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Look at Me

Author: The Guardian

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Weird and wonderful tales of Australian wildlife. Hosted by award winning science journalist Rae Johnston and ecologist Chris McCormack
14 Episodes
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In this final episode of Look at Me, we dive into the ocean’s to discover a creature that is perhaps the most bizarre animal Rae has ever seen. This dazzling group of sea slugs adapts to its dynamic environment using colourful headdresses, stinging cells and lungs that can exist outside the body. Little is still known about the nudibranch but we meet the researcher and the citizen scientist wading though the tidal zones to find out more
In the 1950s Dr Penelope Greenslade became one of the few women to study at Cambridge University. She then travelled to Solomon Islands where her love affair with the springtail began, a tiny acrobatic animal that you’ll find almost everywhere in Australia but have probably never recognised Rain reveals the creatures that walk on water
In some of the most harsh habitat in Australia, you’ll find what looks like giant piles of dirt. But dig deeper and you’ll find the eggs of the malleefowl, buried in leaf litter and sand at the exact depth needed to keep them warm until they hatch and are left to fend for themselves, newborn birds fighting to survive
This marsupial mouse enters its first mating season with a thirty-fold increase in testosterone. It copulates at a frenetic rate, only to collapse afterwards, dying from its exertions. But now climate change is posing a much more serious threat to the species than sex
Imagine flying thousands of kilometres to avoid getting cold. Meet the bird that starts its migration journey at a Siberian bush doof and ends up on the mudflats of eastern Australia. In this episode of Look at Me, we hitch a ride with the eastern curlew and meet the zoologist who learnt to fly a plane so she could track their flight path
Imagine outsourcing childcare to a nest of ants? This may not be the best idea for humans but a certain insect is making it work. Now the Eltham copper butterfly’s amazing use of surrogate ant parents has attracted human fans who are using a song to try to save it from extinction
When it comes to Australian native animals, everyone thinks about koalas and kangaroos and drop bears and wombats. But what about the creepy ones? What about the niche ones? The ones that don’t make it on to coins or Bluey? Join your hosts Rae Johnston and Chris McCormack to meet the incredible animals other people don’t talk about.
When we think of the effects of climate change it’s easy to focus on rising sea levels – but what about the changes happening much higher up? At Mount Hotham in Victoria a unique creature spends months under the snow: Australia’s only hibernating marsupial, the mountain pygmy possum. This tiny animal was once thought extinct. Now, zoos and ski-resorts are doing everything they can to keep it alive, but it faces a changing climate, which may create insurmountable challenges
Eastern Victoria is home to a strange creature that few have seen and even fewer have researched. You may be able to hear its gurgles under the ground but the 1.5- to 3-metre-long Giant Gippsland earthworm never comes to the surface in its natural life. In this episode of Look at me, Chris McCormack finds the only world expert on this creature and asks: why would you devote your life to a giant worm?
If you’ve ever travelled to an Australian desert, you may have been in the presence of one of Australia’s most elusive marsupials. The Anangu people call it the itjaritjari but it is more commonly known as the marsupial mole – even though it is not actually a mole. Living entirely underground, this eye-less creature with pincer-like limbs has mostly defied scientific study until one scientist decided to bury some microphones ... Benjamin Law talks to Chris McCormack about his trip to Uluru in pursuit of this remarkable animal
When you think about bees you probably thinking about honey, hives and yellow and black stripes, but these traits aren’t present in the majority of Australian bees. The bee you usually think of is the European honey bee. Yet Australia actually has more than 2,000 species of natives bees. In this episode of Look at Me we find out about the amazing life of a hardworking single mother, the blue-banded bee
In episode two of Guardian Australia’s Look at Me podcast, we head to the south eastern plains of Australia – home to one of the rarest birds in the world, the plains-wanderer. Its habitat has been decimated by agriculture, but now some farmers are putting the bird’s survival before profit and becoming key figures in its conservation
Once a year in freezing cold winter waters, a gathering happens off the coast of South Australia. Hundreds of thousands of giant cuttlefish come to mate but this natural wonder comes at a great cost. In this episode of Guardian Australia’s new podcast, we learn a lesson on life and death from these amazing cephalopods
Forget the kangaroo and koala. Our new podcast dives deep into the world of Australian animals, looking beyond the old favourites to the most unusual, rare and fascinating wildlife found down under. Join host Benjamin Law as he learns about their amazing lives and hears from people who have formed a special connection to these animals.
Comments (1)

Ayla

love this podcast !!

Apr 8th
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