February 22, 2025 • 13 mins
Join Jordan and Kit as they venture into Creature Corner to learn more about the real-world animals that the constellation Lynx was named after!
Episode transcripts: https://www.starrytimepodcast.com/episode-transcripts Website: https://www.starrytimepodcast.com/ Social: https://universeodon.com/@starrytimepod Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/starrytimepod
Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:37 Creature Corner: Lynx 12:44 Outro
Keywords/Topics Covered: Lynx, Bobcat, Wildlife, Conservation, Endangered Species, Animal Sounds, Habitat, Ecology, Creature Corner, Hybrid Animals, Nature, Zoology, Biology, Blynx, Iberian Lynx, Canadian Lynx, Lynxes
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
>> Jordan (00:16):
Hi, I'm Jordan
>> Kit (00:17):
And I'm Kit.
>> Jordan (00:18):
welcome to Starry Time
>> Kit (00:20):
Asterisms edition
>> Jordan (00:22):
where stars plus lines
equals stories
>> Kit (00:26):
with an asterisks.
>> Jordan (00:28):
In this episode we'll explore ideas, concepts
or people that didn't make it into the main show
or just sometimes things that we wanted to talk about a little bit more.
>> Kit (00:37):
And this week we're headed into Creature
Corner to talk about lynx
or lynxes. I I don't know what the
plural is.
>> Jordan (00:47):
Plural is either lynx or lynxes.
>> Kit (00:50):
Perfect.
>> Jordan (00:50):
Alright Kit, let's start off with a brief bit of
homework I assigned you before I provide a
few interesting, I hope, facts about the
Lynx. I sent you on a mission to listen
to just a clip of audio or two of what a
lynx sounds like. And I'd love to know, um,
just to get this Creature Corner off, what'd you
think?
>> Kit (01:11):
The first clip that I listened to and I
don't know, I listened to a few clips but the first one I listened
to, the only sounds that it
was making just sounded like me. MAAARRRR
MARRR and whatever
that sound is. And then I listened to another one that had like
a video and I was like this
(01:33):
sound doesn't look like it should come from that
mouth.
>> Jordan (01:37):
No.
>> Kit (01:38):
So uh, I was surprised. I didn't. I was
expecting either something that sounded more cat like
or something that was like much higher pitched. I think that's
my big takeaway.
>> Jordan (01:48):
Not a meow like a domestic cat, nor was
it a roar like a lion.
Um, I've heard it referred to as scream.
>> Kit (01:57):
Mmmm. Mhm. It's a yowely kind of
screamy. It reminds me a little bit of like the noise
owls make sometimes. Like barn
owls.
>> Jordan (02:06):
The high pitched scream of the lynx quite
distinctive and.
>> Kit (02:10):
Yeah.
>> Jordan (02:11):
All right, well thank you so much for doing the homework.
Let's start off with our usual then. Kit, what else
do you know about lynx?
>> Kit (02:18):
So honestly I don't know very much about
lynx at all. I know that I think they're. I agree with you.
They're so cute. They look a lot like bobcats,
but I believe they are different animals. But that
might be false. Um, yeah, I just
know that they're cute. Honestly
that's, that's it. I know that
maybe based on the Greek myth that we talked
(02:40):
about, maybe their pee is weird in some
way, maybe it hardens. I don't know if that's true
but I imagine like there's something about their pee that must
be weird or we wouldn't have any myths about it. I don't
know, if it becomes... I'm certain that it does not become
amber. I certain. I'm certain.
No, I'm certain to that, but I, I don't know if it becomes something
(03:01):
that looks like amber or if it hardens,
but I'm just guessing there's something there. But honestly,
nothing else. I don't really know anything else about them.
Um.
>> Jordan (03:09):
I have some bad news for you
right off the bat, I actually didn't find
out any more information about
urine of the lynx. It does say that it gradually
disappeared from view in the 17th century.
The Noble Light and Nature of Man, written in
1521 says the lynx
pisseth baketh in ye sun
(03:32):
and that becometh a rich
stone.
>> Kit (03:35):
Well, that doesn't. That seems very
unambiguous to me.
>> Jordan (03:39):
Yes, a rich stone.
>> Kit (03:42):
All right, well, um, um, I think it's still an
undisputable fact that they are cute.
>> Jordan (03:47):
Alright Kit, the lynx is a relatively
new addition to planet Earth.
They first evolved the genus Lynx about 2
million years ago from a common
wildcat ancestor. And now there are
currently four species of
lynx. There is the Eurasian lynx,
the Canadian lynx, the Iberian linksx.
(04:09):
Shout out the human map,
>> Kit (04:11):
Our good friend the human map. We love you.
>> Jordan (04:13):
If you see a Iberian lynx, let us know.
And the last species is. Yes, the
bobcat, which is a uh, species
of lynx.
>> Kit (04:23):
Oh, okay, so I was wrong. So it is
a subspecies or just.
>> Jordan (04:28):
It is a species of the genus lynx.
>> Kit (04:31):
Okay, gotcha. Cool.
>> Jordan (04:32):
So the genus lynx has the Eurasian lynx, the
Canadian lynx, the Iberian lynx and the bobcat.
Each is slightly different depending on
its habitat. So the Eurasian lynx
lives further north. So it's evolved
know padded paws for walking on snow and
thick fur. Meanwhile, the
bobcat has a few different
(04:54):
adaptations that allow it to thrive in both
forests as well as sometimes arid environments.
But let's just break this down. What is a
difference between a lynx and a
bobcat? The most notable
difference is just going to be size and
appearance. Lynx are bigger
and they have tufted ears that bobcats
(05:16):
don't have. They also have longer legs and bigger
paws. But yeah, so a bobcat is just a small
summer vacation lynx.
Which brings us to our next cool
fact. What lynx eat.
We talked about this briefly. The Canadian lynx
eats almost
exclusively snowshoe hares
(05:39):
and its population density
often correlates with the abundance of
these hares. This is actually really important for
ecologists because since these lynx
are so specialized, makes them very easy
to study since they're vulnerable to
fluctuations in prey availability.
>> Kit (05:58):
This reminds me a little bit of like with
squirrels, when there's like a lot of acorns, there's a lot
more squirrels. So like when there's a lot of hares, there's
a lot more lynxes. That makes total sense. Yep.
>> Jordan (06:09):
So we talked a little bit about what they eat.
For the next fact I wanted to research more. How long does
the lynx live? What is the
lifespan of a lynx? You know,
cats and dogs, somewhere around 10,
15 maybe. And Lynx is the same, they typically live
for around 10 to 15 years, although of
course a lot of them don't survive the first year. In
(06:32):
captivity where food and safety from predators are
guaranteed, Lynx can live up to
28 years. And the primary threat to their lifespan
in the wild are diseases, accidents and of
course human induced factors
such as hunting and habitat
destruction. But lynx are pretty
solitary and evasive by nature, so
(06:53):
they face fewer direct threats from other
animals. But they do survive longer in
captivity. Which brought me to my next question.
Why can't we domesticate
the lynx?
>> Kit (07:05):
Great question.
>> Jordan (07:06):
I mean we did it with a wolf, right? Mhm. There's a
few things that make them a little bit difficult
to keep as pets. First of
all, um, they aren't very tolerant
of human interaction.
Domestication involves generations of selective
breeding. But lynx unlike domestic
cats, do not have the social structure or dependency on
(07:28):
humans that would allow for this process to occur
effectively. They're highly territorial, they have a
large range, they are fiercely
defensive of their territory
and basically they require a lot of space and
natural stimuli that domesticated cats
don't.
Quote (07:57):
"The lynx is a striking medium sized
wildcat with distinctive features that set it
apart from other felines. A sleek
muscular build, a short tail. But its most
distinctive feature, are the large tufted ears
which stick out from the top of the lynx and give it a
distinctive silhouette." And the question is,
what are these ear tufts for?
>> Kit (08:19):
M mhm.
>> Jordan (08:20):
So there's a few reasons why they might have them.
Primarily, of course, they enhance the lynx's hearing
ability and they may also use them, uh,
for communication. Since they have such short
tails, they use their ears more
to express their emotions or intentions when they do
have to hang out with other lynx which is not their
favorite. Speaking of the lynx uh,
(08:42):
they are endangered. Some are
more endangered than others. We've done a pretty
good job of restoring the lynx
population here in North America. They
are currently not critically endangered.
However, the Iberian lynx
in Spain is one of the most
endangered cat species in the world.
>> Kit (09:04):
Mhm.
>> Jordan (09:05):
There's an estimated population of fewer than
100 in the wild as of
the early 2020s. And these lynx are
native to the Iberian Peninsula which encompasses
Spain and Portugal. And they've had
severe population decline due to
habitat loss and depletion of prey.
(09:26):
But don't worry, the Iberian lynx doesn't
rely upon snowshoe hares for its
diet. Oh, it's got its own
European rabbit. That is.
>> Kit (09:38):
Makes sense.
>> Jordan (09:39):
They love rabbits wherever they can get them, apparently.
Primarily they eat the European rabbit or they prey on that.
But anyways it's critically endangered and is considered one of the most
urgent conservation priorities for wildlife
organizations. So we have four species
of lynx currently right now we want to
keep that number at four.
>> Kit (09:59):
Yeah. So I'm actually looking at a map and I'll post this over
on our socials at starrytimepod on
the Universeodon server of Mastodon. And basically
what you can see pretty readily on the maps
is basically the U.S., Mexico, that's
your bobcat territory. You've got
the Canada, some parts of the U.S.
(10:19):
uh, Alaska definitely has got that
Canadian lynx. And then you you know, scroll yourself over
to Europe and just the tiniest
little pockets of Iberian lynx
in Spain. And so yeah you can see why
um, especially relative to the other populations,
just how narrow um, their sort of habitat
(10:39):
is. And so yeah that um, doesn't surprise me
based on this map you can almost not even
really see where their habitat
is on the map relative to the other three
species. Yeah, uh, I'll
definitely as I said post that over on our socials.
>> Jordan (10:56):
One hopeful note. Life
does find a way.
>> Kit (11:01):
M mhm.
>> Jordan (11:03):
The first evidence of a hybrid
offspring of the bobcat and Canadian
lynx called the Blynx
>> Kit (11:11):
I like it
>> Jordan (11:12):
was captured in Maine in
2003. Scientists at first thought it
was sterile. They put a tracking collar to observe
its behavior. However the collar was
placed too tightly and the Blynx
died of starvation. So if you want to know why these
animals don't really like humans.
(11:33):
However, soon after another Blynx
was seen in Michigan. This one a
female with a litter of kittens. Which disproved the
theory that Blynx was a sterile hybrid like the
mule. And another female Blynx gave
birth in summer 2003 in Maine
after being trapped that winter. And the Blynx is
(11:53):
medium sized, bigger than domestic cat with
ears that lean back with feathery tips. But
it's face more closely resemble as a bobcat. It may
or may not have spots and it may or may not
have a tail. So the
Iberian lynx, let's try to hold on to it. And the
Blynx let's just try to stay away from it. Okay?
>> Kit (12:14):
Respect its space at, this
important evolutionary time.
>> Jordan (12:19):
Those are some cool facts about the lynx
>> Kit (12:21):
Yeah, I definitely now know a lot more about lynx
than I did when we started, obviously. And
I am looking forward to posting just picture
after picture after picture after picture of
various lynx this week on our social. So if
you know more about lynx or have great
pictures to share, please be sure to share them over on our
(12:41):
socials. Can't wait to see them.
This has been Kit
>> Jordan (12:52):
and Jordan,
>> Kit (12:54):
sisters who love stars and stories.
>> Jordan (12:56):
And we'll see you next time
>> Kit (12:58):
on Starry Time.
Hi, I'm Jordan
>> Kit (00:17):
And I'm Kit.
>> Jordan (00:18):
welcome to Starry Time
>> Kit (00:20):
Asterisms edition
>> Jordan (00:22):
where stars plus lines
equals stories
>> Kit (00:26):
with an asterisks.
>> Jordan (00:28):
In this episode we'll explore ideas, concepts
or people that didn't make it into the main show
or just sometimes things that we wanted to talk about a little bit more.
>> Kit (00:37):
And this week we're headed into Creature
Corner to talk about lynx
or lynxes. I I don't know what the
plural is.
>> Jordan (00:47):
Plural is either lynx or lynxes.
>> Kit (00:50):
Perfect.
>> Jordan (00:50):
Alright Kit, let's start off with a brief bit of
homework I assigned you before I provide a
few interesting, I hope, facts about the
Lynx. I sent you on a mission to listen
to just a clip of audio or two of what a
lynx sounds like. And I'd love to know, um,
just to get this Creature Corner off, what'd you
think?
>> Kit (01:11):
The first clip that I listened to and I
don't know, I listened to a few clips but the first one I listened
to, the only sounds that it
was making just sounded like me. MAAARRRR
MARRR and whatever
that sound is. And then I listened to another one that had like
a video and I was like this
(01:33):
sound doesn't look like it should come from that
mouth.
>> Jordan (01:37):
No.
>> Kit (01:38):
So uh, I was surprised. I didn't. I was
expecting either something that sounded more cat like
or something that was like much higher pitched. I think that's
my big takeaway.
>> Jordan (01:48):
Not a meow like a domestic cat, nor was
it a roar like a lion.
Um, I've heard it referred to as scream.
>> Kit (01:57):
Mmmm. Mhm. It's a yowely kind of
screamy. It reminds me a little bit of like the noise
owls make sometimes. Like barn
owls.
>> Jordan (02:06):
The high pitched scream of the lynx quite
distinctive and.
>> Kit (02:10):
Yeah.
>> Jordan (02:11):
All right, well thank you so much for doing the homework.
Let's start off with our usual then. Kit, what else
do you know about lynx?
>> Kit (02:18):
So honestly I don't know very much about
lynx at all. I know that I think they're. I agree with you.
They're so cute. They look a lot like bobcats,
but I believe they are different animals. But that
might be false. Um, yeah, I just
know that they're cute. Honestly
that's, that's it. I know that
maybe based on the Greek myth that we talked
(02:40):
about, maybe their pee is weird in some
way, maybe it hardens. I don't know if that's true
but I imagine like there's something about their pee that must
be weird or we wouldn't have any myths about it. I don't
know, if it becomes... I'm certain that it does not become
amber. I certain. I'm certain.
No, I'm certain to that, but I, I don't know if it becomes something
(03:01):
that looks like amber or if it hardens,
but I'm just guessing there's something there. But honestly,
nothing else. I don't really know anything else about them.
Um.
>> Jordan (03:09):
I have some bad news for you
right off the bat, I actually didn't find
out any more information about
urine of the lynx. It does say that it gradually
disappeared from view in the 17th century.
The Noble Light and Nature of Man, written in
1521 says the lynx
pisseth baketh in ye sun
(03:32):
and that becometh a rich
stone.
>> Kit (03:35):
Well, that doesn't. That seems very
unambiguous to me.
>> Jordan (03:39):
Yes, a rich stone.
>> Kit (03:42):
All right, well, um, um, I think it's still an
undisputable fact that they are cute.
>> Jordan (03:47):
Alright Kit, the lynx is a relatively
new addition to planet Earth.
They first evolved the genus Lynx about 2
million years ago from a common
wildcat ancestor. And now there are
currently four species of
lynx. There is the Eurasian lynx,
the Canadian lynx, the Iberian linksx.
(04:09):
Shout out the human map,
>> Kit (04:11):
Our good friend the human map. We love you.
>> Jordan (04:13):
If you see a Iberian lynx, let us know.
And the last species is. Yes, the
bobcat, which is a uh, species
of lynx.
>> Kit (04:23):
Oh, okay, so I was wrong. So it is
a subspecies or just.
>> Jordan (04:28):
It is a species of the genus lynx.
>> Kit (04:31):
Okay, gotcha. Cool.
>> Jordan (04:32):
So the genus lynx has the Eurasian lynx, the
Canadian lynx, the Iberian lynx and the bobcat.
Each is slightly different depending on
its habitat. So the Eurasian lynx
lives further north. So it's evolved
know padded paws for walking on snow and
thick fur. Meanwhile, the
bobcat has a few different
(04:54):
adaptations that allow it to thrive in both
forests as well as sometimes arid environments.
But let's just break this down. What is a
difference between a lynx and a
bobcat? The most notable
difference is just going to be size and
appearance. Lynx are bigger
and they have tufted ears that bobcats
(05:16):
don't have. They also have longer legs and bigger
paws. But yeah, so a bobcat is just a small
summer vacation lynx.
Which brings us to our next cool
fact. What lynx eat.
We talked about this briefly. The Canadian lynx
eats almost
exclusively snowshoe hares
(05:39):
and its population density
often correlates with the abundance of
these hares. This is actually really important for
ecologists because since these lynx
are so specialized, makes them very easy
to study since they're vulnerable to
fluctuations in prey availability.
>> Kit (05:58):
This reminds me a little bit of like with
squirrels, when there's like a lot of acorns, there's a lot
more squirrels. So like when there's a lot of hares, there's
a lot more lynxes. That makes total sense. Yep.
>> Jordan (06:09):
So we talked a little bit about what they eat.
For the next fact I wanted to research more. How long does
the lynx live? What is the
lifespan of a lynx? You know,
cats and dogs, somewhere around 10,
15 maybe. And Lynx is the same, they typically live
for around 10 to 15 years, although of
course a lot of them don't survive the first year. In
(06:32):
captivity where food and safety from predators are
guaranteed, Lynx can live up to
28 years. And the primary threat to their lifespan
in the wild are diseases, accidents and of
course human induced factors
such as hunting and habitat
destruction. But lynx are pretty
solitary and evasive by nature, so
(06:53):
they face fewer direct threats from other
animals. But they do survive longer in
captivity. Which brought me to my next question.
Why can't we domesticate
the lynx?
>> Kit (07:05):
Great question.
>> Jordan (07:06):
I mean we did it with a wolf, right? Mhm. There's a
few things that make them a little bit difficult
to keep as pets. First of
all, um, they aren't very tolerant
of human interaction.
Domestication involves generations of selective
breeding. But lynx unlike domestic
cats, do not have the social structure or dependency on
(07:28):
humans that would allow for this process to occur
effectively. They're highly territorial, they have a
large range, they are fiercely
defensive of their territory
and basically they require a lot of space and
natural stimuli that domesticated cats
don't.
Quote (07:57):
"The lynx is a striking medium sized
wildcat with distinctive features that set it
apart from other felines. A sleek
muscular build, a short tail. But its most
distinctive feature, are the large tufted ears
which stick out from the top of the lynx and give it a
distinctive silhouette." And the question is,
what are these ear tufts for?
>> Kit (08:19):
M mhm.
>> Jordan (08:20):
So there's a few reasons why they might have them.
Primarily, of course, they enhance the lynx's hearing
ability and they may also use them, uh,
for communication. Since they have such short
tails, they use their ears more
to express their emotions or intentions when they do
have to hang out with other lynx which is not their
favorite. Speaking of the lynx uh,
(08:42):
they are endangered. Some are
more endangered than others. We've done a pretty
good job of restoring the lynx
population here in North America. They
are currently not critically endangered.
However, the Iberian lynx
in Spain is one of the most
endangered cat species in the world.
>> Kit (09:04):
Mhm.
>> Jordan (09:05):
There's an estimated population of fewer than
100 in the wild as of
the early 2020s. And these lynx are
native to the Iberian Peninsula which encompasses
Spain and Portugal. And they've had
severe population decline due to
habitat loss and depletion of prey.
(09:26):
But don't worry, the Iberian lynx doesn't
rely upon snowshoe hares for its
diet. Oh, it's got its own
European rabbit. That is.
>> Kit (09:38):
Makes sense.
>> Jordan (09:39):
They love rabbits wherever they can get them, apparently.
Primarily they eat the European rabbit or they prey on that.
But anyways it's critically endangered and is considered one of the most
urgent conservation priorities for wildlife
organizations. So we have four species
of lynx currently right now we want to
keep that number at four.
>> Kit (09:59):
Yeah. So I'm actually looking at a map and I'll post this over
on our socials at starrytimepod on
the Universeodon server of Mastodon. And basically
what you can see pretty readily on the maps
is basically the U.S., Mexico, that's
your bobcat territory. You've got
the Canada, some parts of the U.S.
(10:19):
uh, Alaska definitely has got that
Canadian lynx. And then you you know, scroll yourself over
to Europe and just the tiniest
little pockets of Iberian lynx
in Spain. And so yeah you can see why
um, especially relative to the other populations,
just how narrow um, their sort of habitat
(10:39):
is. And so yeah that um, doesn't surprise me
based on this map you can almost not even
really see where their habitat
is on the map relative to the other three
species. Yeah, uh, I'll
definitely as I said post that over on our socials.
>> Jordan (10:56):
One hopeful note. Life
does find a way.
>> Kit (11:01):
M mhm.
>> Jordan (11:03):
The first evidence of a hybrid
offspring of the bobcat and Canadian
lynx called the Blynx
>> Kit (11:11):
I like it
>> Jordan (11:12):
was captured in Maine in
2003. Scientists at first thought it
was sterile. They put a tracking collar to observe
its behavior. However the collar was
placed too tightly and the Blynx
died of starvation. So if you want to know why these
animals don't really like humans.
(11:33):
However, soon after another Blynx
was seen in Michigan. This one a
female with a litter of kittens. Which disproved the
theory that Blynx was a sterile hybrid like the
mule. And another female Blynx gave
birth in summer 2003 in Maine
after being trapped that winter. And the Blynx is
(11:53):
medium sized, bigger than domestic cat with
ears that lean back with feathery tips. But
it's face more closely resemble as a bobcat. It may
or may not have spots and it may or may not
have a tail. So the
Iberian lynx, let's try to hold on to it. And the
Blynx let's just try to stay away from it. Okay?
>> Kit (12:14):
Respect its space at, this
important evolutionary time.
>> Jordan (12:19):
Those are some cool facts about the lynx
>> Kit (12:21):
Yeah, I definitely now know a lot more about lynx
than I did when we started, obviously. And
I am looking forward to posting just picture
after picture after picture after picture of
various lynx this week on our social. So if
you know more about lynx or have great
pictures to share, please be sure to share them over on our
(12:41):
socials. Can't wait to see them.
This has been Kit
>> Jordan (12:52):
and Jordan,
>> Kit (12:54):
sisters who love stars and stories.
>> Jordan (12:56):
And we'll see you next time
>> Kit (12:58):
on Starry Time.
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