1 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:09,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Creature Feature Production of I Heart Radio. I'm 2 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: your host of Many Parasites, Katie Golden. He studied psychology 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: and evolutionary biology, and today on the show, it's a 4 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:19,599 Speaker 1: listener questions episode. You can write to me your questions 5 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:23,279 Speaker 1: and I answer them. If you've got a question, you 6 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: can write to me a Creature Feature Pod at gmail 7 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: dot com and I'll either try to respond to you 8 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: there or hey sometimes on the show, like I'm doing 9 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:34,839 Speaker 1: right now today. So let's get right into it with 10 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:39,240 Speaker 1: the first listener question. What foods are toxic two pets 11 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: and which ones aren't. I know not to give chocolate 12 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 1: to dogs, but that's about it, and no alcohol. Are 13 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:48,240 Speaker 1: some animals immune to alcohol? I've read about elephants getting 14 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: drunk Steven M Hi Stephen. So to answer your first question, 15 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: there are actually tons of foods and substances that are 16 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: toxic two pets. So it's always a good idea to 17 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: you only feed them something if you've already looked it 18 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 1: up and check to make sure it's not toxic. But 19 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:08,479 Speaker 1: just in addition to some of the more well known 20 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: foods toxic to dogs, like chocolate, some surprising ones are 21 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: that you should not let them eat grapes, raisins, or currents, 22 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:20,679 Speaker 1: because these can actually cause life threatening kidney damage. It's 23 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,680 Speaker 1: thought that it's the tartaric acid and grapes that causes 24 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: kidney toxicity and dogs, but not in humans. There's also 25 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 1: another surprising thing that you shouldn't let your dog eat, 26 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:34,839 Speaker 1: which is zylatol, which is the artificial sweetener often found 27 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,200 Speaker 1: in sugarless gum, sugar free ice cream, or even some 28 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:43,520 Speaker 1: brands of sweetened peanut butter. In dogs, zylatol is quickly 29 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: absorbed by the blood stream and triggers a massive release 30 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: of insulin, which is an effect that does not occur 31 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: in humans. This can dangerously fast track the absorption of 32 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: blood sugars, causing a blood sugar crash a k a. 33 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 1: Hype glycemia, and this can be life threatening. So yeah, 34 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: there are actually a lot of other things you should 35 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 1: not feed your dog, and I'm not a vet, so 36 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,640 Speaker 1: I don't feel comfortable giving advice or the whole list 37 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: of what you shouldn't feed your dogs, So always check 38 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:17,919 Speaker 1: with your vet or a trusted source before you let 39 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: the meat stuff that's not dog food or dog treats. 40 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 1: So cats also you need to be careful with in 41 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 1: terms of what they get to eat. A surprising thing 42 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: to me about cats is that essential oils can actually 43 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:37,360 Speaker 1: be quite dangerous to them. So essential oils can cause 44 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: liver damage when a cat ingests it or gets it 45 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: on their skin. There are a bunch of essential oils 46 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: that are bad for cats, including but not limited to, 47 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: peppermint oil, citrus cinnamon oil which I didn't even know, 48 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:55,520 Speaker 1: cinnamon cane in oil form, but there it is, uh 49 00:02:55,600 --> 00:03:00,360 Speaker 1: tea tree oil, and others. So don't use a cential 50 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: oil products on your cat. Um, keep them out of 51 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,400 Speaker 1: your cat's reach. Talk to your vet, like if you 52 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 1: if you have essential oils that you use, you can 53 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: talk to your vet about like, you know, making sure 54 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 1: that they're not dangerous to your cat and there's no 55 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: cross contamination. Um. Yeah, just be just be all careful 56 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:23,360 Speaker 1: with the kiddies because it's super concentrated stuff and they 57 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: cannot handle that. So onto drunk animals, So stories of 58 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 1: drunk elephants maybe apocryphal. There's not really any solid evidence 59 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: of elephants eating enough rotting fruit to get drunk, and 60 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 1: they seem to prefer fresh fruit. UM. And they're so 61 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: big it would take a lot of fermented fruit to 62 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: actually get them drunk. But uh, that doesn't mean a 63 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 1: big animal cannot get drunk. So however, moose definitely do 64 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: get drunk because they will happily eat a bunch of 65 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: fermented apples, will get drunk, and they have sometimes been 66 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: found to crash into trees while drunk moss ng which 67 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: I don't know if that's a crime, um, but you 68 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: know that is what happens. So in terms of whether 69 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: some animals are immune to alcohol, there are some that 70 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 1: have incredibly high alcohol cool tolerances, such as tree shrews. 71 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,719 Speaker 1: So the pin tailed tree shrew is a mouse like 72 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:34,720 Speaker 1: arboreal mammal, meaning it lives in trees. Um from Malaysia, 73 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: So they are these little mouse sized shrews. They have 74 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: a tail where the hairs on the end, these white 75 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 1: hairs stick out like a feather pin and that's why 76 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,840 Speaker 1: they're called pin tailed. They're very cute. They can fit 77 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:53,559 Speaker 1: in the palm of your hand, and they can hold 78 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:57,559 Speaker 1: their liquor much better than a mouse. So they love 79 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: to drink nutrient rich fer mint to nectar that comes 80 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: from the bertram palm tree. Uh in the paper with 81 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:09,359 Speaker 1: a title that I Love Chronic intake of fermented floral 82 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: nectar by wild tree shrews. The researchers found that these 83 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: tree shrews, if scaled up to say a human woman size, 84 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:22,040 Speaker 1: could drink nine glasses of wine in twelve hours without 85 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 1: showing any signs of intoxication. For me, I can do 86 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 1: like one glass. Uh and yeah, so twelve glasses of 87 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 1: wine scaled up is what they can handle without showing 88 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:42,039 Speaker 1: any signs of intoxication. And that's not healthy for humans, 89 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 1: but it works for the pin tailed tree shrew due 90 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: to adaptations to their metabolism that allows them to efficiently 91 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:55,160 Speaker 1: process alcohol and limit the concentration in their brain and bloodstream. 92 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:59,040 Speaker 1: Now onto another question, also from Stephen. I did a 93 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:02,120 Speaker 1: Google search for coming from animals other than cows. It 94 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:04,839 Speaker 1: seems pigs just don't like humans milking them, and I 95 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:07,040 Speaker 1: kind of understand why nobody wants to try to get 96 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 1: hippopotamus milk, But what about other mammals? Have people ever 97 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: try to get milk from them? Do cats and dogs 98 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,159 Speaker 1: produce too little milk for people to be interested? So 99 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 1: domesticated dairy cows, sheep, and goats were selected and bred 100 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: for high milk yield. Cows who came from the extinct 101 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: wild oroc were able to be selectively bred into docile, 102 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: high yield milk producers, and frankly, their teeths are easy 103 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:37,800 Speaker 1: to grab onto to milk. Like trying to milk a 104 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:42,279 Speaker 1: dog or a cat. Their teeths are really small and 105 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:46,239 Speaker 1: there's not gonna be much there. It's just not worth it. Also, 106 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 1: cow milk is high and fat, it separates well into 107 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: cream and milk, and it has a mild taste, all 108 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:59,119 Speaker 1: making it very ideal for human cultivation. But that doesn't 109 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: mean that there aren't there animals that people can and 110 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:07,159 Speaker 1: do try to get milk from, including camels, horses, water 111 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 1: buffalo and uh. Pigs do not like you to milk them. 112 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: They are very ornerary. But apparently there are some chefs 113 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 1: that are trying to figure out how to get pigs milk. Um. 114 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: Good luck with that pig. They're not docile and they 115 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:24,320 Speaker 1: do not want you up in their business like that. 116 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: Next listener question, Hi, my son Max has been listening 117 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 1: since the first episode. He is a spooky kid. He 118 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: has asked me to write and suggest some spooky topics. 119 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 1: One animals that could be in the Aliens franchises a 120 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:46,520 Speaker 1: Ka Xenomorphs too. Animals that could be the subject of 121 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:51,360 Speaker 1: the SCP Foundation that is a meta fiction about anomalies 122 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: that should be secured, contained or protected by a fake 123 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: government agency. Three. Max would like to know what animals 124 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 1: seem like they should be from crypto Zoology, especially moth Man. 125 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 1: For are there animals that seem like they should come 126 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: from anime, especially JoJo's Bizarre Adventure? So if you have 127 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: podcaster block, Max is happy to share ideas. Also, we 128 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: recently went to Africa and saw a bachelor heard of 129 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: Kate Buffalo's several were staring us down while shake urinating. 130 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 1: The guide informed us that that's a sign of aggression. 131 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 1: We said, yes, mean mugging while shakepea translate as a 132 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 1: aggression across species. We then spent the next week giggling 133 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 1: about how fast you would call the police if someone 134 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 1: walked in our bar and was shakepeaing. Sorry for the 135 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 1: random story, Thanks for encouraging my son somewhat inappropriate but 136 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:42,240 Speaker 1: very funny love of animals. Thanks Sonya, f Hi, Sonia 137 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 1: and Max. First of all, yes, I feel like a 138 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: buffalo peeing aggressively at me would be threatening. It basically 139 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: anything peeing aggressively in your direction is threatening. Message received. Uh. 140 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 1: Now onto Max's ideas. I love these. I may indeed 141 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:02,600 Speaker 1: do an episode to use your ideas. Max. In the meantime, 142 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: A little appetizer for some of these animals I think 143 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 1: fit the bill. Uh. The bobbit worm is one that 144 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:14,640 Speaker 1: I think is scarier than the alien from the movies Aliens. 145 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,760 Speaker 1: It is a worm that lives on the ocean floor, 146 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:21,800 Speaker 1: actually burrows down into the substrate and the ocean. It's 147 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:26,640 Speaker 1: got many segments, these very dangerous looking pincers, and it 148 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: will pop out of a hole and grab a fish 149 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:32,840 Speaker 1: and pull it down into this hole in the ocean, 150 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: and it is It's very scary. Uh. And it looks 151 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:44,520 Speaker 1: very alien. Um. Now, in terms of animals that look 152 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 1: like they come from an anime, um, this is one 153 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 1: that I think is really interesting and kind of cute 154 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:54,959 Speaker 1: in a weird way. The Cicada parasite beetle family are 155 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:59,319 Speaker 1: species of beetles whose larva are parasitoids of cicada nymphs. 156 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: The adult beetles will lay their eggs in the same 157 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:05,839 Speaker 1: holes in trees created by cicadas for their offspring, and 158 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:09,160 Speaker 1: the beetle larva will feed off of the cicada nymphs. 159 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 1: So as dastardly as they are, the adults are actually 160 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:18,560 Speaker 1: really cute. Their antenna look like these incredibly feathery antlers. 161 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,920 Speaker 1: They have these big round eyes, and in my opinion, 162 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:24,199 Speaker 1: they look pretty cute, like if someone crossed a moose 163 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 1: in a beetle um. More bugs that I think look 164 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 1: like they come from an anime or maybe even from 165 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 1: the movie Aliens. This one, I think looks like an 166 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:38,880 Speaker 1: alien robot. They are the trilobite beetles. They are a 167 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,720 Speaker 1: genus of beetles, where the adult males look pretty boring. 168 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: They just look like a standard beal beetle, but the 169 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: females and juveniles look like weird segmented alien robots. They 170 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 1: have a triangular head segment to trapezoidal segments, and then 171 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:59,319 Speaker 1: a bunch of tail in segments with spikes or barbs 172 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: coming off of them. Some species have bright orange markings 173 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:07,280 Speaker 1: or yellow but the weirdest and most alien looking species 174 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:12,000 Speaker 1: to me plate oh drillists. Ruficollis is found in Malaysia 175 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:15,679 Speaker 1: and has black, shiny markings on its back that looked 176 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:19,959 Speaker 1: like a bunch of weird alien eyes. Seriously, it is crazy. 177 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:26,120 Speaker 1: Look that up uh platow drillists ruficulis. If you want 178 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 1: cuter animals uh that look like they come from an anime, 179 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:35,120 Speaker 1: look no further than the mouse sized lowland streaked tenric 180 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:39,520 Speaker 1: of Madagascar, who is bright yellow and black coloration and 181 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:43,120 Speaker 1: incredible hedgehog like spikes. Would put it right at home 182 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 1: in many anime art styles. Besides, it's also got a long, 183 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:51,120 Speaker 1: boopable snoot, and it will shake its quills together to 184 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:55,040 Speaker 1: create a sound. The only mammal known to do strigulation, 185 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: as strigulation is the production of sound by rubbing body 186 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:01,800 Speaker 1: parts together. So quite an amazing little animal. I think 187 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:04,920 Speaker 1: it could definitely be a pokemon uh, and there are 188 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:07,600 Speaker 1: many more like that. So maybe in the future I'll 189 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 1: do a whole episode using some of your ideas. Max, 190 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:12,560 Speaker 1: and I hope you enjoyed these animals in the meantime. 191 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:18,800 Speaker 1: Next listener question, Hello Katie, I could barely contain my 192 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: excitement when I heard you got to the question about 193 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 1: whether there's more eyes or legs in the world. I've 194 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:27,040 Speaker 1: made an estimate based on current research earlier this year 195 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:30,679 Speaker 1: and the Reddit sub our biology. In short, shrimp are 196 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: overwhelmingly many, mostly as zooplankton. They're pretty much the deciding group, 197 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 1: and the result is therefore that there's a lot more 198 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:41,760 Speaker 1: legs than eyes. These calculations were made from numbers including 199 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:44,319 Speaker 1: estimates of species not yet found, but of course we 200 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,560 Speaker 1: don't know if something completely new turns up. I did 201 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:51,480 Speaker 1: not include o'celli in this calculation, so o'celli. Side note, 202 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:56,960 Speaker 1: listeners are very primitive, almost eye, sort of like sensory cells, 203 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:02,040 Speaker 1: but not really eyes. But anyway, um back to the email. 204 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:05,679 Speaker 1: I did not include ocelli in this calculation. My definition 205 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: of I is that it has to be able to 206 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:10,440 Speaker 1: discern shape as well as light, and for legs they 207 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,600 Speaker 1: need to directly bear the body. I remember that there 208 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:16,080 Speaker 1: were some blunders in this calculation, but nothing that would 209 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:18,840 Speaker 1: skew the results really. I remember that I went down 210 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:20,719 Speaker 1: a rabbit hole with us and learned a lot both 211 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:23,360 Speaker 1: about the vast amount of unidentified fish in our oceans, 212 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 1: how many worms there really are, and a lot of 213 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 1: cool facts about eyes. Thank you, as always for a 214 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:32,599 Speaker 1: great show. Saga e Hi Saga. This was an amazing 215 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:35,840 Speaker 1: thing to look at all of your calculations. Um, thank 216 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: you so much for that. I agree with you. I 217 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:43,160 Speaker 1: think legs would win in a landslide. And even if 218 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:47,120 Speaker 1: we were to count o'celli as eyes, which I agree, 219 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 1: I don't know that they really count as eyes, but 220 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: if we did that, only to be fair, we should 221 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 1: count podia or tube feet as legs as well. So 222 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:00,280 Speaker 1: podia are these tiny tubes bound on the body ms 223 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:05,800 Speaker 1: of like starfish and other kindoderms that work as these 224 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 1: tiny legs to move them around. They can also use 225 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:11,719 Speaker 1: them for things like grabbing onto food and pushing it 226 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 1: into their mouths. The podia actually use hydraulics to move, 227 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,160 Speaker 1: so water being pumped in and out of them, and 228 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: they have a sticky adhesive that they use to attach 229 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 1: to a substrate. And a starfish can have over ten 230 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 1: thousand tube feet each. So if you loosen the definition 231 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:33,760 Speaker 1: for what an eye is to like an o'chelli, one 232 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:37,240 Speaker 1: of those just simple light sensing cells, then you'd have 233 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 1: to loosen the definition for what a leg is to 234 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: one of these podia, And in that case, I think 235 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: the legs are gonna win in a total landslide. Speaking 236 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: of lots of legs. Millipedes are famous for having tons 237 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:55,680 Speaker 1: of legs, and there's a newly discovered millipede, e Persephone, 238 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:59,720 Speaker 1: which has broken the record for most legs on an animal. 239 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:03,800 Speaker 1: It has been recorded with one thousand, three hundred legs 240 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:08,000 Speaker 1: spread over three hundred thirty body segments. It's actually the 241 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: only known millipede to live up to its name Millie 242 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:15,840 Speaker 1: meaning one thousand and peede derived from feet in Latin. 243 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:20,080 Speaker 1: It was found deep in an Australian mining area, about 244 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:24,640 Speaker 1: fifty to two hundred feet or fifteen to sixty meters underground. 245 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 1: It is eyelis and it has this hair like body. 246 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,880 Speaker 1: It's around nine point four centimeters long a little under 247 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:36,360 Speaker 1: four inches and about one millimeters or point zero four 248 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:41,200 Speaker 1: inches thick. So millipedes are interesting in that you can 249 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:43,800 Speaker 1: figure out how old they are by counting how many 250 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:47,160 Speaker 1: segments they have. It's kind of like with rattlesnakes. You 251 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 1: can figure out how old they are by counting how 252 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: many segments is on their rattle because they grow them 253 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:56,479 Speaker 1: at sort of a constant rate as they age. Millipedes 254 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: grows segments throughout their life. Uh So, if you know 255 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 1: about out how many segments. Species of millipede grows per 256 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:05,960 Speaker 1: unit of time. You can add them up to figure 257 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 1: out how old they are. The e Persephone specimen, found 258 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:14,720 Speaker 1: with over one thousand, three hundred legs, is suspected to 259 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:18,480 Speaker 1: be around five to ten years old based on average 260 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: growth rates of other species of millipedes um, which is older. 261 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 1: Usually millipedes only lived to be around two years old, 262 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:28,640 Speaker 1: so that if this is true, this is quite an 263 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:35,600 Speaker 1: older living millipede that lives deep, deep underground in the minds. Uh, 264 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:40,680 Speaker 1: certainly nothing spooky about that. I think that if for humans, 265 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 1: if we added a new pair of legs as we 266 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 1: got older, that'd be very interesting. We'd have much more 267 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: I guess, eventful birthdays, and I feel like I would 268 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 1: finally appreciate birthday gifts of socks like a lot more. 269 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:06,680 Speaker 1: M next listener question on Hi Katie, I'm Mino, a 270 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:10,040 Speaker 1: listener from Italy and my pronouns are they them? After 271 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: the latest listener questions rounds the fact about the single 272 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:16,359 Speaker 1: double serings has left me wondering. Has the double tone 273 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:18,959 Speaker 1: of the double serings ever been used for voicing alien 274 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:22,800 Speaker 1: creatures and movies. I immediately thought about elves when you 275 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:25,600 Speaker 1: described it because of their nature being adjacent to human 276 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,440 Speaker 1: but not exactly after hearing it, I think it would 277 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:32,160 Speaker 1: be befitting for most alien creatures in one way or another. 278 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:34,879 Speaker 1: What do you think? Second, much broader question, what can 279 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:36,879 Speaker 1: you tell us about pet rats? I was scared of 280 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:38,040 Speaker 1: them when I was a kid, but now I have 281 00:17:38,119 --> 00:17:41,080 Speaker 1: three of them and they're the cutest furry potatoes. Thank 282 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:44,800 Speaker 1: you for your amazing work, Mino, and I did get 283 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:47,920 Speaker 1: pictures of the rats. I can confirm that they're very cute, 284 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:51,159 Speaker 1: so thank you so much for your question. Mino. Firstly, 285 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 1: I do love rats. They're very sweet, they're very smart, 286 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:57,560 Speaker 1: and my favorite thing about them is that they are ticklish. 287 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:03,000 Speaker 1: Uh and perhaps the best rats study ever. In Canberra, Australia, 288 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:08,280 Speaker 1: researchers are tickling rats to see if it improves their happiness. 289 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,119 Speaker 1: The goal is to find out how to better handle 290 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 1: rats and improve their quality of life, even in laboratory settings. 291 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:21,359 Speaker 1: But apparently there is a finesse to tickling rats. In 292 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:24,560 Speaker 1: an interview with Yen Huan of The New York Times, 293 00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:29,760 Speaker 1: Carly Motley, a lab technician at the University of Wollongong, 294 00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:33,439 Speaker 1: explains that you have to learn how best to tickle 295 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,320 Speaker 1: a rat. You can't just go in too hot. You 296 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:39,560 Speaker 1: gotta be gentle, you gotta you gotta have some skills there. 297 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:43,480 Speaker 1: So here are some tips from Carly. You gotta tickle 298 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: the rats neck with light movements. You can gently flip 299 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 1: the rat onto its back and tickle the rat between 300 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:54,400 Speaker 1: its front legs on its chest while it's rolled over. 301 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:57,880 Speaker 1: You do not want to tickle the tail or rear 302 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 1: haunches because those are area is where they are sensitive 303 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,400 Speaker 1: to being nipped by other rats. It's like where other 304 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:06,600 Speaker 1: rats might nip them when they're being aggressive. So they 305 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:09,760 Speaker 1: don't necessarily like to be touched there. Um, but yes, 306 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:12,760 Speaker 1: they do like it between his front legs, on its 307 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:16,960 Speaker 1: back or on their neck. You can actually get certified 308 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 1: in rat tickling. You can google rat tickling certification and 309 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,320 Speaker 1: take an online course on rat tickling. And this is 310 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:29,000 Speaker 1: not a trick. I'm not joking. I'm actually gonna go 311 00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:34,439 Speaker 1: there right now. Let's see rat tickling certification. I see it. Uh, 312 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:41,440 Speaker 1: it's a dot org dot UK website, so it's from 313 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:46,560 Speaker 1: Purdue University. Um, okay, let's see if I can get 314 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:52,040 Speaker 1: certified in rat tickling. Start the course. Oh my God, 315 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:54,680 Speaker 1: this is a two hour course, so I might do 316 00:19:54,840 --> 00:20:00,480 Speaker 1: this later. Uh, get my certification in rat tickling later. 317 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:05,360 Speaker 1: But that is incredible. So rat tickling, when done correctly, 318 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,520 Speaker 1: can improve the bond between a rat and a human. 319 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: It is thought that rat tickling mimics the playful wrestling 320 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 1: between rats, and it's just fun for the rat, just 321 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:18,960 Speaker 1: like when we tickle each other as humans. So if 322 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:21,200 Speaker 1: you own a rat and you want to connect more 323 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:24,400 Speaker 1: with your pet rat, consider learning how to tickle them, 324 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:29,639 Speaker 1: maybe even get certified. Now onto your other question, you know, uh, 325 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:33,320 Speaker 1: in terms of whether bird sounds could be used in 326 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:38,240 Speaker 1: movies as aliens and that double SEARINGX of songbirds being 327 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:41,640 Speaker 1: kind of a kind of an alien sound. So yeah, 328 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 1: I think bird sounds are used all the time in 329 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:47,080 Speaker 1: movies to be the sounds of like mysterious creatures to 330 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:51,679 Speaker 1: create a spooky ambient environment. Um. But first, I actually 331 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:54,760 Speaker 1: want to make a bit of a clarification to the 332 00:20:54,960 --> 00:21:00,840 Speaker 1: episode Listener Cues Muse blues Deer who Choose Uh, which 333 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 1: is a title I didn't think I'd have to say 334 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:05,119 Speaker 1: out loud, but here I did it. I guess I 335 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:08,920 Speaker 1: deserved that, so uh. In that episode, I talked about 336 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,680 Speaker 1: double versus single searings and birds, um, but I want 337 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:14,920 Speaker 1: to add a little bit of nuance to that. So 338 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:19,040 Speaker 1: in case you think there's like two synxes, it's kind 339 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:23,600 Speaker 1: of considered one organ. So the seringx is a single organ, 340 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:28,080 Speaker 1: but in many birds it in many birds it's bifurcated 341 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 1: or double barreled, so it's kind of this upside down 342 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 1: y shape. The difference between parrots and songbirds isn't so 343 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 1: much that parrots have one serins and songbirds have two seringxes, 344 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,359 Speaker 1: although I kind of oversimplified it this way last time, 345 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: but that parents use more of a tracheal synx, whereas 346 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:53,920 Speaker 1: songbirds use a tracheo bronchial serings. So if you're like, 347 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:58,440 Speaker 1: what is that, I will try to explain. So, parrots 348 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:03,719 Speaker 1: have one set of vibrating membranes and strong muscles surrounding 349 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:07,960 Speaker 1: the trachea. Uh, the fact that it is not so 350 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:12,880 Speaker 1: like they're they're sort of sernx muscles aren't so focused 351 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:17,880 Speaker 1: on where the tricky branches off into these bronchi means 352 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:21,520 Speaker 1: that they are mostly using that single the single trachea, 353 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:26,119 Speaker 1: that single sort of tube, and uh, they only have 354 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:31,640 Speaker 1: one set of muscles surrounding the trachea. Uh, this makes 355 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:36,080 Speaker 1: it a little bit more similar to a human larynx. Then, say, 356 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:40,600 Speaker 1: if you compare a human larynx to the songbirds synx, 357 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: which is, instead of just being a tracheal serinx, is 358 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:49,040 Speaker 1: a tracheo bronchial sernx. So the songbird synx has more 359 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:54,880 Speaker 1: muscle activity where it branches off into that uh, those bronchi, 360 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 1: so it's more double barreled than the parrots syrinx. They 361 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:03,960 Speaker 1: have several pairs of syrngeal muscles instead of a parrot's 362 00:23:04,119 --> 00:23:07,919 Speaker 1: single pair, and they can make use of two independently 363 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:12,600 Speaker 1: controlled sound sources inside their stynx, allowing them to sing 364 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:18,080 Speaker 1: two notes at once. Um. So I just wanted to 365 00:23:18,359 --> 00:23:21,600 Speaker 1: kind of add a little bit more nuanced little clarification 366 00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:25,400 Speaker 1: to what I said earlier in terms of songbirds being 367 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:29,880 Speaker 1: used in movies for spooky sounds. I don't know specifically 368 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:34,040 Speaker 1: of songbirds being used as aliens. Um, but if there 369 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 1: are are any movie nerds out there who do know 370 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:40,040 Speaker 1: about that, please write to me. I do know that 371 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:44,280 Speaker 1: in the movie Prometheus, uh, pet parrot was used to 372 00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:48,000 Speaker 1: make some alien sounds, So even just the even though 373 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:51,520 Speaker 1: the parrots uh starynx is more human like, it is 374 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,119 Speaker 1: certainly not the same as a larynx, and so they 375 00:23:54,200 --> 00:24:00,200 Speaker 1: can still produce some eerie interesting sounds. Also, last I'm 376 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:04,200 Speaker 1: on Creature Feature for the Mystery Animal sound game, I 377 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:23,960 Speaker 1: played this sound, which I think is hauntingly beautiful. Last 378 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,000 Speaker 1: week's hint with that sound was whoever named this animal 379 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:30,680 Speaker 1: was being a bit judgmental. But because this animal sound 380 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:34,920 Speaker 1: goes so well with your question, I will give you 381 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,920 Speaker 1: another hint before revealing the answer next week. Here's my 382 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:42,000 Speaker 1: second hint for the sound. This is often used in 383 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:46,480 Speaker 1: movies to create a spooky, haunted atmosphere, even when it's 384 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:50,639 Speaker 1: inaccurate to do so. Uh So, Yeah, that is a 385 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 1: sound you may recognize from a lot of movies that 386 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:58,320 Speaker 1: tries to give it this spooky eerie, maybe even a 387 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:02,760 Speaker 1: prehistoric ambience, But it is in fact a very real 388 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 1: animal that is not so scary. So um, thank you 389 00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:13,120 Speaker 1: guys so much for all of your questions. Again, if 390 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:15,600 Speaker 1: you have a question that you would like to hear 391 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:19,800 Speaker 1: me answer, or maybe even send you an email response, 392 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:23,440 Speaker 1: you can write to me at Creature Feature pod at 393 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: gmail dot com. Yeah, and I really appreciate all of 394 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:32,359 Speaker 1: your emails, all your animal pictures. Your pets love to 395 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:34,600 Speaker 1: hear from you guys, so yes, feel free to email 396 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:37,080 Speaker 1: me just to even say hi if you want. And 397 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:39,800 Speaker 1: thank you so much for listening. I guess I'm gonna 398 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:44,040 Speaker 1: go and try to get certified in rat tickling uh. 399 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:47,200 Speaker 1: And I will see you guys next week. And thank 400 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,600 Speaker 1: you so much to the Space Cossics for their super 401 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:55,520 Speaker 1: awesome song. Excelumina. Creature features a production of I Heart Radio. 402 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:59,160 Speaker 1: For more podcasts like the one you just heard, visit 403 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:01,760 Speaker 1: the I heart Radio app Apple Podcasts, or Hey guess what? 404 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:04,600 Speaker 1: Why have you listen to your favorite shows? See you 405 00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 1: next Wednesday. M