7. Brave Mew World : Nature Vs. Nurture

Adapt or Die! The Evolutionary Biology of Pop Culture

Episode Description:
Welcome to this brand new episode of Adapt or Die! The evolutionary biology of pop culture hosted by Austin Ashbaugh. The current cultural phenomenon we are discussing this season is Pokémon and todays episode is focused on the psychic type. Our evolutionary connection to the psychic type is nature Vs. nurture.
In the Safari Zone, I get into how mattpat (Game theorists) relied a bit too heavily on nature/nurture in explaining pokemon evolution in reference to eevee and then get into explaining the evolution of senses in a variety of psychic pokémon. During the pokémon professors rant, I appropriately rant about the gradual weakening of the psychic typing over time. Lastly, we will end todays episode with describing a regional variant of the unown evolutionary line and results from our latest pokémon spectacular competition. Sit back and relax in a chair older than yourself, open an old dusty tome, and join me as we adapt or die!
Link to Google Slides of Pokémon discussed in this episode
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Have a pop culture ecology or evolutionary biology question you want answered? Submit your questions and ideas here for a chance to have your topic researched and discussed on the podcast!
Song credits: Music by Gregor Quendel from Pixabay
Logo design: Austin Ashbaugh, Chase Ashbaugh, Xander Allen
Resources cited for research in this episode:
1. Alhosin, M. (2023). Epigenetics Mechanisms of Honeybees: Secrets of Royal Jelly. _Epigenetics Insights_, _16_, 25168657231213717.
2. Hoover, K. C. (2010). Smell with inspiration: the evolutionary significance of olfaction. _American Journal of Physical Anthropology_, _143_(S51), 63-74.
3. Jones, G., & Teeling, E. C. (2006). The evolution of echolocation in bats. _Trends in Ecology & Evolution_, _21_(3), 149-156.
4. Osório, J., & Rétaux, S. (2008). The lamprey in evolutionary studies. _Development genes and evolution_, _218_, 221-235.
5. Schwab, I. The evolution of eyes: major steps. The Keeler lecture 2017: centenary of Keeler Ltd. _Eye_ **32**, 302–313 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2017.226
7. https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/History_of_the_Pok%C3%A9mon_world
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Follow Adapt or Die! on Instagram for regular updates
Follow Austin on Bluesky and Instagram
Have a pop culture ecology or evolutionary biology question you want answered? Submit your questions and ideas here for a chance to have your topic researched and discussed on the podcast!
Song credits: Music by Gregor Quendel from Pixabay
Logo design: Austin Ashbaugh, Chase Ashbaugh, Xander Allen