1
00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:06,120
Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

2
00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:12,400
Speaker 2: Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is the

3
00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:15,240
Speaker 2: Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow

4
00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:19,600
Speaker 2: Your Mind focusing on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters and time.

5
00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:26,400
Speaker 2: Long time listeners to Stuff to Blow Your Mind know

6
00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:30,240
Speaker 2: that we have an enduring fascination with squirrels, particularly the

7
00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:33,839
Speaker 2: Eastern gray squirrel, because these are the creatures I observe

8
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,320
Speaker 2: every day, and I constantly find myself either just taking

9
00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:41,199
Speaker 2: them for granted or just suddenly recognizing how weird and

10
00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:45,440
Speaker 2: fierce they are. They're such survivors, and the same could

11
00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:49,760
Speaker 2: be said for Marvel's squirrel Girl. At first glance, you

12
00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,239
Speaker 2: might think this particular superhero is just here for acute

13
00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,200
Speaker 2: pose and a few laughs, and yeah, she's totally down

14
00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:58,200
Speaker 2: for all of that. But since her creation in the

15
00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:02,400
Speaker 2: early nineties by Will Murray and Steve Ditko, Squirrel Girl

16
00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:06,800
Speaker 2: has scored victories against such iconic villains as Ultron, Galactus,

17
00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:11,200
Speaker 2: Doctor Doom, and Thanos. Okay, so what are her powers,

18
00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:12,760
Speaker 2: you might be wondering if you're not familiar with the

19
00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:15,479
Speaker 2: character already. Well, first of all, it's important to note

20
00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:19,240
Speaker 2: that squirrel Girl is not technically a mutant, but rather

21
00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:22,400
Speaker 2: a typical Canadian girl who just gradually began to exhibit

22
00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,720
Speaker 2: an amazing ability to communicate with squirrels and developed the

23
00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:30,240
Speaker 2: various squirrel like physical abilities as pointed out by Mark

24
00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:34,280
Speaker 2: Sumrec and Daniel Wallace in the excellent book marvel Anatomy.

25
00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:39,160
Speaker 2: She boasts large incisors and rugged climbing claws, both attributes

26
00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,880
Speaker 2: of the real world furry grappling hooks that we call squirrels.

27
00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,399
Speaker 2: She also boasts a full fluffy squirrel tale, which I

28
00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:50,240
Speaker 2: assume offers a number of benefits enjoyed by her namesake, balance,

29
00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:56,080
Speaker 2: shade communication, and locomotion assistance while leaping, falling, landing, or swimming.

30
00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:00,600
Speaker 2: Sumeric and Wallace put her vertical jumping ability at thirty

31
00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,680
Speaker 2: feet or more than nine meters, which feels like a

32
00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,640
Speaker 2: decent scaling up of squirrel leaping ability. How high could

33
00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:10,120
Speaker 2: we leap if we had the leaping ability of a squirrel?

34
00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:14,120
Speaker 2: I think that's about accurate. The one head scratcher, however,

35
00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:18,720
Speaker 2: is that squirrel Girl also boasts extendable bone knuckle spikes.

36
00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:23,160
Speaker 2: They extend wolverine style through the back of her palms.

37
00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,480
Speaker 2: Jutting out just above her knuckles, enabling her to punch

38
00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:31,960
Speaker 2: and carve through wood as well as through ultron drones. Obviously,

39
00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:34,880
Speaker 2: rule of cool applies here, and the bone knuckle spikes

40
00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:37,200
Speaker 2: are indeed cool, no doubt about it, but they do

41
00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,120
Speaker 2: seem kind of unnecessary if we're comparing her to squirrels.

42
00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:42,960
Speaker 2: Actual squirrels don't have them because they can handle all

43
00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:47,679
Speaker 2: their woodworking and robot thrashing with teeth and claws alone.

44
00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:51,040
Speaker 2: For natural world analogs to squirrel Girl's knuckle spikes or

45
00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:54,160
Speaker 2: Wolverine's famous claus for that matter, we have to leave

46
00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:58,680
Speaker 2: the mammal world behind and head into the amphibian world. First,

47
00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:02,560
Speaker 2: we can look to the hairy frog or Tricobetracus robustus,

48
00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,400
Speaker 2: which can break its own toe bones and extend them

49
00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:10,320
Speaker 2: through the flesh as makeshift defensive claws, which may later retract,

50
00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:14,240
Speaker 2: allowing the flesh to heal back over again. Male autumn

51
00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,600
Speaker 2: frogs or Babina subaspera, also boast a different form of

52
00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:22,240
Speaker 2: retractable spike that extends from under the thumb. Both of

53
00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:26,480
Speaker 2: these species are commonly compared to the fictional wolverine, though

54
00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:30,280
Speaker 2: his namesake animal also makes do with just teeth and

55
00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:36,040
Speaker 2: finger claws alone, no extendable or retractable claws required. Now,

56
00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:40,000
Speaker 2: I know there are frog based superheroes and supervillains in

57
00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:42,960
Speaker 2: the Marvel world, but do any of them have extendable

58
00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,680
Speaker 2: horror clause? I don't think that they do, at least

59
00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:50,560
Speaker 2: not yet, so I do put the question out there

60
00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,480
Speaker 2: for any of you comic book fans and especially in

61
00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:56,600
Speaker 2: of you hardcore Marvel geeks. If you have an answer

62
00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,119
Speaker 2: to this question right in, I would love to hear

63
00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:02,320
Speaker 2: from you. Tune in for additional episodes of The Monster

64
00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:06,040
Speaker 2: Fact the Artifact for Animalius Dupendium each week. As always,

65
00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:09,040
Speaker 2: you can email us at contact at Stuffdblow your Mind

66
00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:17,840
Speaker 2: dot com.

67
00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:20,480
Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a production of iHeartRadio.

68
00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:23,799
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

69
00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:26,719
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.