WEBVTT - Creature Classic: Missing Parts 0:00:06.840 --> 0:00:10.520 Welcome to Creature feature production of iHeartRadio. I'm your host 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:15.080 of Many Parasites, Katie Golden. I studied psychology and evolutionary biology, 0:00:15.080 --> 0:00:18.159 and today on the show we're talking about animals with 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:22.640 missing body parts. Don't worry. These critters haven't been mutilated, 0:00:22.680 --> 0:00:28.200 but rather through evolution, they've ditched certain appendages. Legs don't 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:32.720 need them, wings forget about it. Tails lose them. Sometimes 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:36.680 efficiency requires sacrifice and body parts have got to go. 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:39.639 Discover this and more as we answer the age old 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:43.440 question how many eggs? It's too many eggs? Joining me 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:47.760 today's front of the show producer at iHeartRadio, Joe el Monique. 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:51.080 Welcome, Hi Katie, thanks for having me back. 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:55.720 I am so excited. We are actually in the studio together, 0:00:55.840 --> 0:00:57.760 which has not happened in over. 0:00:57.520 --> 0:00:59.280 Two years since the beforetime. 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:00.520 Times. 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:02.520 We're making direct eye contacts. 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:09.360 It's super weird, really trying to hold it together. Oh 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:09.959 my gosh. 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:14.440 It's nice though, to be back here with you. You know, 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:17.720 I imagine there will be one there's always one bird. 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:20.200 I think in all of our conversations. 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:23.880 You're so lucky. This time there's no birds. There's no birds. 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:28.560 I feel very lucky, You're you're super lucky. Today it 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:31.920 was between this and the All Birds All Swarms episode, 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:36.200 and uh, you know this one, this one just by 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:40.680 a very thin margin one out. So yeah, Instead we 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:44.600 were talking about animals who are missing like a key 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:47.440 body part that you think they should probably have. 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:49.160 Okay, that's kind of exciting. 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:51.600 Yeah, they got me thinking about what body part humans 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:52.800 would lose first. 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:56.320 Yeah, what do we use the least of our major 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:57.120 body parts? 0:01:57.200 --> 0:01:58.200 What's the one organ they don't know? 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:02.680 What is there for the senex appendix appendix. I'm surprised 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:04.600 if that hasn't started, like just missing. 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:05.480 It, just falling out. 0:02:05.560 --> 0:02:06.760 I feel like it was not. 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:09.640 Necessary for anything that we can decipher, so, you know, 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:11.040 check it out of their body. 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:14.240 There might be something too, Like I keep hearing things 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:17.320 about like, well maybe it has some immune function. We're 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:17.959 not sure. 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:19.200 Okay, all right. 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:21.680 I keep hearing our thumbs are going to get longer 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:22.960 because of how we use our phone. 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:25.959 Ah, thumb longer. Yeah, I could use longer thumb. 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:28.600 The longer thumb would be helpful, It would be really helpful. 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:32.519 Yeah, but losing a part seems like I feel like 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:35.880 I need all the things I want both eyes at least, 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:38.760 you know, the ten finger seems essential. I mean, there's 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:42.640 obviously people have been able to adapt and make changes 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:46.160 and adjust two missing body parts. But like, as a species, 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:48.600 if we were like we just don't need that anymore. 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:51.720 I feel like maybe one toe could. 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:56.280 Go, which I would like on the middle ones, one 0:02:56.320 --> 0:02:59.000 of the middle ones, yeah, for balance, right. 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:06.080 Like yeah, but you know, well yeah, no, I can't 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:09.240 think of a body part that I would just want 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:13.440 to part with voluntarily. But yeah, I mean it is 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:17.040 interesting when you look at animals who are missing parts 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:19.160 that you think they should have. I mean a good 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:23.119 example is like a snubnose monkey. That is a primate 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:27.079 who's a relative of ours, and their nose is just gone. 0:03:27.240 --> 0:03:30.160 I mean they have their nasal cavities, but the nose 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:34.800 itself is gone because they live in cold, high altitudes 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:38.040 and so the sort of frostbite that they'd get from 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:40.680 the nose is not really worth having the nose, so 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:44.320 instead they just have like a you know, just these 0:03:44.320 --> 0:03:46.680 little holes in their face. They're still cute. I like 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:51.160 them still. But our first interesting animal that we are 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:54.760 going to talk about is a moth actually, and what 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:58.880 is like the main defining feature of a butterfly or 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:02.760 a moth. That's right. Yeah, it's the thing that differentiates 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:05.840 them from a caterpillar in sort of a simplistic way. 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:11.440 But yeah, they're wings, but some moths are wingless. Specifically, 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:15.120 the females of a few families of moths have almost 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:20.040 no wings. They they actually technically do have wings, but 0:04:20.080 --> 0:04:22.600 they are teeny tiny and they don't work. 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:25.200 Their little baby wings, little baby wings. 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:28.480 It's sort of like remember a bug story, the classic 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:33.200 pixar ants who have sort of a worker's revolution, and 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:38.480 then there's the caterpillar who metamorphosizes into a beautiful butterfly, 0:04:38.600 --> 0:04:41.680 and then it's funny because he's got these tiny wings. 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:44.520 That chunky caterpillar baby wings. 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:48.200 It's this, it's the same thing because this moth has 0:04:48.560 --> 0:04:51.880 is very chunky and it has tiny wings that they 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:54.400 don't even look like wings. They look like little rabbit ears, 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:55.159 which is cute. 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:57.560 They do look like little rabbit ears. It sort of 0:04:57.600 --> 0:05:00.000 reminded me on Halloween when girls dress up as very 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:01.200 but they have like little baby wings. 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:04.160 Yeah, these wings would not propel you up into the air. 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:09.040 Are clearly just ornamental? Are these ornamental? In some are 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:12.040 they designed in the attraction process. 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:15.479 No, that's what's interesting. Also, when I was a kid 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:17.760 and there was like the little tiny fairy wings, I 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:21.279 would get frustrated because I really wanted to see big wings, 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:23.679 because like that is not going to support a human. No. 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:27.560 No, And we can see what a proper proportion of 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:30.760 wing to body looks like in nature. It's why dragons 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:34.000 have those big giant wings. Exactly, all of that mass 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:35.479 is gonna need a lot of air support. 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:36.200 Exactly. 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:39.000 Give me some big tarosaur wings, please. 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:41.440 Yeah, they're like the little dt ones that come just 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:42.200 out of your back. 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:45.320 It's only two and not four, which doesn't make sense Directionally, 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:47.360 you're gonna have a lot more issues with the two 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:49.560 as opposed to if you have that second layer down 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:53.919 low like a butterfly. Uh yeah, wings should be proportionate, 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:56.080 which is making this more confusing. 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:58.320 Why what happened to their wings? 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:02.240 Well, what's interesting is that the males of this species, 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:05.080 these wingless moths, actually do have wings. 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:05.800 Sexism. 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:14.880 Oh man, patriarchy is everywhere. We need moth feminists. So 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:18.520 they look like typical normal moths. They just you know, 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:24.240 just kind of plain moths. These are winter months and 0:06:25.040 --> 0:06:27.560 the ones that are pictured. There are these just kind 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:31.080 of grayish brown moths. They look normal except for the 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:34.440 females that have these adorable little fluffy baby wings and 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:38.960 then a huge, chunky body. So this actually occurs in 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:44.000 a few species in the family geometrod uh And so 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:48.400 there are some species in which the females do have wings, 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:51.039 but a few, which are the ones that we're talking about, 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:53.160 where the females don't have these wings or have these 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:56.680 little stubby wings. One cute fact, this is a little 0:06:56.680 --> 0:06:58.520 bit of a tangent, but it's too cute not to 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:02.359 talk about. There's this species of geometric moth where the 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:07.719 females have typical wings, but the caterpillars in this species 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:11.320 will cover themselves in little pieces of plants or flowers, 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:15.800 plant matter to camouflage themselves. So I've sent you a photo. 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.000 There's like this thing that looks like kind of a 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:24.000 weird I guess like Ley or Bouquet, whoa withered flower 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:30.320 petals there's a caterpillar under there. What I fashion that was. 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:32.760 Like, what is this flower here? I was trying to 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:36.720 figure out what this flower was doing, and then oh, 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:40.360 my god, that's so weird. I never think there's a 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:42.840 bug in there. It does look like focatory. 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:48.200 So yeah, I love this one. Anyways, back onto the 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:52.760 topic of the wingless moths. Species of geometric moths who 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:57.040 do have wingless females include the winter moths, bruce spanworm, 0:07:57.120 --> 0:08:00.840 and the fall cankerworm moths. So again, the males of 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:05.120 these species look pretty typical, pretty normal, They're pretty small, 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:09.360 they have a wingspan of a couple of centimeters. But yeah, 0:08:09.400 --> 0:08:14.480 it is really interesting that this has evolved in these species. 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:17.920 The winter moth is found in Europe and mate in 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:21.400 winter and in cold temperature, and the bruce span worm 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:24.920 and faulknkerworm does the same in North America. So this 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:28.200 is actually a key detail that all these moths prefer 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:32.600 to mate in cold temperatures, and so this is the 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:36.240 first clue into like why these females don't have these wings. 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:42.040 Most insects actually avoid the winter. The male moths of 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:46.520 these species have adapted stronger flight muscles in the males 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:50.000 to be able to flutter around in cold temperatures, and 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:55.040 so by adapting to this difficult time, they avoid some 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:58.880 amount of predation from birds. And you know there are 0:08:58.920 --> 0:09:01.680 bird species who are migratory they go in winter in 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:04.640 warmer climates. And so while there may be some winter 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:08.240 birds who remain their avoiding predation from this whole segment 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:10.640 of birds who are like, this is too cold, we're leaving. 0:09:11.840 --> 0:09:16.680 The females, meanwhile, have gone sort of in this opposite 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:18.640 direction of the males in terms of like the males 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:21.720 have these like very strong wings, females ditch the wings. 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:25.720 Females ditch the wings and they will just sit on 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:30.840 trees and excrete male attracting pheromones, basically making the males 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:36.240 come to them. And the females are absolutely crammed with eggs. 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:40.360 They have almost one hundred and fifty eggs in their 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:44.400 tiny little bodies. So she has sacrificed both the size 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:48.520 of her internal organs and her wings and ability to 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:53.280 fly for sheer volume of eggs. So these males will 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:58.000 just flutter around, congregate around, females mate with them, and 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:00.280 it's great. The female doesn't have to do anything thing 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:04.760 other than sit there basically store these eggs, and then 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:06.559 lay the eggs once they're fertilized. 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:11.240 Amazing. Here's why I like her plan. Okay, first, she 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:13.360 was like, men, not only do you have to come 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:15.640 to me, but like, please leave when you're done. This 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:18.680 is my house and it's cool here. It's clearly too. 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:19.160 Cold for you. 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:21.800 I don't want to inconvenience you, just get on. I 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:24.040 love that she's like, I'm just gonna do this by myself. 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:27.360 One hundred and fifty eggs a lot, like at one time, 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:30.680 seems like a lot. But if you think about it, 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:32.720 does she only have to do this once? Can? 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:34.280 She is a one and done situation. 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:35.720 Get it done, just get it all done. 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:38.319 Wonderful, an efficient clean We love her. 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:43.080 I really like how you see this thing where the 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:46.480 females have taken on all the storage costs in mating, 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:49.920 where the males have taken on all the travel costs. Look, 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:54.560 they're working together. I love to find a solution, right, yes, yes, 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:58.920 and apple goals for real right. And probably the system 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:02.559 couldn't work as well if they lived in warmer climates, 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:06.920 because the female is sitting pretty prone on this tree 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:10.240 and she can't fly away, say like a bird or 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:12.880 something is trying to eat her, Whereas in a much 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:17.960 colder climate she is less likely to encounter a predator 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:22.240 like a bird, and so she can really invest totally 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:26.040 in becoming like a storage barge for eggs, whereas these 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:29.199 males can invest in being like, well, we're basically sperm 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:33.120 taxis and going around, and so they have this wonderful system. 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:39.920 Sperm taxis and egg barges. It's a children's book waiting 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:42.439 to happen. I yes, every time we're here, we think 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:43.959 of a new animal. 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:49.640 Children about I you know, I think it is important 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:53.400 for kids to learn about this stuff. And I you know, 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:57.320 I think there's like a recent news story about there 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:00.959 being this controversy because some children and show or some 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:06.120 schools teaching about how certain species of fish change their sex, 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:10.240 like clownfish. There's actually several species of fish that do this. 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:14.960 It's not not that novel, uh, And yet it was 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:17.880 this big controversy like, oh, you can't teach kids. It's like, well, 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:22.040 you know, it's just reality. Sorry the fish don't la 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:22.400 la la. 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:25.839 We don't want to hear about your trans fishes. Woke mob, 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:27.360 get out of here. 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:32.080 Yeah if so, I guess the transgender agenda is so 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:36.400 powerful it can actually make fish change their sex. That's 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:36.960 the idea. 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:42.240 The the power they have given to trans books that 0:12:42.679 --> 0:12:47.920 they definitely do not have. Yeah, it's it's creepy and weird. Yeah, 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:50.600 leave trans kids alone. Yeah, they're just act You're trying 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:52.280 to live their lives. They did nothing to those fishes. 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:55.360 Leave those fishes alone. They're just doing what they're supposed 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:55.560 to be. 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:59.520 Yeah, survive. This is good for their species. They don't 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:04.520 need us to tell them. They're Yeah, yes, bizarre, bizarre. 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:07.320 Uh, cancel the ocean. 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:09.360 I guess oh god, I mean we're doing a great 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:09.800 job of that. 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:21.439 We are we are our own. Oh no, So what 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:24.560 is the difference between a snake and a lizard? 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:24.960 Joel? 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:27.000 This isn't a setup to a joke. I'm not trying 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:30.880 to trick you. It's the feet, okayo the I mean, 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:34.880 I'm doing it in very simplistic terms, right, Like, again, 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:37.920 this is not like a trick. Yes, So, like, snakes 0:13:38.320 --> 0:13:43.160 don't have legs generally, and lizards do have legs. Of course, 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:47.280 there are other differences, sure, you know, anatomical differences, but 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:53.600 this is the main distinguishing difference between snakes and lizards. However, 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:56.720 have you ever heard of a legless lizard? 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:00.400 No, because that's a snake. We just went over the. 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:05.560 I know it sounds like a legless lizard would just 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:09.240 be a snake. But surprisingly, no, this is not the case. 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:12.960 So there are lizards who, over many years of evolution, 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:17.000 have lost their legs or they've been greatly reduced to 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:23.480 tiny little nubblets. And this has been done independently of snakes. 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:28.440 So over eight families of lizards containing multiple species have 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:32.920 independently lost their legs. So this is an evolutionary trend 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:37.040 that has happened over and over again independently. It's a 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:40.040 popular thing in the lizard world to just lose your legs. 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:41.800 It's this appropriation. 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:44.200 Were they looking at the snakes in there like this 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:47.920 life seems better and now I'm going to call myself 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:50.840 a snake. Everyone's like, technically you're a legless lizard. They're like, 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:52.480 bla la lah, I can't hear you. 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:55.920 I mean, is it okay to do appropriation? Once you've 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:59.520 gone so far so deep in, you're willing to give 0:14:59.600 --> 0:14:59.960 up your. 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:01.800 They become part of the culture. 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:04.720 They two slither on the ground, okay, they know that 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:05.840 snake white? 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:07.920 Okay, really blaring some wines here. 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:14.320 So snakes and lizards evolved from a common ancestor, a 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:19.320 reptile squawmate. So the fossil record of the oldest known 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:23.200 common ancestor to snakes and lizards was found in northern 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:26.560 Italy in the Alps, and it is a species from 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:30.120 around two hundred and forty million years ago called mega 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:31.720 cayrella wac tillari. 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:32.400 Gosh. 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:35.000 That is so many consonants jammed into one word. 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:37.080 Give it to me again, Katie, How does it go? 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:40.120 Mega, kyrilla, waktillary. 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:46.040 Wow, okay, big word which means oh, gosh. 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:51.920 Well Mega means big okay and kyrilla that means something 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:52.480 for sure. 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:54.000 It sounds like it's. 0:15:55.960 --> 0:16:00.640 You have a Latin text right right, there's some consonants vowels, 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:02.560 so probably a word that has a meaning. 0:16:02.840 --> 0:16:05.400 Yes, I never agreed. I never got to the Latin 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:10.080 what all the Latin words mean in my skewing? But 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:14.960 what makes legless lizards different from snakes? Well, they are 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:20.320 technically examples of how snakes evolved from a lizard like ancestor. 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:24.680 But they are distinct from snakes because legless lizards evolved 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:29.040 from a different lineage and in a different evolutionary path 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:33.040 from snakes, as in, legless lizards and snakes don't share 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:37.520 a recent common ancestor. Oh, and they also have different 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:42.720 anatomical characteristics. So legless lizards have eyelids and ear holes, 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:47.200 which snakes do not have, and legless lizards aren't able 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:50.920 to swallow prey larger than their heads like a snake can. 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:57.000 So basically, in every way, legless lizards are lizards that 0:16:57.280 --> 0:17:02.040 don't have legs, whereas snakes are evolutionary and physically distinct 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:04.800 from lizards, not just in the fact that they lack 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:05.560 their legs. 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:08.119 I gotta tell you, guys, this is so trippy. So 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:11.520 first of all, when you're looking at a legless lizard, uh, 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:14.359 and you're seeing the eyelids, for some reason, it feels 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:20.119 more anthropomorphized. It's more like human. It's like, what do 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:20.840 you call those things? 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:24.680 Not a transfer? No? No, not a transformer, but uh. 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:33.159 Ah, were they It's like they're transmorphing. Is that the 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:36.040 book cover where they show like, yeah, yeah, turn into 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:39.760 a different animal. Yes, it looks like an anamorph and 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:43.199 it's right in between a lizard may turn into a 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:45.119 snake and or a human. 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:49.840 Boy, it's a very weird but kind of cool looking. Yes. 0:17:49.920 --> 0:17:52.920 Their bodies also seem like. 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:56.200 Thicker as compared to their heads, Like I feel like 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:58.520 a snake's head is typically like a little more tapered 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:03.959 than than this is it is it is it like 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:05.639 bonier than a snake. 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:11.280 It looks I mean, if you count the like la like, 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:16.360 there's probably more sort of vestigial leg architecture going on, 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:20.240 so like a pelvic girdle they will probably have, whereas 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:22.879 a snake doesn't necessarily have the pelvic girdle. But in 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:26.719 terms of like snakes do actually have a rib cage 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:31.040 all the way down. Yeah, but it's much I feel 0:18:31.040 --> 0:18:33.960 like they're much more expandable than the lakeless lizards. So 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:39.000 legless lizard is a little more structured, whereas a snake 0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:42.320 is a little more like the its skeleton really allows 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:44.639 for a lot of expansion because of the whole like 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:48.760 eating food larger than its head and can really widen 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:51.600 its jaws. It's a it's kind of a misnomer to 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:54.280 say they dislocate their jaws because their jaws are just 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:57.159 naturally not a Yeah, they're not not a fused like 0:18:57.200 --> 0:19:00.760 our jaws are, and so they can open their mouths 0:19:00.760 --> 0:19:04.040 really really wide, and also their rib cages can are 0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:06.320 more flexible. They can expand to a lot of these 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:09.280 big big meals, So that's why they can eat stuff 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:10.720 that's like way bigger than their bodies. 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:12.159 Yeah, like looking at it, because I would see like 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:15.399 a snake. Sometimes some synaks have more of like an 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:18.000 s curve when they slither, whereas this feels like it 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:20.760 would be much more like wavy and less of a 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:25.000 defined curve like it wouldn't maybe I guess more like 0:19:25.040 --> 0:19:27.920 this is like kind of turn reading ass Is that what. 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:28.560 I'm looking for? 0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:31.320 I mean, it's they probably do move a little differently, 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:35.200 although they do. They do slither essentially like a snake does. 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:40.040 And you know they are they come in all sorts 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:42.560 of different sizes. So this first photo that I've shared 0:19:42.560 --> 0:19:44.119 with you, All of these pictures will be in the 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:48.720 show notes. This is a glass lizard and it is 0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:53.280 one of the bigger species of legless lizards. It's this 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:55.479 it's I think it's quite beautiful. It's sort of this 0:19:55.840 --> 0:20:00.320 pale tan color. It's got these like weird it's not injured. 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:03.920 I know, it kind of looks like someone slashed It's 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:07.920 that's a natural part of this species. It's just sort 0:20:07.920 --> 0:20:12.359 of a skin fold. So yeah, it's called the shell 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:15.880 top who sick. It is one of the largest species 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:18.840 of legless lizards in the world, found in southern Europe 0:20:18.880 --> 0:20:21.639 and Central Asia. It is it grows to be a 0:20:21.680 --> 0:20:23.800 little under four and a half feet or one hundred 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:27.159 and thirty five centimeters. And yeah, that that groove is 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:29.719 sort of folded skin, so it's it's normal. 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:33.080 It looks badass. 0:20:33.320 --> 0:20:36.119 Looks wise. It looks like a white like, you know, 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:39.320 sort of the There are various dragons. I think some 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:42.040 of them are called like worms or something like, aren't 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:46.280 there dragons where it's they don't have wings and they 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:47.760 just kind of like slither through the air. 0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:51.440 Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, they fly, but there's 0:20:51.440 --> 0:20:55.439 definitely they sort of resemble like a komodo dragon, but 0:20:55.480 --> 0:20:58.320 like in fantasy terms, so they're yeah large, and they're 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:03.320 like clod you know, and typically instead of the almost 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:05.520 dinosaur like head, it's more lizard like. 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:05.800 Yeah. 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:09.040 Typically, Yeah, you definitely have those types of dragons which 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:11.480 are cool, Like kmodo dragons are cool. 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:12.280 They are very cool. 0:21:12.440 --> 0:21:13.320 These lizards are cool. 0:21:13.440 --> 0:21:15.560 I think what makes so like, what's terrifying about a 0:21:15.600 --> 0:21:18.680 snake and cute about these legless lizards is a snake 0:21:18.720 --> 0:21:22.800 can like prop itself up, you know, what I mean, 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:25.119 and like really confront you. You're like, you're should not 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:27.320 be facing me like this. Okay, you could just go 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:29.240 on the ground and then up in the air and 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:30.960 look me in my eye while you kill me. 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:34.400 Horrifying. This little guy's. 0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:37.080 Killing he is not going to get it. Doesn't look 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:38.480 like he can prop himself up. 0:21:39.040 --> 0:21:41.359 I don't think, yeah, I don't think. They coil in 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:42.840 this defensive manner that snakes. 0:21:43.160 --> 0:21:47.280 Yeah, okay, that's much cuter. That plus eyelids equals to snake. 0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:47.800 I could rock. 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:48.639 Can't blink at you? 0:21:48.760 --> 0:21:52.359 Yeah, yeah, it could wink at you could flirt. It's cute. 0:21:52.440 --> 0:21:56.000 It could flirt. What you need for flirting is eyelids, 0:21:56.040 --> 0:21:57.280 and if you don't got them, you can't. 0:22:00.160 --> 0:22:01.120 The ability is gone. 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:03.600 These little guys are also kind of like the one 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:04.919 with the tiny fettle legs. 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:09.080 They are so cute. Yes, so there's the small one 0:22:09.080 --> 0:22:11.920 of the smaller species of legless lizards, or the southern 0:22:12.000 --> 0:22:15.400 California legless lizards who are small enough to be mistaken 0:22:15.440 --> 0:22:20.040 for earthworms. They are just little, tiny guys. Uh so cute. 0:22:20.040 --> 0:22:23.880 And then some species of lizards have not fully lost 0:22:23.920 --> 0:22:27.800 their legs. These are actually my favorites. But they are 0:22:27.840 --> 0:22:30.480