The Australian jumping spider Cosmophasis bitaeniata (at left), mimics the "national identity" of a Weaver ant colony in Queensland, Australia by adopting that particular colony’s unique scent, which allows it to move into their nest undetected. Should it accidentally travel to a different ant colony, however, the ants there will attack it, not as they would a spider, but as if it were a foreign ant invader. 

© Mark W. Moffett / Minden Pictures

Australia is famous for its strange creatures. And rightfully so. They’ve got kangaroos, koalas, echidnas, and of course one of the wackiest animals anywhere– the platypus! But it’s also home to equally weird and wonderful creatures of a different sort. They just tend to be a little smaller. Ecologist storyteller Mark Moffett specializes in finding these small wonders– and sharing their stories with the world. 

Ecologist storyteller, Mark Moffett; photo by Jessica Chappe

Cunningham’s skinks exhibiting social behavior. © Mark Moffett/ Minden Pictures

To learn more about Mark Moffett’s incredible career as an ecologist storyteller, check out his website: doctorbugs.com. You can also learn about his most recent project on the life and death of societies at the Templeton Foundation’s website: 

https://www.templeton.org/grant/the-life-and-death-of-societies-investigating-the-societies-of-animals-to-understand-our-own

You can read some of Mark Moffett’s recent articles here: 

https://bigthink.com/the-well/human-ability-to-coexist-coffee-shop/

https://thesunmagazine.org/issues/532/one-of-us-issue-532

His latest book “The Human Swarm: How Our Societies Arise, Thrive, and Fall” is available from Basic Books (https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/mark-w-moffett/the-human-swarm/9781549195082/?lens=basic-books) and wherever books are sold.

Mark and his wife Melissa looking for colonies of Cunningham’s skinks on the rock outcrops where they reside at Bouddi National Park, New South Wales, Australia. © Mark Moffett/ Minden Pictures


Help support this podcast and future episodes by checking out Autio the perfect travel companion app for more engaging road trips.  Autio is a network of stories, told by master storytellers like Kevin Costner, Phil Jackson, and John Lithgow, with the power to bring the landscape, its people, and its history alive as you pass through it.