On this, our 344th Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss new cats, fat bears, and overwhelmed frogs. The tilcayo, a newly named species of cat from Bolivia, is part of a group of New World “tiger cats” that live on the outskirts of the Amazon basin. We discuss Carnivoran relationships, cats more specifically, and what is known about the history and ecology of the tilcayo in particular. Then: it’s fat bear week at Katmai National Park in Alaska, where grizzlies are fattening themselves on salmon for the Winter ahead; we discuss hibernation, reproductive diapause, and general chonkiness in bears. Finally: female Cope’s gray treefrogs have a harder time choosing good mates when there’s a lot of noise, and when there are too many suitors—kind of like how women often make bad choices when confronted with chaos and wingmen.
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Music: "Marble Machine" by Wintergatan
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Mentioned in this episode:
Lescroart & Nogales-Ascarrunz et al 2026. Phylogenomics and museomics reveal five distinct species of tiger cats in South America. Current Biology 36: 1-15: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(26)01110-3
National Geographic’s tilcayo pics: https://news.nationalgeographic.org/photos-new-wild-cat-species/
Meet the bears: https://explore.org/meet-the-bears#h_75305921118711789688140871
Hemingway et al 2026. Choice overload constrains mate choice independent of energetic masking. iScience 29: 1-13: https://www.cell.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2589-0042%2826%2902464-8
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Timestamps:
00:00:00 It Smells Like Autumn
00:01:42 Cats, Fat Bears, and Overwhelmed Frogs
00:05:23 Sponsor: Cowboy Colostrum
00:09:23 Sponsor: CrowdHealth
00:12:01 Sponsor: Branch Basics
00:16:00 The Tilcayo: A Brand-New Cat
00:20:30 An Orphaned Kitten in the Andes
00:23:45 Inside Phylogenetics
00:28:19 Carnivores vs. Carnivorans
00:29:56 Hyenas: Cat Adjacent, Not a Cat
00:37:36 The Answer Is Software
00:44:48 Meet the Tilcayo
00:46:51 Five Cryptic Species of Tiger Cat
00:50:01 Why So Many Little Cats?
00:59:15 Sympatric, Allopatric, or Parapatric?
01:01:47 Apologies to the Dog People
01:03:57 80% Neurotic, 10% Psychotic
01:07:37 A Raccoon, a Lemur, and a Wild Kitten
01:13:33 Fat Bear Week
01:18:12 The Bears' Cupboard Strategy
01:23:45 Yes, Bears Have Diapause
01:26:26 Strategy, Luck, or Dominance?
01:33:26 Overwhelmed Frogs
01:39:19 Why Are Frog Choruses So Loud?
01:45:29 What Counts as a Good Choice?
01:47:07 Clubs, Wingmen, and Bad Decisions
01:51:05 Hot Guys With Less to Say
01:52:02 Be Good to the Ones You Love
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