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Chapter 1: What unique insights do animal dads provide about fatherhood?
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Thank you so much, and on with the show. Hey, friends, Lulu here. And with Father's Day coming up this weekend, I just wanted to drop a special little meditation on dads in the animal world.
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Chapter 2: How do owl monkey dads care for their young?
This is an episode that we are dropping for terrestrials, and I thought some of you might enjoy it because I think it expands our understanding of what fatherhood can look like. And rest assured, tomorrow... is your regularly scheduled Radiolab drop. So enjoy that and enjoy this dead venture. Okay, here we go.
Wait, you're listening.
Okay. All right. Okay. All right. You're listening to Radiolab. Radio from WNYC.
Three, two, one. Imagine.
You shrink down to the size of a chihuahua.
And your eyes grow bigger.
And bigger.
And bigger. Until they take up almost half your head.
And these eyes give you great night vision.
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Chapter 3: What surprising role do seahorse dads play in parenting?
We are not the worst. We are the best.
Bestrials.
Bestrials. You got it. Bestials.
Oh, my.
Terrestrials is a show where we uncover the strangeness waiting right here on Earth. I'm your host, Sulu Miller, joined, as always, by my song bud. Hoot, hoot. Alan. Who do you think you are? Now, like snowflakes, no two families are exactly the same.
There are families with one parent, families with a mom and a dad, families with two moms like mine, families with two dads, families with a non-binary parent or a grandparent parent. Like snowflakes, the shape and beauty of a family is limitless. But with Father's Day right around the corner, we wanted to spend some time today shining light on daddy.
Hey, lovely to be here. What's up?
That's right. We are heading off on a dad-venture that will have you swinging high in the trees.
Ah!
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Chapter 4: How do poison dart frog dads ensure their tadpoles' safety?
Mila. She's 11, almost 12. And dad number two.
My boys are 33, 30, and 23. Dr. Eduardo. And my last name is Fernandez Duque.
Someone chimed in. Was that a bird?
I am surrounded by birds in my backyard.
Yeah, there was a gorgeous bird call. And you're right now in Argentina?
Yes.
Dr. Eduardo is a biological anthropologist and behavioral scientist who has spent decades observing owl monkeys in the forests of South America.
Let me close the window. That may reduce the bird calls.
Okay, but say hi to the bird or say hola. And our story begins outside that window, way out in the forest, way up high in the canopy, where there is a male owl monkey who is just moments away from becoming a father. Now picture this guy. He's about the size of a chihuahua, white face with huge orange eyes that help him see really well at night. That's why he's called an owl monkey.
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Chapter 5: What unconventional parenting method do Darwin frogs use?
Wrong. And if they're not doing that, certain animal dads are famous for, well... Bailey. I'm out. Checking out, leaving the female parent to do all the care and feeding of the baby. You got this, babe. So back to our owl monkey dad sitting right next to the baby in the Argentinian forest. The thing is, up until this moment, no one knew how that dad was going to respond because...
No one, no one had ever seen a baby owl monkey being born in the wild.
But that day, Eduardo's team happened to be there on the forest floor observing.
It took about half hour that the baby came out of the mother's womb. And what was fascinating is that the father was also very, very close. Really? And trying to help. I mean, he was touching the umbilical cord. No. You know, this cord that connects the baby. He was possibly trying to help the mama monkey cut it so the baby could be free. That is right there as the baby is born.
And for the first week, the baby is just nursing, nursing, nursing. like crazy on the mom until... Mom is like, enough.
I've had it with this suckling. I'm done. I need some space. Yeah. But there comes dad to the rescue.
Here I come, kiddo! The baby literally climbs onto the dad's back and basically does not leave for months. The two of them bounce and swing through the treetops together. Daddy's gonna play with the infant.
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Chapter 6: How do burying beetles create a nurturing environment for their young?
Tag, you're it. He grooms the infant.
Get those mites out.
He teaches him how to curl up into a tiny ball way up high in the tree so he looks almost invisible. So he can sleep during the day. Sweet daydreams, little one. And as the baby grows up, dad starts teaching him how to pick out tasty fruits. Which fruits to bite into. Which to avoid. That one tastes gross. How to catch a moth mid-air. Nice job.
But pretty much this whole time, the baby's little arms are wrapped around the dad's shoulders, meaning this is a three-month-long piggyback ride.
Or should I call it a monkey back ride?
Now, around four months, the baby climbs off the piggyback ride and starts braving the big leaps up in the branches by itself.
Unless... Suddenly you get to a gap between branches and you need to take a jump. And so they may give you a little bit of a squeak or a squeal. And that says, okay, hold on a minute. I'm going to put you on my back and take him across the gap.
I got you, little one.
What is very powerful is the evidence we have that eventually over the years, the infant seems to have a stronger attachment or bond to the father than the mother.
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Chapter 7: What parenting behaviors challenge stereotypes in chimpanzee fathers?
And chimp dads, well, at the time Michael was growing up, they were understood to be very aggressive at their worst. And at their best, well, they were just off somewhere else. It seemed like in nature, the dad role...
It was about hunting and protection.
And he thought, well, maybe nature was sending him a message that he'd never be good at the softer side of parenting. And then one day, a few years ago, Michael is lamenting about all this, what a dad's natural role truly is when his friend says, wait, wait, wait, you gotta call Dr. Eduardo.
He studies owl monkeys and I reached out to him and he was like, I'll come over. I'll come over to your house. Let's have a play date, basically. Really? I was like, okay, that's awesome. Come to my house. He felt like that. Yeah. So he came over and we're like... Let's go swimming. And I brought my goggles. He's a really good swimmer, by the way. Okay. Really fast.
We kept talking about all sorts of different dads.
Chimp dads and their own dads. And at some point, Dr. Eduardo started telling Michael what he had observed with owl monkey dads.
He's talking about a two to three month piggyback ride.
You guys are at your play date. I'm picturing you. You're swimming in the waves. And like, I don't know, Eduardo's like, no, Michael. And then a wave comes. He's like, no, no, no, really.
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Chapter 8: How do stickleback fish demonstrate unique nesting behaviors?
Owl monkeys are amazing. Okay, so what from your side, Michael, what did Eduardo tell you that day and how did it hit you?
Well, First, I was like, that's so cute. And then at the same time, I was kind of upset.
Why?
Well, I was like, why am I hearing about this for the first time? And so I was sort of like, who picked which monkey we were going to be compared to? And why did they pick chimpanzees? Because if they had picked the owl monkeys, you know, maybe I would have learned something different.
So I found myself kind of wanting to dig into sort of what other animals are out there that might do fathering differently.
And he will share what he finds and take us on some of the wildest turns in this dad-venture after this short break.
As the day wraps up, get the scoop on what's been happening with Here's the Scoop, a new podcast from NBC News with me, your host, Yasmin Basugian. We'll take a deep dive into the day's top stories with NBC News' trusted journalist. It's a fresh take that's sharp, thoughtful, and it's informative, bringing you closer to the headlines and conversations that are shaping our world.
From the front page to the zeitgeist, here's the scoop from NBC News. Listen daily wherever you get your podcasts.
Terrestrials is back. We are talking about the raddest of the daddest with our dad friend, Michael, and he is on a quest to learn all about animal dads who defy the stereotypes and show us all the amazing ways a dad can dad. And to start off, we have... Seahorses!
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