be brought
Speaker 1: back for his sweetheart Josephine. So thirty five live animals
Speaker 1: were shipped back in all, and this was parrots, EMUs, kangaroos,
Speaker 1: and two black swans. So sadly, the animals started, you know,
Speaker 1: dying on the longboat ride at home. They got so
Speaker 1: bad that the captain actually kicked his crew out of
Speaker 1: their cabin so that the kangaroos could be more comfortable.
Speaker 1: But you know, he was worried that they'd get back
Speaker 1: and none of the animals would have survived the trip.
Speaker 1: But really, honestly the problem was they didn't have the
Speaker 1: right food. In desperation, they gave animals wine soaked bread, which,
Speaker 1: as you might guess, not a great idea, but two
Speaker 1: animals that definitely survived and made it back were the
Speaker 1: black swans, and Josephine became the very first person to
Speaker 1: breed black swans in captivity. That's another good fact. I
Speaker 1: don't know about you, man Go, but I feel like
Speaker 1: Gabe coming up with that whole murdering horses and us
Speaker 1: not believing it. The names for wombats like species of
Speaker 1: womb he was, he was on his game and it's
Speaker 1: early in the morning out there in l A right now.
Speaker 1: So Gabe, I'm impressed. So I think we're gonna give
Speaker 1: you this week's Fact Off Trophy. I'm honored. Thank you guys. Well,
Speaker 1: thank you guys for listening. We would love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. We We've been hearing lots of ideas from
Speaker 1: listeners on future nine Things episodes, so feel free to
Speaker 1: send those two part time genius at how stuff works
Speaker 1: dot com. You can also call us on our seven
Speaker 1: fact hot line. That's one eight four four pt genius.
Speaker 1: That is still seven fact. Okay, Yeah, we thought about
Speaker 1: cutting call going seven, but we're going to stick with it.
Speaker 1: So so anyway, thank you guys for listening. We'll be
Speaker 1: back with a full length episode tomorrow.