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.
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.
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