Lions, New Tigers, and Bears, oh my: The 344th Evolutionary Lens with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying

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. ***** Our sponsors: Cowboy Colostrum: Get 25% Off Cowboy Colostrum with code Darkhorse at https://cowboycolostrum.com/darkhorse. CrowdHealth: Pay for healthcare with crowdfunding instead of insurance. It’s way better. Use code DarkHorse at http://JoinCrowdHealth.com to get 1st 3 months for $99/month. Branch Basics: Excellent, effective, simple, truly non-toxic cleaning supplies. Get 15% off with code DarkHorse at https://branchbasics.com/DarkHorse #branchbasicspod ***** Join us on Locals! Get access to our Discord server, exclusive live streams, live chats for all streams, and early access to many podcasts: https://darkhorse.locals.com Heather’s newsletter, Natural Selections (subscribe to get free weekly essays in your inbox): https://naturalselections.substack.com Our book, A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century, is available everywhere books are sold, including from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3AGANGg (commission earned) Check out our store! Epic tabby, digital book burning, saddle up the dire wolves, and more: https://darkhorsestore.org Music: "Marble Machine" by Wintergatan This track can be downloaded for free at www.wintergatan.net Free License to use this track in your video can be downloaded at www.wintergatan.net ***** 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  ***** 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 Support the show