What The Duck?!

Dinosaur died. No flowers at funeral

In fact, most dinosaurs never got the chance to stop and smell a flower... and it was all because of bad timing. Sad face.The meteor that killed all the dinosaurs (rude) actually kicked off flower supremacy on planet earth. Flowering plants are only about 135 million years old, yet they’re the most bio-diverse plants on the planet. Without them, no birds, no bees. Again, sad face. So where did flowers come from? And how did they end up being top bud?  Featuring: Mario Vallejo-MarinProfessor in Evolutionary Ecology, Uppsala University, Sweden.Professor Michelle Waycott Chief Botanist at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens State Herbarium / Professor in Systematic Biology, Adelaide University. Morris Lake Author, Australian Rainforest Woods.Gareth Prosser Professional Voice Over Artist whose wife roped him in. Production:Ann Jones, Presenter / ProducerSarah Prosser, ProducerMastering Engineer: Tegan NichollsThis episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people. Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

Duck on a screaming rampage wrecks Australia's 'quiet time'

It was a perfect night. But this duck had other ideas.The scene: A perfect, wonderful, windless night at a wetland.You couldn't ask for better conditions. The sun sets and the insects hum and eventually you hear a boobook and it's lovely… except one very loud duck keeps on yelling periodically the whole way through.It's like the thing KNEW I was recording. It goes on for hours.Anyway, I've got a passion project at the ABC.A podcast called Nature Sounds by Ann Jones.It's all these looooong form sounds scapes. The idea is that you can use them to relax, or go to sleep, or drown out your colleagues or whatever.You can find it on the ABC listen app or any other podcast app. I promise this screaming duck didn't make the cut. RECORDING: Ann JonesMASTERING ENGINEER: Isabella Tropiano

Its survival relies on idiotic male wasps bonking it

This flower takes needy to a whole new level! It was almost extinct. That was, until 2015, when a woman called Julie took it upon herself to make sure we didn’t lose the species altogether, and as it happened (baby) Ann Jones went along with a microphone. Now, it’s 10 years on, and Ann is older, greyer and more closely resembles a bearded orchid. But, given she hasn’t been made redundant yet, we can revisit the forest to ask – was all that effort worth it? Did the orchids survive? Featuring:Julie Radford, Threatened species ecologist in Central VictoriaProduction:Ann Jones, Presenter / ProducerSarah Prosser, ProducerMastering Engineer: Tegan NichollsThis episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people. Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

Who's your Daddy?

You probably have a daddy-long-legs in your house right now.But when is having a weird housemate in the corner ACTUALLY a good thing? Dr Ann Jones investigates.Featuring:Dr Samantha Nixon, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).Dr Lizzy Lowe, Invertebrates Australia.Thanks also to Dr Bernhard Huber, Arachnid Curator at Museum Koenig for helping us get the facts right.Production:Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.Petria Ladgrove, Producer.Additional mastering: Hamish Camilleri.This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2023 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

Flies are probably better at picking up than you are

Flies have rhythm and choreography, could their moves make the next TikTok dance fad?Dune flies groove to their own beat in dance-circles and hoverflies use rhythmic movements in mating.Researchers found the dancing dune fly’s repertoire has specific moves for impressing a female and others for rival dance battles.  Pretty fly for a dune fly.In Costa Rica the male red hoverfly rhythmically squeezes and strokes his mate during copulation.They also have a pattern of coupling and uncoupling as many as 17 times during the act!Featuring:Dr Keith Bayless, research scientist, National Research Collections Australia, CSIROProfessor William Eberhard, emeritus scientist, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; emeritus professor, Universidad de Costa RicaFurther reading:Genital behaviour in Menidon falcatus (Diptera, Syrphidae) and the possible significance of repeated, rhythmic movementsCourtship choreography is stabilized among genetically isolated populationsProduction:Ann Jones, Presenter / ProducerRebecca McLaren, ProducerTegan Nicholls, Sound EngineerThis episode of What the Duck?!  was recorded on Ngunnawal Country and produced on the lands of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.