Content Warning: heavy discussion of death, decomposition, and impolite body functions.

I believe it was Imhotep in 1999's The Mummy who said "Death is only the beginning...", and he was right! Not in the sense of returning from the realm of the dead to fight Brendan Fraser, but in the sense that death turns an organism's mortal shell into a entirely new sort of ecosystem. In this grisly-yet-surprisingly-positive episode, Nicole walks us through the science of decomposition, how it's applied to everything from solving crimes to food freshness, and why we couldn't live in a world without decay.

Nicole's Sources:

• LET THINGS ROT (the YouTube video Nicole was talking about): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI_-eUOgqFI
• Australian Museum. 2025. Stages of decomposition. CW: pictures of decomposing pigs.
• Matuszewski, S. 2021. Post-Mortem Interval Estimation Based on Insect Evidence: Current Challenges. National Library of Medicine.
• Nowakowski, K. 2025. These beetles eat rotting flesh—and could unlock the next generation of antibiotics. National Geographic.
• Australia's Defining Moments: Digital Classroom. Can we solve the poo problem?

+++ More of Our Work +++ Website Facebook TikTok Twitch Bluesky

+++ Contact Us +++ Text/Call: (316)-512-8933 info@grasslandgroupies.org

+++ Support Us +++ Bonfire Merch Store CashApp: $GrasslandGroupies Or... donate directly to our org.

Content Warning: descriptions of sexual acts and genitalia

Allan's Sources:

1. Coming soon!

+++ More of Our Work +++ Website Facebook TikTok Twitch Bluesky

+++ Contact Us +++ Text/Call: (316)-512-8933 info@grasslandgroupies.org

+++ Support Us +++ Bonfire Merch Store CashApp: $GrasslandGroupies Or... donate directly to our org.

Content Warning: none

In this month's Filthy Animals, Rachel tests the strength of monogamous bonds in the animal kingdom by seeing what the data says about their infidelity. As it turns out, even in species where pair bonds are key to the social survival of the animals, reckless passion can play a big role in their breeding systems. Our host graciously brings us examples ranging from the expected (cuckoos, the species that gives us the word "cuckold") to the obscure (carrion beetles, whose relationship drama plays out in carcasses the world over).

Rachel's Sources:

•  Wysocki, D., et al (2023). Low level of extra-pair paternity in an urban population of blackbirds. The European Zoological Journal, 90(1), 307–312. https://doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2023.2193433

• Gao, L.-F., Zhang, H.-Y., Zhang, W., Sun, Y.-H., Liang, M.-J. and Du, B. (2020), Effects of extra-pair paternity and maternity on the provisioning strategies of the Azure-winged Magpie Cyanopica cyanus. Ibis, 162: 627-636. https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12800

• Li M-H, Välimäki K, Piha M, Pakkala T, Merilä J (2009) Extrapair Paternity and Maternity in the Three-Toed Woodpecker, Picoides tridactylus: Insights from Microsatellite-Based Parentage Analysis. PLoS ONE 4(11): e7895. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0007895

• Niida, T., Yao, I., Nisimura, T. & Suzuki, S. (2024) Detection of extra-pair maternity in a carrion beetle under natural conditions. Ecological Entomology, 49(5), 734–738. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13334

+++ More of Our Work +++ Website Facebook TikTok Twitch Bluesky

+++ Contact Us +++ Text/Call: (316)-512-8933 info@grasslandgroupies.org

+++ Support Us +++ Bonfire Merch Store CashApp: $GrasslandGroupies Or... donate directly to our org.