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Sep 16 2010

What is biospeleology?

29 min 6 movies discussed
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Biospeleology is the scientific study of cave organisms and ecosystems. In this episode, amateur biospeleologists Josh and Chuck explore the dark, dank world of caves and the weird and wonderful creatures that live in them.

AI Summary

In this episode of Stuff You Should Know, Josh and Chuck dive into the fascinating world of biospeleology - the study of life forms that exist in caves. They explore the three different types of cave-dwelling creatures, from occasional visitors to permanent residents who've evolved without eyes or pigmentation, and explain how these organisms survive in complete darkness through an intricate food chain that often starts with bat poop. The hosts break down the different zones of caves and reveal some surprisingly creepy creatures, including foot-long faceless salamanders and centipedes big enough to eat bats.


Movies Discussed

Bad Taste
Bad Taste
1987 1h 31m
★ 6.3
"have you ever seen Bad Taste? And speaking of Peter Jackson — Josh mentioned Peter Jackson's early horror film Bad Taste when discussing aliens and how Jackson started with schlocky horror before Lord of the Rings." — Josh
Dead or Alive
Dead or Alive
1999 1h 45m
★ 6.4
"Dead alive. I think that was the movie — Chuck identified another early Peter Jackson horror film when they were discussing Jackson's work before Lord of the Rings." — Chuck
The Descent
The Descent
2005 1h 40m
★ 7.0
"Did you see the descent, that movie? Kind of a not too great horror movie — Josh referenced The Descent, a horror movie about women going caving and encountering human-like creatures that had evolved in caves." — Josh
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2001 2h 59m
★ 8.4
"Fans of the Lord of the Rings trilogy will recognize this — Josh compared the regressive evolution process in cave organisms to what happened to Gollum in Lord of the Rings." — Josh
The Matrix
The Matrix
1999 2h 16m
★ 8.2
"They did that in The Matrix too. Keanu had the no mouth — Josh mentioned a scene in The Matrix where Keanu Reeves' character had no mouth, comparing it to the Twilight Zone reference about mouthless characters." — Josh
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
1959
★ 8.5
"Did you ever see, I think it was a Twilight Zone, the movie — Josh referenced a Twilight Zone episode about a kid who created a cartoon world and made his sister mouthless when discussing the creepy appearance of faceless cave salamanders." — Josh

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