Storied's video: Death Worms: Fact or Fiction Monstrum

Watch Future of Work on PBS Voices: https://youtu.be/EWlpNUX0yso Don’t miss future episodes of Monstrum, subscribe! http://bit.ly/pbsstoried_sub Rumored to roam some of the world’s most desolate places the poisonous, killer death worm can trace its history in folklore back thousands of years. Made more famous and frightening with science fiction series like Dune and Tremors, killer worms are part of our cultural knowledge—but does any creature like them exist in the real world? This episode looks at the possible inspirations behind some of history’s most famous death worms, like the Mongolian death worm of the Gobi Desert, and takes a look at the creatures that wiggle, slither, and creep their way across our planet. Written and Hosted by: Dr. Emily Zarka Director: David Schulte Executive Producer: Amanda Fox Producer: Stephanie Noone Illustrator: Samuel Allen Editor: Ray Lux Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios. The world is full of monsters, myths, and legends and Monstrum isn’t afraid to take a closer look. The show, hosted by Emily Zarka, Ph.D., takes us on a journey to discover a new monster in each new episode. Monstrum looks at humans' unique drive to create and shape monster mythology through oral storytelling, literature, and film and digs deep into the history of those mythologies. Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monstrumpbs/ ---------------------------- Bibliography Andrews, Roy Chapman. On the Trail of Ancient Man. G.P. Putnam’s Sons: New York & London, 1926. Andrews, Roy Chapman, et al. The New Conquest of Central Asia; a Narrative of the Explorations of the Central Asiatic Expeditions in Mongolia and China, 1921-1930. 1st. ed., American Museum of Natural History, 1932. Beck, Daniel D. Biology of Gila Monsters and Beaded Lizards. University of California Press, 2005. Coram, Robert A. & Jonathan D. Radley. “Devon’s desert ‘worms.’” Geology Today, vol. 32, no. 2, March–April 2016, pp. 65–69. Ctesias. Ancient India as Described by Ktêsias the Knidian; Being a Translation of the Abridgement of His “Indika” by Photios, and of the Fragments of That Work Preserved in Other Writers. By J.W. McCrindle. With Introduction, Notes and Index. Thacker, Spink & co. etc., 1882. Dusen, S., et al. “Nematode Parasites of the Two Limbless Lizards: Turkish Worm Lizard, Blanus Strauchi (Bedriaga, 1884) (Squamata: Amphisbaenidae), and Slow Worm, Anguis Fragilis Linnaeus 1758 (Squamata: Anguidae), from Turkey.” Helminthologia, vol. 47, no. 3, 2010, pp. 158–63. Eriksson, Mats E., Luke A. Parry, and David M. Rudkin. "Earth's Oldest 'Bobbit Worm' - Gigantism in a Devonian Eunicidan Polychaete." Scientific Reports (Nature Publisher Group), vol. 7, 2017, pp. 43-61. Hanson, Jeffrey O., et al. “Feeding across the food web: The interaction between diet, movement and body size in estuarine crocodiles.” Austral Ecology 40, 2015, pp. 275–86. Herbert, Brian. Dreamer of Dune: The Biography of Frank Herbert. United States, Tor Book, 2004. Karttunen, Klaus. India in Early Greek Literature. Helsinki: Studia Orientalia, 1989. Misra, Ria. “The Real-Life Animal Inspirations Behind Movie Monsters.” Gizmodo, June 30, 2014. The Metaphor of the Monster: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Understanding the Monstrous Other in Literature, edited by Keith Moser, and Karina Zelaya, Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, 2020. O’Malley, Bairbre. Clinical Anatomy and Physiology of Exotic Species: Structure and Function of Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, and Amphibians. New York: Elsevier Saunders, 2005. Pan, Yun-Yun, et.al. “The 20-million-year old lair of an ambush-predatory worm preserved in northeast Taiwan.” Scientific Reports 11 (1174), 2021, pp. 1–9. The Science of Dune: An Unauthorized Exploration Into the Real Science Behind Frank Herbert's Fictional Universe, Ed. Kevin R. Grazier. United States, BenBella Books, 2007. Sharma, R. K. Nāga in Indian Iconography and Art: from the Earliest Times to c. 13th Century AD . Aryan Books International, 2014. Staff Writers. "400 million year old gigantic extinct monster worm discovered in Canadian museum." Space Daily, February 27, 2017. Stoneman, Richard. The Greek Experience of India: From Alexander to the Indo-Greeks. Princeton & Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2019. Wilson, H.H. Notes on the Indica of Ctesias. Oxford: The Ashmolean Society, 1836.