Can you pick up a drop of water with tweezers?

Some birds can! A group of shorebirds called phalaropes have a curious way of feeding. They feed on the surface of lakes, tidal wetlands and other bodies of water by swimming around in a tight circle on the surface furiously kicking their legs. This creates a vortex in which tiny aquatic invertebrates like shrimp, aquatic insects and copepods are pulled to the surface. Once food items are trapped in the swirling water phalaropes gobble them up with their long thin bills. But, while the phalarope's curious means of concentrating aquatic invertebrates is well known less well understood is how they use their bills to consume their tiny water suspended prey. A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology lead by Manu Prakash has uncovered just how suspension feeding birds like phalaropes use their bills to draw up droplets of water packed with their invertebrate prey.

Unlike a straw a bird's bill is open on both sides and opens in an up-and-down motion much like a pair of tweezers so they can't suck up shrimp filled pond water like you would a slushie. In phalaropes their bills are long and very thin (see photo to the right of a Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) from the Cincinnati Museum Center's Zoology collection). Just how phalaropes can use a tweezer-like bill in a straw-like fashion is a puzzle. Prakash and colleagues found that a drop of water in a very thin bill can be drawn up the bill by what they call a "capillary ratchet". They looked at data in the literature derived from real bills (much of which was originally from museum specimens) and built a mechanical bill with similar properties. When the bill is closed the drop of water is compressed and when opened again it moves a bit further up the bill towards the mouth. Close the bill again the water is compressed. Open again and it moves a bit further up the bill. Click HERE for a Quicktime movie of the Prakash et al. mechanical bill in action. The ability of an artificial bill to serve as a capillary ratchet is highly dependent on both it's shape and it's wetting properties.

This study has several important implications. First, it describes a novel evolutionary adaptation in birds and helps us better understand the myriad of solutions that evolutionary processes can generate to basic challenges in life. Second, an understanding of biomechanics for natural structures like the bill of the phalarope can help human engineers design devices for moving very small amounts of liquid (i.e. microfluidic transport systems). Such devices, inspired by nature, can have important implications in nanotechnology and molecular biology and could potentially advance human health. Finally, because Prakash et al. found that the wetting properties of the bill were critical in its ability to act as a capillary ratchet device environmental managers should look for effects of pollutants on the feeding efficiency of phalaropes and other shorebird species. Petroleum products and detergents could have significant effects on the wetting properties of a phalarope bill and in turn lead to less food for affected birds.

Of course museums, like Cincinnati Museum Center, often play a significant role in these biomechanical studies by serving as storehouses of all the clever tricks invented by evolutionary processes. Taping into nature's diversity is not only good simply for the sake of a greater knowledge of our living world but it also can provide us with designs for our own technology, designs that have been tested over eons of evolutionary tinkering.

Prakash, M., Quere, D., Bush, J.W. (2008). Surface Tension Transport of Prey by Feeding Shorebirds: The Capillary Ratchet. Science, 320(5878), 931-934. DOI: 10.1126/science.1156023

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The weird and wonderful platypus genome

Modern comparative biology has truly entered a new age. The list of species for which researchers have completely sequenced their genomes continues to rapidly grow. Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), chickens (Gallus gallus), sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus), pufferfish (Fugu rubripes), Short-tailed Opossum (Monodelphis domestica), mosquitos (Anopheles gambiae), Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta), several plants such as rice (Oryza sativa) and cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa), numerous microbes, and even Humans (Homo sapiens) all have complete genome sequences completed.

Add to that list the Duck-billed Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). A research team has just completed the first sequencing of the platypus genome. The platypus is truly among the strangest of mammals. Found exclusively in Australia and Tasmania, they have hair and produce milk as do the rest of their mammalian kin but they also lay eggs and have a brain much like a reptile. Male platypus also sport a spur on their hind feet that can deliver a venomous sting. Because of this odd mix of reptilian and mammalian characters the first platypus specimens brought back by the early explorers of the Australian continent were thought to be a hoax, patched together from bits and pieces of other animals. Cincinnati Museum Center's Zoology Collection has an old platypus specimen in it's holdings (see photo left).

Like it's reproductive behavior, physiology and morphology the genome of the platypus reveals it's key evolutionary position at the base of the mammal family tree. For example, mammalian ova have an outer membrane called the zona pellucida which aids in fertilization. Of the proteins make up the zona pellucida in mammals four found in the platypus match those found in the human genome, however, the platypus genome has two additional ova membrane proteins previously found only in birds. Additionally, the platypus genome contains genes for the yolk protein vitellogenin, a protein found in the eggs of birds but neither marsupials or placental mammals.

The genes underlying the venom found in the spurs of male platypus also tell an interesting evolutionary story. Platypus venom, like many venoms found in reptiles, is a complex mix of different proteins. Platypus venom contains 19 different compounds. The venom proteins in platypus venoms appear to have arisen through duplications of genes. Gene duplication is a common evolutionary process that can give rise to new characteristics. When a gene is duplicated the new duplicate is free to accumulate new mutations and take on new functions while the original gene retains it's original function. Not only has gene duplication played a role in the evolution of platypus venom but the same process likely led to the evolution of venoms in reptiles. Also, the venom proteins in the platypus arose from the same gene families as in venomous reptiles providing an interesting case of convergent evolution (evolution of similar traits arising independently in different lineages).

The complete sequence of the platypus genome follows previous work on the sex-determination chromosomes in the platypus (Grutzner et al. 2004. Nature 432: 913-917). For mammals, sex is determined by two sex chromosomes, X and Y. Females have two X chromosomes and males have one X chromosome and one Y. But, platypus have ten sex chromosomes! These ten chromosomes are arranged in a chain such that females are have five pairs of X chromosomes and males have five XY pairs. In birds the sex determination system is different. The sex chromosomes in birds are called W and Z and rather than males being the sex with two different sex chromosomes (called the heterogametic sex) the females are the ones with different sex chromosomes (female birds are WZ and male birds are ZZ). Interestingly, like much of the rest of the platypus genome the sex chromosomes belie their position in the mammalian tree. At one end of the chain of X-chromosomes in the platypus genome is an X chromosome with sequence similarity to the avian Z chromosome. This suggests evolutionary links between the sex chromosomes of birds and mammals and thus a common evolutionary history for these two different groups of animals.

Surely further investigation of the platypus genome will reveal more insights not only into platypus evolution but the evolution of the whole mammalian family tree, including us. As more and more organisms are sequenced we will gain more insight into evolutionary history and processes.

Warren, W.C., Hillier, L.W., Marshall Graves, J.A., Birney, E., Ponting, C.P., Grützner, F., Belov, K., Miller, W., Clarke, L., Chinwalla, A.T., Yang, S., Heger, A., Locke, D.P., Miethke, P., Waters, P.D., Veyrunes, F., Fulton, L., Fulton, B., Graves, T., Wallis, J., Puente, X.S., López-Otín, C., Ordóñez, G.R., Eichler, E.E., Chen, L., Cheng, Z., Deakin, J.E., Alsop, A., Thompson, K., Kirby, P., Papenfuss, A.T., Wakefield, M.J., Olender, T., Lancet, D., Huttley, G.A., Smit, A.F., Pask, A., Temple-Smith, P., Batzer, M.A., Walker, J.A., Konkel, M.K., Harris, R.S., Whittington, C.M., Wong, E.S., Gemmell, N.J., Buschiazzo, E., Vargas Jentzsch, I.M., Merkel, A., Schmitz, J., Zemann, A., Churakov, G., Ole Kriegs, J., Brosius, J., Murchison, E.P., Sachidanandam, R., Smith, C., Hannon, G.J., Tsend-Ayush, E., McMillan, D., Attenborough, R., Rens, W., Ferguson-Smith, M., Lefèvre, C.M., Sharp, J.A., Nicholas, K.R., Ray, D.A., Kube, M., Reinhardt, R., Pringle, T.H., Taylor, J., Jones, R.C., Nixon, B., Dacheux, J., Niwa, H., Sekita, Y., Huang, X., Stark, A., Kheradpour, P., Kellis, M., Flicek, P., Chen, Y., Webber, C., Hardison, R., Nelson, J., Hallsworth-Pepin, K., Delehaunty, K., Markovic, C., Minx, P., Feng, Y., Kremitzki, C., Mitreva, M., Glasscock, J., Wylie, T., Wohldmann, P., Thiru, P., Nhan, M.N., Pohl, C.S., Smith, S.M., Hou, S., Renfree, M.B., Mardis, E.R., Wilson, R.K. (2008). Genome analysis of the platypus reveals unique signatures of evolution. Nature, 453(7192), 175-183. DOI: 10.1038/nature06936

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For bats the nose knows...

Delimiting one species from another can be a difficult thing for biologists to do. This is especially true when the criteria researchers use to define one species from another may not be among the same criteria used by the organisms in question to distinguish themselves from other species. This can result in hidden or cryptic species being subsumed by biologists into a common grouping. Cryptic species lumped together as a single species by morphological data can be discovered through studies of DNA.

Recently Sarah Weyandt of the University of Chicago and the Field Museum visited the Cincinnati Museum Center’s Zoology Collection to look at cryptic species in horseshoe bats from the Philippines. Horseshoe bats (family: Rhinolophidae) are insect eating bats characterized by large ears and elaborate folds of skin forming other structures around their noses called noseleaves. Biologists use these structures, along with other traits, to distinguish between one species and another. However, sometimes two different species can have very similar noseleaf patterns and be difficult to distinguish. There are two varieties of noseleaves in the Philippine bat Rhinolophus arcuatus that differ in very subtle ways (see photos of two Cincinnati Museum Center specimens illustrating these two varieties of noseleaf structure to the left). However, despite very little difference in their morphology these two varieties of bat differ considerably in their genetics, as much as either Rhinolophus arcuatus variety differs from members of another Rhinolophus species.

Sarah is delving deeper into the genetics and morphological variation of this group of bats. To those ends the Cincinnati Museum Center’s Zoology Collection provides valuable specimens for morphological studies and frozen tissue for genetic studies.

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Ecuador: Part II

One group of birds Ecuador has in abundance are the hummingbirds (family: Trochilidae). If you live in the Eastern United States you typically can only see one species of hummingbird, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). Rarely one may encounter a second species, the Rufous Hummingbird (Selaphorus rufus) or one of a handful of other rare vagrants from the Western US. However, Northwestern South America is the world hotspot for hummingbird diversity. Hummingbirds are confined to the Americas and of the more than 300 hummingbird species over 120 species can be found in Ecuador.

During our trip to Ecuador we saw more than 30 species of hummingbirds. These included large showy species such as the Collared Inca (Coeligena torquata) to species in which males sport spectacular, long tail feathers like the Long-tailed Sylph (Aglaiocerus kingi) to smaller iridescent green hummingbirds like the Andean Emerald (Agytria franciae) and the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl, see photo left). The Andes accounts for much of the diversity in hummingbird species, and diversity in other organisms. One can encounter different assemblages of hummingbirds at different altitudes. One can encounter 10 species at a site at 1,000 meters and then a completely different 10 species when one moves to 2,000 meters. Also, the eastern and western slopes of the Andes will be home to different hummingbird species.

This amazing diversity draws hummingbird enthusiasts from around the globe. Hummingbird feeding stations are common in Ecuador, particularly in tourist areas, making for some very relaxed birding ticking off species from the comfort of a deck while sipping Ecuadorian coffee, or in my case a cold Coca-Cola. Cincinnati Museum Center, with the help of the Jocotoco Foundation and the Neblina Forest birding tour company, is currently planning future museum led ecotours to Ecuador where museum patrons can see the amazing biodiversity Ecuador has to offer. Until then check out the video below of a hummingbird feeder at the Jocotoco Foundation's Tapichalaca Reserve. Enjoy!



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Cincinnati Museum Center enters the genomic age...

The beginnings of a working molecular genetics laboratory has been built in the zoology department at Cincinnati Museum Center. Frozen tissue collections are central to a modern natural history collection and typically the most active collection in terms of loans and exchanges between museums. This weekend we extracted our first DNA samples for the new lab. This should be the first ever DNA extractions at Cincinnati Museum Center.

The first step in converting a frozen piece of tissue into genetic data is the extraction of DNA from the tissue cells. DNA (short for DeoxyriboNucleic Acid) is the primary stuff of heredity. Within living cells are long stretches of DNA passed from parent to offspring that provides the information used in the development of the organism. Analysis of DNA can provide researchers with many things, from the action of genes to the evolutionary history of species. Removing the DNA from the cell involves bursting the cell open with soaps (known as cell lysis) and then separating the DNA from the myriad of proteins and other biological compounds that make up the cell. This is done by mixing the soup of cellular compounds from cell lysis with an organic solvent (phenol) and spinning it in a centrifuge. A tube with this cellular soup that has been mixed with phenol when spun down in a centrifuge separates into two layers; the bottom layer and the interface between the two layers contains all the proteins that you want to remove and the top layer is essentially water with the stuff you do want, namely nucleic acids like DNA. Remove the top layer and you have DNA cleaned of all the other cellular material you don't want. Repeating this process gets the sample cleaner and cleaner with each spin.

After a few rounds of these phenol extractions one takes the top layer containing the DNA, moves it to a new tube and adds ethanol. At this stage a neat thing happens. The DNA is not soluble in ethanol and together with salts that also are removed in the top layer of a DNA extraction, it becomes visible to the naked eye as a white, cottony mass. The photo to the right is the genomic DNA from a House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) extracted here at Cincinnati Museum Center. These samples will be part of a collaborative research project between Auburn University, University of Minnesota and Cincinnati Museum Center to understand the relationships among populations and the genetic history of both native and introduced house finches in North America.

Hopes are that genetic-based research will continue to grow in the zoology collection. Certainly this is a good start in bringing Cincinnati Museum Center into the age of modern, collection-based genetic research.

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DNA adds some 'mussel' to conservation efforts

The Southeastern United States is a center for biodiversity in North America. This is particularly true for freshwater mussels. The Ohio Valley is home to numerous species of freshwater mussels (family: Unionidae; class: Bivalvia) and the upper Coosa River basin in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama was once home to over 40 species of freshwater mussels making it among the most biologically diverse freshwater habitats on Earth. Unfortunately, however, human activity in the great watersheds of the Southeast have had devastating effects on freshwater mussel diversity. The building of locks and dams, agricultural and industrial run-off and urbanization along rivers have all contributed to the extinction of many species of freshwater mussel. In the Ohio valley species like the Clubshell (Pleurobema clava, see photo left) exist in populations that are considered highly vulnerable to extinction and other species, like the Tubercled Blossum (Epioblasma torulosa, see photo bottom right, both specimens are from the Cincinnati Museum Center Zoology collection), are likely extinct already. For freshwater mollusks in general over 70% of the known species are extinct or in danger of extinction.

Identifying one mussel species from another can however be difficult. Mussels are typically identified on the basis of the size, shape and texture of their shells, however, within populations these traits can vary significantly and often vary in response to variation in the environment. The difficulty in identifying one species from another confounds conservation efforts to identify threatened populations and leaves open the possibility that species thought to be extinct may persist in populations with aberrant characteristics making them difficult to distinguish from more common species.

In a recent paper by University of Alabama researcher David Campbell and his colleagues, DNA barcoding was used as a tool in identifying freshwater mussel species in the Coosa basin. DNA barcoding involves sequencing a segment of DNA common to all organisms. In general, sequences should be unique to a species, although there is often some sequence variation within species as well. DNA barcodes can be used in addition to analysis of morphological characteristics as a tool in identifying species. Focusing on the freshwater mussel genus Pleurobema, DNA barcoding revealed the existence of four species thought to be extinct from the Coosa basin; Pleurobema chattanoogaese, P. hanleyianum, P. troschelianum, and P. stabile. The DNA evidence showed that all of the Coosa basin specimens previously identified as Peurobema perovatum were actually the supposedly extinct P. hanleyianum. Also, the Warrior Pigtoe (Pleurobema rubellum), a mussel species currently listed as extinct, was identified using DNA barcoding from the nearby Black Warrior River system.

This study shows the utility of DNA analyses in conservation efforts. With the growing emphasis on DNA techniques here at Cincinnati Museum Center plans are underway to adopt DNA barcoding protocols on threatened and difficult to identify groups, like freshwater mussels, in the Ohio Valley.

CAMPBELL, D.C., JOHNSON, P.D., WILLIAMS, J.D., RINDSBERG, A.K., SERB, J.M., SMALL, K.K., LYDEARD, C. (2008). Identification of ‘extinct’ freshwater mussel species using DNA barcoding. Molecular Ecology Resources DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2008.02108.x

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University of Cincinnati Drawing Class

Museum collections have many uses, and not all of these uses for museum specimens are scientific. The zoology collection at Cincinnati Museum Center is often used by local artists to create biologically accurate wildlife art. Field guides are an excellent example of the synergy between art and science in museum collections. Jim Day of Talon Wildlife Creations is one such local artist who regularly uses the collection to create life-like reproductions of birds from domestic bird feathers. Other well known artists such as John Ruthven and the late Charley Harper have used the zoology collection extensively as reference material for their artwork.

The next generation of artists are utilizing the zoology collection as well. Led by instructor Courtney Bennett students from the University of Cincinnati visited the collection in late February (see photo right). The students were sketching everything from mounted Ring-tailed Cats to primate skulls to Harpy Eagle study skins. Courtney recently sent us photos of some of the student work (see photo above left). We hope to host many other local artists, both professional and student, and provide them with many subjects for biological illustration and wildlife art.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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'.


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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.

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Wing of the Week

OK, so this is more like a biweekly wing. In honor of the visit by Auburn University ornithologist Dr. Geoff Hill to the Cincinnati Museum Center this week on Feb. 28 to participate in the museum's Charles and Ralph Dury Lecture Series let's take a look at the wing of a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus). Putative Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) sightings are often in actuality this common species of the woodpecker family. The difference is that on both the topside (top photo) and the bottom (bottom photo) of the Pileated Woodpecker wing there is no white on the trailing edge. Knowing what field marks to look for is absolutely critical for those looking to tick off an Ivory-billed Woodpecker from their life lists!

For those in the Cincinnati area I encourage you to attend the lecture by Dr. Geoff Hill on Feb. 28 at 7:30 at Cincinnati Museum Center to learn more about the hunt for the elusive Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Also, check out Dr. Hill's new book, 'Ivorybill Hunters: Search for Proof in a Flooded Wilderness', on the Ivory-bill Woodpecker search.
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Big Mouth!

Some very special spots on the globe reveal important clues to the history of life on Earth. Madagascar is one of these very special places. The continents are on plates that float on the more viscous lower layers of the Earth. Land masses split apart and collide. Often our geographic boundaries of land masses that are not in accord with their geologic boundaries. For example, what we define as the combined continent of Eurasia is actually comprised of land masses on different geologic plates. India is on a different plate than the rest of Asia and has been colliding with Asia for approximately the past 50 million years. This collision between the India Plate and the Eurasian Plate is pushing up the Himalayas. Prior to it's collision with Eurasia India was part of a single landmass that included Madagascar and the Seychelles.

The geological history of these places is not just reflected in the rocks but also in their plants and animals. For example, a recently discovered species of a palm, Tahina spectabilis, found in Madagascar has it's closest relatives in India. After the combined landmass of India, the Seychelles and Madagascar split from Africa it drifted into what is today Antarctica, which at the time was also connected to South America. This connection via Antarctica explains some odd biogeographic patterns. The large constricting snakes encompass two groups distinguished by their mode of reproduction. Boas are primarily confined to the Americas and give live birth while the pythons, found in Africa and Asia, lay eggs. Most boas are found in the Americas, but, two species of boa, very similar to the boas of Central and South America, are found in Madagascar. The distribution of the boas provides another clue to Madagascar's geological history.

Now, a new find by Susan Evans of University College London and her colleagues provides yet more clues to Madagascar's complex history. The anuran (frogs and toads) sub-family Ceratophrynae contains large predatory frogs found in tropical and subtropical forests in South America. These frogs are large, fat blobs with huge mouths. Often seen in the pet trade they are popularly known as "pac-man frogs" due to their characteristic "all-mouth" morphology (see photo of juvenile Ceratophrys ornata right). Ceratophryine frogs are sit-and-wait predators who sit on the forest floor camouflaged int he leaf litter waiting for large insects, or even small mammals to walk by. It seems that like the Boas the Ceratophryine frogs have, or once had, cousins from Madagascar.

Evan's team discovered a new species of Ceratophryine frog from Madagascar. The new species is described from fossil material from the Mahajanga Basin in northwestern Madagascar. Extant Ceratophryine frogs are very large frogs, but, this new species dwarfs the existing Neotropical species and indeed at 40 cm long and 20 cm wide is larger than the largest known extant frog, the Goliath Frog (Conrauna goliath). Due to it's broad bony head and it's imposing size and likely predatory habits, like those of other Ceratophryines, the researchers named this new species Beelzebufo ampinga, or "shielded devil frog". This imposing fossil dates to the late Cretaceous about 65-70 million years ago.

Beelzebufo ampinga's relationship to the South American Ceratophyines and it's place in Madagascar's history at the late Cretaceous presents a bit of a puzzle. The present day islands of Madagascar, the Seychelles and the sub-continent of India split from Africa as one land mass approximately 160 million years ago and began to divide into their present day land areas about 88 million years ago. Shortly, geologically speaking, after the split from Africa the Madagascar-Seychelles-India land mass was in contact with the Antarctic land mass, which was also connected with both South America and Australia, but, the timing and duration of this contact is debated. The common ancestor of the modern South American Ceratophryines and this new Malagasy Ceratophryine must have inhabited this ancient interconnected Anatarctic-South American-Australian-Indian-Malagasy continent.

However, evidence from genetics provides another puzzle. The genetic data suggest that the modern Ceratophryine group diverged from a common ancestor well after the late Cretaceous. This would mean that Beelzebufo ampinga arose well before the appearance of the Ceratophyrines and isn't a Ceratophryine at all but rather evolved it's "pac-man-like" characteristics independently of the modern Ceratophryine frogs. However, Evans provides some compelling evidence that Beelzebufo ampinga is indeed a member of the Ceratophryine clan which means that the genetic data is misleading or that the history of these southern land masses is not as expected with much later and perhaps longer connections between Madagascar, Antarctica and South America. Beelzebufo ampinga is yet another dramatic example of the complex history of the Earth and surely will help us better understand the drifting continents and the distribution and evolution of plants and animals.

Read more about this finding at the Nature News website and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Happy Darwin Day!

Today is the 199th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth. Born on this date in 1809 (coincidentally the same day as Abraham Lincoln) Darwin eventually would revolutionize biology. The idea that life shares a common ancestry and changes over time preceded Darwin, but, until Darwin's theory of natural selection, no one had yet posed a viable mechanism by which evolutionary change occurs. Darwin's deceptively simple idea was based on a few very basic premises; populations vary, their variations can be passed from parent to offspring, and some variants leave more progeny than others. Some individuals leave more progeny than others owing specifically to how their characteristics perform in a given environment relative to other traits in the population. This is natural selection, and it remains a central idea in modern biology explaining everything from the beaks of finches to the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Darwin's monumental contribution to the life sciences was recognized by the scientific community almost immediately. So important were Darwin's ideas to the advancement of science that he was buried in Westminster Abby near that other of Britain's fathers of modern science, Issac Newton. Placing Darwin's remains in Westminster alongside Newton was a recognition that Darwin's theory of evolutionary change was as important as an accomplishment as Newton's ideas on gravity and optics. Today evolution remains the central organizing principle in the life sciences, a testament to Charles Darwin's scientific genius.

Next year will be the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of the Origin of Species. Next year look forward to exhibits and other activities at Cincinnati Museum Center, and scientific institutions and museums around the globe, celebrating Darwin's scientific accomplishments and the central role of evolution in helping us explain the natural world.

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Wing of the week

OK, it's been a little more than a week but here's the latest wing of the week. This time it's another Philippine species but a less brightly colored bird, the Luzon Scops Owl (Otus longicornis). There are many species of Scops Owls in East and Southeast Asia and this is one of the endemic Otus species from the Philippines. It's not as flashy as the kingfisher wing from last week but I still think the patterned brown wings of owls are absolutely beautiful.

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New species of sengi

What is a sengi? Sengis are also known as elephant shrews. Found exclusively in Africa, elephant shrews are small, terrestrial mammals found in grasslands and forests. The sengi's diet consists of insects and other terrestrial invertebrates. Sengis have long thin legs, long tails and a long flexible snout that they use to sniff out their prey. Just as the Flying Lemur's name has proven unexpectedly appropriate as new DNA evidence has shown they are the closest cousins to the primates, so too is the sengi's other common name. Recent comparative genetic studies suggest that sengis are members of a very old mammalian superorder, the Afrotheria. As the name suggests the Afrotheria originated in Africa and the group consists of a strange assemblage of mammalian orders including aardvarks, golden moles, sea cows and manatees, hyraxes, tenrecs, elephants and elephant shrews. Just as the Flying Lemur neither truly flies nor is truly a lemur, elephant shrews are neither elephants or shrews. However, their unexpected place in the Afrotheria along with the elephants does give some truth to the sengi's other common name, the elephant shrew.

Sengis belong to the order Macroscelidea and there are 15 recognized species, OK, make that 16. The Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania are a major center of biodiversity. Compared to other animal groups like insects or marine invertebrates there are few recent cases of terrestrial vertebrates new to science. However, the Udzungwa Mountains have seen an explosion of new species. Several amphibians, reptiles, a partridge, a shrew and even a new species of monkey have been described from the Udzungwa Mountains in recent years. Add to that list a new species of sengi. Francesco Rovero of the Trento Museum of Natural Science in Trento, Italy and colleagues describe a large forest sengi from the Udzungwa Mountains. This new snegi is called the Grey-faced Sengi (Rhynchocyon udzungwensis) and at about 1.5 lbs (710 g) it is the largest sengi species. The Grey-faced Sengi was found in moist montane forests and bamboo thickets where they forage for insects and build nests of loose leaves at the base of trees. This new member of the sengi clan shows that the Udzungwa Mountains are an evolutionary hotspot deserving of the highest conservation priority.

To see a photo of this new species taken with a laser triggered camera-trap see Discovery News and read the original paper in the Journal of Zoology.

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Wing of the week

I'll try to put a new spread wing photo up every week. To start things off here's a beautiful example from the kingfishers (family: Alcedinidae), the White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis). Here are photos of the top (top photo) and bottom sides (bottom photo) of the right wing from a specimen collected in the Philippines by former Cincinnati Museum Center curator Dr. Robert Kennedy. Enjoy!


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Bird banding

It's been a long time coming but I finally have my federal master bird bander permit. Bird banding, or "ringing" as it is known in Europe, involves placing some unique identifier on a bird's leg. People have been banding birds for about four centuries, most typically using metal bands and lengths of chord or string. Recapture of banded birds can provide valuable information about the life history and movements of birds. Along with collecting, bird banding was a central activity in the history of ornithology and it continues to be a major research tool in ornithology today.

Systematic and organized bird banding began in the United States about a century ago and today banding is regulated by the United States Geological Survey's Bird Banding Laboratory. Permission to band birds for individuals is obtained through a master bird banding permit. Application for the master banding permit is a lengthy process and applicants must demonstrate a legitimate scientific and/or educational reason to band birds. Bird banding can be focused on a particular species or done more generally to provide long term distribution and abundance data of local avifauna. Numerous anatomical measurements and other data are recorded for each bird to obtain, among other things, data on plumage and morphological variation, age structure and sex ratio. Once a scientific purpose has been established for a banding program an applicant's training and ability to identify, capture and handle birds is assessed. All applicants are required to provide references from master bander permit holders in order to assess the applicants credentials as a bird bander. Typically most master banding permit holders spent some time as a subpermitee under a master permit holder. If applicants request permission to capture birds with mist nets or collect blood samples additional authorization for these somewhat delicate and difficult practices is required. Currently there are about 2,000 master bander permit holders in the United States and most are from universities and governmental conservation and research agencies. Holding a master banding permit is therefore a great privilege and responsibility and for me an important part of my growth as an ornithologist.

The latest bird banding program at Cincinnati Museum Center (CMC) began this past weekend at Cincinnati Country Day School (CCDS) with CCDS faculty member and CMC adjunct curator Francisco Borrero (see photo above of Francisco removing a bird from a mist net). We had two upper school students show up on a very cold Sunday morning to put up a mist net near a bird feeder on school grounds. So, what was the first bird to be caught under the auspices of my hard won USGS master banding permit? It was a male House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), band number 2291-69601 (see photo left). House sparrows are an abundant species in urban and suburban settings. They are not native to North America but instead introduced from Europe. The first bird recorded in my banding records is not the most exotic of species but a neat little bird none-the-less. Other birds banded on my first official outing as a master bander included blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata), Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis), European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) and the Eastern Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor, see photo below).


Students seemed to enjoy the chance to handle wild birds (see photo right) and were a big help on processing the birds and recording data. Hopefully bird banding on the campus of CCDS will attract more participation among the CCDS upper and middle school student body. Data gained through bird banding can serve as an excellent introduction to field-based science and we hope students will take full advantage of opportunities at CCDS and CMC and participate in bird banding and other field biology programs. Who knows? Maybe some of the students learning how to catch, measure and band birds in this program will themselves be holders of master banding permits someday?

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Darwin Day Celebration and Evolution Sunday

Next month marks the 199th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth. Darwin (and coincidentally Abraham Lincoln) was born on February 12, 1809 and since 1994 universities, museums and other public institutions have marked the date with various events to commemorate the career of one of the greatest scientific minds in history. This day has been dubbed Darwin Day and is celebrated around the world with events that recognize Darwin's contributions to our understanding of the natural world. Lectures, museum exhibits, nature hikes, public discussion forums and other activities are planned this year at places like Case Western Reserve University, University of Pennsylvania Museum, The National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, and The North Carolina Botanical Garden. Next year will be a major milestone marking the bicentennial of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species and major events are planned at museums, universities and research centers around the globe.

To coincide with Darwin Day a group of concerned Christian clergy started Evolution Sunday in 2006. Evolution Sunday grew out of an effort lead by Butler University dean Michael Zimmerman to bring together Christian clergy to combat the misrepresentation of both science and religious faith in the evolution/creationism debate. The result was the Clergy Letter Project, a statement affirming that there is no fundamental conflict between the science of evolution and the acceptance of the Christian faith. To date over 11,000 Christian leaders have signed on to the Clergy Letter Project including theologians from colleges, universities and seminaries the Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana tri-state area, including Xavier University, Lexington Theological Seminary, Centre College and the Earlham School of Religion. During Evolution Sunday congregations around the country take the time to discuss what evolutionary biology means to their faith. This open dialog between science and religious faith is exactly what is needed in the evolution/creationism debate and the participation of the scientific community in these events is critical. As Darwin Day and Evolution Sunday approach I'll try to add more posts about Darwin, creationism and the impact of evolution on society at large.

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