WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: Akhlut

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of

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<v Speaker 1>My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and

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<v Speaker 1>this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>and monsters. In time, the Inuit people of the Bearing

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<v Speaker 1>Sea tell tales of Aklut, a folkloric monster that takes

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<v Speaker 1>the form of a giant orca while in the water,

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<v Speaker 1>but can also venture out onto the ice flows, where

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<v Speaker 1>it assumes the form of a giant wolf and hunts

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<v Speaker 1>the flesh of human beings. Whenever one encounters wolf prints

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<v Speaker 1>that terminate at the edge of an ice flow, then

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<v Speaker 1>one has found signs of the monster re entering the

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<v Speaker 1>water to assume its orca form. The Oclut folk tale

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<v Speaker 1>is exciting and enthralling on its own, but it also

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<v Speaker 1>brings to mind the terrestrial ancestry of the orca or

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<v Speaker 1>killer whale. The leading hypothesis on whale evolution holds that

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<v Speaker 1>the creatures evolved from four legged land dwellers that increasingly

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<v Speaker 1>took to the sea beginning some fifty million years ago.

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<v Speaker 1>While not wolves per se, these suspected whale ancestors are

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes described or illustrated as vaguely lupine in appearance. Orca

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<v Speaker 1>are sometimes described as the wolves of the sea, but

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<v Speaker 1>in scientists at the University of Copenhagen used genomic data

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<v Speaker 1>to determine that while walrus is shared more in common

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<v Speaker 1>with dogs and wolves, orcas had more in common with cows.

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<v Speaker 1>In prior research, mijard at All, writing for the journal

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<v Speaker 1>Mammalian Biology, hypothesized that the orca's ancestors might have been

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<v Speaker 1>something like a deer, perhaps similar to the modern water

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<v Speaker 1>loving mouse deer, which may jump into the water and

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<v Speaker 1>hide when threatened. Whatever the secrets of their origin, orcas

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<v Speaker 1>now exist in two to five subspecies or races, which

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<v Speaker 1>differ from each other in diet and appearance. Andrew Foot

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<v Speaker 1>at the University of Burne, Switzerland has argued that their

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<v Speaker 1>genomic differences are, as with humans, partially driven by culture

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<v Speaker 1>learned behaviors in ways of surviving that are passed down

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<v Speaker 1>within a given group. Aklut stands apart from genomics and

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<v Speaker 1>scientific scrutiny, but in some ways it nicely embodies the

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<v Speaker 1>evolutionary connection between land and ocean. Tune in for additional

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<v Speaker 1>episodes of The Monster Fact each week. As always, you

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<v Speaker 1>can email us at contact at stuff to Blow your

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<v Speaker 1>Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a

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<v Speaker 1>production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts for my

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