the Best Biome
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Two prairie biologists make the ever-growing argument for why grasslands are the world’s best biome.
CW: we talk about animal genitalia in this episode in the last 30 mins (it’s hard to avoid with hyenas)
Hyenas have historically been painted in a pretty negative light, only for recent PR teams to praise their strong women leaders, successful hunts, and sophisticated societies. And while we’re all for praising the underdog, a lot of recent media is half truths. Let’s all learn to appreciate them for what they are: rowdy stinky scavengers.
Thanks for listening to our weekly exploration of why grasslands are the best biome. We’ll see you in two weeks!
Primary Sources: Be sure to check out photos and more at our site!
- Holekamp Lab website (spotted hyena researchers)
- Hyena Project website (also spotted hyenas researchers)
- Schmidtke, M. Brown Hyena. Animal Diversity Web.
- Howard, C. Striped Hyena. Animal Diversity Web.
- Stump, M. Aardwolf. Animal Diversity Web.
- Frank, Laurence G.; Weldele, Mary L.; Glickman, Stephen E. (1995). Masculinization costs in hyaenas. , 377(6550), 584–585. doi:10.1038/377584b0
- Holekamp, K.E., Smale, L., Berg, R. and Cooper, S.M. (1997), Hunting rates and hunting success in the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta). Journal of Zoology, 242: 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1997.tb02925.x
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