Audio | Natural History Podcasts!

Until very recently, I had an hour and a half commute to work (spoiler alert: it sucked). In order to keep from braining myself on the steering wheel, I listed to a lot of NPR and a lot of podcasts. Since this is britt&bone, I've made a list of some of my favorite natural history podcasts for your general perusal and listening pleasure.

I Know Dino

This podcast might love dinosaurs more than I do. Every episode focuses exclusively on a different dinosaur, along with featuring recent dinosaur news.

 Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County - First Fridays

I've never been to any of NHMLA's First Fridays, but thanks to their podcast I can still catch this awesome lecture series!

 American Museum of Natural History Podcast

AMNH's media game is on point - this podcast features lectures, discussions with researchers, interviews, panels, and more!

Behind the Scenes of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History

Just what it says on the tin: a lovely little behind-the-scenes look at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History! Sadly this podcast hasn't been updated since 2011, but the available episodes are no less interesting for being a few years old.

Ask Science Mike

This podcast is great for people like me, who are really interested in the intersection of science and faith. Mike McHargue answers listener questions about "science, faith, and life."

A New Species of Sea Dragon Means I'm the Happiest Girl in the World Right Now

In case you're wondering, my favorite animal is the sea dragon (particularly the leafy sea dragon - so beautiful!). And now there's a new species, bringing the grand total of sea dragon family members up to three.

Photo © Scripps Institute of Oceanagraphy

Scientists at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography discovered the ruby sea dragon through their study of their museum collections. Originally thought to be a variant of the common, or reedy, sea dragon, they discovered that it was in fact an entirely new species, through a combination of tissue samples and photographs of the original specimen, which had been lying dormant in the Western Australia Museum's archives since 1919.

You can read more details about the discovery here at Scripps' website.

Not only does this add to the already amazing biodiversity of our oceans, but it really hammers home the importance of maintaining a museum's collections. You never know what you might find the bowels of a museum's basement archives.

Also, have a video of leafy sea dragons on me:

The Biodiversity Heritage Library

(http://www.archive.org/download/birdsofamericafr01audu/page/n33_w409, "The birds of America" by John James Audubon, 1840-1844)

If you haven't made use of the Biodiversity Heritage Library, you're seriously missing out.