Stay ConnectedAustralia is full of weird plants and animals. And Dr Ann Jones is on speaking terms with most of them!
Each week Ann explores the most unusual elements of our natural world — the ones that make you go What the Duck?! Like why do quolls have spots? Who farts (and who doesn’t)? And how do snakes climb trees?
Join Ann alongside experts and ordinary Aussies alike to solve mysteries, smash myths and uncover the bizarre truth about nature down under.
Copyright: © Copyright 2024, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All right reserved.
How will we survive the cosmic void? Scientists have a superfood diet in mind, but will the smallest flowering plant on Earth REALLY save humanity?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Why is it that bird names seem so… childishly misogynistic?
Featuring:
Professor Andrew Cockburn, bird watcher and word batcher, ANU
Jeannie Gray, Author, Australian Bird Names: Origins and Meanings.
Ian Fraser, Author, Australia Bird Names: Origins and Meanings.
Stephen Downes, the brains behind @Parrotoftheday social media accounts
Stephen Moss, Author, Mrs Moreau's Warbler: How Birds Got Their Names.
Nola Turner-Jensen, Culture Inclusion Specialist and Wiradjuri Historian
Dr Ayesha Tulloch, Research Fellow, QUT.
This episode was first broadcast in 2022.
Featuring extra sounds from listeners:
Large-tailed Nightjar from Briony Barnett.
Cat Bird from Scott Fisher.
And extra sounds from bird enthusiasts:
Marc Anderson, XC287030. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/287030 ( Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0)
Yong Ding Li, XC57231. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/57231 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5)
Phil Gregory, XC690345. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/690345 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0)
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Joel Werner, Script Editing.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Someone get a translator app because the fish are ready to speak.
FEATURING:
FEATURED SOUNDS :
Thanks to Aaron and Lauren for providing sounds as well as Professor Robert McCauley and the Centre for Marine Science and Technology at Curtin University.
PRODUCTION:
This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Grabbing a lift can go from bad to worse when your uber drops you outside your evolutionary niche.
FEATURING:
PRODUCTION:
This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Does Australia have a BEST wildflower? Hang on... what even is a flower? Dr Ann Jones and Belinda Smith count down the top 10 best wildflowers as voted by YOU in a special live show, The Hour of Flower.
FEATURING:
PRODUCTION:
This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Quackery and Catfishing. Fake news doesn’t only happen on the human internet. Welcome to nature’s dark web.
We didn’t TRY to make a spooky and disturbing episode... we just wanted to talk about plants with DUCK in the title. But oh boy, these flowers are savage! One of them has become internet famous for a detox that could literally kill you. Another catfishes its pollinators by pretending to be (and even feeling like) the ‘private’ parts of a female fly! Nature isn’t safe from this algorithm.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
WTF NATURE. I give up.
||A Message from Dr Ann - the What the Duck?! host and general dork.||
I don't really give up. The recording I took for the latest season of Nature Sounds by Ann Jones was a ripper (in terms of wombat farts).
This bit got edited out of the longer soundscape over there, because, it was determined, that a wombat walking in and scratching its butt ON THE MICROPHONES in the middle of a meditation soundscape would harsh the high of the listener.
So. What the Duck?! subscribers.
Enjoy. A wombat scratching its butt on my very VERY expensive recorder.
RECORDING: Ann Jones
MASTERING ENGINEER: Isabella Tropiano
In fact, most dinosaurs never got the chance to stop and smell a flower... and it was all because of bad timing. Sad face.
The meteor that killed all the dinosaurs (rude) actually kicked off flower supremacy on planet earth.
Flowering plants are only about 135 million years old, yet they’re the most bio-diverse plants on the planet. Without them, no birds, no bees. Again, sad face.
So where did flowers come from? And how did they end up being top bud?
FEATURING:
PRODUCTION:
This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawurrung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
It was a perfect night. But this duck had other ideas.
The scene: A perfect, wonderful, windless night at a wetland.
You couldn't ask for better conditions. The sun sets and the insects hum and eventually you hear a boobook and it's lovely… except one very loud duck keeps on yelling periodically the whole way through.
It's like the thing KNEW I was recording. It goes on for hours.
Anyway, I've got a passion project at the ABC.
A podcast called Nature Sounds by Ann Jones.
It's all these looooong form sounds scapes. The idea is that you can use them to relax, or go to sleep, or drown out your colleagues or whatever.
You can find it on the ABC listen app or any other podcast app. I promise this screaming duck didn't make the cut.
RECORDING: Ann Jones
MASTERING ENGINEER: Isabella Tropiano
This flower takes needy to a whole new level!
It was almost extinct. That was, until 2015, when a woman called Julie took it upon herself to make sure we didn’t lose the species altogether, and as it happened (baby) Ann Jones went along with a microphone.
Now, it’s 10 years on, and Ann is older, greyer and more closely resembles a bearded orchid. But, given she hasn’t been made redundant yet, we can revisit the forest to ask – was all that effort worth it? Did the orchids survive?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
You probably have a daddy-long-legs in your house right now.
But when is having a weird housemate in the corner ACTUALLY a good thing? Dr Ann Jones investigates.
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Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2023 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Flies have rhythm and choreography, could their moves make the next TikTok dance fad?
Dune flies groove to their own beat in dance-circles and hoverflies use rhythmic movements in mating.
Researchers found the dancing dune fly’s repertoire has specific moves for impressing a female and others for rival dance battles. Pretty fly for a dune fly.
In Costa Rica the male red hoverfly rhythmically squeezes and strokes his mate during copulation.
They also have a pattern of coupling and uncoupling as many as 17 times during the act!
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Further reading:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was recorded on Ngunnawal Country and produced on the lands of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Live from the World Science Festival Brisbane What the Duck?! is playing a game and you get to decide: duck, marry, avoid, or friendzone.
You'll hear about the natural world's romance, reproduction, and relationships
Once you've listened you can email whattheduck@abc.net.au to vote for how you would categorise snakes, birds, insects and mammals.
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Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was recorded on the land of the Turrbal and Jagera people and produced on the lands of the Kulin Nation.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
It seems absolutely bonkers that an animal can muster ELECTRICITY, especially enough to send out a zap like a taser.
But that's exactly what electric eels can do, and the world record holder more than doubles the voltage of the Australian electricity supply.
More than that, electric eels inspired the design of Volta's first batteries, but (hold onto your socks so they don't get blown off) they're not the only ones who've got electricity pumping through their bodies.
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Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2024 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
For around 700 years scientists observed same-sex pairings in as many as 1500 different species, but didn't record or publish their findings due to public perceptions.
Now research is catching up and many papers on queer behaviour in nature have been published in the past two decades.
This discussion was recorded live at Mardi Gras 2026 and presented by the Royal Zoological Society of NSW for Wildlife at the Watering Hole.
Featuring :
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was recorded and produced on the lands of the Eora and Kulin Nations.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Sex comes at a cost, there's energy, time, risks of predators, and diseases… so do we even need it?
Asexual organisms don't seem to miss the dating scene, and yet here we are putting a whole lot of energy into sex, even when it doesn't lead to babies when same sexes attract.
Of course, sex is a chance to genetically repair faults and outrun threats, but is the pay-off really enough?
Sex is Weird is a series of What the Duck?! with Dr Ann Jones following the sexual evolution of the animal kingdom.
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2024 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
It turns out not everyone was listening when it was written 'it takes two to tango' and some species can go it alone in their quest to reproduce. And then there's the plants that decided THREE or ONE was for them, never an even number.
Why is sex so… suspiciously complicated?
Sex is Weird is a series of What the Duck?! with Dr Ann Jones following the sexual evolution of the natural world.
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2024 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
What is the role of pleasure in successful reproduction?
Evolution says it's mightily important: every female vertebrate has a clitoris.
Snakes have two!
Female pleasure has been selected for.
Making sex fun and pleasurable is a biologically sensible thing to do, more sex means more potential babies.
Some studies of pigs and dairy cows have found an increase of up to 6% in successful conception when the females are stimulated during artificial insemination.
Sex is Weird is a series of What the Duck?! with Dr Ann Jones following the sexual evolution of the animal kingdom.
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2024 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Do animals fall in love at first sight?
Every species has different traits that are 'attractive' — they're showing off their DIY skills making a bower, vibrating sexy fruit fly songs, puffing up a wattle, or just having really massive moose… antlers.
Is this innate attraction like falling in love or is it more like meeting a (really hot) investment advisor?
Because these attractive traits are also messages about genes — who will make a good investment to partner with for the next generation.
Of course, one species beauty is another's turn off, and some species have a very low bar (looking at you guppies), so Hot or Not could end up being a very individual thing.
Sex is Weird is a series of What the Duck?! with Dr Ann Jones following the sexual evolution of the animal kingdom.
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2024 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
The energy required to grow, birth and raise young is intense, so it's only fair that the female body has some tricks to make sure reproducing is worth it.
From cryptic choice to immune system sperm blockers, the female reproductive system can be a literal maze for those seeking to gain access to her eggs.
In the battle of the sexes, this is females fight back.
Sex is Weird is a series of What the Duck?! with Dr Ann Jones following the sexual evolution of the animal kingdom.
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2024 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
When it comes to sexual organs, the penis is really 'out there.' Name another organ that can change its form AND function in a matter of seconds!
There's a lot of variety in the animal kingdom; from spikes and nails to coils and collagen — so, this appendage is worth investigating… close up.
Sex is Weird is a series of What the Duck?! With Dr Ann Jones following the sexual evolution of the animal kingdom.
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2024 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
When you really think about it, sex to make babies is WEIRD! You take an outie that has to get stuck inside an innie that links into a production line of eggs to assemble a perfect tiny being. It's so damn complicated!
So why does it work like that?
Join us at What the Duck for the first episode of a series where we figure out how living things went from splitting ourselves in half to double the population, to periodically feeling compelled to copulate in such a vigorous, sometimes highly embarrassing, manner.
Earth — this is your sexual history!
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2024 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
In 2002 Gigoo became the world's wealthiest chicken when her owner left her £10 million in his will.
How does a chook even open a bank account?
Within legal limitations there are ways to provide your pets the lifestyle they're used to after you die.
But what about divorce?
Can you have visitation rights to see your goldfish?
And when a dog's day in court climbs though the tiers of the Australian legal system, it might surprise you how little the pet is mentioned.
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Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
A lost monkey in an Ikea carpark is an illegally traded pet, so does he have a legal owner?
When it comes to animal ownership, courts turn to Roman-era laws to try and figure out if an animal is tame or wild.
It may work sometimes, but leaves out the modern idea of the animal's best interests.
And it doesn't explain how an elephant can have a criminal rap sheet.
Content warning: This program contains stories where animals are punished as if they are criminals. Some listeners may find this confronting.
Featuring:
With thanks to Dr Michelle Granden whose research inspired the title of this episode
And extra sounds from bird enthusiasts:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
How much booze does it take to intoxicate an elephant?
The answer isn't as much as you might expect, because not all guts are created equal when it comes to metabolising alcohol.
This explains why an elephant might be considered a lightweight and your donkey got into a fight last weekend.
But alcohol isn't the only cause of misbehaviour — so what motivated the legless serial doorbell pranksters?
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With news audio thanks to NPR
And extra sounds from bird enthusiasts:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Forget feathered friends — these are our feathered foes.
They can wield knives, get involved in the world of organised crime and drug dealing, and even shut down the Large Hadron Collider.
But the most pressing question is, why did the duck cross the road at speeds so high local law enforcement was on the case?
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With extra sounds from bird enthusiasts:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
The fear of being eaten by an animal is so visceral that a mass psychosis, featuring a monkey man, once swept across Delhi.
But in the event of an actual attack, investigators look for specific forensic clues to identify which predator was responsible.
Was the perpetrator human or animal? Or in one infamous case in the US, was it human … or owl?
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With extra sounds from bird enthusiasts:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Leonardo da Pinchy is a literal cat burglar with more than 350 pieces of evidence against him — evidence that's easy to confirm because when he steals his neighbour's underwear, he brings it home with a satisfied look of great pride.
Steven Seagull is banned from the local corner store after a six-year beef-flavoured-chip-thieving spree.
Then there are the monkeys holding phones hostage for fruit juice.
These aren't the only creatures with a criminal record — far from it
So when animals steal, what is driving their behaviour?
Featuring:
With extra sounds from bird enthusiasts:
And thanks to Dr Neeltje Boogert for sounds used in the study:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Pigs tried for murder, weevils expelled from heaven and how a bloke dressed as an executed French monkey became mayor of an English town.
Topsy the elephant travelled the US performing for cheering circus-goers, but when her drunken trainer rode her into town wreaking havoc, was that her poor decision-making … or his?
Content warning: This program contains stories where animals are punished as if they are criminals. Some listeners may find this confronting.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Dr Ann Jones is bringing true crime and natural history together with Nature's Most Wanted, a new series from What the Duck!? investigating when animals get on the wrong side of the law.
From cats stealing underwear to roosters accused of witchcraft; human-eaters to parrots with opioid addiction; this series promises to get to the bottom of why animals turn to crime.
Dr Ann Jones examines the history of animals on trial in human courts, the responsibilities humans take when an animal goes rogue, and ultimately how we think of animals and ourselves.
Hear the evidence of episode one on Friday, March 20.
What the Duck?! is recorded and produced on the lands of the Kulin Nation.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Join What the Duck?! at a science comedy debate called Sci Fight.
Sci Fight brings scientists and comedians together to examine serious topics in a silly way.
The topic up for debate is that nature doesn't care where an animal is from.
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Affirmative:
Negative:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was recorded and produced on the land of the Kulin Nation.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
At first, you might think it is a plot from a zombie movie: that undead animals are coming for you.
But it turns out that Australia's animals aren't just dangerous when they're alive — they can be deadly even when they're dead.
Ann Jones is joined by science reporter Belinda Smith to examine why snakes can still bite up to 45 minutes after death and are potentially dangerous for years.
Think we're lying? Belinda found a guy whose great aunt (and her dog) were killed by a decapitated snake!
So if a snake could commit multiple murders from beyond the grave, what other animals are going to get you?
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Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2024 produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri and Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Bush rats are not black rats — that's the first thing you need to know.
Ann Jones is joined by ABC Top 5 scientist Dr Patrick Finnerty to understand why researchers are going around sniffing bush rats — and how it might help reintroduce them to Sydney's nature reserves.
Find out more about the Top 5 science media residency here.
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Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Eora and Kulin Nations.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Marion Anstis pursued her love of tadpoles and frogs on afternoons and weekends, writing papers for scientific journals despite not studying zoology at university.
When she retired from her job as a music teacher, she finally had the time to pack her campervan and travel the country, chasing wet seasons and documenting the frogs she found.
The result of that fastidious research venture is her PhD and the froggy bible, Tadpoles and Frogs of Australia.
In 2022 her contribution to the field was recognised with the genus Anstisia named after her, a group of frogs that lay their eggs on the ground.
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Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
From the rolling hills of country Ireland to rolling waves beneath her boat docked in Hobart, Dr Diane Purcell has explored the most extreme places algae survive.
She's also explored the prospect of its survival away from Earth when she worked at NASA studying extremophiles.
Some of Diane's earliest research was looking at algae behaviour when it's kind of sleep deprived, and algae that will eat so much it will literally explode!
She's also dealt with the ebb and flow of research work by moving to Darwin and working as a high school science teacher.
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Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Peter Menkhorst is the mammalogist who wrote the birding bible, The Australian Bird Guide.
As a boy, Peter would go birdwatching with his dad, setting up in a hide before dawn to observe malleefowl tending their mounds — and ignoring ongoing attacks from mosquitoes!
His professional work ranged from surveying mammals and developing National Parks, to ecological research and managing over-abundant koalas, while also leading conservation work to protect the orange-bellied parrot, the regent honeyeater and the helmeted honeyeater.
Peter still keeps a list of the birds he sees, in the hardcover notebook his grandmother gave him when he was 11.
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Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Every superhero has their origin story, and a superhero of science is no different…
From watching slater bugs and catching non-venomous snakes in her garden just outside Toronto in Canada, to harnessing lizards with palm fronds in the Caribbean, Tanya Latty was always going to study animals.
But it wasn't until an invertebrate zoology class that her "mind exploded" and her passion for entomology became clear.
She went to the Rocky Mountains to study mountain pine beetles for her PhD — where she also accidentally studied bears and cougars up close.
These days Tanya is based in Australia and raises awareness and understanding of invertebrates after bushfires.
This is the origin story of Associate Professor Tanya Latty.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Nineties kids didn't dawdle on the way home from school in the afternoon. This was the age of appointment television, and that appointment was with Totally Wild.
From 1992 it was beloved afternoon viewing for almost 30 years, hosted with a massive smile (and a decent fringe) by Ranger Stacey.
Every superhero has their origin story, and a superhero of environmental education is no different…
From the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service, to holding her own with cranky carpet-faced puppet Agro, and then hosting her own TV show for 29 years.
This is the origin story of Ranger Stacey Thomson.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
The influence of selective breeding by humans has created a doggo for every occasion, but it's not without problematic results.
Some breeds have breathing difficulties, hip problems, aggression, or anxiety. There are dogs with ADHD and others with depression.
Does our longest-term relationship need couples therapy?
Featuring:
With thanks to Paula Pérez Fraga at Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary for audio from Family pigs' and dogs' reactions to human emotional vocalizations:a citizen science study
Further reading:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2025 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
This is the story of the domesticated animal that feralised itself.
Where did dingoes come from and when?
Where does a wild dog stop and a dingo begin?
How much can genetics really tell us about Australia's only native dog — and how long do you have to live somewhere to be 'native'?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2025 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Are puppy dog eyes really a sign of love, or does Fido just want a lil snack?
Can dogs really "speak" by pressing talking buttons, or do they just make great content for TikTok?
There's more to canine communication than howls and growls — and a wagging tail could be telling you more than you think.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2025 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
'Man's best friend' sure sounds better than 'obligatory symbiont', but what are the true dynamics at play?
There's no denying the bond people feel and the attachment dogs have for their humans, but if we put that beautiful relationship under scientific scrutiny, does it hold up?
Can any dog go 'full Lassie' if you (or Timmy) get stuck down a well?
Will your dog save you?
Featuring:
Further reading:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in May and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
There's designer clothes, but they have nothing on designer dogs!
They come in a huge range of shapes and colours and sizes, from the tiny Chihuahua to the Great Dane.
In the animal world this much variation usually means different species, but not for dogs — so where did they all come from?
And what role did Victorian-era rats play in the development of 'breed standards'?
Featuring:
Further reading:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in May and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
The relationship between humans and big scary wolves has come a long way to give us tiny fluffy lap dogs with very discerning tastes in expensive food.
Whose idea was it? Was it the wolves who wanted the warmth of the fire, or the humans who wanted protection from the other scary carnivores?
And take a look at the first archaeological evidence of a beloved family pet preserved with its human family for almost 15,000 years!
Featuring:
Further reading:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in May and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Nematodes are found in every environment on Earth and can survive in some seriously extreme conditions.
They will come back to life after being frozen for 40 thousand years! WHAT THE DUCK?!
There's so much more to these creatures than a chocolate square for an itchy rear end…
Sign up here for the nematode appreciation society.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was recorded and produced on the land of the Ngunnawal, Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
CSIRO's National Research Collection in Canberra is where millions of dead things bring life to Australian science.
The specimens, collected over many decades, have just been very carefully moved into a new purpose-built facility named Diversity.
The What the Duck?! team had a "sticky beak" inside to find DNA extraction robots, extinct birds, predatory flies, and a few thousand slides containing insect genitalia.
This episode was recorded in September, before recent announcements were made about CSIRO funding.
Featuring:
With thanks to Thea Williams and Ian Dewar at CSIRO
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
After receiving a heartbreaking email, Ann goes on a mission to prove that 'girls DO like spiders, frogs and all things nature'.'
Featuring:
Plus excerpts from videos to Lyra from:
Plus extra sounds from:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
It's like a classic horror film.
There are huge fangs, a segmented body, a remote location, the ocean bashing against cliffs, you're all alone and there's no one to help.
The first bodies that turn up are of the children… of petrels.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Turns out centipedes versus millipedes isn't as simple as a numbers game.
But here at What the Duck?! we never skip leg day.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Can animals create, or even enjoy music?
Ann rips through the animal kingdom to check out the musical talent of some likely and unlikely performers.
Featuring:
Featured sounds:
Musical Stimuli for Parrots by Adena Schachner, Fostog's Touch by David Teie (music for cats) and Marlene McCohen (YouTube) and her Amazon parrot Lucy.
Production:
For more about bird song and music click here.
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2023 and produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
We'll all go to trouble to get a good meal, but some animals take it to the extreme.
Some build architectural masterpieces to entrap their prey, or use body parts as lures.
But what is your cat doing when it makes the 'ek ek ek ek?' Is it trying to bewitch the birds?
Featuring:
Extra audio: Cat Ek ek ek by @thiscatisdumpling.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2024 and produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Fungi are already hard at work helping trees survive drought, recycling fallen logs, rotting away carcases, and helping human digestive systems, but could they do more?
Is our future made of fungi?
Research has shown fungi's potential to make medicine, clothing, and cheap fire-retardant housing, but trying to isolate and harness just one species is not an easy task given they get into pretty much everything.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Mushrooms were once lumped in with plants, and they stayed there well after science knew better.
But if a fungus is not a plant… is it a closer relative of yours than you might've thought?
With millions of species on Earth, and many that live inside you, it seems important to know about the kingdom of fungi.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
As daily updates about the 'mushroom murders' monopolised newsfeeds around the country, the What the Duck?! team started questioning the motives. Not the human ones — the fungi ones.
Why would a mushroom need a toxin so powerful it takes just a few grams to kill a human?
And where's the warning? Nature usually throws up alerts for poison, like bright colours or spots, but the death cap is pretty plain.
Why does a mushroom need such a deadly toxin anyway?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Have you found yourself wondering why a simple brown mushroom would develop a toxin so strong that just a few grams could kill a human?
What the Duck?! is investigating the motives of toxic fungi and exploring the curious world of puffballs, fly agarics, stinkhorns, and death caps.
Powerful toxins are scary, but there are varieties that could help humans in medical treatment, space exploration, manufacturing, and by consuming plastic waste…
Mushrooms are sending us mixed messages!
What the Duck?! serves mushrooms from October 3rd.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Cuckoo babies hatch in the nests of other bird species then quickly, often brutally, make sure they're the only baby to get fed…
So how does a cuckoo know how to be a cuckoo?
Well… that is a ducking good question.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and produced (mainly) on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
There are so many sticky things in nature, but what's the nature of their stickiness?
Could slug mucus or frog ooze be used in medical treatments?
Ann puts on her spider-woman gloves to find out.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.ore the mysteries of nature.
If you ever wanted to be able to stick to walls like Spider-Man, then listen to this!
How do geckos and ants walk easily up walls and across the ceiling?
Is an insect foot sticky in the same way as a reptilian tootsie?
And how does underwater stickiness compare? Just how is that barnacle attached to that boat?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You’ll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
This place is so extreme that NASA sends scientists to test equipment for Mars missions. And yet, Australia's salty lakes are full of life.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Ann finds out that birds are not really blue. Not even bluebirds. If they're not blue, then what the duck are they?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Listen back to the What the Duck?! special broadcast with Dr Ann Jones and Cassie McCullagh.
After 65,000 votes, Australia has spoken — the rakali has been crowned Australia's most underrated native animal!
Raking in a whopping 20 per cent of the votes cast, the water rat was well out in front.
Here are the results:
You can also read more on the ABC News blog from the countdown:https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-15/wildlife-blog-15-august-2025/105651126
Featuring:
Production:
They live off seagrass, and sound like a teeny bird, but can weigh in at more than 400 kilograms and will cut you with their tusks.
Dugongs (Dugong dugon) were once confused for mermaids.
Yanyuwa people in the Golf of Carpentaria have observed their roles in family groups and identified 16 different types of dugongs.
Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104Featuring:
Production:
It's a bold claim, but the palm cockatoo might be the most punk-rock bird of all.
The black and scarlet parrot lives in the rainforests and woodlands of Far North Queensland, as well as the Aru Islands and New Guinea.
With a wingspan of 1.5 metres, the palm cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus) is an impressive bird, with a black mohawk and a powerful beak.
Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104Featuring:
Production:
This little orange lizard lives with his mum and poos outside. What's not to love?
The great desert skink (Liopholis kintorei) can be found in the deserts of the Northern Territory, South Australia, and Western Australia.
They live in large burrows in family groups, which is extremely unusual for reptiles.
Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104Featuring:
Production:
What has no eyes, no ears, and is barely ever seen? It's no riddle — it's the marsupial mole!
These tiny, golden creatures like to burrow through the sands in central Australia, making the two species of marsupial mole (Notoryctes) almost impossible to find.
Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104Featuring:
Production:
This tiny frog is pasty white, with big arms, a teeny head, and is — somehow — still absolutely adorable.
The turtle frog (Myobatrachus gouldii) can be found in a small part of south-west Western Australia.
They mostly live underground, and are one of only a few species of frog that burrow forwards instead of backwards.
Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104Featuring:
Production:
They can travel over land, climb walls and take down large prey. And that's all before the short-finned eel (Anguilla australis) makes it out into the ocean for their epic migration to mate.
The location is so remote, scientists still don't know what happens while they're there.
But then, as new baby eels, they need to swim thousands of kilometres back to the Australian mainland — and only one in every 10,000 hatchings make it.
Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104Featuring:
Production:
Sure, it's a rat, but it's Australia's own cheeky little water rat!
The rakali (Hydromys chrysogaster) is Australia's largest rodent, and can be found in the waterways all around Australia.
Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104Featuring:
Production:
They shoot glue, puree their enemies, and are about the size of a leaf.
With 140 species of southern velvet worms (Peripatopsidae), and most of those in Australia, these tiny creatures are our home-grown invertebrate.
They normally live in rainforests, under logs or leaf litter, and they like to keep it damp and dark.
Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104Featuring:
Production:
The ghost bat (Macroderma gigas) is Australia's only carnivorous bat, so it's probably not a good idea to make fun of their giant ears and unique nose.
They live in large colonies of up to 1500 individuals in northern Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, roosting in caves, and old abandoned mine shafts.
Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104Featuring:
Production:
They can grow up to a metre and the world's largest cuttlefish species can also disappear in a puff of ink and mucus.
The giant cuttlefish (Ascarosepion apama) is an oddball, and you can catch a glimpse of them around the whole bottom half of Australia — all the way from Brisbane to Shark Bay.
Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104Featuring:
Production:
Move the peas over to find that Australian freezers have seals, kangaroo penises and the DNA of 'the Chanel of goats.'
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was first broadcast in 2022 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Stream the brand-new series Dr Ann's Secret Lives on ABC iview.It turns out self-medicating and herbal remedies are not exclusive to humans.
From cats eating grass, to elephants making medicinal tea in their throat pouch — the animal world has its own prescriptions.
And naturally, there's plenty of digging through poo involved in this scientific research!
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was first broadcast in 2022 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Stream the brand-new series Dr Ann's Secret Lives on ABC iview.Fossils tell us a lot about the past, but are there fossilised farts? (Spoiler, YES!)
Look back at great farts of history, and the story of methane.
Do birds not fart?
And which creature is responsible for the stinkiest?
Listen to part one (Does it Fart?!) here.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was first broadcast in 2022 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Stream the brand-new series Dr Ann's Secret Lives on ABC iview.Farts are not just for laughs. There are farts for survival, for communication, and even to attack!
But it turns out it's tricky to get scientists to agree on what actually constitutes a fart.
Still, from tiny fish, ants, and spiders, to manatees, primates, and blue whales — is it as simple as the bigger the creature, the bigger the fart?
Featuring:
Farts:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was first broadcast in 2022 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people
It's a seemingly simple question from What the Duck?! listener Skylar: how do scientists determine a new species?
Turns out, it's complicated.
And it's got Ann Jones impersonating a dog on the internet to try to find out what breed she is, as well as asking, 'what is a species anyway?'.
Featuring:
Thanks also to Ying Luo for background information.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in December 2023 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
The influence of selective breeding by humans has created a doggo for every occasion, but it's not without problematic results.
Some breeds have breathing difficulties, hip problems, aggression, or anxiety. There are dogs with ADHD and others with depression.
Does our longest-term relationship need couples therapy?
Featuring:
With thanks to Paula Pérez Fraga at Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary
This is the story of the domesticated animal that feralised itself.
Where did dingoes come from and when?
Where does a wild dog stop and a dingo begin?
How much can genetics really tell us about Australia's only native dog — and how long do you have to live somewhere to be 'native'?
Featuring:
Production:
Are puppy dog eyes really a sign of love, or does Fido just want a lil snack?
Can dogs really "speak" by pressing talking buttons, or do they just make great content for TikTok?
There's more to canine communication than howls and growls — and a wagging tail could be telling you more than you think.
Featuring:
Production:
'Man's best friend' sure sounds better than 'obligatory symbiont', but what are the true dynamics at play?
There's no denying the bond people feel and the attachment dogs have for their humans, but if we put that beautiful relationship under scientific scrutiny, does it hold up?
Can any dog go 'full Lassie' if you (or Timmy) gets stuck down a well? Will your dog save you?
Featuring:
Production:
There's designer clothes, but they have nothing on designer dogs!
They come in a huge range of shapes and colours and sizes, from the tiny Chihuahua to the Great Dane.
In the animal world this much variation usually means different species, but not for dogs — so where did they all come from?
And what role did Victorian-era rats play in the development of 'breed standards'?
Featuring:
Production:
The relationship between humans and big scary wolves has come a long way to give us tiny fluffy lap dogs with very discerning tastes in expensive food.
Whose idea was it? Was it the wolves who wanted the warmth of the fire, or the humans who wanted protection from the other scary carnivores?
And take a look at the first archaeological evidence of a beloved family pet preserved with its human family for almost 15,000 years!
Featuring:
Production:
A new series from What the Duck?! is coming soon.
Dr Ann Jones is exploring the connection between humans and dogs and asking how our destinies became intertwined.
How did we get pugs from wolves?
How did the howling creatures of our nightmares become floppy eared, tail wagging good boys and girls?
From the very first archaeological evidence of 'beloved family pet' to the paw-pushing communication buttons on YouTube… this is a look at the true nature of the relationship with man's best friend.
How does a snake climb a pole? It's not like they have a ladder... or arms.
It turns out that snakes have some pretty crazy skills when it comes to climbing anything and everything.
The Island of Guam had between two and four million brown tree snakes in the 1980s, leading to all sorts of issues for the birds and the environment.
Guests:
Dr Aaron Collins- Assistant State Director Guam/Western Pacific Theatre at USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services
Professor Kristin Y. Pettersen- Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and System at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Stuart McKenzie - Director/Owner at The Snake Catcher Sunshine Coast
Professor Bruce C. Jayne- Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Cincinnati.
Charlie and Olivia, Board game players.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Joel Werner, Script Editing.
Additional mastering: Hamish Camilleri.
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast on the 5th of March 2022 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Would you meet a stranger in a park with a pile of snakes?
Comedian Craig Quartermaine took the risk in an attempt to overcome his fears.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode was originally broadcast in 2023.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Yuggera, Turrbal and Kaurna people.
Have you heard of the Kookaburra that conquered Hollywood?
Yes- that was a kookaburra at the start of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.
But WHY? Dr Ann Jones is on a mission to find out.
Featuring:
Ella Loeffler, Film and Bird Watcher.
Dr Maggie Watson, Ornithologist, ecologist, fantasy fiction fan.
Assoc Professor Cameron Webb, Mosquito Wrangler, NSW Health and University of Sydney.
Professor John W. Fitzpatrick, Emeritus Director, Cornell Lab of Ornithology,
James Currie, Sound Recordist / Editor.
With extra sounds from Listener: Jesse Cotteril
Movie Sounds:
The Wizard of Oz (1939) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Charlie's Angels (2000) Columbia Pictures
Tarzan and the Green Goddess (1938) Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Paramount Pictures
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) Universal Pictures/ Amblin Entertainment
Finding Nemo (2003) Pixar Animation/ Walt Disney Pictures
Lord of the Rings - Return of the Kings (2003) New Line Cinema
Mary Poppins (1964) Walt Disney Pictures
Skippy (1968) Fauna Productions
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) Warner Brothers
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Joel Werner, Script Editing.
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Spiders have gravity-defying ninja skills, they can hear without ears and they work together to gang up on huge prey.
Spiders are murder machines!
Featuring:
Dr Kate Umbers, Western Sydney University.
Dr Alfonso Aceves-Aparicio, University Hamburg.
Dr Jay Stafstrom, Cornell University.
Dr Lena Grinsted, University of Portsmouth.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Joel Werner, Script Editor.
Additional mastering: Angela Grant.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people and was first broadcast on the 17th of December 2022.
A tiny penis, a 12-hour annual fertilisation window, picky females and strawberry bubble bath – these are just a few of the issues that pop up when making a panda cub.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was first broadcast on April the 1st 2023 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people. The pandas, Wang Wang and Fu Ni, are no longer at the Adelaide Zoo. They've been replaced with new pandas, Xing Qiu and Yi Lan.
There's a whole world of mystery, and quite a bit of maths, inside the humble sea shell.
Forget ancestry searches online, shells can tell you the history of the world!
Featuring:
Amy Prendergast, University of Melbourne.
Jann Vendetti, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
Dr Paul Butler, Researcher at the University of Exeter.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in March 2023 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Jaws (1975) was a massive hit that also created a whole lot of fear, but does anything in the film really stand up to shark science?
Do sharks stalk humans? Do they roar? What can they sense?
There are so many misconceptions when it comes to sharks that even now, 50 years later, these are impacting shark policies in Australia, and have come to be known as 'the jaws effect.'
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in Nov 2024 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Female lab mice have been bred to be passive and breed with ease.
But, in the wild they're feisty and even pugnacious.
How much of our biological understanding of the world is based on misogyny?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in July 2023 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Eels are mysterious and have a fascinating history.
People in pre-medieval England used them to pay rent. Early 17th-century maps featured 'eel ships,' and even Sigmund Freud studied their breeding and reproduction habits for a whole summer.
Dr Ann Jones gets 'eely' curious about eels in today's What the Duck?!
Featuring:
Dr. John Wyatt Greenlee, Historian Cornell University.
Erin Rose, Budj Bim World Heritage Executive Officer at Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation.
Braydon Saunders, Tour Guide Coordinator at Budj Bim Cultural Landscape Tourism.
Tyson Lovett-Murray, Budj Bim World Heritage Ranger at Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation.
Wayne Koster, Research Scientist at the Arthur Rylah Institute, Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, Victorian Government.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in March 2023 and was produced on the land of the Gunditjmara, Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
When it comes to sexual organs, the penis is really ‘out there.’ Name another organ that can change its form AND function in a matter of seconds!
There’s a lot of variety in the animal kingdom; from spikes and nails to coils and collagen – so, this appendage is worth investigating... close up.
Sex is Weird is a new series of What the Duck?! with Dr Ann Jones following the sexual evolution of the animal kingdom.
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended. It was first broadcast in August 2024.
Featuring:
Dr Emily Willingham, biologist, journalist and author.
Dr Diane Kelly, Senior Research Fellow, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Associate Professor Andrew Durso, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida.
Associate Professor Patty Brennan, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, US.
Dr Bruno Buzatto, Flinders University, South Australia.
Philippa Holm, HFR Performance Horses, Victoria.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering: Isabella Tropiano.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Aussie classic Babe turns 30 this year, and its story of the little pig that achieves his dream of being a sheep dog is still as uplifting as the day it premiered. But we can't say "that'll do, pig" when it comes to the science....
By now, we know pigs aren't "definitely stupid", but how smart are they? Would an orphaned pig be taken in by a family of dogs? Could a pig really learn to herd sheep? And would Babe really stay so small for so long?
Dr Ann Jones sniffs out the porkies Hollywood told us in this poignant pig picture.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the lands of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung, Taungurung, and Kaurna people.
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
If you have a fear of getting swooped by magpies, mobbed by seagulls or blinded by crows, perhaps Alfred Hitchcock is to blame.
His 1963 horror classic The Birds created a generation of ornithophobes, and played on our fears of death by feathered fiend.
But how accurate are his creepy corvids? Do birds of a feather flock together exclusively? Can a bird go all 'Here's Johnny' on a locked door? Do birds hold grudges?
Dr Ann Jones gets a bird's eye view of Hollywood's avian lies.
Featuring:
Further reading:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the lands of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung, Taungurung, and Kaurna people.
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
Remember that 1998 film Antz? The one about an ant named Z?
The one where the ants had nightmare-inducing human teeth? The one we probably have to blame for the existence of Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie?
Considering the movie is all about ants, you'd think it'd get SOMETHING right about ants. But Hollywood has once again LIED TO US.
Do male ants have any jobs outside the boudoir? Can ants breathe? Do ants have creepy little human teeth?
Ann Jones sets out to be pedANTic and find the facts in the fiction.
Featuring:
Further reading:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the lands of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung, Taungurung, and Kaurna people.
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
In 1985, a real American black bear consumed a bunch of cocaine that'd been dropped from a plane into the forest, and died.
Nearly 40 years later Hollywood stepped in the rewrite the story. What would happen if the bear survived? Maybe it'd go on a coke-fueled rampage. That's how it works, right?
Cocaine Bear (2023) launched a lot of memes, but does it get anything right about bears, or how they'd act under the influence of blow...or did Hollywood lie to us?
Would a black bear really eat a drug dealer alive?
Do bears do 'snow' *wink* angels?
Dr Ann Jones cuts through it all to get some serious answers.
Guests:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the lands of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Kaurna people.
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
Quick! Think of a ‘dinosaur movie’. Chances are Jurassic Park (1993) was first to mind.
Steven Spielberg’s genetic nightmare/theme park gone wrong classic is so iconic that it inspired a generation of kids to study palaeontology, and reinvented our modern popular idea of dinosaurs. But does that idea still stack up?
Could you really clone a triceratops from DNA found in an ancient mozzie?
Did dilophosaurus really look like a frill-necked lizard?
And aren’t dinosaurs supposed to be feathery?
Ann Jones cracks into how Jurassic Park did (and didn’t) lie to us.
Featuring:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the lands of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Kaurna people.
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
When you really think about it, sex to make babies is WEIRD! You take an outie that has to get stuck inside an innie that links into a production line of eggs to assemble a perfect tiny being. It’s so damn complicated!
So why does it work like that?
Join us at What the Duck for the first episode of a series where we figure out how living things went from splitting ourselves in half to double the population, to periodically feeling compelled to copulate in such a vigorous, sometimes highly embarrassing, manner.
Earth - this is your sexual history!
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.
This is a summer repeat of Episode One - please find the rest of the "Sex is Weird" series here.
Featuring:
Production:
Additional mastering: Isabella Tropiano and Russell Stapleton.
Thanks also to Will Ockenden, Belinda Smith, Corey Hague and Joel Werner.
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
This episode of What the Duck?! was first broadcast in September 2024 and is produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Could a legless lizard be 'minimalist of the year' for famous podcaster T. K. Coleman?
Ann Jones leads an unlikely gang of animal experts on a tidy dance through the philosophy of minimalism. There are moths without mouths, flies without wings, and a worm-lizard that will even declutter its own tail.
Move over Marie Kondo, Minimalist Mother Nature is in town.
Featuring:
Production:
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
This episode of What the Duck?! was first broadcast in March 2024 and is produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) is a tingly sensation that can bring relaxation, and it's spawned a growing industry of videos online of whispering, tapping, mouth noises and soft speaking.
But, if you wanted quiet, intimate sounds, well, Nature does it so. much. better.
Ann Jones goes on an ASMR journey with vibrating caterpillars, whispering monkeys and birds who want to keep secrets.
Featuring:
Production:
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
This episode of What the Duck?! was first broadcast in Feb 2024 and is produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Imagine you've just been cancelled for a controversial opinion about Taylor Swift's musical output, and you have to go to ground.
You can act like the Olsen twins, and hide behind big glasses and a big coat.
Or you could take a lesson from nature and blend in, like a proverbial spotty quoll into the bush.
The animal kingdom has a lot to teach us about camouflage and animal markings.
Featuring:
Production:
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
This episode of What the Duck?! was first broadcast in Feb 2024 and is produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Right now, you’re probably sitting on one of the most unique things about humans. One thing that separates us from the apes, from the birds, from EVERYTHING on earth. The thing that allows us to walk upright, on two legs.We have big butts and I cannot lie,This sort of exceptionalism doesn’t deny,That when a bird walks in with a little bit of hasteAnd drumsticks in your face, you have to admit that bipedalism ISN’T what’s interesting.It's actually our peachy butts.
Featuring:
Professor Daniel Lieberman, Harvard University, US.
Professor Jo Setchell, Durham University, UK.
Dr Peter Bishop, Harvard University, US.
Lauren Thornton, University of Sunshine Coast.
Production:
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
This episode of What the Duck?! was first broadcast in Feb 2024 and is produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
How many species live around your house?
In the COVID lockdown of 2020, three housemates decided to count.
They thought there’d only be a handful, but the number kept rising and rising.
Could their simple suburban Queenslander house be the next candidate for a new national park?
Featuring:
Dr Matt Holden, Mathematician, University of Queensland.
Dr Andrew Rogers, Ecologist, University of Melbourne.
Dr Russell Yong, Taxonomist.
Production:
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
This episode of What the Duck?! was first broadcast in Feb 2024 and is produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer is a Christmas classic... but how much do we really know about reindeer?
In the last instalment of "Hollywood lied to us" for 2024, Ann Jones fact-checks the festive fairytale for biological accuracy.
What would it take for a reindeer to fly? What are their noses really like? Would a glowing nose even make a decent fog light??
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the lands of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Kaurna people.
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
The Lion King (1994), aka Hamlet with Cats, is an iconic family classic. But would The Lion King's portrayal of a pride make biologists proud?
Ann Jones presents “Hollywood lied to us” - a What The Duck?! podcast that takes your favourite movies and puts them under the microscope to work out what would happen in the real world and what’s just Hollywood magic.
Would Simba really end up with Nala?
Would the hyena henchmen really fall in line for a lion?
They’re the big questions and Ann Jones has all the answers."
Featuring:
Production:
Check out our Hyena episode here!
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
The movie is fictional but Groundhog Day (asking a groundhog for a long-term weather report) IS A REAL THING!
But wait, what even ARE groundhogs? AND do they have any qualifications in meteorology?
Ann Jones is examining the biological accuracy of classic movies with the help of scientists and fans in the series "Hollywood Lied to Us."
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
Yes, the Little Mermaid is an animated movie, but if it were real, where would this mermaid paradise be?
Is it plausible that Ursula the Octo-woman would have henchmen in the form of eels?
Ann Jones is examining the biological accuracy with the help of scientists and fans of classic movies in the series "Hollywood Lied to Us."
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
Jaws (1975) was a massive hit that also created a whole lot of fear, but does anything in the film really stand up to shark science? Do sharks stalk humans? Do they roar? What can they sense? There are so many misconceptions when it comes to sharks that even now, 50 years later, these are impacting shark policies in Australia, and have come to be known as 'the jaws effect.'
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
Did you know that pigeons make milk?
The pigeon gets a bad rap, but it is actually an incredible bird with a rich history.
It is related to the dodo and even played a role in the French Revolution!
Surely this bird deserves some recognition?
Featuring:
Production:
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
This episode of What the Duck?! was first broadcast in Dec 2023 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Are you high, or is that a sheep glowing?
Yep- sheep glow, but that's not all... when it comes to glowing the list of animals includes the platypus, dolphin teeth, bilby ears and Tasmanian Devil feet.
Featuring:
Production:
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
This episode of What the Duck?! was first broadcast in October 2023 and is produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
There's a statue of an ostrich wearing a saddle in Meningie, South Australia.
The large bird statue is dedicated to the legend of "John Francis Peggotty", the Birdman of the Coorong.
He loved gold, robbed stagecoaches, and used an ostrich as a getaway car. OR DID HE?!
Featuring:
Denice Mason, teacher and Meningie resident.
Associate Professor Rohan Clarke, Monash University and co-author of the Australian Bird Guide.
Jacob Fiebig, Meningie resident and composer of "The ballad of John Peggotty".
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was first broadcast in Feb 2022 and is produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Ngarrindjeri and Kaurna people.
If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
What makes a true fly and do we really need them?
As per usual the What the Duck?! team is elbow-deep in crap looking for a way out.
And the way out, is flies!
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in September 2022 and is produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
A group of Killer whales have been hassling boats around Spain over the last few years.
They've been nibbling the rudders and even sinking yachts, but why?
Has anyone considered that it might be revenge? How dangerous are Orcas anyway?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast on the 30th of September 2023 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Did you know that some squirrels, otters and goats are capable of autofellatio?
And ferrets, macaques and dolphins can use rocks, plants and other objects as sex toys?
Fresh off the back of the Sex is Weird series, Sana Qadar from All in the Mind is getting the down low on animal masturbatory behaviours.
Dr Ann Jones has all the goss and it's entirely ruined her internet search history.
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.
Featuring:
Sana Qadar, Presenter All in the Mind.
Check out her podcast on the psychology of masturbation here.
Matthias Wentzlaff-Eggebert, Listener.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
Petria Ladgrove, Producer
Additional mastering: Isabella Tropiano.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Sex comes at a cost, there’s energy, time, risks of predators, and diseases… so do we even need it?
Asexual organisms don’t seem to miss the dating scene, and yet here we are putting a whole lot of energy into sex, even when it doesn't lead to babies when same sexes attract.
Of course, sex is a chance to genetically repair faults and outrun threats, but is the pay-off really enough?
Sex is Weird is a series of What the Duck?! with Dr Ann Jones following the sexual evolution of the animal kingdom.
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.
Featuring:
Associate Professor Kevin Teather, Author, The Evolution of Sex.
Assistant Professor Amanda Gibson, University of Virginia.
Professor Joseph Heitman, Duke University.
Professor Jenny Graves, La Trobe University.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
Petria Ladgrove, Producer
Additional mastering: Isabella Tropiano.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
It turns out not everyone was listening when it was written ‘it takes two to tango’ and some species can go it alone in their quest to reproduce. And then there’s the plants that decided THREE or ONE was for them, never an even number.
Why is sex so... suspiciously complicated?
Sex is Weird is a series of What the Duck?! with Dr Ann Jones following the sexual evolution of the natural world.
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.
Featuring:
Dr Meredith Lake, Presenter, Soul Search ABC Radio National.
Dr Michael Whitehead, Evolutionary Ecologist.
Libby Eyre, Biologist, Macquarie University.
Associate Professor Andrew Durso, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida.
Professor Michael Kearney, University of Melbourne.
Dr Christine Dudgeon, University of Queensland.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
Petria Ladgrove, Producer
Additional mastering: Isabella Tropiano.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
What is the role of pleasure in successful reproduction?
Evolution says it's mightily important: every female vertebrate has a clitoris.
Snakes have two!
Female pleasure has been selected for.
Making sex fun and pleasurable is a biologically sensible thing to do, more sex means more potential babies.
Some studies of pigs and dairy cows have found an increase of up to 6% in successful conception when the females are stimulated during artificial insemination.
Sex is Weird is a new series of What the Duck?! with Dr Ann Jones following the sexual evolution of the animal kingdom.
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.
Featuring:
Dr Bruno Buzatto, Flinders University, South Australia.
Lynette Greenwood, Dairy farmer, Victoria.
Associate Professor Andrew Durso, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida.
Lucy Cooke, Author and Film maker.
Associate Professor Patty Brennan, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, US.
Emeritus Professor Susan Suarez, Cornell University, New York.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
Petria Ladgrove, Producer
Additional mastering: Isabella Tropiano.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people
Do animals fall in love at first sight?
Every species has different traits that are 'attractive' — they're showing off their DIY skills making a bower, vibrating sexy fruit fly songs, puffing up a wattle, or just having really massive moose… antlers.
Is this innate attraction like falling in love or is it more like meeting a (really hot) investment advisor?
Because these attractive traits are also messages about genes – who will make a good investment to partner with for the next generation.
Of course, one species beauty is another's turn off, and some species have a very low bar (looking at you guppies), so Hot or Not could end up being a very individual thing.
Sex is Weird is a new series of What the Duck?! with Dr Ann Jones following the sexual evolution of the animal kingdom.
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.
Featuring:
Dr Bruno Buzatto, Flinders University, South Australia.
Nathan Finger, Bird of the Week podcast host.
Jason Graham, Pacific black duck conservation group, Tasmania.
Dr Victoria Austin, Western Sydney University.
Professor Rob Brooks, University of New South Wales.
Dr Judy Wang, Queensland Brain Institute.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
Petria Ladgrove, Producer
Additional mastering: Isabella Tropiano.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
The energy required to grow, birth and raise young is intense, so it's only fair that the female body has some tricks to make sure reproducing is worth it.
From cryptic choice to immune system sperm blockers, the female reproductive system can be a literal maze for those seeking to gain access to her eggs.
In the battle of the sexes, this is females fight back.
Sex is Weird is a new series of What the Duck?! with Dr Ann Jones following the sexual evolution of the animal kingdom.
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.
Featuring:
Professor Sarah Robertson, University of Adelaide.
Dr Diane Kelly, Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Associate Professor Patricia Brennan, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, US.
Emeritus Professor Susan Suarez, Cornell University, New York.
Professor Mariana Wolfner, Cornell University, New York.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering: Isabella Tropiano.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
When it comes to sexual organs, the penis is really ‘out there.’ Name another organ that can change its form AND function in a matter of seconds!
There’s a lot of variety in the animal kingdom; from spikes and nails to coils and collagen – so, this appendage is worth investigating... close up.
Sex is Weird is a new series of What the Duck?! With Dr Ann Jones following the sexual evolution of the animal kingdom.
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.
Featuring:
Dr Emily Willingham, biologist, journalist and author.
Dr Diane Kelly, Senior Research Fellow, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Associate Professor Andrew Durso, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida.
Associate Professor Patty Brennan, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, US.
Dr Bruno Buzatto, Flinders University, South Australia.
Philippa Holm, HFR Performance Horses, Victoria.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering: Isabella Tropiano.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
When you really think about it, sex to make babies is WEIRD! You take an outie that has to get stuck inside an innie that links into a production line of eggs to assemble a perfect tiny being. It’s so damn complicated!
So why does it work like that?
Join us at What the Duck for the first episode of a new series where we figure out how living things went from splitting ourselves in half to double the population, to periodically feeling compelled to copulate in such a vigorous, sometimes highly embarrassing, manner.
Earth - this is your sexual history!
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.
Featuring:
Emeritus Professor David Siveter, University of Leicester, UK.
Assistant Professor Emily Mitchell, University of Cambridge, UK and curator of non-insect invertebrates, University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, UK.
Dr Marissa Betts, geologist and palaeontologist at the University of New England, Armidale, Australia.
Dr Emily Willingham, biologist, journalist and author.
Associate Professor Patty Brennan, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, US.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering: Isabella Tropiano.
Thanks also to Will Ockenden, Belinda Smith, Corey Hague and Joel Werner.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
How the duck did sex evolve as a major form of reproduction?
Sex is Weird is a brand new series of What the Duck?! with Dr Ann Jones.
From the evolution of the first-ever genitals and the strange methods that animals use to copulate, to the unbelievable ways that the female body responds to sex.
So strap in and get ready for the ride of your life, you'll never think about sex the same way again!
Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering: Russel Stapleton.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Have the crabs been lying to us?
They usually have ten legs and eyes on stalks, but there are all sorts of things hiding under the shell, including emotions.
There are true crabs, false crabs, and even shame-faced crabs which implies that some of them, at least, are guilty.
Featuring:
Dr Rachael King, SA Museum.
Professor Judith Weis, Rutgers University, Newark.
Dr Annabel Dorrenstein, University of Western Sydney.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people and was first broadcast in September 2023.
Spiders have gravity-defying ninja skills, they can hear without ears and they work together to gang up on huge prey.
Spiders are murder machines!
Featuring:
Dr Kate Umbers, Western Sydney University.
Dr Alfonso Aceves-Aparicio, University Hamburg.
Dr Jay Stafstrom, Cornell University.
Dr Lena Grinsted, University of Portsmouth.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Joel Werner, Script Editor.
Additional mastering: Angela Grant.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people and was first broadcast on the 17th of December 2022.
You can run but you can't hide!
Ever wondered how a mosquito manages to hit a blood vessel without fail?
And that one mozzie that you hear buzzing and buzzing at night? It’s probably a species that prefers birds and is trying to determine whether you’re a bird.
Featuring:
Assoc Prof. Cameron Webb, NSW Pathology & University of Sydney.
Dr. Jana Batovska, Agriculture Victoria.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Joel Werner, Script Editing.
This episode of What the Duck?! was first broadcast in June 2022 and produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
How does a snake climb a pole? It's not like they have a ladder... or arms.
It turns out that snakes have some pretty crazy skills when it comes to climbing anything and everything.
The Island of Guam had between two and four million brown tree snakes in the 1980s, leading to all sorts of issues for the birds and the environment.
Guests:
Dr Aaron Collins- Assistant State Director Guam/Western Pacific Theatre at USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services
Professor Kristin Y. Pettersen- Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and System at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Stuart McKenzie - Director/Owner at The Snake Catcher Sunshine Coast
Professor Bruce C. Jayne- Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Cincinnati.
Charlie and Olivia, Board game players.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Joel Werner, Script Editing.
Additional mastering: Hamish Camilleri.
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast on the 5th of March 2022 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Ripper the musk duck had many bad habits – chief among them was attacking the keepers and then swearing under his breath.
But was Ripper really angry, or was his potty mouth a symptom of something much more sinister?
FEATURING:
Peter Fullagar, wildlife sound recordist and retired CSIRO Scientist.
Nick Hayward, Film maker, The Message of the Lyrebird.
Daryl Snowdon, Duck Shooter.
Lisa Sperber, Ballarat Bird World parrot whisperer.
Victoria Austin, University of Western Sydney..
Carel Ten Cate, Institute of Biology Leiden.
EXTRA SOUND RECORDINGS:Ripper the Duck and others, Peter Fullagar via the Australian National Wildlife Collection at the CSIRO, files X49184 and X49185.
Brolgas grunting by Henry Cook.
Echo the Lyrebird imitating a (human) baby, courtesy of Taronga Zoo.
Regent Honeyeaters in the wild by Ross Crates, ANU.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
It was first published on the 29th of Jan 2022.
It's the early 20th century, a government scientist position was determined by a boxing match, and a tomato virus threatened to stop the development of Australian-style tomato sauce in its tracks.
Luckily, apart from their prowess as fighters, Australian plant scientists were leaders in identifying and controlling plant illnesses.
They wouldn't do it without some drama though, and in this very special podcast extra, Ann Jones traces some of the turbulent history of tomato virus research down under.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Plants are fully sick right now - and not just because indoor plants are in fashion.
They have an immune system, they get infections, and can catch viruses... they just can't move away from their sick neighbours.
While we depend on white blood cells to fight off and remember pathogens, plants rely on inherited knowledge of past threats in their DNA, plus the effective altruism of individual cells to sacrifice themselves rather than damage the whole.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
It seems absolutely bonkers that an animal can muster ELECTRICITY, especially enough to send out a zap like a taser.
But that's exactly what electric eels can do, and the world record holder more than doubles the voltage of the Australian electricity supply.
More than that, electric eels inspired the design of Volta's first batteries, but (hold onto your socks so they don't get blown off) they're not the only ones who've got electricity pumping through their bodies.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
A superhero origin story would absolutely be 12 years in a cage and then set free by secretive criminals.
That’s the story of Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle Owl, released from his vandalised cage in Central Park Zoo, New York City.
He turned up in the middle of an intersection nearby, looking dazed and people in the know thought, ‘This is going to end badly,’ because animals released from captivity have an extremely low survival rate.
But Flaco – ‘skinny’ in Spanish – flew in the face of all that. Flaco not only learned to live, he seemed to thrive.
He turned up on fire escapes and windowsills, and was photographed around Manhattan like a coked-up socialite with wide eyes and fabulous ear tufts.
But, how long could Flaco possibly last in the graveyard of bird diversity that is the city? How long could he fly without confusing a window for the sky?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Usually, it's humans putting animals in cages, but sometimes the animals do it to themselves.
Female platypus lock themselves in burrows to breed, great hornbill males lock females up in the hollow of a tree (they seal it up with fruit and poop) and potter wasps paralyse caterpillars for their babies to eat.
Today on What The Duck?!, Dr Ann Jones investigates the wild and hostile world of animal jails.
Are the animals just psycho killers or do they have their reasons?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
At first, you might think it is a plot from a zombie movie: that undead animals are coming for you.
But it turns out that Australia's animals aren't just dangerous when they're alive — they can be deadly even when they're dead.
Ann Jones is joined by science reporter Belinda Smith to examine why snakes can still bite up to 45 minutes after death and are potentially dangerous for years.
Think we're lying? Belinda found a guy whose great aunt (and her dog) were killed by a decapitated snake!
So if a snake could commit multiple murders from beyond the grave, what other animals are going to get you?
Featuring -
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri and Kaurna people.
Cassie and Claire have watched their parrot talk in its sleep... so is it dreaming?
And, if animals DO dream... will we ever know what they’re dreaming about? Ann Jones tries to find out.
Featuring:
Cassie, Claire and Pidgey the Parrot. Associate Professor Nicole Lovato, Flinders University. Associate Professor John Lesku, La Trobe University. Professor David Pena Guzman, author of ‘Animal Dreaming’ and San Francisco State University. Professor Sidarta Ribeiro, neuroscientist at Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Dr Shauni Omond, @shauniomond.sleepsci on Instagram, La Trobe University.Professor Niels Rattenborg, Research leader on Avian Sleep, Max Planck Institute.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.Petria Ladgrove, Producer.Additional mastering: Hamish Camilleri.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people and was originally broadcast in July 2023.
Birds can fly while half their brain is sleeping and some spiders sleep dangling on a silk thread, but what about worms.
Do worms sleep?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people and was originally broadcast in July 2023.
Female sage-grouse birds have decided that they want to see a weird sexy dance when deciding on a mate.
Ann Jones explores the creativity of female choice in the animal world in this episode of What the Duck?!
Featuring:
Lucy Cooke, Zoologist and author of Bitch A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal.Professor Gail L Patricelli, University of California, Davis.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering: John Jacobs.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people andwas originally broadcast in July 2023.
Female lab mice have been bred to be passive and breed with ease.
But, in the wild they're feisty and even pugnacious.
How much of our biological understanding of the world is based on misogyny?
Featuring:
Lucy Cooke, Zoologist and author of Bitch A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal.Professor Arthur Georges, University of Canberra.Professor Catherine Dulac, Harvard University.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people. It was originally broadcast in July 2023.
There's a whole world of mystery, and quite a bit of maths, inside the humble sea shell.
Forget ancestry searches online, shells can tell you the history of the world!
Featuring:
Amy Prendergast, University of Melbourne.
Jann Vendetti, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
Dr Paul Butler, Researcher at the University of Exeter.
This episode was originally broadcast in March 2023.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
There's only a handful of animals on earth that go through menopause, where females get to hang up the ovaries and enjoy a change of life.
So, why have we (humans, chimps and some toothed whales) established a sexual retirement of sorts? What is everyone else missing out on?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri and Kaurna people.
We will all go to trouble to get a good meal, but some animals take it to the extreme.
Some build architectural masterpieces to entrap their prey, or use body parts as lures.
But what is your cat doing when it makes the 'ek ek ek ek?' Is it trying to bewitch the birds?
Featuring:
Extra audio: Cat Ek ek ek by @thiscatisdumpling.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Despite spending years and millions of dollars, the Tasmanian Fox Eradication team never, not once, not ever, spotted a live fox on the Apple Isle.
While their efforts yielded zero foxes, it spawned a tale of lies, alleged corruption, and more scats than you could poke a stick at.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
You have a lot to thank sheep for. Yes, sheep.
More than just wool and meat — sheep have played a part in the development of contraception and reproduction in humans.
It's not as dodgy as it sounds, but it is absolutely surprising. Listening to this show will have you thanking every sheep you see from here on out.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
For years we've barely even talked about the human clitoris let alone the fact that snakes have TWO.
This program has adult themes.
Featuring:
Belinda Smith, ABC Science Online Reporter.
Lucy Cooke, Author and Film maker.
Megan Folwell, University of Adelaide.
Dr Jenna Crowe-Riddell, La Trobe University.
Production:
This program was first broadcast in 2023.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Would you meet a stranger in a park with a pile of snakes?
Comedian Craig Quartermaine took the risk in an attempt to overcome his fears.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode was originally broadcast in 2023.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Yuggera, Turrbal and Kaurna people.
Could a legless lizard be 'minimalist of the year' for famous podcaster T. K. Coleman?
Ann Jones leads an unlikely gang of animal experts on a tidy dance through the philosophy of minimalism. There are moths without mouths, flies without wings, and a worm-lizard that will even declutter its own tail.
Move over Marie Kondo, Minimalist Mother Nature is in town.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) is a tingly sensation that can bring relaxation, and it's spawned a growing industry of videos online of whispering, tapping, mouth noises and soft speaking.
But, if you wanted quiet, intimate sounds, well, Nature does it so. much. better.
Ann Jones goes on an ASMR journey with vibrating caterpillars, whispering monkeys and birds who want to keep secrets.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Imagine you've just been cancelled for a controversial opinion about Taylor Swift's musical output, and you have to go to ground.
You can act like the Olsen twins, and hide behind big glasses and a big coat.
Or you could take a lesson from nature and blend in, like a proverbial spotty quoll into the bush.
When it comes to camouflage and animal markings, there's a lot we can learn from the animal kingdom.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Right now, you’re probably sitting on one of the most unique things about humans. One thing that separates us from the apes, from the birds, from EVERYTHING on earth. The thing that allows us to walk upright, on two legs.We have big butts and I cannot lie,This sort of exceptionalism doesn’t deny,That when a bird walks in with a little bit of hasteAnd drumsticks in your face, you have to admit that bipedalism ISN’T what’s interesting.It's actually our peachy butts.
Featuring:
Professor Daniel Lieberman, Harvard University, US.
Professor Jo Setchell, Durham University, UK.
Dr Peter Bishop, Harvard University, US.
Lauren Thornton, University of Sunshine Coast.
Production:
How many species live around your house?
In the COVID lockdown of 2020, three housemates decided to count.
They thought there’d only be a handful, but the number kept rising and rising.
Could their simple suburban Queenslander house be the next candidate for a new national park?
What the Duck?! is back for Season 6.
Featuring:
Dr Matt Holden, Mathematician, University of Queensland.
Dr Andrew Rogers, Ecologist, University of Melbourne.
Dr Russell Yong, Taxonomist.
Production:
Fruit flies, guinea pigs, frogs, monkeys, turtles, cats and dogs… all sorts of animals have been to space.
Find out who made small steps for mankind before we could even spacewalk as Ann goes through the emotional turmoil of hearing animals in space.
Featuring:
James Foley, Author and Illustrator.
Kerrie Dougherty OAM, Senior Heritage and Outreach Officer, Australian Space Agency.
Emeritus Professor John P. Gluck, University of New Mexico and Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University.
Michael Coggan, News Voice.
What the Duck?! Season 6 will be back next week.
Production:
An ornithologist, a veterinarian and a religious devotee must find the serial killer before every last vulture in India is dead.
The episode was first published on the 2nd of September 2023.
Featuring:
Dr Campbell Murn, Head of Conservation at Hawk Conservancy Trust and University of Reading, UK.
Dr Kishor Rithe, Interim Director, Bombay Natural History Society.
Dr Andrea Santangeli, Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies, Spain.
Dr Percy Avari, Mumbai Vetinarary College.
Sherally Munshi, Georgetown.
Vulture sounds provided by Nikita Mathur, India.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering: Hamish Camilleri.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
They look like… 'sabre-toothed sausages', they can barely see, they live for a really long time and have a queen who oppresses them.
Find out all about the Naked Mole-rat this week and let us know your weirdest animal on earth suggestions at whattheduck@abc.net.au.
Featuring:
Dr Alison Barker, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research.
Adjunct Professor Rochelle Buffenstein, University of Illinois at Chicago.
Extra information: Professor Gary R. Lewin, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering: Angie Grant
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
He loved gold, so he robbed stagecoaches in South Australia and used an ostrich as a getaway car. OR DID HE?!
This episode was first published on the 11th of February 2023.
Featuring:
Denice Mason, teacher and Meningie resident.
Associate Professor Rohan Clarke, Monash University and co-author of the Australian Bird Guide.
Jacob Fiebig, Meningie resident and composer of "The ballad of John Peggotty".
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering: Angie Grant.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Ngarrindjeri and Kaurna people.
For thousands of years eels have made people rich and powerful, literally. Now it's time to pay it back.
This episode was originally published on the 18th of March 2023.
Featuring:
Dr. John Wyatt Greenlee, Historian Cornell University.
Erin Rose, Budj Bim World Heritage Executive Officer at Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation.
Braydon Saunders, Tour Guide Coordinator at Budj Bim Cultural Landscape Tourism.
Tyson Lovett-Murray, Budj Bim World Heritage Ranger at Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation.
Wayne Koster, Research Scientist at the Arthur Rylah Institute, Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, Victorian Government.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering: Timothy Jenkins.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Gunditjmara, Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
A tiny penis, a 12-hour annual fertilisation window, picky females and strawberry bubble bath – these are just a few of the issues that pop up when making a panda cub.
This is a repeat of an episode first published on the 1st of April 2023.
Featuring:
Chad Crittle, Acting Assistant Curator for Carnivores and Ungulates at Zoos SA.
Mr Li Zhang, Consul, Head of Bilateral Section at the Chinese Consulate-General in Adelaide.
Dr Meghan Martin Wintle, Director, Conservation Ecologist at PDX Wildlife.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering: Carey Dell.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Ann Jones does a DNA test to see if she is a dog!
This is the final episode for Season 5 of What the Duck?! We will be back in February with new episodes.
Featuring:
Thanks also Ying Luo for background information.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
It is related to the dodo, makes milk and even played a role in the French Revolution. Surely this bird deserves some recognition?
Featuring:
Rosemary Mosco, Science writer and author of 'The Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching'.
Nathan Finger, Host of 'Bird of the Week' podcast
Dr Robin Leppitt, Ornithologist.
April Broadbent, Pigeon Rehabber.
Aaron and Aria, Pigeon Fanciers.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Someone get a translator app because the fish are ready to speak.
Featuring:
Lauren Hawkins, Centre for Marine Science and Technology at Curtin University.
Dr Aaron Rice, Research Scientist at Cornell University.
Featured sounds :
Thanks to Aaron and Lauren for providing sounds as well as Professor Robert McCauley and the Centre for Marine Science and Technology at Curtin University.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
They make THEMSELVES scream.
Featuring:
Dr. Perry Beasley Hall, Adelaide University.
Ernesto Caliari Pinheiro, Acoustic biologist, Brazil.
Professor Mario Vallejo-Marin, University of Uppsala, Sweden.
Lisa Schonberg, Ecological sound artist, New York.
Professor Link Olson, University of Alaska Museum.
Dr Andy Reid, University of Strathclyde, Scotland.
Dr Ying Luo, Australian National Insect Collection.
Featured sounds :
Son of a Bee by Dusty Dubs, David Rentz and Vicki Powys.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Can animals create, or even enjoy music? Ann rips through the animal kingdom to check out the musical talent of some likely and unlikely animals.
Featuring:
Dr. Stuart Watson, University of Zurich.
Dr. Chiara De Gregorio, University of Torino.
Assistant Professor Adena Schachner, University of California.
David Teie, Musician and composer, Music for Cats.
Associate Professor Cameron Webb, University of Sydney and NSW Health Pathology.
Featured sounds :
Musical Stimuli for Parrots by Adena Schachner, Fostog's Touch by David Teie (music for cats) and Marlene McCohen (YouTube) and her Amazon parrot Lucy.
Production:
Are you high, or is that a sheep glowing?
Featuring:
A group of Killer whales have been hassling boats around Spain over the last few years.
They've been nibbling the rudders and even sinking yachts, but why?
Has anyone considered that it might be revenge? How dangerous are Orcas anyway?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
They smell like a squid in a wool jumper, they sound like a duck on helium, and devoted 'Petrel Heads' travel thousands of kilometres just to hear them moan.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Have the crabs been lying to us? There are true crabs, false crabs, and even shame-faced crabs which implies that some of them, at least, are guilty.
Featuring:
Dr Rachael King, SA Museum.
Professor Judith Weis, Rutgers University, Newark.
Dr Annabel Dorrenstein, University of Western Sydney.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
You probably have a daddy-long-legs in your house right now.
But when is having a weird housemate in the corner ACTUALLY a good thing? Dr Ann Jones investigates.
Featuring:
Thanks also to Dr Bernhard Huber, Arachnid Curator at Museum Koenig.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
An extra special, podcast only, five-minute story for you!
A bird that stands over a metre tall hardly seems like it'd bow down to a rock star, but Johnny Cash played a burning role in the near-extinction of Californian Condors.
Featuring:
Dr. Maggie Watson, Zoologist at Charles Sturt University
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
An ornithologist, a veterinarian and a religious devotee must find the serial killer before every last vulture in India is dead.
Featuring:
Vulture sounds provided by Nikita Mathur, India.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
We get a bit philosophical and try to find out that if animals do dream, will we ever be able to know what they’re dreaming about?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Birds can fly while half their brain is sleeping and some spiders sleep dangling on a silk thread, but what about worms. Do worms sleep?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Boob-shaping hiccups are very sexy in the sage grouse world, but whose chesticles are in charge?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Female lab mice have been bred to be passive and breed with ease. But, in the wild they're feisty and even pugnacious. How much of our biological understanding of the world is based on misogyny?
Featuring:
Production:
A tiny penis, a 12-hour annual fertilisation window, picky females and strawberry bubble bath – these are just a few of the issues that pop up when making a panda cub.
Featuring:
Chad Crittle, Acting Assistant Curator for Carnivores and Ungulates at Zoos SA.
Mr Li Zhang, Consul, Head of Bilateral Section at the Chinese Consulate-General in Adelaide.
Dr Meghan Martin Wintle, Director, Conservation Ecologist at PDX Wildlife.
This is the last show of season 2 of What The Duck but Season 3 is on its way! The best way to stay in touch is to follow or subscribe and turn notifications on.
Forget ancestry searches online. Shells can tell you the history of the world.
Featuring:
Amy Prendergast, University of Melbourne.
Jann Vendetti, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
Dr Paul Butler, Researcher at the University of Exeter.
For thousands of years eels have made people rich and powerful, literally. Now it's time to pay it back.
Featuring:
Dr. John Wyatt Greenlee, Historian Cornell University.
Erin Rose, Budj Bim World Heritage Executive Officer at Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation.
Braydon Saunders, Tour Guide Coordinator at Budj Bim Cultural Landscape Tourism.
Tyson Lovett-Murray, Budj Bim World Heritage Ranger at Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation.
Wayne Koster, Research Scientist at the Arthur Rylah Institute, Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, Victorian Government.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Gunditjmara, Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
For years we've barely even talked about the human clitoris let alone the fact that snakes have TWO.
This program has adult themes.
Featuring:
Belinda Smith, ABC Science Online Reporter.
Lucy Cooke, Author and Film maker.
Megan Folwell, University of Adelaide.
Dr Jenna Crowe-Riddell, La Trobe University.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
They look like... 'sabre-toothed sausages', they can barely see, they live for a really long time and have a queen who oppresses them.
Find out all about the Naked Mole-rat this week and let us know your weirdest animal on earth suggestions at whattheduck@abc.net.au.
Featuring:
Dr Alison Barker, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research.
Adjunct Professor Rochelle Buffenstein, University of Illinois at Chicago.
Extra information: Professor Gary R. Lewin, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Would you meet a stranger in a park with a pile of snakes?
Comedian, Craig Quartermaine, took the risk in an attempt to overcome his fears!
Featuring:
Craig Quartermaine, Comedian.
Sandy Dickinson, Urban Reptiles.
Jonathan Wright, Announcer voice.
Production:
Would you meet a stranger in a park with a pile of snakes?
Comedian Craig Quartermaine, took the risk in an attempt to overcome his fears.
Featuring:
Craig Quartermaine, Comedian.
Sandy Dickinson, Urban Reptiles.
Jonathan Wright, Announcer voice.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Yuggera, Turrbal and Kaurna people.
Who made small steps for man before man could even space walk?
Featuring:
James Foley, Author and Illustrator.
Kerrie Dougherty OAM, Senior Heritage and Outreach Officer, Australian Space Agency.
Emeritus Professor John P. Gluck, University of New Mexico and Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University.
Michael Coggan, News Voice.
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
He loved gold, so he robbed stage coaches in South Australia and used an ostrich as a getaway car. OR DID HE?!
Welcome to the first episode of 'What The Duck?!' Season 2.
Featuring:
Denice Mason, teacher and Meningie resident.
Associate Professor Rohan Clarke, Monash University and co-author of the Australian Bird Guide.
Jacob Fiebig, Meningie resident and composer of "The ballad of John Peggotty".
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Ngarrindjeri and Kaurna people.
Gravity defying ninja skills, being able to hear even if you don't have ears, working together to gang up on huge prey. Spiders are murder machines.
This is the final episode of Season 1 What the Duck?!
Stay subscribed for Season 2 coming on Feb 11th, 2023.
Featuring:
Dr Kate Umbers, Western Sydney University.
Dr Alfonso Aceves-Aparicio, University Hamburg.
Dr Jay Stafstrom, Cornell University.
Dr Lena Grinsted, University of Portsmouth.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Joel Werner, Script Editor.
Additional mastering: Angela Grant.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
If you think that cow politics is just about the live export business, you are wrong.
Cows have politics of their own – machinations to sort out who is the leader and who will be led.
Featuring:
Dr Rebecca Doyle, Faculty of Veterinary & Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne.
Joe Gelonisi - the voice of cow facts.
Derek Klingenberg, cattle trombonist.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Here’s a field guide you probably don’t have — “Introduced Dung Beetles in Australia".
Grabbing a lift can go from bad to worse when your uber drops you outside your evolutionary niche.
FEATURING
Dr Matt Greenlees, Sydney University.
Arthur White, NSW frog and tadpole study group.
David Chapple, Monash University.
Dr Maggie Watson, Charles Sturt University.
Dr Robert Streit, Reef Function Hub at James Cook University.
Voice of the Internet: Nikolai Beilharz.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Joel Werner, Script Editor.
Additional mastering: Angela Grant.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Ever wondered about the spiders in your car mirror? How they got there and ‘where the duck’ they’re going?
FEATURING
Dr Ken Walker, Senior Curator of Entomology, Museums Victoria Research Institute.
Dr Laurent Keller, University of Lausanne
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Joel Werner, Script Editor.
Additional mastering: Angela Grant.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
The 'sound of summer' is actually thousands of blokes screaming 'PICK ME' at the top of their screaming cicada voices.
A millipede has a thousand legs right? WRONG!
FEATURING
Dr Juanita Rodriguez, Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO.
Dr Bruno Alves Buzatto, Flinders University.
Luis Villazon, Science Educator UK.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering: Angela Grant.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
It turns out self medicating and herbal remedies are not exclusive to humans…
FEATURING
Dr Kevin Feeney, Central Washington University.
Adjunct Professor Michael Huffman, University of Kyoto.
Dr Sophia Daoudi-Simison, Newcastle University UK.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Nick Kilvert, Presenter/ Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
How far from reality are the folk stories about wolves and dogs? We’re going right back to Aesop’s fables with zoologist and author Jo Wimpenny.
Listen to part one (Aesop’s animals) here:
FEATURING
Dr Jo Wimpenny- Zoologist and Author
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
The world's oldest fart is frozen in amber, and it is the source of the world's oldest fart joke.
Listen to part one (Does it Fart?!) here.
FEATURING
Dani Rabaiotti, Author of Does it Fart? and Zoological Society of London.
Dr Nick Gales, Former Head of Australian Antarctic Division.
Prof Dave Watson, Charles Sturt University.
Prof Jeffrey Stillwell, Adjunct Monash Uni
Dr Adam Munn, Biologist.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Jo Khan, Producer.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Move the peas over to find that Australian freezers have seals, kangaroo penises and the DNA of 'the Chanel of goats.'
FEATURING:
Dr Natalie Warburton, Murdoch University.
Dr Jillian Garvey, La Trobe University.
Dr Nicola Rivers, Monash University.
Dianne Hakof, Hospital Manger Animal Health Department Zoos SA
PRODUCTION:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
There are so many sticky things in nature, but what's the nature of their stickiness? Ann puts on her spider-woman gloves to find out.
FEATURING:
Ella Tyler, wife of the late Prof Mike Tyler.
Prof Andrew Smith, Biology, Ithaca College.
Prof George Murrell, Director Orthopaedic Research Institute, St George Hospital, NSW.
PRODUCTION:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
If you ever wanted to be able to stick to walls like spider man, then listen to this.
As per usual the What the Duck?! team is elbow-deep in crap looking for a way out. And the way out, is flies.
FEATURING:
Dr Bryan Lessard, Entomologist, Author of Eyes on Flies.
PRODUCTION:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Joel Werner, Script Editing.
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
What the Duck?! is taking a short break so instead you'll be hearing Radio New Zealand’s 'Our Changing World' on the radio for the next three weeks.
Sawing through tree myths with Arborists Maja and Sam.
No matter how good your job is, there’s always something that really cheeses you off, and Maja and Sam are SICK TO DEATH of all your misconceptions about trees.
Ann revisits the release site of a bunch of (almost extinct) Murray Crayfish to find out the crays have been completing sexy rhythmic gymnastics in the mud on the bottom of the murray river.
It’s like a serial killer movie, a classic horror film. There are huge fangs, a segmented body, a remote location, the ocean bashes against cliffs, you’re all alone and there’s no one to help. The first bodies that turn up are of the children... of petrels.
So... what do you do when a crocodile and a shark end up in your mine pit? AT THE SAME TIME.
Farts can be a matter of life or death, but not in the way that you're thinking. This is SERIOUS.
You can run but you can't hide! Ever wondered how a mosquito manages to hit a blood vessel without fail?
Back again!? The thylacine has made its last appearance alive on earth. Or has it? Ann chases the elusive Tasmanian Tiger with geneticists, conservationists and a bloke who saw one while he was coming home from the shops.
Ann finds out that birds are not really blue. Not even bluebirds. They’re not blue. Then what the duck are they?
Dr Ann Jones has the answer to the game of 'Who the duck?!' this week.
Thanks for your many guesses and emails... it is now time for the big reveal.
Stay tuned for the newest episode of What the Duck?! this Saturday!
Dr Ann Jones is out filming for ABC TV , but she hasn't forgotten the loyal subscribers.
Here's the final clue to a game of 'Who the duck?!' just for you!
Please send your guesses to whattheduck@abc.net.au.
Dr Ann Jones is out filming for ABC TV , but she hasn't forgotten the loyal subscribers.
Here's another clue to a game of 'Who the duck?!' just for you!
Please send your guesses to whattheduck@abc.net.au.
Dr Ann Jones is out filming for ABC TV , but she hasn't forgotten the loyal subscribers.
Here's a clue to a game of 'Who the duck?!' just for you!
Please send your guesses to whattheduck@abc.net.au.
Ann stumbles across spinifex hopping mice on gumtree and then finds herself cornered by a bloke with a crocodile (and more).
After receiving a heartbreaking email, Ann goes on a mission to prove that ‘girls DO like spiders.’
Between 1831 and 1916 there were 111 published reports of quolls eating human corpses. What. The. Duck?!
What is the science behind the famous fables like the tortoise and the hare?
Sometimes it’s not enough to liquify your enemies and drink them through a straw. Sometimes you have to wear their skins as you hunt down their friends and families.
This place is so extreme that NASA sends scientists to test equipment for Mars missions. And yet, Australia's salty lakes are full of life.
How does a snake climb a pole? It's not like they have a ladder... or arms.
Yes, that was a kookaburra at the start of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. But WHY?
Humans totally were the first farmers, right?! Think again.
Evolution has resulted in a million ways that animals succeed on this earth, we just didn’t realise so many of them involved eating your own poo.
Ripper the musk duck had many bad habits – chief among them was attacking the keepers and then swearing under his breath. But was Ripper really angry, or was his swearing a symptom of something much more sinister?
Australia is full of weird plants and animals. And Dr Ann Jones is on speaking terms with most of them! Each week Ann explores the most unusual elements of our natural world — the ones that make you go What the Duck?! Like why do quolls have spots? Who farts (and who doesn't)? And how do snakes climb trees? Join Ann alongside experts and ordinary Aussies alike to solve mysteries, smash myths and uncover the bizarre truth about nature down under.
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