Extinctions in Near Time: Biodiversity Loss Since the Pleistocene
12 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 12 years ago -The transition 11,700 years ago from the Pleistocene glacial period into the Holocene interglacial witnessed the expansion of humans around the world, climatic warming and the demise of many large vertebrate species. Since that time extinctions have continued on land and in the sea, culminating with the biodiversity crisis we are experiencing today. We explored these prehistoric extinctions—Who? When? Where? and Why?—in order to learn more about our planet’s future. Students then translated their knowledge into a podcast for a general audience addressing the question: Why do we care when species face extinction?
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Episodes
Is a Bear Bile Market Necessary? by Isabel Cardenas
December 16, 2011 01:56 - 3 minutes - 3.02 MBHi everyone, my name is Isabel Cardenas and I’ll be talking about the market for bear bile and what it means to farmed bears, wild bears, and North American bears. In parts of Asia, drinking bear bile is a traditional remedy to cure intestinal and heart illnesses1. This has created an enormous market for fresh bear bile. Poachers have decimated the populations of Asiatic black and brown bears to satisfy the demand. As a result, bear farms emerged throughout Asia so that profiteer...
Urban Makeover Advice by Yari Greaney
December 16, 2011 01:56 - 3 minutes - 3.45 MBIt seems so innocent. Pretty houses with manicured lawns, several little parks with small grassy fields bordered by metal fences, a few house sparrows hopping around the picnic tables. We’d call it a beautiful town. Unfortunately, this perception of beauty is deadly (Rosenzweig). Hi. My name is Yari and I’m here to provide some urban makeover tips that will help many different plants and animals. Usually when we think about saving wildlife, we think about rain forests and th...
Juan Fernandez Island and the Endemic Firecrown Hummingbird by Michael Peñuelas
December 16, 2011 01:55 - 4 minutes - 4.37 MBOn an island called Isla Juan Fernandez in the Pacific Ocean there lives a hummingbird that I’ll tell you a bit about today called the Juan Fernandez Firecrown. It is a strikingly beautiful little thing, and it lives only on this one island (Hodum). Today it is threatened for a whole host of reasons, all caused in some way by humans, and exacerbated by the remoteness and size of the island on which it lives. Isla Juan Fernandez is an island 400 miles off the coast of Chile (Terres...
Where did the Dingo go? By Lauren Sweet
December 16, 2011 01:54 - 4 minutes - 3.88 MBHi I’m Lauren and your listening to “Where did the Dingo Go?” We often think of Australia as a land hopping with kangaroos, wallabies, bilbies and other fuzzy critters. What most people don’t realize is that, despite this apparent diversity, in the last 2 centuries Australia has seen 19 of its unique mammal species become extinct (Johnson 2006) –that’s about half of all mammal extinctions worldwide in that period (Johnson et al. 2007). And Australia's mammals are still in great dange...
The last female just died: A tale from Guam. By Joseph Topasna
December 16, 2011 01:53 - 4 minutes - 3.98 MBWhy has the Pacific Island of Guam gone from sounding…like this...to a little more like this... Hello again everyone! My name is Joseph, and today I’m reporting to you all from the always beautiful Stanford University. Before we dive in, first a little about me. You see, I was born on the island of Guam 18 years ago. The silence you got a brief glimpse of is extremely concerning for me. Many species of animals on Guam have disappeared forever- that’s the silence. For my generation ...
Megafaunal Loss by Mark Valentine
December 16, 2011 01:52 - 2 minutes - 2.43 MBHello again. Like I said before, I’m Mark Valentine and I’m going to be talking about Megafaunal Extinction and how it affects present and future biodiversity. Before I begin, you probably are going to want to know what exactly Megafauna are. Megafauna are HUGE animals. This would certainly include animals like elephants and giraffes, but also lions, tigers and bears. All these animals, however, are relatively well known and still exist in the world today. What many people don’...
Are Worms Worthy of Conserving? by Jack Werner
December 16, 2011 01:52 - 3 minutes - 3.08 MBMe: In the last episode, we talked about efforts to save charismatic animals from extinction. In this episode, we ask a very different question: is it ever ok to MAKE an animal go extinct? Not me: Of course not. It's immoral to just wipe a living creature off the face of the earth. Me: Well, let me tell you about an animal I - and the U.N. - think should be made extinct: the guinea worm. Guinea worms are these tiny little worms found in Asia and Africa. Not me: Nothing wrong wit...
Animal magnetism and conservation by Jack Werner
December 16, 2011 01:51 - 4 minutes - 3.83 MBMe: Some call it cuteness, some call it charisma, some even call it animal magnetism: Hi, I’m Jack Werner, and today I’ll be talking about why we try so much harder to conserve likeable species and what this means for endangered animals everywhere. With me is my good friend, Not me. Not me: Hello there Me: Let’s get to it. From China’s giant pandas to the elephants of the African savanna to America’s iconic bald eagles, there are some animals that just captivate us. In fact, a s...
Contents
December 16, 2011 01:50 - 2 minutes - 2.09 MBShort intros for each episode Photo: Creative Commons: Matt-80
Crop's Wild Relatives: Maize and Teosinte by Dylan Sweetwood
December 14, 2011 23:39 - 3 minutes - 2.84 MBThe Relationship Between Maize and Teosinte Dylan Sweetwood You probably already know that maize, or corn, is one of the most culturally and commercially important crops in the world, with hundreds of applications in areas from agriculture to energy. But what you may not know is that teosinte, one of corn’s closest genetic relatives, is currently under threat of extinction. Then again, so are a lot of other plants—why is teosinte worth worrying about? My name is Dylan Sweetwood, and...
An interview with Nicole Ruiz about orangutans
December 14, 2011 23:31 - 3 minutes - 3.2 MBBartholomew: Hey guys. So last week I took my family to the zoo where we watched a show about orangutans. I was a little upset to hear that they’re declining in numbers. Anyway, last night I met up with Nicole Ruiz, a Stanford student interested in orangutan conservation, and she let me in on the little things that make orangutans so special. Tune in to find out what I learned! Interview: B: Hi Nicole, thanks for taking the time out to speak with me. So what can you tell me about ora...
Little Brown Bats & White Nose Fungus by Nora Tjossem
December 14, 2011 21:36 - 3 minutes - 2.84 MBDid you hear that? That was the sound of the little brown bat - Myotis lucifugus. They’re everywhere on summer nights, and sometimes if you’re lucky, you’ll get to catch a glimpse of one as it chases mosquitoes through the trees. But go outside right now if you want to, because it’s possible that within the next sixteen years, you won’t be hearing more than a recording. The little brown bats of North America are fighting a losing battle against an enemy we call... Fungi? That’s rig...