Just the Zoo of Us

Ellen chills out with the wood frog & Christian goes ballistic with the titan triggerfish. We discuss cryostasis, the dark forest hypothesis, going Super Saiyan, a toxic mystery, and so much more.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Join Ellen & special guest, behavioral zoologist and science communicator Thomas Green, for a look at some of the fascinating ways animals get close to each other. We’ll talk about the diversity of affections between animals, lessons we should learn from the way animals mate and some lessons we probably shouldn’t, bust some myths, make a REALLY good pun about cricket song frequencies, and so much more.HEADS UP: This episode is about courtship and mating behaviors, so naturally a lot of this conversation is about sex. As usual for this podcast, the discussion isn’t graphic or explicit or anything, but sex is mentioned frequently throughout the episode, so please join us for this one only if that’s something you’re comfortable hearing about.Links:Follow Thomas on TikTok or Instagram!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Ellen gets carried away by leafcutter ants. We discuss Disney mistakes, power scaling, farming, domestication, obligate symbiosis, air conditioning, existential crisis, and so much more.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!

In this week’s episode, we are joined by science communicator Fred the Orca Man for a review of the iconic wolves of the sea. We discuss whale taxonomy, menopause and motherhood, hunting strategies using fluid dynamics and straight-up lying, what’s up with the yacht thing, the dead fish fashion trend that’s taking the marine world by storm, and so much more.Links:Fred's website: https://www.theorcaman.com/Follow Fred on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, ThreadsFor more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Christian gets snippy with the American lobster.  We discuss New England, split colors, immortality, flirting with pee, big meaty claws, grocery store tanks, and so much more.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!

In this week's re-broadcast of an episode from May of 2021, Ellen reviews the ocean's most adorable monsters, sea otters, & Christian rates the dazzling blue-ringed octopus.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Ellen is joined by biologist/paleontologist Meaghan Wetherell for a review of the slimiest breakdancers in the world: jumping slugs. We discuss science communication through video games, how slugs flirt, confusing Darwin, why a biologist’s fridge might be filled with mossy little salsa containers, and so much more. Links:Listen to Meaghan's podcast, Weird and Dead! (Heads up: explicit language is used)Find more of Meaghan's work at her website here!Meaghan's games can be found on this page!Check out Meaghan's art and clothing for sale on her website, geopetalfabric.com!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!

A free sample of October's bonus episode: a review of vampires!  Head over to https://maximumfun.org/join/ to sign up and get ALL of our bonus content!

Ellen gets a really good look at the ogre-faced spider & Christian gets cozy with Honduran white bats. In this festively themed episode, we discuss ephemeral eyes, hearing with legs, casting nets, rowing through the air, huddling under leaves, navigating with sound, and so much more.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!

In this week’s episode, we are joined by comedy podcasting and tabletop roleplaying legend Griffin McElroy for a review of the squishy pugs of the Antarctic seas: Ross seals. We discuss which ninja turtle we are, the Victorian era magnetic crusades, haunting siren calls below the ice, bagpipes, thick raptors, and so much more.Links:Source of Ross seal vocalization audio: https://blogs.helmholtz.de/atkaxpress/en/2021/05/palaoa-all-the-things-you-can-hear-underwater/Check out The Adventure Zone and more of the McElroy family's work at their website!Listen to Maximum Fun's special Tabletop Hullabaloo, featuring Ellen, Griffin and other MaxFun hosts!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Christian gets toxic with strawberry poison dart frogs & Ellen just keeps swimming with clownfish. We discuss the final evolution of oof,  extreme motherhood, matching blue jeans, the conservation status of clowns, fact checking Finding Nemo, and so much more.Links:The Great Barrier Reef FoundationFor more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Join Ellen & special guest, podcasting powerhouse Steven Ray Morris, for a long-anticipated review of those furry little predators that have inspired devotion and admiration for thousands of years: the cat. We discuss the history of humans’ relationship to cats, ancient Egypt, fluid dynamics, how they manipulate the laws of physics, the future of cats in space, what makes each cat special to us, and so much more.Links:Find more of Steven's work on his website: https://www.stevenraymorris.com/Check out Steven's podcast See Jurassic Right!Follow Steven on Twitter and Instagram!Learn more about how you can celebrate World Okapi Day!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Ellen fawns over the viral pygmy hippopotamus & Christian goes big with the harpy eagle. We discuss the evolution of hippos, blood sweat, poocoptering, Moo Deng, smooch breaks, sloth staredowns, and so much more.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!Source for harpy eagle call: https://xeno-canto.org/316474

Spider scientist Dr. Sebastian Echeverri returns to share with us his top 3 favorite spiders. We discuss spiders who go from moving like shadows to soaring through the air, spider cowboys with sick lasso moves, wife guy spiders who move in on the first date, how spiders appear in video games and movies and how they could be so much cooler, and of course so much more.Links:Check out Sebastian's book, Spiders of the United States & CanadaLearn more about Sebastian and see more of his work at spiderdaynightlive.comFor more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Christian hoots with siamangs & Ellen hollers with laughing kookaburras.  We discuss defying gravity, how screaming fits into any good morning routine, birds' double-barreled voices, the true identity behind the SpongeBob dolphin sound, and more.Links:Audio source for siamang calls: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Symphalangus_syndactylus_20170623_Dou%C3%A9-la-Fontaine.oggAudio source for kookaburra calls: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dacelo_novaeguineae_ANWC_X00516.opusFor more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Join Ellen & special guest, science communicator Lucca of Lucca's  BioHub, for a look back on the half-a-billion year history of bugs. We discuss ancient millipedes as long as a horse, whether we’d rather fight 2 million ant-sized humans or one human-sized ant, the arms races and tiny empires and intertwined symbiotic relationships that have shaped the very planet into the world we know today, and so much more.Links:See more of Lucca's BioHub at their website!Follow Lucca on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Ellen gets the ball rolling with dung beetles & Christian jaws away about the giant moray eel. We discuss tiny boots, field trips to the planetarium, The Mummy (1999), secret jaws, why moray eels make that face, teamwork on the reef, fact checking The Little Mermaid, and more.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!

We're out traveling this week! In the meantime, please enjoy this episode of Bugs Need Heroes, in which Ellen joined hosts Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman to settle a debate: are shrimps bugs? Are mantis shrimps shrimps? We discuss how they may or may not be turning into crabs and what they might think of sunsets. Tangents include Godzilla, weddings, pet store stories, internet memes, Sailor Moon and anime translations. Originally aired on the Bugs Need Heroes podcast on June 23, 2024.Links:Find the original version of this episode, episode notes and links over at the Bugs Need Heroes podcast!Learn more about the podcast on their website!Follow Bugs Need Heroes on Instagram, Twitter and Reddit!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!Bugs Need Heroes theme music: "Ladybug Castle" by Rolemusic

Join Ellen & special guest, biodiversity champion Kai Gómez D'hers, for a journey through the skies of Argentina on some of the biggest wings in the world. We’re talking about the important role of scavengers as nature’s sanitation engineers, the cascading impacts of poison on entire ecosystems, how communities can work together to make ecological miracles happen, what’s up with the puppets, and so much more. Links:Learn more about the Andean Condor Integral Conservation Plan at the PCCA's website: English / EspañolFollow the PCCA on Instagram!Connect with Kai on Instagram!For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Christian chews on the Gila monster & Ellen struts her stuff with the Indian peacock. We discuss Christian's Duolingo streak, lizard venom, yet another hot take from Charles Darwin, how to haze a peacock, and so much more. Real G's move in silence like the Gila monster.Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on TikTok!