Rewind Ep. 18 - Giant Rodents | SciShow Tangents Podcast

Original airdate: March 12, 2019 When can you start calling a rodent “giant?” When it’s twice the average size of its species? When you’re not grossed out by it? When it could be a mascot for a family fun center? We don’t really have a precise answer to that… but this week, we’re exploring the science of big ol’ rodents! Turns out, giant rodents have shaped the environment in lots of ways, from ancient megafauna stomping through South American wetlands to beavers affecting the climate. And even though they sound kind of scary, giant rats might be able to save human lives. But the real question is: what’s up with capybara anal pouches? Want more SciShow Tangents? Check out hundreds more episodes of our podcast here: https://scishow-tangents.simplecast.com, or wherever you get your podcasts! Head to https://www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to find great SciShow Tangents merch! A big thank you to Patreon subscriber Garth Riley for helping to make the show possible! Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen Sources: [Truth or Fail] https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2015/02/making-teeth-tough-beavers-show-way-to-improve-our-enamel- http://www.sci-news.com/biology/science-biswamoyopterus-laoensis-new-species-flying-squirrel-laos-01361.html https://www.apopo.info/en/tuberculosis-detection/projects http://www.treatmentactiongroup.org/tb/background https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/feb/23/rats-who-sniff-out-tubersulosis https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140816-rats-tuberculosis-smell-disease-health-animals-world/ [Fact Off] Hippos & biggest rodent: Beavers & carbon emissions: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-08/uoh-bha082918.php https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/07/what-role-do-beavers-play-climate-change https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13280-014-0575-y [Ask the Science Couch] Gigantism: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-king-kong-should-have-been-blue-whale-180962603/ https://www.nature.com/articles/482008d https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/05/120521-killer-mice-birds-gough-island-endangered-animals-science/ https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2012.00534.x https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4358651/ [Butt One More Thing] Capybara anal pouches: https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1984.tb05087.x #scishow #podcast #comedy #science #education #scishowtangents