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The Naturalist - Episode 38 - Penguins
First Aired - 08/23/2010 12:00PM

This week on the Naturalist Bernie sits down with frequent guest host Carol Butler to discuss...penguins! These adorable, dedicated, chubby birds are a fascinating group of creatures. They're not afraid of humans, they'll go to amazing lengths to hatch their young, and you can actually get oil from them (though you shouldn't).

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Sponsored by Wfm
Hosted By Bernie

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The Naturalist: Penguins (27:47)

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The Naturalist, Bernie Wides, Carol A. Butler, Race to the End of the Earth, race to the South Pole, penguins, Antarctica, there are no penguins North of the equator, penguins in the Galapagos, Humboldt current, cold water flowing to the Galapagos, penguins need cold water to survive, what type of penguins are in the North Pole?, penguins can't fly, they are fantastic swimmers, the first explorers called them fish birds, penguins have bones in their flippers, penguins bones are solid, do penguins get cold feet?, not all penguins look alike, Phillip Island, Australia, fairy penguins, penguins have small tightly packed overlapping feathers, molting, adult penguins renew feathers once a year, they stay warm from blubber, counter shading, black and white feather pattern, March of the Penguins, rock hopper penguin, penguins are social birds, Emperor Penguin, nest materials,

Emperor Penguins & Keeping Eggs Warm (21:34)

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penguins have no fear of man, you can get a pint of oil from small penguins, the started to be slaughtered but were then later protected, Emperor Penguins are the largest penguins, their eggs are huge, they live in the sea but they spend a lot of time on land, they march 60 miles inland, transferring the egg, keeping the egg warm, the other penguins make a nest out of stones for the egg, the object is to keep the egg off the ice, penguins don't have any teeth, they have to swallow food whole, penguins eat krill, people used to make slippers out of penguin blubber, locals catch them for food but they are now protected, leopard seals, the biggest predator in Antarctica is the killer whale, how did Antarctica get its name?, answer this question and win a prize!,

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The Naturalist - Episode 37 - Pearls
First Aired - 08/16/2010 12:00PM

This week on The Naturalist Bernie delves into the wonderful world of pearls. Tune in for a breakdown of pearls from past to present; a look back at an era of controlled breathing and diving with knives and stones and the transition to pearl farms and artificial cultivation. And remember: pearls come from muscles, not oysters! This episode was sponsored by Acme Smoked Fish: a culinary mainstay in NYC for 55 years.

Whole Episode:
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Sponsored by Acme
Hosted By Bernie

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The Naturalist Introduction (16:54)

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Bernie Wides, The Naturalist, National Marine Association Conference, Gatlinburg Tennessee, Smoky Mountains, Acme Smoked Fish, www.acmesmokedfish.com, Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Civil War recreation, salamanders, where do pearls come from?, pearls don't really come from oysters, they come from a mussel, The Big Oyster, Mark Kurlansky, pearl oysters, commonly found in tropical water, nacre, mother of pearl,

Diving for Pearls & The History of Cultured Pearls (24:03)

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New York Harbor oysters, Hudson River Estuary, pearl divers, Museum of Natural History, Hall of Ocean Life, one of the original dioramas in the museum, in the US most of the rivers in the midwest have mussels, huge industry arose for mother of pearl in the 1800's, abalone, scallops, clams, mother of peal buttons, they over fished the mussels, plastics became popular, culturing pearls, Mikimoto pearls, pearls are a symbol of purity, surf clams, making muscles relax the inductor muscle so they can open the shell, making a cut inside the living tissue and inserting a little piece of mother-of-pearl, irregular shaped pearls are usually natural, if it's a geometric shape it was probably cultured,

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The Naturalist - Episode 36 - Sexual Strategies, Survival & Mimicry
First Aired - 08/09/2010 12:00PM

This week on The Naturalist Bernie sat down with frequent collaborator Carol Butler to discuss some fascinating aspects of mimicry in the animal world, specifically the domain of etymologists. Learn about the surprisingly complex sex life of butterflies, how moths get those scary eye patterns on their wings, and what exactly makes a cricket's testes so very big. This episode was sponsored by Acme Smoked Fish: a culinary mainstay in NYC for over 55 years.

Whole Episode:
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Sponsored by Acme
Hosted By Bernie

Segments:

The Naturalist Introduction: Avoid the Eyes! (12:33)

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The Naturalist, Bernie Wides, Heritage Radio Network, Acme Smoked Fish, www.acmesmokedfish.com, sable, black cod, Mimicry, Batesian mimicry, predators learned which prey in the range were to be avoided, a lot of mimicry involves eye spots, moths in Costa Rica, eye spots on butterflies, caterpillars have eye spots on the back, butterfly metamorphosis, natural selection, hard wired response in a close encounter with a danger signal, eyes are to be avoided, insects bodies and beahvoirs are tuned to their social environment, field crickets attact females by rubbing fore wings together to make sound, males that can't sing lurk near crickets that sing,

Sperm Competition & Plants (12:34)

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hearing chirping is like watching a porno for a cricket, when females mate with multiple males, sperm competition is common with a lot of critters, some males put in plugs to prevent other males from mating with a female butterfly, sperm competition in guppies, male guppies mate with females using courtship or sneak-mating, males that sneakily mate are less ornamental than the ones that court the female, sneak mating males have faster sperm than courtship males, the ejaculate of ladybird beetles, etymologists are wonderful people, male ladybird beetles transfer larger ejaculates or more sperm, does increased sperm mean a shift in allocation of resources or just more ejaculate?, ejaculate is made of sperm non-sperm ejaculate and spermataphore, studied manipulated condition of beetles, better condition ejaculated in larger proportion, animal pollinated plants have a complicated job, they have to attract a pollinator, they need to try and remain inconspicuous, seasonal timing of flowers, night flowering tobacco plant, attracts nocturnal hawk moths,

Motivational Asymmetry: Why Some Males Try Harder (19:56)

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Rutgers University Press, Carol has a new book about Birds of Prey, How Fast Can a Falcon Dive?, motivational asymmetry, older butterflies might be more persistent in territories or younger butterflies might be more active, bet on the resident to win territorial contests, body size and age don't have any effect in terms of territory, butterflies establish territory in large sun spots, comparative studies, how does a butterfly act as a stranger in their territory?, mate locating behavior in butterflies and moths, perching or patrolling, territoriality, zebra butterflies, mate locating behavior of butterflies and moths, rate is when a male rests and watches for females at a sight and flies out to investigate, flating is when males fly around a mating site to wait for females, fleeking is when males fly further away to find a receptive female, flenting, they often fly far away to find a scent that the female emits, if you're ever in Seattle: take Route 2 to the Eastern Cascades, Carol says it's the most beautiful drive ever, Leavenworth, Bavarian theme,

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