Ecuador: Part I

We just returned from the tropics and the beautiful country of Ecuador. As it's name suggests Ecuador straddles the equator and is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. For birds alone the tiny nation of Ecuador boasts over 1,600 species, compare that to just over 900 for all of North America north of Mexico. The Northern Andes form the spine of Ecuador running along the middle of the country. To the east is the Amazon basin and to the west the Pacific coast and in Northwestern Ecuador is the Choco, a very biodiverse region with many endemic species, extending from Panama, through Columbia and into Ecuador.

Our trip began in the cloud forests of the Andean slopes of Southeastern Ecuador at the Jocotoco Foundation's Tapichalaca Reserve located in the Podocarpus National Park. Montane cloud forests form in areas where warm air masses cool as they rise in the face of high mountain slopes. Moisture condenses in these rising air masses and blankets the forested slopes in clouds, mist and rain. Cloud forests are some of the wettest environments on Earth and provide the perfect environment for moisture loving plants, especially mosses, bromeliads and orchids (see photo above left). Many of these plants are epiphytes, growing on the trunks and branches of trees (see photo right). Despite being near the equator the elevation of these forests keeps the temperatures comparatively mild year round. Our time at Tapichalaca was during the tail-end of the rainy season and rain fell regularly during our stay making the steep mountain trails a muddy slog through the forest.

The cloud forests of Ecuador are home to many unique animals. The near constant wet conditions provide an ideal habitat for high humidity loving animals such as frogs and land snails. Many bird species are also found exclusively in tropical cloud forests. The recently described Jocotoco Antpitta (Grallaria ridgelyi, see photo left) is a ground bird found only in a small area around the Tapichalaca Reserve. Birds like the Jocotoco Antpitta make the region a Mecca for birdwatchers around the globe. Other cloud forest specialties include the Black-billed Mountain Toucan (Andigena nigrirostris), the Hooded Mountain Tanager (Buthraupis montana) and Collared Inca (Coeligena torquata).

Steep mountain forests in the tropics remain some of of the most well preserved natural ecosystems in the world, however, threats to these seemingly inaccessible habitats remain. Greater awareness through research, conservation and carefully controlled ecotourism can help preserve these unique montane forests. Cincinnati Museum Center plans to organize future trips to Ecuador for area birders and other nature enthusiasts. This trip represents the initial exploratory forays into a new tropical montane biodiversity program. Stay tuned for upcoming reports from our expedition to Ecuador and news on future ecotourism opportunities to visit Ecuador with Cincinnati Museum Center scientists.

-END

Unless the post above is followed by '-END' then CLICK HERE to read more!

Science and Religion

Listen to an excellent audio essay by Nobel Prize winning physicist Frank Wilczek on the nature of science and religion on the March 13 Nature Podcast. This essay does a good job in cutting to the heart of the current problems in reconciling science, like evolution, and religious faith.

-END

Unless the post above is followed by '-END' then CLICK HERE to read more!

Browse the inverts

A collection inventory from the Cincinnati Museum Center's Invertebrate Paleontology Department is now available online on the museum's cincyevolution web site. The inventory is a simple listing of the genera contained within the collection. More of the CMC's natural history collection will be available online over the course of the coming year. Enjoy!

-END

Unless the post above is followed by '-END' then CLICK HERE to read more!

Wing of the Week

Here's a new wing. This week we have the subtle browns and reds of the wing of the Bukidnon Woodcock (Scolopax bukidnonensis, topside of wing in the top photo and wing's bottom side in the bottom photo). This species was first described to science in 2001 by former Cincinnati Museum Center zoology curator Dr. Robert Kennedy (Kennedy et al. 2001 Forktail 17: 1-12). Woodcocks are an unusual group of forest and field dwelling shorebirds with rounded, dome-shaped heads and large eyes positioned on the top of their heads to give them a 360 degree field of vision. Recorded on the islands of Luzon and Mindanao in the Philippines, little is known about this secretive species. Dr. Kennedy first caught a single individual of this species on 22 January 1995 on Mount Kitanglad on the island of Mindanao in the Lanao-Bukidnon Highlands (hence the name given to this species of the Bukidnon Woodcock) and that specimen served as the type by which the species was described. Just another one of the important specimens in the Cincinnati Museum Center's Zoology Department documenting biodiversity on a global scale. For more on the unique avifauna of the Philippines check out Dr. Kennedy and coauthor's book 'A Guide to the Brids of the Philippines'. I'll have more on a relative of the Bukidnon Woodcock that lives in Ohio with the next installment of 'Wing of the Week'.


-END

Unless the post above is followed by '-END' then CLICK HERE to read more!

A penguin in the hand...

Geoff Hill's visit to Cincinnati Museum Center was a huge success. With great turnout for his lecture in the Charles and Ralph Dury Lecture Series and about 300 showing up at the Amish Bird Symposium in Adams co., OH, lots of folks in the Southern Ohio/Northern Kentucky area got to hear about Geoff's exploration of the Choctawhatchee River and the hunt for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers (Campephilus principalis). I think Geoff had a great time during his trip to Cincinnati, but, I believe a highlight of Geoff's visit was a visit to the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. The Cincinnati Zoo's Avian Conservation Program Manager, David Oehler, showed Geoff and I behind the scenes and we were able to get up close and personal with one of the zoo's Rockhopper Penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome, see photo right with Geoff Hill on the left and me on the right and penguin in Geoff's arms). Thanks to David Oehler of the Cincinnati Zoo, Regina Hall and Patrick Nugent of the Cincinnati Museum Center, Chris Bedel and all the organizers and sponsors of the Amish Bird Symposium for hosting Geoff during his stay in Cincinnati.

-END

Unless the post above is followed by '-END' then CLICK HERE to read more!