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.
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.
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