Not a Biologist - A Wildlife Behaviour Podcast

In this episode of Not a Biologist, Alex talks to zoologist and science communicator Caroline Reinwald about what really makes chameleons some of the coolest animals on Earth. Caroline Reinwald is a zoologist and science communicator at Vienna Zoo, where she works with some of the world's rarest chameleon species—including animals rescued from the illegal wildlife trade.From independently moving eyes and lightning-fast projectile tongues to feet built like climbing tongs, chameleons are basically the Inspector Gadgets of the reptile world. Alex and Caroline also bust one of the biggest myths about these colorful reptiles: they don't mainly change color to blend into their surroundings. Instead, their colors are often all about communication, mood, and even temperature regulation.You'll also hear the remarkable story of 70 rare chameleons confiscated from illegal wildlife traffickers at Vienna Airport, how zoo keepers managed to save them, and why protecting these extraordinary reptiles is more important than ever.🦎 Did you know that...chameleons can move each eye independently and track two different things at oncetheir tongue can accelerate to almost 100 km/h in a fraction of a secondthe smallest chameleon fits on the tip of your thumb, while the largest can grow to nearly 70 cm long

Alex sits down with Sophie Kratschmer, a wild bee specialist at BOKU University in Vienna, to unpack one of nature's most fascinating, and important, groups of animals - bees.It starts with a clip from Terra Mater's documentary "Wild Korea": a swarm of Asian honeybees forming a "hot defensive bee ball" around a asian giant hornet. They vibrating their wing muscles to raise the temperature inside the ball to 46–47°C, cooking the predator alive. A amazing defense mechanism!But honeybees are just seven species out of an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 wild bee species worldwide. Sophie explains the crucial difference: most wild bees are solitary, each female building and provisioning her own nest entirely alone: no queen, no colony, no honey. They don't produce honey because they simply don't need to. They don't overwinter as a colony, so there's nothing to stock up for.From green roofs in Vienna to agricultural landscapes, Sophie shares her research into where wild bees thrive and where they struggle and the perhaps surprising finding that urban environments can actually outperform intensive farmland as bee habitat. The conversation also covers why bees and wasps are more closely related than most people think (bees are, technically, vegetarian wasps), what happens when you try to put a 180mg tracker on a bumblebee.Bee Tracking Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFlKXcprxe8Find all of Sophies Research Papers here: https://forschung.boku.ac.at/de/researcher/Sophie-Kratschmer-7BDE80A049854820#publikationenSophies working group: https://boku.ac.at/oekb/zool/forschung/arbeitsgruppen/ag-kratschmer

In this episode of Not a Biologist, Alex talks to sound recordist and beaver expert Fabian Holzinger about the secret lives of Europe’s largest rodents: the beaver. Together, they explore what happens inside a beaver lodge, why beavers might be better water engineers than humans, and what it’s like to spend hours listening to a sleeping beaver snore. Alex and Fabian discuss beaver family life, underground homes, iron-reinforced teeth, and the surprising sounds these animals make, from sneezes and stomach gurgles to what can only be described as beaver bedtime drama. They also dive into the important role beavers play in restoring ecosystems, preventing droughts, and even helping landscapes recover from wildfires. Fun fact: beavers don't live in their dams. The dam is just a tool; their actual home is a lodge or burrow hidden nearby. 🦫 Did you know that... • beavers' front teeth contain iron and sharpen themselves automatically • they can transform entire ecosystems simply by building dams • a beaver family sounds surprisingly similar to a human household at bedtime Not a Biologist is a Terra Mater Studios wildlife podcast where host Alex sits down with experts to break down fascinating wildlife behaviour using footage straight from our nature documentaries.–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 🎬 Check out our "Animal Homes" production here: https://www.terramater.at/productions/animal-homes-natural-born-engineers/ 📱 More about the beaver lab here: https://beaverlab.at/

When you hear “hamster,” you probably think of tiny cages, spinning wheels, and sunflower seeds. But wild European hamsters are a completely different story. In this episode of Not a Biologist, Alex talks to wildlife filmmaker Yasmine Ellis about the secret lives of Vienna’s wild hamsters, which are thriving on the city's graveyards. Alex and Yaz will talk about dramatic cemetery fights, underground tunnel systems and also about why one of Europe’s cutest rodents is now critically endangered. We also dive into how you even film these tiny chaos goblins, why Vienna has become one of their last strongholds, and why their sense of smell is far better than their eyesight. Fun fact: the German word “hamstern” literally means “to hoard” and after this episode, you’ll understand exactly why. 🐹 Did you know that... • hamsters are most active at dawn and dusk • are VERY territorial … and surprisingly dramatic • Vienna is one of the last strongholds for European hamsters 🎙️ Not a Biologist is a Terra Mater Studios wildlife podcast where host Alex sits down with experts to break down fascinating wildlife behavior using footage straight from our nature documentaries. 👉🏼 Full episode + bonus content on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/TerraMater 🎬 Check out our "Wild Vienna" trailer and learn more about the hidden wildlife living right inside Austria’s capital. From wild hamsters in graveyards to urban beavers and foxes, the film reveals a side of Vienna most people never notice: https://youtu.be/QNVn4icwWz8?si=7aHjyHLPo7SkAvkv 🎬 Yaz Ellis’ short film "For Deer Life" follows the volunteers and drone pilots rescuing hidden roe deer fawns from Austrian meadows before mowing season begins. The film shines a light on the collision between modern agriculture and wildlife and the people working to save countless animals every spring. Watch the trailer here: https://www.dreamwildfilms.com/fordeerlife

What does it look like when a sperm whale is born? 🐋 Terra Mater sat down with David Gruber, marine biologist, President & founder of Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative), to talk about one of the most extraordinary moments ever caught on camera: the first-ever filmed sperm whale birth. In this episode of Not a Biologist, host Alex and David break down the incredible footage frame by frame: the mother (named Rounder) is helped by her family holding up the newborn whale, pilot whales arriving as unexpected witnesses, and one subadult male named Alan who showed up and did... not very much. But this episode goes far beyond the birth itself. David explains what Project CETI has learned after six years of building the world's largest non-human communication database, millions of sperm whale vocalisations, codas and clicks, and what their groundbreaking AI-powered research is revealing about sperm whale language, culture and society. Support Project CETI: https://www.projectceti.org/ And follow their Socials: https://www.instagram.com/projectceti https://www.linkedin.com/company/projectceti https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:uhfmjlgc5pzfg5e3k2skopz5 http://www.x.com/projectceti🎙️ Not a Biologist is a Terra Mater Studios podcast where host Alex sits down with scientists and experts to break down the most fascinating wildlife behaviour on the planet using footage straight from our nature documentaries.