122: Tarantula Hawk & Vulture Bee

Ellen goes on an odyssey through history with the wild turkey. We discuss their path alongside humans for thousands of years, from prehistoric America to praise from Benjamin Franklin, the brink of ex...

23 Nov 202255min

Join Ellen & shark scientist Melissa Márquez for a review of the giant garbage disposals of the ocean: tiger sharks. We discuss sharks as links to our world’s past, what it's like to work with the oce...

16 Nov 202252min

Christian sticks to velvet worms & Ellen hangs out with binturongs. We discuss sticky situations, some unconventional means of reproduction, prehensile tails, and popcorn-scented pee.Follow Just the Z...

9 Nov 202254min

Join Ellen & special guest, invertebrate photographer, zookeeper and science communicator behind "She's Got Legs" Caitlin Henderson, for a review  of the best huggers of the arachnid world: huntsman s...

2 Nov 202252min

Ellen has a bone to pick with the Iberian ribbed newt & Christian channels the spirit of the Australian ghostshark. We discuss insides becoming outsides, amphibian space flight, living fossils, and re...

27 Okt 202249min

Join Ellen & special guest, entomologist Johanna Schwartz, for a review of animals you may not have thought to appreciate before: wasps. From the world’s smallest insect, the fairyfly, to the infamous...

19 Okt 202246min

Christian shreds on the bowmouth guitarfish & Ellen shakes things up with the timber rattlesnake. We discuss the shark-ray spectrum (which is not a laser beam that turns you into a shark),  weird teet...

12 Okt 202251min

Join Ellen & special guest, ecologist and history podcaster Natalie Sabin, for a post-mortem of the dearly departed dodo. We discuss the unique traits that allowed the dodo to thrive in its island hom...

5 Okt 202251min