September 18, 2024 • 6 mins
Bored with dragons, the wizard Argomandanies turns his arcane attention to the fantastic fauna of the natural world. Welcome to Animalia Stupendium, a chronicle of Earth’s amazing biodiversity with all the enthusiasm of a fantasy monster book. In this episode, the wizard will consider the mole!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Stuff to blow your mind, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to Animalia Stupendium. My name is Argomandanes, wizard in
exile the Triumvirate didn't quite work out, inventor of several
common cants and tireless creature chronicler. However, mere monsters hold
(00:31):
no mystery for me. These days. Dragons alas our drab
m basilisks are boring. Instead, I turn my attention once
more to the strange fauna of a land called Earth.
Travel with me, a gentle reader, as we consider the.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Mole common name mole scientific classification. Various pieces of the
family talpa day frequency and range throughout North America and Eurasia.
Size small, but with varying body sizes depending on species,
diet insects, molluscs, and worms depending on species. Treasure hoard
(01:16):
for some species earthworm larders challenge rating two.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
The family Talpidae contains a great many moles and even
the semi aquatic desmond. While desmonds swim in the water
to hunt their mostly insect prey, the rest of their
talpid kin swim through the ground. Yes, the mole or
(01:42):
the mold warps as they were once known among the earthlings,
are highly evolved for burrowing life beneath the soil, where
they thrive mostly on worms and insects. They are, in
fact the super predator of earthworms, periodically driving them to
(02:03):
the surface, where the worms will sooner take their chances
with swooping birds than the all consuming snout of the mole.
Their high metabolism requires them to eat NonStop day and night,
digging upwards of one hundred feet of tunnels in a
single day as they gobble up considerable portions of their
(02:26):
body weight in worms or other creatures each day. The
mole's saliva contains a special worm paralyzing toxin toxin damage,
which allows them to paralyze surplus prey and store them
away in a grizzly larder for later consumption. During leaner times,
(02:50):
these larders may contain a thousand worms. These subterranean or
fossorial moles boast per fit bodies for their lifestyle, short, cylindrical,
and their velvety fur can lie in either direction, depending
on which direction the creature is tunneled is you should
(03:12):
never pedimal, but it would not be possible to pet
their fur in the wrong direction. If you did. Additionally,
their foreclaws are long and powerful for digging strokes, and
each four par boasts an extra thumb called a prepolyx.
Their eyes are small and their vision poor, sure enough,
(03:35):
but theirs is not a realm of sight, but of
smell and touch. We see this especially with the star
nosed moles, so named for the twenty two hairless tentacle
like rays that fan out around their nostrils, constantly questing,
(03:55):
questing for worms, insects, and even fish. For the star
nosed mole may also take to the water and is
a strong swimmer with an excellent sense of smell, but
its signature nose provides it with a sense of touch
beyond that of any other mammal. While the human hand
(04:16):
boasts a mere seventeen thousand nerve endings, the star nosed
mole puts this to shame with something on the order
of a hundred thousand nerve endings in the microscopic touch
organs called IMA's organs that cover the rays of its
starry snout, simply astonishing. There is also the not so
(04:39):
small a matter of how to breathe. Underground moles have
evolved specialized hemoglobin proteins that, through one method or another,
are exceedingly good at binding with oxygen. Furthermore, they're better
able to make use of the oxygen that they get
while remaining more tall currant of elevated carbon dioxide levels
(05:03):
beneath the soil. They have truly taken to the soil
like well a fish to water. Gardeners, do not tremble
at the sight of their wake in your topsoil, but
rejoice that you are in the presence of such splendid
form and function. Now there are more mysteries concerning moles
(05:25):
to consider, But for now I must retire my wizard's
quill and allow my familiars some respite. But I shall
return with even more wonders of the natural world.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
Hi, this is Robert Lamb. Thanks to the wizard Agromandanese
once more for joining us in this episode. Sources for
this episode included why do star No's moles have a
hand on their face? By Holly Cheating Welsh for the
Natural History Museum, the website Animal Diverse Web Science Shock
Burrowing moles breathe easily by Dolly J. Krishnaswami, Science dot Org.
(06:08):
How the mole got its twelve Fingers, University of Zurich
twenty eleven and the National Wildlife Federation. Thanks as always
to the excellent JJ Possway for producing this episode. If
you wish to contact Argo Mandanese with recommendations for future
episodes or feedback, you can send an email to contact
at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For
more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Stuff to blow your mind, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to Animalia Stupendium. My name is Argomandanes, wizard in
exile the Triumvirate didn't quite work out, inventor of several
common cants and tireless creature chronicler. However, mere monsters hold
(00:31):
no mystery for me. These days. Dragons alas our drab
m basilisks are boring. Instead, I turn my attention once
more to the strange fauna of a land called Earth.
Travel with me, a gentle reader, as we consider the.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Mole common name mole scientific classification. Various pieces of the
family talpa day frequency and range throughout North America and Eurasia.
Size small, but with varying body sizes depending on species,
diet insects, molluscs, and worms depending on species. Treasure hoard
(01:16):
for some species earthworm larders challenge rating two.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
The family Talpidae contains a great many moles and even
the semi aquatic desmond. While desmonds swim in the water
to hunt their mostly insect prey, the rest of their
talpid kin swim through the ground. Yes, the mole or
(01:42):
the mold warps as they were once known among the earthlings,
are highly evolved for burrowing life beneath the soil, where
they thrive mostly on worms and insects. They are, in
fact the super predator of earthworms, periodically driving them to
(02:03):
the surface, where the worms will sooner take their chances
with swooping birds than the all consuming snout of the mole.
Their high metabolism requires them to eat NonStop day and night,
digging upwards of one hundred feet of tunnels in a
single day as they gobble up considerable portions of their
(02:26):
body weight in worms or other creatures each day. The
mole's saliva contains a special worm paralyzing toxin toxin damage,
which allows them to paralyze surplus prey and store them
away in a grizzly larder for later consumption. During leaner times,
(02:50):
these larders may contain a thousand worms. These subterranean or
fossorial moles boast per fit bodies for their lifestyle, short, cylindrical,
and their velvety fur can lie in either direction, depending
on which direction the creature is tunneled is you should
(03:12):
never pedimal, but it would not be possible to pet
their fur in the wrong direction. If you did. Additionally,
their foreclaws are long and powerful for digging strokes, and
each four par boasts an extra thumb called a prepolyx.
Their eyes are small and their vision poor, sure enough,
(03:35):
but theirs is not a realm of sight, but of
smell and touch. We see this especially with the star
nosed moles, so named for the twenty two hairless tentacle
like rays that fan out around their nostrils, constantly questing,
(03:55):
questing for worms, insects, and even fish. For the star
nosed mole may also take to the water and is
a strong swimmer with an excellent sense of smell, but
its signature nose provides it with a sense of touch
beyond that of any other mammal. While the human hand
(04:16):
boasts a mere seventeen thousand nerve endings, the star nosed
mole puts this to shame with something on the order
of a hundred thousand nerve endings in the microscopic touch
organs called IMA's organs that cover the rays of its
starry snout, simply astonishing. There is also the not so
(04:39):
small a matter of how to breathe. Underground moles have
evolved specialized hemoglobin proteins that, through one method or another,
are exceedingly good at binding with oxygen. Furthermore, they're better
able to make use of the oxygen that they get
while remaining more tall currant of elevated carbon dioxide levels
(05:03):
beneath the soil. They have truly taken to the soil
like well a fish to water. Gardeners, do not tremble
at the sight of their wake in your topsoil, but
rejoice that you are in the presence of such splendid
form and function. Now there are more mysteries concerning moles
(05:25):
to consider, But for now I must retire my wizard's
quill and allow my familiars some respite. But I shall
return with even more wonders of the natural world.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
Hi, this is Robert Lamb. Thanks to the wizard Agromandanese
once more for joining us in this episode. Sources for
this episode included why do star No's moles have a
hand on their face? By Holly Cheating Welsh for the
Natural History Museum, the website Animal Diverse Web Science Shock
Burrowing moles breathe easily by Dolly J. Krishnaswami, Science dot Org.
(06:08):
How the mole got its twelve Fingers, University of Zurich
twenty eleven and the National Wildlife Federation. Thanks as always
to the excellent JJ Possway for producing this episode. If
you wish to contact Argo Mandanese with recommendations for future
episodes or feedback, you can send an email to contact
at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For
more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Stuff To Blow Your Mind News
Hosts And Creators
Robert Lamb
Joe McCormick
Popular Podcasts
1. Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
2. Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
3. Crime Junkie
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.