Episode 475 - Tarantula eating worms and Panda’s helpful bacteria

Tarantulas are often in horror films, but they too can be subject to a mysterious invasion and slow death by nasty nematodes. "In Hollywood, you haven't really made it until you've been recognized by those in the field of parasitology" says Jeff Daniels. Why did scientists immortalize Jeff Daniels in the name of a deadly nematode. Slowly loosing control of limbs and organs is a nasty way to go out, but its how nematodes can take down a tarantula. Panda's get a lot of help from bacteria to help them survive with their limited diet. Pandas need a lot of help to survive even though they only eat bamboo. Gut bacteria helps pandas turn their bamboo into all the energy they need to build mass and fat.

1. Jacob Schurkman, Kyle Anesko; Joaquín Abolafia; Irma Tandingan De Ley; Adler R. Dillman. Tarantobelus Jeffdanielsi N. Sp. (panagrolaimomorpha; Panagrolaimidae), a Nematode Parasite of Tarantulas. J Parasitol, 2022 DOI: 10.1645/21-42
2. Guangping Huang, Le Wang, Jian Li, Rong Hou, Meng Wang, Zhilin Wang, Qingyue Qu, Wenliang Zhou, Yonggang Nie, Yibo Hu, Yingjie Ma, Li Yan, Hong Wei, Fuwen Wei. Seasonal shift of the gut microbiome synchronizes host peripheral circadian rhythm for physiological adaptation to a low-fat diet in the giant panda. Cell Reports, 2022; 38 (3): 110203 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.110203