Episodes

  • 00.00 – The Single Acorn Trailer

    00.00 – The Single Acorn Trailer
    May 4 2020
    Woohoo! It's finally here. We've been putting in a ton of work behind the scenes to get the new Crow's Path natural history podcast off the ground. And now it's launch time! Check out the trailer, download past episodes, and be sure to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app. Enjoy!
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    1 min
  • 01.01 – Symbiosis

    01.01 – Symbiosis
    May 5 2020
    There is a growing body of evidence that illuminates just how deeply and complexly interconnected organisms are to one another. As scientists uncover these interdependencies, we’re beginning to see how fundamentally different our world would be without symbioses. We would not have the forests of today with mycorrhizal connections running through the soil, we would not have cows, termites, or rabbits without the powerful digestive processes of bacteria, and we wouldn’t even have multicellular life if not for symbiotic bacteria that power photosynthesis (chloroplasts) and metabolism (mitochondria). Many of these lasting interactions across species lines are beneficial to both organisms involved (symbionts), but in the everlasting evolutionary arms race to survive long enough to produce offspring, organisms have devised endless adaptations to exploit other species. Welcome to the Single Acorn.
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    53 mins
  • 01.02 – Mutualism

    01.02 – Mutualism
    May 12 2020
    In this series on symbiosis, we’re taking a deep dive into the many different types of relationships organisms have evolved into, the good, the bad, the benign. This episode highlights mutualisms, those relationships where both organisms involved benefit. We look at the broad categories of mutualism (service vs resource), discuss the evolutionary origins of multicellular life, and how the organisms involved (the symbionts) are in a constant battle to try and out-exploit the other symbiont. Welcome to The Single Acorn.
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • 01.03 – Commensalism + Amensalism

    01.03 – Commensalism + Amensalism
    May 19 2020
    In this series on symbiosis, we’re taking a deep dive into the many different types of relationships organisms have evolved into, the good, the bad, the benign. This episode highlights relationships in which one partner’s a total dud: behold the neutral symbiont. The relationships can be the result of complete and totally unbalanced competition where the other symbiont is harmed (amensalism) or when one species exploits and is benefitted by the resources offered up by the other at no cost to the latter (commensalism: think dung beetles). No species is entirely isolated from the impact of another organism in its environment so we’ll talk about that gray space between commensalism and mutualism, amensalism and exploitation. Welcome to the Single Acorn.
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    48 mins
  • 01.04 – Parasitism

    01.04 – Parasitism
    Jun 9 2020
    In this series on symbiosis, we’re taking a deep dive into the many different types of relationships organisms have evolved into, the good, the bad, the benign. This episode highlights relationships in which one partner’s a total dud: behold the neutral symbiont. The relationships can be the result of complete and totally unbalanced competition where the other symbiont is harmed (amensalism) or when one species exploits and is benefitted by the resources offered up by the other at no cost to the latter (commensalism: think dung beetles). No species is entirely isolated from the impact of another organism in its environment so we’ll talk about that gray space between commensalism and mutualism, amensalism and exploitation. Welcome to the Single Acorn.
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • 01.05a – Predators

    01.05a – Predators
    Jun 23 2020
    In this series on symbiosis, we’re taking a deep dive into the many different types of relationships organisms have evolved into, the good, the bad, the benign. This episode highlights relationships in which one partner’s a total dud: behold the neutral symbiont. The relationships can be the result of complete and totally unbalanced competition where the other symbiont is harmed (amensalism) or when one species exploits and is benefitted by the resources offered up by the other at no cost to the latter (commensalism: think dung beetles). No species is entirely isolated from the impact of another organism in its environment so we’ll talk about that gray space between commensalism and mutualism, amensalism and exploitation. Welcome to the Single Acorn.
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • 01.05b – Prey

    01.05b – Prey
    Jul 7 2020
    In this series on symbiosis, we’re taking a deep dive into the many different types of relationships organisms have evolved into, the good, the bad, the benign. This episode highlights relationships in which one partner’s a total dud: behold the neutral symbiont. The relationships can be the result of complete and totally unbalanced competition where the other symbiont is harmed (amensalism) or when one species exploits and is benefitted by the resources offered up by the other at no cost to the latter (commensalism: think dung beetles). No species is entirely isolated from the impact of another organism in its environment so we’ll talk about that gray space between commensalism and mutualism, amensalism and exploitation. Welcome to the Single Acorn.
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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • 01.06 – Competition

    01.06 – Competition
    Aug 7 2020
    In this series on symbiosis, we’re taking a deep dive into the many different types of relationships organisms have evolved into, the good, the bad, the benign. This episode highlights relationships in which one partner’s a total dud: behold the neutral symbiont. The relationships can be the result of complete and totally unbalanced competition where the other symbiont is harmed (amensalism) or when one species exploits and is benefitted by the resources offered up by the other at no cost to the latter (commensalism: think dung beetles). No species is entirely isolated from the impact of another organism in its environment so we’ll talk about that gray space between commensalism and mutualism, amensalism and exploitation. Welcome to the Single Acorn.
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    1 hr and 2 mins