1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and 3 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from 4 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,920 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas, 5 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: and monsters in time. When the Nintendo hero Mario travels 6 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:30,640 Speaker 1: into the dream world of Subcan to battle the forces 7 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: of wart, he encounters many strange creatures, including the mysterious 8 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: bird Oh. While there seems to be some long running 9 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: debate regarding the creature's gender, there's no denying the reptilian's 10 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 1: ability to shoot eggs at their enemies. First of all, 11 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 1: it is interesting that bird Oh shoots eggs out of 12 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: their mouth. We don't normally think of this as the 13 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: place eggs might emerge from, but it's actually not without 14 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: precedence in the natural world. The now extinct gastric brooding 15 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:08,039 Speaker 1: frog of Australia famously incubated young in the mother's stomach. 16 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:13,319 Speaker 1: The female frog would swallow fertilized eggs or early stage 17 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: larvae and brood them in her stomach, while the young 18 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: would usually emerge from the mother's mouth gradually over the 19 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 1: course of days. As Michael J. Tyler and David B. 20 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 1: Carter reported in Animal Behavior back in one, restrained individuals 21 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: were also known to release young via quote propulsive vomiting. Similarly, 22 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: the Natural World Harbor's numerous examples of mouth brooding, in 23 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:44,399 Speaker 1: which fertilized eggs are kept in one of the parents 24 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: mouths and sometimes swapped back and forth to allow both 25 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: parents to eat. Darwin's frog is noted for mouth brooding, 26 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: as are numerous fish species, including those in the chick 27 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:01,279 Speaker 1: lit family. But to actually eject eggs from your mouth 28 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: as an offensive or defensive weapon, well, the notion of 29 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:09,800 Speaker 1: an agitated, gastric brooding frog certainly seems reasonably close to 30 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: the idea, and while many creatures go to extreme links 31 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: to protect eggs and young, the mathematics of parenting and 32 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: survival don't always go in that direction. Consider the quaca 33 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 1: or short tailed scrub wallaby of Australia. As the Australian 34 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: Nature Conservatory points out, this cat sized macropod gives birth 35 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:34,119 Speaker 1: just twenty seven days after mating, and it stores its 36 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: joey in a pouch. Here it continues to develop for 37 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: another six months. If threatened, however, she may expel the 38 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: joey onto the ground, where the thrashing, squealing youngster can 39 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: serve as a distraction for a pursuing predator. While this 40 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:53,520 Speaker 1: may sound harsh, her survival is at stake, and she 41 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: also has backups additional young suspended in the womb, which 42 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,760 Speaker 1: can be berthed shortly thereafter. It's not quite blasting egg 43 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:05,640 Speaker 1: projectiles at Italian plumbers, but it comes amazingly close in 44 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: some respects. Perhaps Birdo employs a form of gastric brooding, 45 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 1: and you've threatened, such as by Italian plumber dream Warriors, 46 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: they simply projectile vomit some of their many many eggs 47 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: in their defense. Tune in for additional episodes of The 48 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:28,639 Speaker 1: Monster Fact each week. As always, you can email us 49 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: at contact It's Stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 50 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a production of iHeart Radio. 51 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart 52 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 53 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: favorite shows.