The Wild Episode

The Bonnethead Shark (Sphyrna tiburo) is a shark that packs quite a bit of unique into its smallish size. It's a member of the hammerhead family, so you know its head is going to be unusual, but the most surprising things about it are actually its teeth and its remarkable diet ...

The West Indian fuzzy chiton (Acanthopleura granulata) is a relatively unobtrusive, modest-looking marine mollusc with an extraordinary secret. Its shell is not just for protection; built into it are hundreds of tiny eyes. Eyes with lenses made of crystals.

The Barbary Macaque (Macaca sylvanus) is the only macaque that lives outside Asia, hanging on in pockets of the wild Atlas Mountains in North Africa. And, famously, living a semi-wild life on the Rock of Gibraltar. It's also been responsible for at least a couple of interesting human deaths, and exploring those connections takes us all over the place, and all over time: monkeys in prehistoric Europe, the Spanish Civil War, the Carthaginian wars, Roman arenas and a whole lot more ...

Yeti crabs (Kiwa spp.). Hydrothermal vents. Life built not on sunlight, but on chemistry. We're going for a visit to some of the strangest places, with some of the strangest animals living the strangest lives, on the planet ...

The Alpine chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus) is, as far as birds are concerned, pretty much the ultimate mountaineer. It has bred at higher altitude than any other bird, and been seen hanging out near the summit of Mount Everest. But it is also a bird with a remarkable, almost inexplicable, deep history; because the Alpine chough has a mysterious, but possibly profound, connection to the Neanderthals ...

Solorzano's Peripatus (Peripatus solorzanoi) is the biggest velvet worm in the world. Which makes it the biggest example of a very, very unusual group of animals: cute, unique creatures that are highly secretive and mysterious. And are also dedicated hunters with an unusual secret weapon in their arsenal: glue.

The Portuguese man o’ war (Physalia physalis) is the most famous and spectacular member of the Blue Fleet. Questions to be asked and answered: What is the Blue Fleet? What obscure connection does it have to the Aquatic Ape theory of human evolution? Just how insanely weird is the Portuguese man o’ war anyway, and what strange connection does it have to another member of the Blue Fleet – the improbably beautiful sea swallow, a ferociously predatory sea slug?

Most spiders live solitary lives, but Anelosimus eximius is an example of a different lifestyle: colonial living. A very social spider, that maintains and defends a communal web and hunts in packs. And because it hunts in packs, it can target bigger prey than your average spider. But it is itself the target for some very unwelcome attention, from thieves and killers. 

The Great Northern Tilefish (Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps) is a big, beautiful fish from the western Atlantic. It's one of those rare animals that is capable of reshaping its physical environment over vast areas. But it's also interesting for a rather unique reason. It was discovered, entirely accidentally, in 1879 and within 3 years of that discovery, something entirely unexpected and dramatic happened that involved millions upon millions of dead fish. 

The Bone-House Wasp (Deuteragenia ossarium) is recently discovered species of spider wasp that has some remarkable habits. So, three questions. What is a spider wasp? What is an ossuary? And what connects the two to make for a suitable Wild Episode subject? Oh, and can I come with a tenuous excuse to talk about Beowulf and Old English? (Spoilers: yes, I can). 

Ruppell's Vulture (Gyps rueppelli) is one of the biggest vultures in the world, but it's real claim to fame is that it is the highest flying bird on Earth. A fact which leads us into a discussion that may make this episode unsuitable for some listeners: bird strikes, and their consequences for both aircraft and birds. Ruppell's Vulture has one another claim to fame: it is a member of a group of birds that exemplifies more than most the catastrophic impact humans can have on the natural world. 

The world record for longest animal is held by the bootlace worm (Lineus longissimus), a Nemertean or ribbon worm from the North Sea. In fact, it's held by a Scottish bootlace worm that was washed ashore in 1864. But is that record reliable? How long do bootlace worms actually get? And what is a ribbon worm anyway?

Colobopsis explodens is one of a group of ants known as exploding ants. Highly social insects that have developed an extraordinary approach to the defense of their colonies - a mass of workers, every one of which is prepared for the ultimate sacrifice. But how and why, you might wonder, does an ant make itself explode? 

Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) is a member of a rarely seen group of whales – the beaked whales – that are completely remarkable. Cuvier’s beaked whale holds the record for the deepest dive by an air-breathing animal (without the aid of a submarine!). So we’re heading out, into the open ocean, to visit with one of the most rarely seen large animals on Earth, and to follow it away from the air and the light into the midnight zone …

The weirdest animals yet to appear on The Wild Episode: Osedax, a whole genus of bone-eating worms that for tens of millions of years have been colonising giant carcasses in the deep sea. They have no mouths, the males are miniature, they secrete acid and they grow roots like trees. Weird, like I say. But wonderful too.