The Primordial Soup Pot

Dec 11 2024 51 ep. 53 mins 9
The Primordial Soup Pot Podcast artwork

Welcome to the Primordial Soup Pot! Join Aaron and Rustin as they explore the strange side of ecology, natural history, and evolution.

  Science  History
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Getting Sleepy: Hummingbird's Torpor and the Fish that lives in Acid and Sleeps through Wildfires

Dec 11 2024 43 mins  
Hibernation! Rustin talks about hummingbirds' torpor, a state in which their body temp can drop over 50 degrees in a single day! Learn about how these hummingbirds use this mini-hibernation to survive wintery nights, Aaron follows with the salamanderfish, aka the great value "we have a lungfish at home" fish. Learn about the extreme lifestyle this rare fish lives in one of the most

Famous Animals: The Legend of Ol' Rip, the Limp Legged Lizard that Captivated a Nation and Clever Hans the Psychic Stallion (Get this Horse to a Casino STAT)

Nov 27 2024 51 mins  
Research Animals (sort of)! Aaron starts off with the legend of Ol' Rip the Horny Toad. This lizard supposedly survived 30 years sealed inside a time capsule, and went on to tour the country drawing in thousands of spectators. Learn how the "animal whose fame is second only to the serpent from the Garden of Eden" made history and still lives on to this day. Rustin follows with Clev

Keystones Species: Runway Strips for Sea Urchins and the Deep Sea Shell Cracking Atlantic Wolffish

Nov 15 2024 56 mins  
Keystone Species! Rustin starts by discussing the mysterious die-off of the long-spined sea urchins and their impact on the coral reefs of the Caribbean. Aaron lowkey fumbles his bit on the Atlantic wolffish, but it's okay cause we all had fun with it.

Spooky Season Vol 3: Where the Devil goes down to Ponder and a Scientific Insight into the Tsavo Man Eaters

Oct 30 2024 60 mins  
Spooky season once again! Rustin starts us off with the devils tramping ground, a unique clearing in the middle of North Carolina. Join Rustin as he discusses the many theories behind the mysterious patch (everything from demonic presence to soil minerals). Aaron follows with a lengthy insight into the Tsavo man eaters, a pair of lions that threatened railroad workers in the late 1

Ponds and Consequences: How Mosquito Fish destroy an Ecosytem but Bombing Runs somehow help

Oct 16 2024 41 mins  
Ponds! In this episode, Rustin and Aaron discuss how two different events drastically affected pond ecosystems in very different ways. Rustin opens with Mosquito fish. This species once commonly used for mosquito control has now become a widespread invasive species that has proven to cause more harm than good. Aaron follows with a piece on the sodic meadow bomb ponds. Learn how a m

Grab Bag: Scotland's Red Neck Inbred Wallabies and Brazil's Cocaine Shark Epidemic

Oct 02 2024 49 mins  
Season 3 begins! In this themeless episode, Aaron kicks things off with the population of wallabies living on Scotland's Inchconnachan Island. Learn about the history of their arrival, their impact on the native wildlife, and the natural history of competition between marsupial and placental mammals. Rustin follows with a new hot topic...Cocaine sharks. Learn how Rustin explains th

Lakes: Carbonated Death Traps and the Freshwater Sharks of Lake Nicaragua

Jun 05 2024 49 mins  
Lakes! Rustin opens with the tale of Lake Nyos. Learn about the folklore and science behind this carbonated lake, along with the disaster caused by the lake's eruption. Aaron follows with Lake Nicaragua, a freshwater lake that many sharks call home. Learn about the freshwater habits of bull sharks, and how they ended up in this freshwater ecosystem.

Ants: Cannibal Nuclear Bunkers and Lazy Parasitic Coworkers

May 22 2024 52 mins  
We got ants! Aaron starts with the cannibal ants found living in an abandoned nuclear bunker. Learn more about how this ant "colony" adapted to these unique conditions and what researchers learned about ant behavior. Rustin follows with an overview of social parasite ants. Learn about all different types of social parasites, from kidnapping raiders to ants so repulsive nobody wants

Top Gun's Reject Bugs: Stinkfly Lacewings and the Fecal Shielding Tortoise Beetles

May 08 2024 39 mins  
Bugs! Rustin starts off with the lacewing. Learn about this bug's usage by farmers, antipredator behaviors, and habit of wearing insect corpses. Aaron follows with the biology of tortoise beetle larvae and their....unique methods for dealing with predators.

Weird Diets: The Frog Eating Epomis Beetles too Angry to Die and the Many Malpractice Suits of the Labroides Cleaner Wrasse

Apr 24 2024 43 mins  
Weird Diets and Niches! Aaron starts off with the Epomis beetles, a group of carabid beetles that have evolved to feed on frogs many times their size. learn about how these grubs manage to subdue their amphibian prey, and the unique environmental conditions that lead to its evolution. Rustin follows with the various species of cleaner wrasse fish. Learn about the good (cleaning mut