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cover of episode Ghosts
People
C
Cecilia Blomdahl
M
Martyn Stewart
R
Renata Leite Pitman
R
Rutendo Shackleton
S
Sebastian Echeverri
Topics
Sebastian Echeverri 认为化石如同‘鬼魂’般存在于当下，它们是古代生命的遗迹，只要知道去哪里寻找就能发现。他分享了自己寻找化石的经历，并描述了发现的古代软体动物、海百合和三叶虫化石。 Rutendo Shackleton 讲述了她在南非‘人类摇篮’遗址参观的经历，该遗址是人类祖先遗骸最集中的地方之一，她解释了为什么在该地区发现了如此多的人类化石，并强调了化石的稀有性和神秘性。 Renata Leite Pitman 分享了她寻找和研究秘鲁短耳犬（鬼犬）的经历，这种犬类非常难以发现，她通过长期追踪和巧合才得以对其进行研究，并最终成功地对一只幼犬进行了研究和放归。 Dan Flew 带领 Sebastian Echeverri 和 Rutendo Shackleton 在布里斯托尔的墓地进行夜间蝙蝠观察，他们使用探测器发现了多种蝙蝠，并能通过其回声定位频率辨别物种，这与‘鬼魂’的隐秘性相似。 Cecilia Blomdahl 在斯瓦尔巴群岛进行了一次徒步旅行，她描述了该岛屿荒凉的环境和独特的景观，以及岛上狐狸、驯鹿和北极熊等动物，其寂静的环境和独特的景观给人以神秘感。 Martyn Stewart 分享了他记录自然界声音的工作，他提到他收集的超过30000小时的自然音景中，三分之二现在已经灭绝，他强调了记录这些声音的重要性，并分享了他在肯尼亚记录北方白犀牛声音的经历，北方白犀牛现已在野外灭绝。

Deep Dive

Chapters
The episode begins with Sebastian's fossil hunting experience, describing the discovery of ancient mollusk, crinoid, and trilobite fossils. These fossils are presented as "ghosts" representing ancient life.
  • Fossil discovery near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • Fossils found: ancient mollusk, crinoid, trilobite
  • Fossils as preserved evidence of ancient life

Shownotes Transcript

The show takes a spooky turn as we go on a ghost hunt through the natural world. Sebastian shares his adventures finding fossils – the traces of animals that once lived, and Rutendo talks about her experiences in The Cradle of Humankind, the South African UNESCO World Heritage site containing early human fossils.

Deep in the Peruvian Amazon there is a species of wild dog so rarely sighted it has become known as the ‘ghost dog’. We hear from Renata Leite Pitman, one of the few scientists to successfully track down and study the elusive creature as it moves quietly through the forest.

Gravedigger turned ecologist Dan Flew leads Rutendo and Sebastian through Bristol’s Arnos Vale Cemetery in the dead of night, for a close and thrilling encounter with some of the UK’s rarest bats.

We venture to the world’s most northerly permanently inhabited place, Svalbard, in the Arctic Circle, where TikToker Cecilia Blomdahl reveals the magical secrets of this isolated yet beautiful landscape, on a trip out on her boat with her dog Grim.

And we hear rare recordings of the Northern White Rhino, sadly now extinct in the wild, a recently departed ghost of a more biodiverse world.

Credits:

The BBC Earth podcast is presented by Sebastian Echeverri and Rutendo Shackleton.

This episode was produced by Rachel Byrne and Geoff Marsh.

The researcher was Seb Masters.

The Production Manager was Catherine Stringer and the Production Co-ordinator was Gemma Wootton.

Podcast Theme Music was composed by Axel Kacoutié, with mixing and additional sound design by Peregrine Andrews.

The Associate Producer is Cristen Caine and the Executive Producer is Deborah Dudgeon.

Special thanks to:

Renata Leite Pitman for the feature on the ghost dogs.

Dan Flew for leading the bat walk in Bristol.

Cecilia Blomdahl for her report from Svalbard.

Martyn Stewart for providing the sounds of the Northern White Rhino. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy) for more information.