Filthy Animals

S2E8 - A Truly Rotten Episode

Content Warning: heavy discussion of death, decomposition, and impolite body functions. I believe it was Imhotep in 1999's The Mummy who said "Death is only the beginning...", and he was right! Not in the sense of returning from the realm of the dead to fight Brendan Fraser, but in the sense that death turns an organism's mortal shell into a entirely new sort of ecosystem. In this grisly-yet-surprisingly-positive episode, Nicole walks us through the science of decomposition, how it's applied to everything from solving crimes to food freshness, and why we couldn't live in a world without decay. Nicole's Sources: * LET THINGS ROT (the YouTube video Nicole was talking about): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI_-eUOgqFI [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI_-eUOgqFI] * Australian Museum. 2025. Stages of decomposition [https://australian.museum/learn/science/stages-of-decomposition/]. CW: pictures of decomposing pigs. * Matuszewski, S. 2021. Post-Mortem Interval Estimation Based on Insect Evidence: Current Challenges [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8066566/]. National Library of Medicine. * Nowakowski, K. 2025. These beetles eat rotting flesh—and could unlock the next generation of antibiotics [https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/american-burying-beetle-human-health]. National Geographic. * Australia's Defining Moments: Digital Classroom. Can we solve the poo problem? [https://digital-classroom.nma.gov.au/learning-modules/landforms-and-landscapes-defining-moments/24-can-we-solve-poo-problem-cows-and-dung-beetles] +++ More of Our Work +++ Website [https://www.grasslandgroupies.org/] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/GrasslandGroupies] TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@grasslandsrule] Twitch [https://www.twitch.tv/grasslandgroupies] Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/grasslandgroupies.bsky.social] +++ Contact Us +++ Text/Call: (316)-512-8933 info@grasslandgroupies.org [https://pinecast.com/dashboard/podcast/the-best-biome/mailto:info@grasslandgroupies.org] +++ Support Us +++ Bonfire Merch Store [https://www.bonfire.com/store/grassland-groupies/] CashApp: $GrasslandGroupies Or... donate directly to our org [https://www.grasslandgroupies.org/give/].

S2E7 - Let's Hang Out and Talk Balls

Content Warning: descriptions of sexual acts and genitalia Allan's Sources: 1. Coming soon! +++ More of Our Work +++ Website [https://www.grasslandgroupies.org/] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/GrasslandGroupies] TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@grasslandsrule] Twitch [https://www.twitch.tv/grasslandgroupies] Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/grasslandgroupies.bsky.social] +++ Contact Us +++ Text/Call: (316)-512-8933 info@grasslandgroupies.org [https://pinecast.com/dashboard/podcast/the-best-biome/mailto:info@grasslandgroupies.org] +++ Support Us +++ Bonfire Merch Store [https://www.bonfire.com/store/grassland-groupies/] CashApp: $GrasslandGroupies Or... donate directly to our org [https://www.grasslandgroupies.org/give/].

S2E6 - A Game of Cucks

Content Warning: none In this month's Filthy Animals, Rachel tests the strength of monogamous bonds in the animal kingdom by seeing what the data says about their infidelity. As it turns out, even in species where pair bonds are key to the social survival of the animals, reckless passion can play a big role in their breeding systems. Our host graciously brings us examples ranging from the expected (cuckoos, the species that gives us the word "cuckold") to the obscure (carrion beetles, whose relationship drama plays out in carcasses the world over). Rachel's Sources: *  Wysocki, D., et al (2023). Low level of extra-pair paternity in an urban population of blackbirds. The European Zoological Journal, 90(1), 307–312. https://doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2023.2193433 [https://doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2023.2193433] * Gao, L.-F., Zhang, H.-Y., Zhang, W., Sun, Y.-H., Liang, M.-J. and Du, B. (2020), Effects of extra-pair paternity and maternity on the provisioning strategies of the Azure-winged Magpie Cyanopica cyanus. Ibis, 162: 627-636. https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12800 [https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12800] * Li M-H, Välimäki K, Piha M, Pakkala T, Merilä J (2009) Extrapair Paternity and Maternity in the Three-Toed Woodpecker, Picoides tridactylus: Insights from Microsatellite-Based Parentage Analysis. PLoS ONE 4(11): e7895. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0007895 [https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0007895] * Niida, T., Yao, I., Nisimura, T. & Suzuki, S. (2024) Detection of extra-pair maternity in a carrion beetle under natural conditions. Ecological Entomology, 49(5), 734–738. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13334 [https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13334] +++ More of Our Work +++ Website [https://www.grasslandgroupies.org/] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/GrasslandGroupies] TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@grasslandsrule] Twitch [https://www.twitch.tv/grasslandgroupies] Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/grasslandgroupies.bsky.social] +++ Contact Us +++ Text/Call: (316)-512-8933 info@grasslandgroupies.org [https://pinecast.com/dashboard/podcast/the-best-biome/mailto:info@grasslandgroupies.org] +++ Support Us +++ Bonfire Merch Store [https://www.bonfire.com/store/grassland-groupies/] CashApp: $GrasslandGroupies Or... donate directly to our org [https://www.grasslandgroupies.org/give/].

S2E5 - The Dog That Never Died

Content Warning: Discussion of cancer and related illnesses Cancer is scary. A transmissible, STI-based cancer is even scarier. Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumor (CTVT) is the oldest, most prolific, cancer known in nature. And it's not alone. Nicole illustrates this bizarre disease which is expanding our understanding of cancer itself, and may have given one particular animal the key to immortality. Nicole's Sources: * Murchison, E., et al. 2014. Transmissible Dog Cancer Genome Reveals the Origin and History of an Ancient Cell Lineage [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3918581/]. Science. * Gori, K., et al. 2025. Horizontal transfer of nuclear DNA in transmissible cancer [https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2424634122]. PNAS. * About Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease [https://nre.tas.gov.au/conservation/threatened-species-and-communities/lists-of-threatened-species/threatened-species-vertebrates/save-the-tasmanian-devil-program/about-dftd]. Dept of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania. * Bruzos, A. 2022. Heterogeneity of cockle transmissible cancers [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8JbGkMnLhA]. YouTube. * Brain Bleach: Correia-Caeiro, C., Guo, K., Mills, D. 2020. Perception of dynamic facial expressions of emotion between dogs and humans. Animal Cognition. * Hank Green. The Truth About the Single-Celled Dog [https://youtu.be/l0akJsqdGJs?si=5CqFOfUHIQQ1VcDX]. SciShow. YouTube. +++ More of Our Work +++ Website [https://www.grasslandgroupies.org/] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/GrasslandGroupies] TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@grasslandsrule] Twitch [https://www.twitch.tv/grasslandgroupies] Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/grasslandgroupies.bsky.social] +++ Contact Us +++ Text/Call: (316)-512-8933 info@grasslandgroupies.org [https://pinecast.com/dashboard/podcast/the-best-biome/mailto:info@grasslandgroupies.org] +++ Support Us +++ Bonfire Merch Store [https://www.bonfire.com/store/grassland-groupies/] CashApp: $GrasslandGroupies Or... donate directly to our org [https://www.grasslandgroupies.org/give/].

S2E4 - The Queerness of Fish

Content Warning: This is a pretty wholesome episode. No fear, dear listener! In honor of Pride Month, Rachel is taking us beneath the waves and beyond the binary into the fascinatingly queer world of fish! In this episode, she investigates stunningly fluid species that defy the concept of biological sex as an innate and immutable characteristic. SPOILER: Sex and gender in the animal kingdom is far from simple, guys. We should count ourselves lucky to live on such a beautifully un-boring planet. :) Rachel's Sources: 1. Graves, J., & Todd, E. (2023, January 31). What we learn from fish that change sex. La Trobe University. https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2020/opinion/what-we-learn-from-fish-that-change-sex [https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2020/opinion/what-we-learn-from-fish-that-change-sex] 1. Actual research: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw7006 [https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw7006] 2. R. Vega‐Frutis, R. Macías‐Ordóñez, R. Guevara, L. Fromhage, Sex change in plants and animals: a unified perspective, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Volume 27, Issue 4, 1 April 2014, Pages 667–675, https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.12333 [https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.12333] 3. Casas L, Saborido-Rey F. Environmental Cues and Mechanisms Underpinning Sex Change in Fish. Sex Dev. 2021;15(1-3):108-121. doi: 10.1159/000515274 [https://doi.org/10.1159/000515274]. Epub 2021 Jun 10. PMID: 34111868; PMCID: PMC8491468. 4. Munday PL, Buston PM, Warner RR. Diversity and flexibility of sex-change strategies in animals. Trends Ecol Evol. 2006 Feb;21(2):89-95. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2005.10.020 [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2005.10.020]. Epub 2005 Nov 14. PMID: 16701480. +++ More of Our Work +++ Website [https://www.grasslandgroupies.org/] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/GrasslandGroupies] TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@grasslandsrule] Twitch [https://www.twitch.tv/grasslandgroupies] Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/grasslandgroupies.bsky.social] +++ Contact Us +++ Text/Call: (316)-512-8933 info@grasslandgroupies.org [https://pinecast.com/dashboard/podcast/the-best-biome/mailto:info@grasslandgroupies.org] +++ Support Us +++ Bonfire Merch Store [https://www.bonfire.com/store/grassland-groupies/] CashApp: $GrasslandGroupies Or... donate directly to our org [https://www.grasslandgroupies.org/give/].