SciShow Tangents

Spooky Month: Nocturnal Animals with Tom Lum!

Episode Summary

There's a chill in the air and a shudder in our bones...it's Spooky Month! Come along with us on a treacherous journey full of mischief, mayhem, and many marvelously mysterious guests! Steady yourself, for who knows what frights lurk around the corner... Alas, our frightful fiends and friends, Spooky Month has nearly run its course - but not until we go out with a bang with our final ghoulish guest, Tom Lum! Join as we dare to tread amongst the creatures who belong to the night...nocturnal animals!

Episode Notes

There's a chill in the air and a shudder in our bones...it's Spooky Month! Come along with us on a treacherous journey full of mischief, mayhem, and many marvelously mysterious guests! Steady yourself, for who knows what frights lurk around the corner...

Alas, our frightful fiends and friends, Spooky Month has nearly run its course - but not until we go out with a bang with our final ghoulish guest, Tom Lum! Join as we dare to tread amongst the creatures who belong to the night...nocturnal animals!

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[This, That, or the Other: Boys’ Night Out]

Male animals float and call out to females

https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/documents/ogatt/Pseudis_paradoxa%20-%20Paradoxical%20Frog.pdf

Animals in ritualistic sparring matches for several hours

https://echidnawalkabout.com.au/how-kangaroos-fight/

Patrolling perimeter and building up poop piles

https://www.britannica.com/animal/kiwi-bird

https://www.livescience.com/57813-kiwi-facts.html

[Truth or Fail Express]

Hedgehogs inflate like a balloon

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-68833432

https://www.livescience.com/59994-balloon-syndrome-hedgehog.html

Bandicoots spin to defend themselves 

https://crashbandicoot.fandom.com/wiki/Spin

https://www2.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/native-animals/native-animal-facts/land-mammals/bandicoots

Tasmanian devils are soothed by music

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ducking_the_Devil

https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/tasmanian-devil

https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2017/08/native-animals-should-be-renamed-with-their-aboriginal-names/

Pygmy tarsiers / gremlins rotating their heads

https://www.wired.com/2015/01/absurd-creature-of-the-week-tarsier/

https://primate.wisc.edu/primate-info-net/pin-factsheets/pin-factsheet-tarsier/

[Ask the Science Couch]

Vitamin D chemistry and nocturnal animals

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK56061/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8538717/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7761812/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12899852/

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2095.2009.00722.x

https://www.mdpi.com/2571-841X/3/1/1


 

Patreon bonus: Teenage humans sleeping habits shifted towards night

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2820578/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/07420528.2023.2265480

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2015/10/among-teens-sleep-deprivation-an-epidemic.html

https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/134/3/642/74175/School-Start-Times-for-Adolescents

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6084759/

[Butt One More Thing]

Bats with false butts (but some sort of muscle)

https://www.instagram.com/batworldsanctuary/p/DAbKf45RDjW/

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mexican_free-tailed_bat_(8006850693).jpg