1 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:10,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to Creature Future production of iHeartRadio. I'm your host 2 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: of Many Parasites, Katie Golden, and today on the show, 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:18,159 Speaker 1: it's another listener Questions episode. You can write to me 4 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:22,760 Speaker 1: your questions and I answer them. If you don't have 5 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 1: any questions that you would like to hear answered on 6 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: the show, or maybe I'll answer them by email, you 7 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: can send them to me at Creature Feature Pod at 8 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: gmail dot com. I got some really good questions this week, 9 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: so let's get right into them. Here we go. This 10 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:44,560 Speaker 1: is from a friend of the show, Lydia Bug. She writes, 11 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: I'm not sure if you've ever covered this in detail before, 12 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:49,240 Speaker 1: but I would love to hear more about the process 13 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: of butterflies going from worm to pile of goo to 14 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: pretty bug. So thanks, Lydia. The transformation from a butterfly 15 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: to well known the other way, doesn't it. The transformation 16 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 1: from a caterpillar to a butterfly is really fascinating and 17 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: a little disgusting. So caterpillars are butterfly larva. Their essential 18 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 1: purpose is to eat as much as possible to get 19 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: fat and to fuel the transformation into a butterfly. So 20 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: caterpillars typically eat plant matter. Although large blue butterfly caterpillars 21 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:31,319 Speaker 1: eat meat, specifically ant larva, by tricking their way into 22 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,479 Speaker 1: ant nests. If you are curious to hear about these 23 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: little carnivore caterpillars, we discuss this more detail on the 24 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:44,080 Speaker 1: recent episode called Animal Lecter. So caterpillars will eat and 25 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 1: eat and eat until they are all fueled up for 26 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: their transformation. They will build a cocoon if they are 27 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:56,120 Speaker 1: a moth species, or a chrysalis if they are a 28 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: butterfly species. So a cocoon is typically made out of 29 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: silk that the moth has excreted. It is in fact 30 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: where we get silk from via silk moths. So chrysalises 31 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,519 Speaker 1: are actually made out of the top layer of skin 32 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: of the caterpillar. So the caterpillar will attach itself to 33 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: a branch via a bit of silk and then wiggle 34 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 1: out of its top layer of skin, which hardens into 35 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:27,920 Speaker 1: a chrysalis. So inside the cocoon or the crysalis, the 36 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: larva will actually completely dissolve into goo, so it is 37 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: essentially digesting itself into a sort of soup ready to 38 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:43,800 Speaker 1: be rearranged into its final form. So the way it 39 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: does This is by preserving groups of blueprint cells called 40 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 1: imaginal discs, which have DNA instructions for growing into body 41 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,640 Speaker 1: parts fueled and built by the dissolved soup that it 42 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: turned its old body into. So is this a transformation 43 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 1: or is it more of like a death and rebirth. So, 44 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:08,640 Speaker 1: after all, it has turned itself almost entirely into goop. 45 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:11,520 Speaker 1: Like if you cut open a cocoon or chrysalis at 46 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: the right time, all you'll find is this zesty paste. 47 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: I guess I don't know if it's zesty because I've 48 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 1: never tried it. Anyways, Researchers have found that adult moths 49 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:27,359 Speaker 1: can retain the memories of their former larval cells. So 50 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: caterpillars were taught to fear an odor by pairing it 51 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: with a mild electric shock. Then, after the caterpillars metamorphosized 52 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: in two months, the researchers tested to see if they 53 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 1: still feared the smell that they were trained to hate 54 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:46,440 Speaker 1: as caterpillars, and in fact, they found that they did so. 55 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:50,680 Speaker 1: The theory is that some of the cells preserved during 56 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 1: the sort of supefication that the larva goes through are 57 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: actually neural cells that retain the same structures, or possibly 58 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: there's some kind of epigenetic change that carries on into 59 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 1: its adult form. Still, it's an incredibly weird process that 60 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: I think we've just kind of grown up to think 61 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: it's normal because butterflies are everywhere. They're beautiful, innocent looking creatures, 62 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: and we kind of don't think about how they turn 63 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:20,839 Speaker 1: themselves into goo and get reborn and are haunted by 64 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 1: their old memories. Kind of a nightmarish ship of theseus situation. 65 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:35,239 Speaker 1: Onto the next listener question, what's going on with bees? 66 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,679 Speaker 1: We're terrified about them disappearing, but I haven't heard anything 67 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: about them recently. This is from feminist Killjoy on Twitter. 68 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: So bees, I love bees, I love honey, and I 69 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: love all the variety of bee species out there. I 70 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: don't like getting stung by bees, but to be honest, 71 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: it's only happened to me once, and that was my fault. 72 00:04:57,800 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: I felt a bee land on my head, so I 73 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: trying to like get whatever it was off my head, 74 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:05,160 Speaker 1: and the bee felt like I was attacking it and 75 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 1: stungy entirely my bad. So bees. Starting around two thousand 76 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: and seven, people started to freak out about colony collapse 77 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: disorder which is the strange phenomenon where bees abandon a 78 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: colony and its queen. So it's become an increasing problem 79 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: and the cause is mysterious, but it's thought to maybe 80 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: have something to do with pesticides, pathogens, maybe parasites, or 81 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: malnutrition or habitat loss. So this is an unfortunate phenomenon 82 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 1: that has been occurring in domesticated honeybees. While there have 83 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: been increased cases of colony collapse disorder, an important note 84 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:50,599 Speaker 1: is that honeybees are kind of like the cows of 85 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: the insect world. We have selected honeybees for their increased 86 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: honey production and decreased aggression. They are not actually name 87 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:04,360 Speaker 1: to North America, and they are likely originally from Africa 88 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:07,680 Speaker 1: or Asia from tens of thousands of years ago when 89 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:13,920 Speaker 1: we first started domesticating them. And so while I do 90 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:17,600 Speaker 1: love honey bees and I love honey, they are technically 91 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: invasive species in many parts of the world, given that 92 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:24,480 Speaker 1: we have domesticated them, and they are only a small 93 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:27,479 Speaker 1: fraction of the number of bee species out in the 94 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:31,039 Speaker 1: world and a fraction of a fraction of the pollinators 95 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: who help our crops and plants and planet. So I'm 96 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: not saying that colony collapse disorder is not a problem. 97 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:41,359 Speaker 1: I mean it is especially for beekeepers and if you 98 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 1: like honey but there is a distinction between there being 99 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 1: a problem with honeybees who are essentially tiny flying cows 100 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:53,599 Speaker 1: and their important agricultural pollinators as well as honey producers, 101 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 1: but still their populations are probably gonna be fine. Meanwhile, 102 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: we have we have problems that we are facing with 103 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 1: wild native bees, who are both important pollinators for agriculture 104 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: as well as for native plants, and their populations are 105 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: much more under threat. So firstly, honey bees are not 106 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: endangered at the moment. Colony collapse disorder is alarming and 107 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 1: very troublesome for apiari's and you know, if you like bees, 108 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: but their populations are doing alright. I think it is 109 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 1: important to find out why exactly colony collapse disorder is happening, 110 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: because that is good information to know and that could 111 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:38,640 Speaker 1: be important for conservation for not just domesticated bees, but 112 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 1: for wild bees as well. But speaking of wild native bees, 113 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: they are critical for protecting ecosystems and their populations are 114 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:51,560 Speaker 1: in far more danger than honey bees. So there are 115 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: over three five hundred species of wild bees in North America, 116 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:59,240 Speaker 1: and they are much more likely to face extinction than 117 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: the honey bee. Pollution, pesticides, light pollution, habitat destruction, all 118 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:09,600 Speaker 1: of these things really do threaten these native bee species. 119 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:13,800 Speaker 1: Uh So there is if you're interested right in the 120 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: health of native bees. There is a particularly adorable citizen 121 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,160 Speaker 1: science action you can take part in if you are 122 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 1: concerned about wildbepopulations. Bumblebewatch dot org is where you can 123 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: upload images of bumblebees that you found and the location 124 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:36,439 Speaker 1: and date to help conservationists keep track of bumblebee populations. 125 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: There are certain species of bumblebees who are endangered, such 126 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:45,360 Speaker 1: as the rusty patched bumblebee, and by providing photos as 127 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: well as location and date information, you are giving researchers 128 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: new locations to survey for possible bumblebee populations to keep 129 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:59,440 Speaker 1: track of. And honestly, who doesn't love watching bumblebees. They 130 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: are easily one of my favorite types of bees. They 131 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:08,480 Speaker 1: are so fumbly and bumbly, just like their name implies. 132 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: According to all known laws of aviation, there is no 133 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: way that a bumblebee should be able to fly. Its 134 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:16,480 Speaker 1: wings are too small to get its fat little body 135 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:19,240 Speaker 1: off the ground. The bumblebee, of course flies anyways. Okay, 136 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:23,199 Speaker 1: now that's actually just the first few lines of the 137 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 1: famous movie be Movie starring Seinfeld. It's not actually scientifically accurate. 138 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: Bumblebees as well as bees can certainly fly according to 139 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: every law of aviation or aerodynamics and biology. They're just 140 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:46,680 Speaker 1: very around and very cute, and I love them. Next 141 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:51,520 Speaker 1: listener question, how did birds develop hollow bones? Did their 142 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:55,679 Speaker 1: ancestors adapt that way before they flew or afterwards? According 143 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:59,520 Speaker 1: to the fossil records, and this is from L. S. Griegor, 144 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,880 Speaker 1: this is a great question. The short answer is that 145 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 1: they did evolve before flight. These hollow bones evolved before flight. 146 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 1: But to understand why, let's first talk about what we 147 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:18,679 Speaker 1: mean by hollow bones. Are they just tubes with nothing inside? 148 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: So first let's talk about mammalian bones, like the bones 149 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:26,080 Speaker 1: that we have in our body. Our mammalian bones are 150 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 1: full of bone marrow. It is a tissue with blood 151 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:34,840 Speaker 1: vessels that produces red and white blood cells. Surrounding the 152 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:40,040 Speaker 1: bone marrow is a layer of spongy bone called cancelss bone, 153 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:43,760 Speaker 1: and layered over that is a tough outer layer of 154 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: compact bone. So birds have bones that are not entirely hollow, 155 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:55,719 Speaker 1: but are in fact full of air pockets. So imagine 156 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: a really bubbly sour dough bread, you know, the kind 157 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 1: that's really delicious, but you can't really make a sandwich 158 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 1: out up because it's got too many holes in it. 159 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:07,679 Speaker 1: So the cross section of a bird bone looks almost 160 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 1: exactly like that, with struts and air pockets inside. These 161 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 1: are called pneumatized and they allow the bird's bones to 162 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:21,160 Speaker 1: be lightweight and don't contain bone marrow. But if you 163 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:24,520 Speaker 1: think about it, this makes them actually very structurally stable, 164 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 1: because if it was just a hollow tube, you could 165 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 1: crush that quite easily. But because it's just full of 166 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:34,559 Speaker 1: sort of these bubbles and then these struts of bone, 167 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 1: it is much more structurally stable. But birds do need 168 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:44,440 Speaker 1: bone marrow for blood cell production, so some of their 169 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:49,520 Speaker 1: bones are not entire are not hollow, and actually contain 170 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 1: bone marrow. In some species of birds, none of their 171 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:57,800 Speaker 1: bones are hollow, like all of their bones contain marrow, 172 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:02,120 Speaker 1: such as penguins or some diving birds like ox, who 173 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:06,960 Speaker 1: actually can fly. Penguins, of course can't fly. Ox can fly, 174 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:11,959 Speaker 1: but they can also swim. Some flightless birds like ostriches 175 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:16,600 Speaker 1: still have some hollow bones, such as their femurs. Even 176 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:20,719 Speaker 1: though these bones contain air pockets, the struts inside of 177 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:23,679 Speaker 1: the bones actually make them really strong, and that's how 178 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:29,280 Speaker 1: they can support the ostrich's weight. Also, hollow bones are 179 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:34,400 Speaker 1: not just useful for flight, but also for thermoregulation, meaning 180 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:38,280 Speaker 1: keeping your temperature at a something that is suitable for you, 181 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:42,959 Speaker 1: as well as respiration, which sounds really weird. Why would 182 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: bones help one breathe better? But we'll talk about that. 183 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:54,760 Speaker 1: So hollow or maybe a more scientific term, pneumatized bones, 184 00:12:55,200 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 1: are actually connected to the bird's respiration Systems have multiple 185 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:04,439 Speaker 1: air sacks in addition to their lungs, and these air 186 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:08,800 Speaker 1: sacks are connected to the bird's hollow bones and the bones. 187 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 1: These hollow spaces and the bones can actually increase their 188 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 1: air intake capacity. So, given that pneumatized or hollow bones 189 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:23,520 Speaker 1: have multiple benefits outside of just helping with flying, it 190 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: then makes more sense that these hollow bones evolved before flight, 191 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:33,000 Speaker 1: just as feathers had evolved before flight. So Alosaurus, which 192 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:37,319 Speaker 1: was a large t rex like dinosaur, had some hollow 193 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 1: bones long before dinosaurs had any aspirations. Of flight. They 194 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:46,040 Speaker 1: had hollow bones along their neck, vertebrae, and back, and 195 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:49,080 Speaker 1: they were thought to help aid in respiration with that 196 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: handy extra air space. So like the dinosaur breathe in 197 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 1: fill these air sacks, and then some of the air 198 00:13:56,160 --> 00:14:00,480 Speaker 1: could be in these air pockets in the bone, increasing 199 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 1: the volume of air that it could take in, which 200 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 1: might be really important to give this dinosauran edge in 201 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:11,480 Speaker 1: terms of being able to chase after prey without having 202 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:14,559 Speaker 1: to catch its breath, or to just function as a 203 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:19,360 Speaker 1: large animal that needs a lot of oxygen. So evolution 204 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 1: is a really amazing roller coaster ride with twists and turns. 205 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:27,800 Speaker 1: Sometimes you start out with one adaptation that's for a 206 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:31,400 Speaker 1: specific purpose, but then it can later be used for 207 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:39,640 Speaker 1: an even more fantastic purpose like flight. Next listener question, 208 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: what do you think of ancient folks mistaking elephants spools 209 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,360 Speaker 1: for monsters and coming up with stories of the cyclops? 210 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:51,040 Speaker 1: I always thought that was neat. Do you have a favorite? 211 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 1: This real animal was probably the inspiration for this mythical 212 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:58,480 Speaker 1: beast sort of thing from Blake Rogers. So I love 213 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 1: this story. I have I seen an elephant skull in 214 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 1: a museum. I actually remember thinking exactly that it looks 215 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 1: like a cyclops skull. The hole that looks like an 216 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:13,040 Speaker 1: eye socket is actually its large nasal cavity that it's 217 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:18,560 Speaker 1: trunk connects to. But it's so huge, and it really 218 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:22,520 Speaker 1: does look like a big hole for an eye. The 219 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 1: actual eye sockets are really small and they're harder to notice. 220 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:28,880 Speaker 1: So it makes sense that we would see this one 221 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: big hole and think, oh, this is where a giant 222 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 1: eye would go on this giant skull. So I can 223 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:40,280 Speaker 1: see that Greek sailors might think this was a monster 224 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:44,239 Speaker 1: that wanted to eat them. But I have many favorite 225 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:48,720 Speaker 1: kind of like oopsies, we got this animal wrong, or 226 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: like taking a part of another animal or real animal 227 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:54,640 Speaker 1: and thinking that it was a monster or a mythical creature. 228 00:15:55,240 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 1: So one example of a bonar reconstruction go terribly wrong 229 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 1: is the Mageburg unicorn, which was made in the seventeenth 230 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:12,880 Speaker 1: century and Feach is featured at the Museum for Netrikunde Maigeburg, Germany. 231 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:17,360 Speaker 1: I'm I'm really sorry Germany if I'm pronouncing Mageburg wrong. 232 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:23,920 Speaker 1: Maybe it's Magburg anyways, So this reconstruction has a long tail, 233 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:28,200 Speaker 1: two legs, no arms, and a skull with a giant 234 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:32,200 Speaker 1: horn on its forehead. It is the goofiest looking fossil 235 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 1: recreation ever made, just like Google Mageburg unicorn. It's amazing. Yeah, 236 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:42,080 Speaker 1: I can imagine that this was probably made by someone 237 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 1: like after eating ergot infested bread, huffing mercury laden makeup. 238 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:50,440 Speaker 1: I don't know, it doesn't it makes no sense. It 239 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 1: has the skull of an actual wooly rhino, which was 240 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,360 Speaker 1: a real animal that is extinct. It has the horn 241 00:16:57,440 --> 00:16:59,720 Speaker 1: of a narwalal, So the horn of a narwall is 242 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:02,960 Speaker 1: act actually a tusk. It's a long tooth, not a horn, 243 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:05,800 Speaker 1: and it has the legs of a wooly mammoth. So 244 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:11,479 Speaker 1: three unfortunate dead animals who did not deserve to be 245 00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:18,280 Speaker 1: so disrespected. So, speaking of narwal teeth, that long pointed 246 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:23,120 Speaker 1: tooth that has been mistaken for horns, which you know, 247 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:26,920 Speaker 1: it's easy to see why that mistake is made. It's 248 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:30,200 Speaker 1: something that's coming out of the Narwal's head. It does 249 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:34,200 Speaker 1: not look like a long tooth or a tusk. These 250 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:37,480 Speaker 1: tusks were often thought to be unicorn horns. Before the 251 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:42,280 Speaker 1: eighteenth century. These unicorn horns were sold to royalty because 252 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:46,800 Speaker 1: of their supposed jurative properties. They would shave off small 253 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:50,399 Speaker 1: pieces of the horns and mix them with drinks or 254 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 1: use them to protect themselves against being poisoned. So there's 255 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 1: no science to Narwal tusks being useful to prevent poisonings. 256 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:01,199 Speaker 1: So please don't just try to like chew on a 257 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:06,600 Speaker 1: Narwald tusk to cure yourself after you ate some urga 258 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 1: and huff some mercury. But you know, Europeans had no idea, 259 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:14,159 Speaker 1: and Narwal tusks came from traders who were only too 260 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:21,000 Speaker 1: happy to capitalize on their mystical reputation. So that'll do 261 00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:26,160 Speaker 1: it for our quick little listener questions episode no animal 262 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:28,600 Speaker 1: sound of the week. I will save that for next 263 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:32,280 Speaker 1: week when I have a guest, but just a refresher 264 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:38,359 Speaker 1: for last week's mystery animal sound. The hint was that 265 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:42,440 Speaker 1: this is a bird who is often plagiarized, and here 266 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:49,720 Speaker 1: is the sound. So if you think you know who 267 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:52,040 Speaker 1: is making that sound, you can write to me at 268 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 1: Creature feature Pod at gmail dot com. You can also 269 00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:59,679 Speaker 1: write to me your questions and I will try my 270 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:03,679 Speaker 1: best to answer them either through email or on the 271 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:07,199 Speaker 1: show like I did this time. Thank you guys so much, 272 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:10,200 Speaker 1: for listening. If you're enjoying the show and you leave 273 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:12,639 Speaker 1: a rating or review, I read all of them and 274 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:16,000 Speaker 1: I appreciate every rating. It really does help me out, 275 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 1: helps the show out, and makes me feel good. And 276 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:23,920 Speaker 1: thank you to the Space Cossics for their super awesome song. Exolumina. 277 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:28,000 Speaker 1: Preacher features a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts like 278 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,600 Speaker 1: the one you just heard, visit the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcast, 279 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:32,600 Speaker 1: or Hey guess what why of you listen to your 280 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:35,960 Speaker 1: favorite shows? Don't judge you you do you man, you 281 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 1: do You See you next Wednesday.