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Cosmopolitan carnivores - Many Minds

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    Title
    Cosmopolitan carnivores
    Description
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style= "font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> They tend to move under the cover of darkness. As night descends, they come for your gardens and compost piles, for your trashcans and attic spaces. They are raccoons, skunks, and coyotes. And if you live in urban North America, they are a growing presence. Whether you consider them menacing, cute, fascinating, or all of the above, you have to grant that they are quite a clever crew. After all, they've figured how to adapt to human-dominated spaces. But how have they done this? What traits and talents have allowed them to evolve into this brave new niche? And are they still evolving into it?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style= "font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> My guest today is <a href= "https://forestry.ubc.ca/faculty-profile/sarah-benson-amram/">Dr. Sarah Benson-Amram</a>. Sarah is Assistant Professor of Forest and Conservation Sciences and Zoology at the University of British Columbia; she also directs the <a href= "https://www.animalcognitionlab.org/">Animal Cognition Lab</a> at UBC. Sarah's research group focuses on the behavioral and cognitive ecology of urban wildlife. They ask what urban wildlife can teach us about animal cognition more generally and try to understand ways to smooth human-wildlife interactions.</span><span style= "font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style= "font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> Here, Sarah and I talk about her work on that trio I mentioned before: raccoons, skunks, and coyotes. These three species are all members of the mammalian order of carniovora, a clade of animals that Sarah has focused on throughout her career and one that has been underrepresented in studies of animal cognition. We discuss the traits that have allowed these species—and certain members of these species—to thrive in dynamic, daunting urban spaces. We also talk about the big picture of the evolution of intelligence—and how urban adapter species might shed light on what is known as the cognitive buffer hypothesis. Along the way, we touch on: the neophilia of raccoons and the neophobia of coyotes, puzzle boxes, the Aesop's fable task, hyenas and elephants, brain size, individual differences, human-wildlife conflict, comparative gastronomy, and the cognitive arms race that might be unfolding in our cities. </span><span style= "font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style= "font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> If you have any feedback for us, we would love to hear from you. Guest suggestions? Topics or formats you'd like to see? Blistering critiques? Effusive compliments? We're open to all of it. You can email us at manymindspodcast at gmail dot com. That's manymindspodcast at gmail. Though, honestly, if it's really an effusive compliment feel free to just post that publicly somewhere.</span><span style= "font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style= "font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> Alright friends, on to my conversation with Sarah Benson-Amram. Enjoy!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style= "font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style= "font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> A transcript of this episode will be available soon.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style= "font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><em><u><span style= "font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Notes and links</span></u></em></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style= "font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">8:50 – A <a href= "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016
    Publication Date
    2024-04-18T03:17:00+00:00
    Status
    completed
    Website
    https://manyminds.libsyn.com/cosmopolitan-carnivores
    Length
    62:21
    File
    /podcasts/Many Minds/1713410220-4779.mp3
    Size
    85.65 MB
    Bitrate
    187-CBR
    Channels
    1

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