The Natural History Cupboard Podcast

20/08/2024

This week’s question

What animal would you base your personal philosophy on and why ?🦆🐦‍⬛🦉🦇🦅🫎🐌🐝🦟🐜🐢🐍🕷️🦐🦞🐋🐊🦧🦍🦓🦛🐘🦬🐃🦏🦒🦤🦃🐓🦜🦡🦨🦝🦥🐿️🦔

19/08/2024

Mammal Monday

Did you know

Even though it has many names In many languages throughout Europe the wolverine (Gulo gulo) most of them translate to glutton. Even its scientific name reflects this. Although it’s true nature of opportunistic predator does mean it doesn’t pass up a meal.

19/08/2024

Mammal Monday

Did you know

Wolverines have strong jaws and teeth that are designed to crush bone and frozen meat. They are known for their strength and ferocity, and are considered to be one of the toughest animals in the world . While they don't have the same crushing power as a wolf, they are not as large. The animal's bite force at the canines is 224 Newtons.

18/08/2024

This week take a plunge into the cold waters of the southern ocean to meet the smallest species of penguin, the Fairy penguin. In the news, Aaron looks at reports of sharks off UK beaches and how they are not what they seem. All this and more. The cupboard is open, come on in!

Listen to The Natural History Cupboard Podcast on Spotify. Are you passionate about natural history? Join these nerds as they explore the most amazing, & often oddest, organisms & news that natural science offers! The cupboard is open, come on in...

18/08/2024

Waddle on in to the cupboard this week to meet the fairy penguin!

17/08/2024

Seaside Saturday

Did you know

Sea pigs have five to seven pairs of enlarged tube feet. These "walking legs" are hydraulically operated appendages that can be inflated and deflated to move around.

17/08/2024

Seaside Saturday

Did you know

Sea pigs (Scotoplanes) are a subspecies of the ever-familiar sea cucumber, but they do differ slightly from their better-known relatives. Sea cucumbers, for instance, have caterpillarlike feet that remain tucked underneath their bodies while the sea pig walks on long stilts, which make it easier for them to get around in soft mud.1 They live in much deeper water, too, and have unique see-through bodies.

16/08/2024

Fossil Friday 🦈

The most common fossil shark teeth found in the UK are from the sand shark (Stratiolamia macrota) and the sand tiger shark (Carcharias hopei). These teeth are thought to be around 45–55 million years old and can be found in Beltinge, Kent. They would of looked very similar to sand tiger sharks alive today

16/08/2024

Fossil Friday

Check out these cool fossil shark teeth aaron found the other week. Now it’s your turn to show us your fossil finds in the comments

15/08/2024

Tiny Thursday 🦞

Did you know

The largest lobster ever caught was a 1.6 m long it weighed 19.9kg and was caught off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada in 1977. It holds the Guinness World Record for the heaviest marine crustacean.

15/08/2024

Tiny Thursday 🦞

Did you know

Lobsters can live for a long time, with some species potentially living to be over 100 years old. However, it's difficult to determine their exact age because they shed their hard shells, or molt, when they grow, leaving no evidence of age. Scientists estimate a lobster's age based on its body size at different ages, and its molting rate and size increase after each molt.

14/08/2024

Winged Wednesday 🪶

Did you know

The greater roadrunner
(Geococcyx californianus) can run at speeds of up to 20mph when chasing prey. They prefer to run in open areas like roads, trails, and riverbeds, and use their tails as rudders to change direction.

14/08/2024

Winged Wednesday

Did you know

The Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) a desert bird from southern Australia. Makes nest mounds can be over 1 m in height and 4 m across. The male buries wet leaf litter in the mound, which gives off heat as it rots, acting as a natural incubator for the eggs. Throughout the breeding season, the male has to ensure that the temperature inside the mound is maintained at about 33°C.

14/08/2024

Winged Wednesday

Did you know

Namaqua sandgrouse are found at the edges of deserts in South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia. The adult sandgrouse fly to watering holes to drink, but the young chicks cannot fly until they are about a month old. Instead, amazingly, the adult males transport water in their belly feathers to the chicks at the nest. An adult male can hold roughly 25 milliliters of water in its feathers, about 15% of its body weight.

13/08/2024

Tree top tuesday

Did you know

The smallest fruit in the world is the one-seeded fruit of the Wolffia globosa plant, also known as Asian watermeal or duckweed. These fruits are about 0.3–1.5 millimeters long, which is about the size of a pinhead or a table salt particle. This plants fruit is being looked at as a potential meat substitute in some meals

13/08/2024

Tree top Tuesday 🍒🍑🍍🍊🍓🍎

Did you know

The Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is a tropical tree originally native to India and now cultivated throughout the tropics in both hemispheres. It is commonly grown in Burma and Malaysia, and to a certain extent is also grown in Brazil, Mexico, Central America, and South Florida.

Jackfruit is the world’s largest tree-borne fruit, reaching up to 18kg in weight

13/08/2024

Treetop Tuesday

Have you ever wondered what that tingling sensation is from eating fresh pineapple?
It’s from a chemical called Bromaline
Which is an enzyme that breaks down proteins
If you left it on your tongue long enough however the human body is rather good at repairing itself and pineapple is too tasty to just leave sitting alone 

12/08/2024

This weeks question what’s the most ridiculous or funny thing you have seen in the seen in the sea.

12/08/2024

Mammal Monday The scientific name for the platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, literally translates to "duck-like bird-snout".

12/08/2024

Mammal Monday 🐾

Did you know

The common name of the species comes from the Greek platys, meaning flat, and pous, meaning foot. If we were to follow the Greek plural rules, the plural of platypus should be platypodes; however, the term has never really become mainstream. In several dictionaries, the accepted plural is ‘platypuses’ or ‘platypus’ when used in certain scientific and conservation contexts.

11/08/2024

This week Gareth is out sick and so has had to dial into the cupboard virtually. In our creature feature we meet South America‘s most powerful and stealthy predator, the jaguar. In the news, we ask where have all the wasps gone? And why that’s a bad thing All this and more. The cupboard is open, come on in! fans

Watch, follow, and discover more trending content.

11/08/2024

This week Gareth is out sick and so has had to dial into the cupboard virtually. In our creature feature we meet South America‘s most powerful and stealthy predator, the jaguar. In the news, we ask where have all the wasps gone? And why that’s a bad thing All this and more. The cupboard is open, come on in! fans

Listen to The Natural History Cupboard Podcast on Spotify. Are you passionate about natural history? Join these nerds as they explore the most amazing, & often oddest, organisms & news that natural science offers! The cupboard is open, come on in...

11/08/2024

This week we meet the big cat with the most powerful bite of all, the Jaguar!

10/08/2024

Seaside Saturday 🐬

Did you know

The common dolphin (delphinus delphis) a marine mammal that is found in oceans all over the world. These dolphins are known for their playful behaviour and acrobatic skills, but they are also incredibly fast. Common dolphins can swim at speeds of up to 60 kilometres per hour, making them the fastest marine mammal.

10/08/2024

Seaside Saturday

Did you know

The largest dolphin species is the orca. If you would like to know more about this species why not check out our previous episode on orcas in the comments

10/08/2024

Seaside Saturday 🐬

Did you know

Even though people are more familiar with the bottle nose dolphin The common dolphin is likely the most abundant and widespread species in the world, it occurs in tropical and temperate coastal and pelagic marine waters worldwide. The global population is about six million.

09/08/2024

Fossil Friday

Did you know

The largest fossilized flower ever recorded: a nearly 40 million-year-old flower entombed in a hunk of amber. The flower wax discovered in a Baltic forest in 1872.

09/08/2024

Fossil Friday 🕷️

Did you know

This is the first and only spider attack fossil ever discovered and caught in amber. This spider existed in the Hukawng Valley in Myanmar during the Early Cretaceous period, around 97 to 110 million years ago. This beautiful discovery was preserved with remarkable detail showing a spider in the process of catching its prey.