Episode 207 - Drop Bears of South America

LOOK OUT! ... sort of

00:00:00 - Dr. Robert McAfee joins Ryan to discuss all things sloths! Finally, Ryan gets to just cut loose. First up on the docket, were giant ground sloths sneaking meat meals in between the leaves? There's some evidence to suggest that they were, but do these two slothologists believe it?

00:29:29 - No good sloth discussion happens without beer. Robert enjoys his Easter Bunny Vs Unicorn wheat wine as it warms. Ryan, failing to find anything from Ohio, settles for a There Went the Neighborhood by Black Bottle Brewery.

00:36:11 - Robert has found that when people find out he studies sloths, the typically ask about Sid the Sloth from the Ice Age movie series. A discussion of the first two movies, with particular emphasis on xenarthran representation, ensues.

01:14:24 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like ice ages, they come on ya fast, and they leave ya fast. (The accuracy of the previous statement has not been verified in any way.) Only one this week, but it's a goodie from Maria Q. all about SLOTHS from her homeland of Costa Rica. She sent some amazing photos and pronunciation corrections for Ryan which he admits to purposefully ignoring because... muppets. Finally, be sure to check out Robert's website, Sloth Search, dedicated to all the sloth research out there he can manage to catalog.

Thanks for listening and be sure to check out the Brachiolope Media Network for more great science podcasts, and be sure to come to our live show in San Francisco as part of the Bay Area Science Festival's Nerd Nite Block Party next week on Oct 24th!

Music for this week's show:

Sloths - SNL Digital Short

Warm Beer and Cold Women - Tom Waits

Send Me On My Way - Rusted Root

Image credit: Futurama