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7/09-8/09
^k^ Your Journey Begins 18,000 Years Ago AT THE MASHANTUCKET PEQUOT MUSEUM
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MASHANTUCKET Unique restaurant PEQUOT Educational Powwow, July 8 & 9
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O Smithsonian Affiliate 'W AAA www.naturamistorymag.com s '9i I ^ i
FE ATU R ES COVER STORY 22 A LONG DRINK OF WATER 28 THE SECRET LIVES OF STARLINGS For thirsty sea snakes, African starlings face an unpredictable the ocean can be a desert. habitat that influences their levels of cooperation, conflict, and cheating. BY HARVEY B. LILLYWHITE BY DUSTIN R. RUBENSTEIN
DEPARTMENTS
2 THE NATURAL MOMENT 34 BOOKSHELF Kits in a Caboodle Laurence A. Marschall
Suzi Eszterhas 38 THIS LAND 6 nature.net The Name of the Rose Tree China Syndrome Robert H. Mohlenbrock Robert Anderson AZ SKYLOG 6 WORD EXCHANGE Joe Rao
10 SAMPLINGS 44 EXPLORING SCIENCE News from Nature AND NATURE
16 LIFE ZONE 48 ENDPAPER A Head in the Clouds Loving Lakes to Death Robert R.Dunn Robert M. Tborson
ON THE cover: Yellow- lipped sea krait fLaticauda colubrina^
//? Bunaken National Park, Indonesia Image by Mark Thomas ^ See preceding two pages
THE NATURAL EXPLANATION BY ERIN ESPELIE
he that picked up the cubs and moved them to a new (less easily photo- graphed) den after a few weeks. But
It wasn't the photographer's atten- tions that bugged him. Odor builds up, Eszterhas explains, betraying the jgCLa den's presence to predators; plus, the home gets overrun by fleas and ticks. On safari in Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve, rule-abid- ronic, in a way, that insects would ing visitors must make mobile dens be bothersome to bat-eared foxes, of their vehicles, hunkering down which are insectivores. Their birth
to view the action trom a sate, re- season is timed to coincide with spectful vantage. Big game barely the arrival of the short rainy season, bats an eye nowadays at the motors in October and November, when and the open mouths. But a few of insect populations spike. Not coin- the smaller denizens, such as the cidentally, the fox-filled area that bat-eared foxes {Otocyoii megalotis) Eszterhas frequented was rich with pictured here, can't abide the noise termite mounds. or attention. To see these shyer crea- And the bat-eared foxes' hall- tures, one must go looking, outfit- mark ears, which measure about ted with a truckload of patience. five inches on adults, are adapted to Photographer Suzi Eszterhas spent detecting the rustle of insects. Dung several years in a Mara bush camp before "batties," as she calls them, ever came on her radar screen. She was studying hyena behavior when she happened upon and became en- amored of a pair of adult bat-eared foxes. The next year she set out to habituate one or more of that species to her presence. Luckily, a female
she chose to tail gave birth within a Bat-eared fox sniffs a dung ball. few weeks—and in a very shallow den, easily visible from a distance. beetles, for instance, roll up balls of With entree to the cubs' early dung, bury them, and lay their eggs growth, Eszterhas camped out from inside. When the larvae hatch, they
dawn until dusk in the passenger feed on the dung ball. That is, un- seat of her Suzuki, peering through less a bat-eared fox hears the larvae a telephoto lens from her haven into hatch and, as Eszterhas has observed,
the foxes'. She soon observed that, digs it up, claws it open, and feasts short of suckling, the father took on on the larvae. "I've seen them go equal domestic duty. He's the one crazy over the dung balls," she says.
tending to the young in the photo- "They'll fight over them. It's as if
graph on the previous pages. And it is they've found the jackpot."
California-based photographer Suzi EszterhaS spends nine
months of the year shooting a variety of wildlife in the field. In
recent years she has specialized in documenting family life and
newborn animals. She has published widely and is a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers. Visit www.suzieszterhas.com to see more of her work.
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nature.net by robert anderson WORD EXCHANGE CHINA SYNDROME mm ViTTORio Maestro Editor in Cliief
Steven R. Black Art Director
Erin Espelie Exeaniue Editor
Senior Editors
Recently I read Simon Winchester's The Rebecca Kessler, Dolly Setton Man Who Loved China, a wonderful biog- The Color Purple Melisa Beveridge Assistant Art Director raphy of Joseph Needham (1900-1995), the Olivia Judson's article on color vi- Annie Gottlieb Copy Chief brilliant Cambridge scientist who devoted Graciela Flores Editor-at-Dvge re- his life to uncovering the innovations that sion ["Seeing the Light," 4/09] Florence Brauner Volunteer the ancient Chinese gave the world. The list minded me of an experience I had Natasha Thweatt Intern includes far more than gunpowder, paper, when I taught high school chem- Contributing Editors printing presses, silk, and the compass. Robert Anderson, Druin Burch, Olivia Judson, Avis Lang, istry. In laboratory experiments But all those marvels raise the question: Charles Liu, Laurence A. Marschall, Pachard Milner, Why did a culture that invented so much, measuring and calculating the wave- Robert H. Mohlenbrockjoe Rao, Stephan Reebs, long before the West, not undergo a scien- lengths of light produced by hydro- Judy A. Rice, Adam Summers, Neil deOrasse Tyson revolution? Three British tific and industrial gen gas, my students—particularly scholars, interviewed on the BBC's online Charles E. Harris Publisher the boys—had difficulty measuring radio program In Our Time (www.bbc. Edgar L. Harrison Advertising Director co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_ the third emission line in the violet Maria Volpe Promotion Director 20061019.shtml), examine that intriguing range (at 397 nanometers, it's right Sonia W; Paratore National Advertising Manager Adam Cohen Advertisitig Manager historical puzzle. For my guide to Web sites near the border between visible and Meredith Miller Production Manager exploring Needham's quest and the tech- ultraviolet light). One year I dis- Joe Sharkey Manager, Publishing Services nological wonders of the Middle Kingdom,
covered that a couple of girls in - please visit the magazine online (www. my For advertising information naturalhistorymag.com). class could easily see and determine call 646-356-6508
the position of three violet emis- Advertising Sales Representatives ROBERT ANDERSON is a freelance science writer who Detroit—Bzrron Media Sales, LLC, 313-268-3996 lives in Los Angeles. sion lines. We started calling them C/h'm^cj—Robert Purdy & Associates, 312-726-7800 Super Girls, and froin that time West Coast—On Course Media Sales, 310-710-7414
American Publishers Representatives Ltd., 416-363-1388 forward, I always asked the female Toronto— Atlanta and Miami—Rickles and Co., 770-664-4567 students how many violet lines they St)H(/i^mcnM—Netcorp Media, Ltd., 51-1-222-8038 could see before starting the mea- National Direct Response—Smyth Media Group, 914-693-8700 surements. Market Classified—Medh Options, 800-442-6441
South Georgia & I now teach human anatomy Todd Happer Vice President, Science Education Falkland Islands part-time. The morning that I read Educational Advisory Board Judson's article where she men- — David Chesebrough COSI Columbus tions that mothers whose sons have Stephanie Ratcliffe Natural Histoty Museum of the Adirondacks a particular kind of colorblindness Ronen Mir MadaTcch-Israel National Museum of Science Carol Valenta Saint Louis Science Center may be tetrachromats—one of my students asked to explain col- me Natural History Magazine, Inc. orblindness. Her son had just been Charles E. Harris President, Chief Executive Officer diagnosed as colorblind. I was able Judy Buller General Manager to investigate whether she was one Cecile Washington General Manager Charles Rodin Publishing Advisor such Super Girl a tetrachromat. and Jim Van Abbema Webmaster I borrowed a hydrogen emission '^.r?^-- To contact us regarding your subscription, to order a new setup and asked my student to de- subscription, or to change your address, please visit our 29-day expedition scribe the colors she saw. She said Web site www.naturalhistorymag.com or write to us at Natural History onboard the Polar Star she saw only one violet line. I was RO. Box 5000, Harlan. lA 51593-0257. over 25 landings disappointed. Then she realized j^ NaUiral Hhfory (ISSN 0028-0712) is publisheJ monthly, except for combined only 94 passengers she forgot to wear her glasses while iwuL's in July/August and Dt-ccmbcr/January. by Nalunl History Magazine, I inc. in affiliation with the Americin Museum of Natural History, Central
West at 79th Street. New York. NY 10024. E-mail: nhniag@natural ^ looking through the diffraction grat- Park hiscorymag.com. Natural History Magazine, Inc. is solely responsible for 28 -Jan 25, 2010 editorial content and publishing practices. Subscriptions: S30.00 a year; for Dec ing. With her glasses, she saw three J Canada and all other countries: $40.00 a year. Periodicals postage paid at New J distinct violet lines. York. NY and at additional mailing offices. Canada Publications Mail No. i 40030827. Copyright © 2009 by Natural History Magazine. Inc Ail rights I •^1^3 this periodical be reproduced without ivritten consent 1 In the next anatomy class, I asked reserved. No part of may of Naiiirol History. If you would like to contact us regarding your subscrip- if any of the women had colorblind- tion or to enter a new subscription, please write to us at Natural History.! 800.527^i|330 RO. Box 5000, Harlan. !A 51593-0257, Postmaster; Send address changes to J www.cheesemans.com Contiinied on page 37 Nmral History. R O, Box 5000, Harlan. lA 51537-5000. Printed in the U.S.A.|
CheesemAns^Egology Safaris NATURAL HISTORY Juty/AugUSt 2009 Mother Nature's Majesty and Might
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m^mEST. 1900 SAMPLINGS
Antique Explorers' Gear Wet Galaxy
Hermit crabs, a lineage some 200 million central Wisconsin. The small imprints are Astronomers have reported the old- years old, may not have been the first to in remarkably good shape: a microbial mat est and most distant sign of water salvage mollusk shells for self-protection. permeating the beach probably saved them in the universe: a cloud of water va- Primitive arthropods were among the ear- from obliteration by waves. por near a supermassive black hole liest animals to venture onto land—500 The tracks resemble those of present-day at the center of a faraway galaxy. hermit crabs, complete with intermittent, A team led by CM. Violette off-center impressions—hallmarks of a bor- Impellizzeri, at the time a doc- rowed shell touching the ground with each toral student at the Max Planck step. But the marks suggest that compared Institute for Radio Astronomy in
with hermit crabs, the ancient trekkers Bonn, Germany, first spotted It in wore their shells upside down. So whereas 2007—apparently from 11.1 billion hermit crabs' rear ends curl under toward light years away. their bellies, the early arthropods' tails must Molecular signals must be
have curled upward, like scorpions'. Also in unusually strong to be detected contrast with hermit crabs, the borrowed from such a great distance. The shells seem to have been too small to cover astronomers inferred the presence
all. They may have just protected the gills of the water cloud after detecting from desiccation, thus overcoming a critical an unusually powerful water ma- hurdle in the move from sea to land. ser—an amplified microwave signal million years ago—and they too recycled After all, guarding against land preda- produced by stimulated water mol- shells, according to new research. tors was pointless: there were none. ecules. A galaxy between Earth and James W. Hagadorn of Amherst College Indeed, the winding tracks suggest a lei- the maser served as a gravitational
in Massachusetts and Adolf Seilacher of surely excursion. The arthropods probably lens by bending and further magni- Yale University analyzed Cambrian-period came ashore at low tide to graze upon fying the microwave rays.
fossil tracks left on a sand flat by the same microbial mat that recorded Water masers exist in galaxies
ancient arthropods in their tracks so well. (Geology) close to home, but they are rare.
what Is now —Stephan Reebs Yet Impellizzeri's team found one Back from the Wild
In 1998, with much fanfare, a twenty- year-old orca named Keiko took a one- way trip on an Air Force cargo plane from Oregon to Iceland. There, attended by dozens of biologists and trainers, and at a cost reportedly topping $20 million, the orca was gradually reintroduced to his native waters. Keiko, of course, had
starred in three Free Willy movies, which Light iVieai sparked a public campaign to free him
Vitamin D3 is essential for good health, The team then set after nineteen years in captivity. yet seldom can animals obtain enough the chameleons in But things didn't quite turn out as
of it from food. Fortunately, exposure to separate outdoor planned. A team of his former care- sunlight supplements the diet: ultraviolet enclosures that had similar amounts of sun takers, led by Malene J. Simon of the B (UVB) rays convert a cholesterol-related and shade for five days, and tracked where Greenland Institute of Natural Resources molecule that's present in skin cells into vi- they spent their time. The three vitamin- tamin D3. Balancing the two sources might deprived chameleons spent more time in seem tricky, but a recent paper shows that the sun than did their three vitamin-forti-
chameleons are amazingly good at it. fied counterparts. Most people think reptiles bask in the That behavior led to a mathematically sun just to warm up. To establish whether optimum exposure to UVB, particularly in
they also do it to get their vitamins, Kristo- the vitamin-deprived bunch, the research- pher B. Karsten and his graduate adviser at ers calculated. The chameleons are thus the time, Gary W. Ferguson of Texas Chris- pros at balancing diet and sunshine. The tian University in Fort Worth, along with researchers suspect that a special brain two colleagues, studied panther chame- receptor lets the reptiles determine when leons, Furcifer pardalis. For two months, they're low on Dj and how much sunning
the team fed six chameleons crickets that will make up for it. (Physiological and were either enriched or low in vitamin D3. Biochemical Zoology) —S.R.
10 1 NATURAL HISTORY July/August 2009 a
Clone Ranger
What you are about to read deals with alarm calls, eaves- dropping on neighbors, and self-recognition. Now guess MG J0414+0534, a distant who the subjects are. Bet galaxy, appears four times (with you're not thinking of plants, red halos). The image was made are you? 'Vet sagebrushes do possible by a second galaxy all those things. (center, white) closer to Earth, which acts as a magnifying and When an insect munches multiplying lens. on a sagebrush leaf, the wound releases volatile com- on their first look through a pounds. They waft into the gravitational lens. Powerful air and incite other leaves to water masers must therefore mount a chemical defense in have been much more com- Forfeit Thy Neighbor preparation for attack. (Inter- mon in the early universe than nal signaling, via the stems, they are now. Some beetles play possum, and for the same reason that doesn't seem to communi-
Were it possible to plan a possums do: to avoid attention from predators. A new study cate that particular message trip to that wet galaxy (MG highlights the reason for the trick's success— it works by sac- in sagebrushes.) The leaves
J0414+0534, it's called), re- rificing the neighbors. of nearby sagebrush plants member that the universe has Takahisa Miyatake of Okayama University in Japan has "overhear" and respond expanded considerably since long studied the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, and defensively, as do those of the signal originated, 11.1 its spider predator, Adanson's house jumper, Hasarius ad- the damaged individual it- billion years ago. The water ansoni. When a spider attacks, the beetle feigns death by en- self. But a plant's reaction is
maser is now 19.8 billion light tering a state known as tonic immobility, which often averts stronger to its own chemical years away—so pack a lunch. real death. To figure out exactly why the tactic succeeds, warnings than to those is- [Nature) —S.R. Miyatake and three colleagues bred one beetle strain that sued by strangers, Richard mmmmm^^^mmmmmm^^^m^^^ feigns death for about twenty Karban of the University of California, Davis, and Kaori I minutes and one that doesn't in Nuuk, has analyzed logs of Keiko's behavior and data from do it at all. Then they studied Shiojiri of Kyoto University in satellite tags recording his travels and dives. They point out that interactions between spiders Japan have just discovered. Keiko never managed to integrate with Icelandic orca pods and and beetles of both strains. The two biologists mea- didn't seem to do much diving or fishing. He spent two several- Spiders prefer living prey, sured how much herbivory week-long stretches on his own at sea, but ultimately chose to so they were less likely to sagebrushes suffered when return to human care. Perhaps it was his affinity for frozen fish and devour beetles that feigned they spent a summer next human companionship that drew him back. He died of pneumonia death after an attack, the to either a wounded clone in 2003, inside an open-access pen in a Norwegian inlet. researchers found. That was of themselves or a wounded Simon's team concludes that Keiko was never a good can- especially true if alternative individual that wasn't related. didate for reintroduction in the first place. Unlike the few cap- prey was available. Spiders Insect damage was 42 per- tive marine mammals that have been successfully freed, Keiko ate death-feigning beetles 38 cent lower in plants that had
had spent too long in captivity from too young an age, and percent of the time when the received airborne messages was too strongly bonded with people, to have much chance beetles were alone, but if the from their clones. at reentry. Even the best intentions, and plenty of cash, can't spider had a choice between Karban and Shiojiri con- volatile necessarily undo the taming of a giant, it seems. (Marine a death-feigner and a non- clude that the cue ivlammal Science) —Rebecca Kessler feigner, it bagged the non- has a chemical signature to feigner almost every time. which the sender is most The results were comparable sensitive. That signature may when spiders had a choice of be determined genetically. death-feigning red flour bee- so close relatives could also
tles and nonfeigning beetles be more responsive to it. The of a different species. biologists point out that the The researchers conclude ability to distinguish self and that tonically immobile bee- family from others is an evo- tles enjoy improved odds of lutionary prerequisite to fa- survival, especially when in voring kin in competition — the company of more mobile further step so far observed compatriots. {Proceedings only in plants whose roots of the Royal Society B) are touching. (Ecology —Harvey Leifert Letters) —S.R.
July/August 2009 natural history 11 SAMPLINGS
Home Growth No Lily-livered Rat
Ants and ant-housing trees are For thousands of years, desert woodrats {Neotoma lepida) of
a classic example of mutual- the southwestern United States lived on a diet rich in juniper, ism. The trees provide room despite the plant's toxic compounds. Then, 18,700 years ago, the and board for ants that ward region's climate changed. In what is now the Mojave Desert, juni- off herbivores in return. But per gave way to creosote shrubs, while farther north in the Great
friends aren't always what they Basin it remained plentiful. Creosote shrubs have a completely seem, a new study shows. distinct arsenal of toxins, yet woodrats thrive in both areas today. Cordia nodosa is a South How did woodrats in the Mojave adapt to their new staple? American tree colonized by To learn the genetic backstory, Elodie Magnanou and col- ants, and one of them, AZ- leagues at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City captured lomerus octoarticulatus, turns woodrats from the Mo-
out to be as much fiend as Allomerus octoarticulatus ants jave and the Great Basin, friend. Sure, the ants protect on young Cordia nodosa leaves and fed them controlled the tree, but they also prune off diets containing either
its flowers, sterilizing it. Hypo- contrast. She snipped off all juniper or creosote for thetically, they do so to force the trees' flowers to mimic A/- several days. Next, the the tree to put its energy into lomerus, and, sure enough, researchers compared growing rather than producing four months later found that messenger RNA ex- fruits and seeds. Inside hollow the sterilized trees had grown tracted from their livers nodules in the branches called four times as many domatia as to find out which genes domatia, the ants both live and untouched controls. were being expressed farm honeydew-producing scale But occupation by flower- there to process food. insects for food. More growth pruning ants doesn't neces- They used microarrays, creates more domatia, letting sarily end a C. nodosa tree's Desert woodrat molecular tools that can the ant colony expand. sex life. A tree can host a quickly highlight differ- To test the hypothesis, series of ant colonies during ences in gene expression between individuals of the same spe- Megan E. Frederickson, an its lifetime. Eventually, Azteca cies. Innovatively, in this case they used microarrays specific to ecologist at Harvard Univer- ants— or other true friends like the common lab rat, Rattus norvegicus, to study the woodrat, a sity, went to Peru and selected them—may move in and let the related wild species. C. nodosa trees that housed tree blossom. (The American In woodrats on the creosote diet, the team identified twenty-
Azteca ants—true friends, by Naturalist) -S.R. four genes that were much more active in the Mojave group than in the Great Basin group. Those genes make liver enzymes that help to detoxify creosote—allowing Mojave woodrats to prosper — (Dl. E WARMING EARTH on seemingly inedible food. (Molecular Ecology) H.L. Deactivating the Clathrate Bomb
Vast reserves of the greenhouse gas methane are se- clathrate meltdown take place? questered in a solid form, called methane clathrate, in Unlikely, says Vasilii V. Petren- sediments under the sea and in permafrost. Clathrate ko, now at the University of Colo- is stable only at low temperatures; should global warm- rado at Boulder. With colleagues, ing free just 10 percent of its sequestered methane into he measured levels of the isotope
the atmosphere, the resulting greenhouse effect would carbon-14 in the methane in those
equal that of a tenfold increase in carbon dioxide. air bubbles. It was too high to That's a climate scientist's worst worst-case sce- have come from clathrate, the nario, and many have conjectured that something like team found, and more in line with
it happened 11,600 years ago. Then, Earth emerged production by wetlands, which from an ice age and warmed up in a hurry— in some must have proliferated in the places by 18 Fahrenheit degrees in twenty years. Air newly balmy climate. (Bacteria bubbles trapped in Greenland ice at the time show produce the gas as they break a 50 percent increase in atmospheric down organic matter.) To study past methane. Did a That warming 11,600 years ago took the Earth methane levels, from cold to temperate. How clathrate will respond geologists sample to the change underway from temperate to warm re- ice, above, at mains to be seen, though Petrenko is optimistic. As the Pakitsoq ice for the threat of methane emission from expanding margin in western
etlands, he calls it a "lesser evil," since wetlands Greenland, left. can hold far less of the gas than clathrates do. {Science) —S.R Every day, an estimated 1,000 children Millions of African schoolchildren have
die of HIV/AIDS ... their lives cut short.' lost their teachers to HIV/AIDS -
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Named one of America's Most Admired Comparties' as well as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies, For those infected with HIV, the William J. Clinton BD provides advanced medical technology to serve Presidential Foundation is enabling providers to access the global community's greatest needs. affordable CD4 immunocytometry tests from BD. BD - Helping all people live healthy lives. With Save the Children, BD is supporting a two-year project to improve health outcomes along Ethiopia's 'All statistics cited: UNAioswHO, 2007 high risk corridors through health system capacity :;™erC":Ap,il. Please visit www.bd.com BD, BD Logo and all other trademarks are property of Becton. Dickinson and Company, e 2009 BD Introducing Natural History Tours- Come Witk Us ori a ^eal'Lifc Jourriey! ^ou arc cordially invited to join us on two exciting adventures accompanied by experts to destinations selected with you, our curious reader, in mind. Experience many of the creatures and cultures that you've encountered within ; Get up-close to Africa's great predators, or cruise down the Nile with ;yptian antiquities as your backdrop. Draw your own conclusions as you interact with expert naturalists, historians or your fellow Natural History travelers' and enthusiasts. /''./:' Natural History Tours have been expertly designed for your complete corn fort Arrive at each destination refreshed from your private charter flight and avoid: arduous drives. Conclude your day's adventures in beautifvilly set acifgmmodations that reflect their surroundings, from classic safiri camps to '. a .hv'c-star.;cruise ship on the Nile. . \, SOUTHERN AFRICA WING SAFARI 'ti'uth Africa, Botswana and Z.anihia August 30 - September 9, 2010 $9,995 per person, double occupancy lake a private air safari to some of Africa's finest reserves and World Heritage sites in Botswana, Zambia ,ind South Africa. Naturalist guides bring \'ou up-close to a variety of game on walking and jeep safaris, boat excursions in the Okavango Delta, and a guided historical tour of N'ictoria balls. Sta\- in luxur\- tented camps and lodges throughout. A third generation Southern African, RusseirGammon has led expeditions throughout Africa for over 20 vears. Passionate about natural science and the outdoors, Canunon also imparts his historical perspective as an anthorilv on the Victorian explorer David Livingstone. EGYPT BY PRIVATE AIR With Optional Extension to Jordan December 17-24,2010 $7,995, per adult, double occupancy $6,595, per child (II years and under), double occupanc}' Your journey includes Cairo's great pyramids and antiquities, a tour-nighr Nile cruise from Lu.xor to Aswan on a five-star cruise ship, and the Temples of Abu Simbel. An optional, five-day trip extension continues to Jordan to explore the architectural and historical marvels of Petra, Kerak, Jerash and Professor Scott Pearson has spcm over to coincide the Dead Sea. Scheduled •iO \ears leading economic development with winter holidays, this cultural tour 'cscarch projects m eight African countries. < ))ii' our most popular kcturers, is a marvelous one to experience with of Scott will decode Egypt's historical and children or grandchildren. .ultural underpinnings with a focus on the nse andfall of empires. TOI IPQ ^''' """'^ information aUl 1-877-628-4478 (I-877-NATHIS" mm I V_JLJriCl) or visit us online at wvv'w.bushtracks.com/naturalhistor\-. LIFE ZONE BY ROBERT R. DUNN A Head in the Clouds Do the microorganisms that circulate in the atmosphere get there by chance—or by contrivance? Circumambulating tiis home near gather poop from the stick nests of and health. But it wasn't the most Oxford University, in the style of chimpanzees. They hoped to ex- momentous idea he considered, Charles Darwin treading his "think- tract RNA and DNA to see which nor the most unruly. Several of ing path," the evolutionary biologist strains of HIV and related viruses Hamilton's wild stories have sur- William D. "Bill" Hamilton often plagued the chimps. It could be vived initial disbelief and dismissal thought about life —all of it. He argued that any trip that involves to become foundation stones in the imagined evolutionary scenarios, ex- climbing trees to collect poop has understanding of evolution. He travagant and daring theories. Much not started terribly well. But things imagined, for example, that mi- as a novelist might imagine charac- got worse. One of the students croorganisms might live in clouds, ters, he imbued each with personality stabbed himself on a palm-leaf and even make them. and possibility and then helped them spike and suffered blood poison- into the world to meet their fate. ing, requiring his evacuation. Then Clouds have traditionally been beyond Just such a theory took him to the Hamilton, who had not taken any the purview of biologists—too Congo at the beginning of 2000. It malaria prophylactics, was bitten by rarefied to be the stuff of life. But had been suggested that HIV had an infected mosquito. Soon fever- Hamilton looked up (often when it jumped from chimps to humans via ish, he was sent home to England. was imprudent, while hurtling head- a tainted polio vaccine. Hamilton On January 30, 2000, the day after long on his bicycle), and imagined thought the idea had merit. But his return, he lapsed into a coma. them as biomes teeming like a river rather than simply argue the pos- The HIV hypothesis Hamilton with life. Into the clouds he cast sibility, Hamilton and two students risked his life for was potentially until he felt a bite, the tug of some- climbed trees in the rainforest to consequential for human history thing as big and wild as anything / ; 16' NATURAL HISTORY Ju/y/August 2009 www.xezo.com For a limited lime. Xezo is offering the m Architect limited-edition watch for just ^ $665.00 (shipping is free within the U.S.). ^^ To order this finely handcrafted timepiece, g visit the manufacturer's Website at o www.Xezo.com, or call 800-779-0102. ^ m^^>S^m- The Swiss-made, automatic Architect by Xezo - as unique as your environment Crocodile leather Surgical steel curved case Size: 48mm x 35mm x 8mm Luminous hands and markers 50m/165ft water-resistant EZO l^^t-- ' • 'JiiiH- ( riilrt\i — f ' i.;MiA .-. Ml he'd reeled in before. He had already pulled to pieces by beetles and bur- made revolutionary leaps from selfish ied for their young. genes to self-sacrificing kin and from When Hamilton died, his ideas parasites to the evolution of sex. He about clouds were discussed as an could, in his speculation, afford to be example of his beautiful mind, and a little bit reckless. promptly dismissed. Then a funny In 1997, Hamilton shared his cloud thing happened. Scientists began to hunches with Timothy M. Lenton, examine parts of his cloud theory. then a PhD student at the University First they tested, more rigorously, of Norwich in East Anglia, and the whether clouds really contained life. two launched into a collaboration to (They did.) Samples from clouds possibility that were scooped up, frozen, and later explore the microbes Hamilton in the Congo both make and fly in clouds. run through modern genetic analy- The theory began with over- ural selection, evolved adaptations ses. Each and every sample seemed crowded microbes in the sea. When for making clouds rather the way to be full of protein and DNA—and, their populations become too dense, beavers have evolved adaptations implicitly, of life. An average cloud, individuals that can escape will have for making ponds. if there is such a thing, contains tens an advantage. But how can they do The paper was ahead of its time. of thousands of living cells in every that? What if, Hamilton imagined, The question it raised was too big milliliter of water. That's many fewer they could get up into clouds and for microbiologists, too biologi- cells than in a milliliter of swamp ride to greener pastures? Yet single- cal for climatologists, and too airy water, but many more than you celled creatures are seemingly at the for oceanographers. No one, not might expect to find in wisps of air. mercy of the fates. Here came the even Hamilton and Lenton, knew Algae, bacteria, and lots of fungi novelty: maybe microbes produce enough about all of the elements not only ride in clouds, but actually chemicals that cause clouds to forni, they discussed—clouds, bacteria, live in them, taking up residence, ride those clouds, and then produce oceans, sea bubbles, and ice storms, surviving, and reproducing on the a second kind of chemical to cause to name a few. And then Bill Ham- "foods"—organic acids and alcohols, the clouds to rain or snow them back ilton went to the Congo, caught sulfur, and nitrogen—that float above to the ground. The idea seemed bet- malaria, and after five weeks in a us on the wind. A recent study found ter suited to a children's book than coma, died. He was sixty-three. three species of bacteria way up in to big science. And yet it was also the stratosphere, more than twelve somehow evidence of what a great AS a child, Hamilton lost the tips of miles above Earth and above all but mind, left to wander, can conjure two fingers by playing with a the thinnest, most attenuated clouds. and what an eager graduate student bomb. As an adult, he got into a None of those species has ever been can be roped into. Hamilton and fight with a knife-wielding man in collected anywhere else, leaving open Lenton published their story in 1998. Brazil. While looking for ants in the possibility that some species live On its own, the idea that micro- Rwanda, he was taken for a spy. He only and always in the clouds. In this bial life could be found in clouds is said to have been hit quite a few new, post-Hamilton view, clouds was not entirely new. Earlier bi- times by cars while riding his bike at are their own biological realms—as ologists had thrust an occasional high speeds to his office at Oxford Thoreau called them, "drifting vial or Petri dish out of a plane University. At his funeral, everyone meadow[s] of the air." window or off a hot-air balloon or recalled both Hamilton's brilliance Yet the key to Hamilton and mountaintop (among them F.C. and his near-pathological disregard Lenton's hypothesis was not sim- Meier, who disappeared in 1938 in for his own safety. Together those ply that microbes occur in clouds, his mid-forties while flying into two traits had flung him into the far but that they have evolved specific dense clouds, searching for life). corners of the world, and, it seemed traits—tiny chemical "wings"—to The vials those "aerobiologists" implicit, to an untimely death. take them there. In forests and des- brought back down were chock- He was buried quietly at the edge erts, microorganisms might not need full of microscopic life. What was of Wytham Wood near Oxford, any special adaptations to arrive in new was Hamilton and Lenton's though he had requested that his clouds. Winds, dust storms, fires, and concept that microbes had, by nat- remains be left in the Amazon to be thunderstorms may be sufficient to 18 NATURAL HISTORY July/August 2009 / .-^ 9 blow thcni into the .iir. Btit for ma- envisioned somethuig more specific. into the air stand a better chance of rine microbes to get airborne, they They knew that marine microbes survival? Would it be more likely to must escape the surface tension of (particularly algae) produce an im- be drawn up into a new cloud, which water—no easy task. And yet clouds, mediate precursor to dimethyl sulfide would act as transportation to a patch .IS It turns out, are full of such minute (DMS), a flammable, water-insoluble of sea where its offspring would thrive sea creatures. byproduct of bacterial metabolism. and multiply? Hamilton and Lenton Moreover, they knew that the DMS thought so. They imagined that DMS Hamilton and Lenton imagined how generated by those microbes could was, for microbes, like a kind of sail, bacteria and other unicellular initiate the process of cloud forma- extended when they needed to ride organisms might take advantage of tion, and that therefore, many a cloud up into the air and catch the wind. rising air bubbles in wind-whipped that rolls over your house, whether If the production of DMS is an whitecaps. It was already known in the shape of a dog, a popsicle, or adaptation of microbes that allows that such air bubbles "sca\'enge" a piano, likely had its start in the them to trigger cloud formation, it bacteria and other unicellular or- products of microbes. Water droplets would be among the most magnifi- ganisms as they rise to the water's form around microbially produced cent and consequential adaptations of surface. A bubble can accumulate DMS molecules, which thus catalyze any lineage of lite. Beavers may make microbes in densities several hun- condensation. That much is not in ponds and wetlands, but microbes dredfold greater than in the sur- contention, at least not anymore. The that build clouds alter Earth's condi- rounding water. Once at the surface, question is whether an individual tions vastly more. It micrtibes did not the microbes might be popped into microbe's genes benefit by produc- produce DMS, cloud cover would the air by the bubbles' bursts. Perhaps ing DMS (a requirement for natural be reduced dramatically. We. among that would be enough to get microbes selection to act). Did a microbe that other species, would probably not be airborne, but Hamilton and Lenton produced more DMS as it was flung able to sur\'i\-e. But did the bacteria Ease of use, peace ofmind. ^^^ .OtU^ Be able to bathe safely, without worry with a Premier Walk-In Bath. Independence and security are only a phone call away. If you struggle taking your bath, talk to us at Premier about our extensive range of walk-in baths. • Enjoy a relaxing bath again, without the fear of slipping or falling. • The walk-in door feature allows easy access and exiting. Un/1fnfh0f:»n" jets soothe away your aches and pains. ...« K' Yes! 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One could Montana to see what, at the center Three separate ice crystals, grown in the laboratory, also look at whether the genes for of snowflakes, had initially enabled contain Pseudomonas syringae (green dots). DMS production are selectively them to form. At each site a large "turned on" by microbes when they experimental plots. Amazingly, the proportion of the snow harbored approach the water's surface, where infection raged on. It was as though evidence of ice-nucleating life. That the DMS might most usefully propel the bacteria dropped straight out finding was confirmed this year by a them upward. We await an answer, of the sky—and so he decided to team of atmospheric scientists led by but, I suspect, not for long. Lenton consider that possibility. He got Kerri A. Pratt, a PhD student at the does not plan to do the work, but in a plane with a petri dish and, at University of California, San Diego, someone will—perhaps you. cruising altitude, hung it out the who detected such life in situ, by ana- window. His hand must have nearly lyzing ice crystals in clouds aboard a After microbes get into clouds, how frozen off. But when he brought the specially-equipped plane. All around do they get down? With the ex- petri dish back to the lab, P. syringae us, as it rains or snows, one might, ception of the three new bacterial grew. The bacteria had been floating upon close inspection, find such col- species known so far only from the above his wheat fields in the clouds lections of life—bacteria, algae, and stratosphere, most of the microbes and, somehow, descending onto his fungi—falling toward us in great flying around above us appear to sterilized plants. densities. It is not raining cats and need to get down to Earth to pros- Many of the details of how P. sy- dogs, but it is, more often than not, per. Hamilton and Lenton proposed ringae raises the freezing temperature snowing bacteria. that microbes in clouds produce a of water were eventually resolved second set of compounds, any of a by Sands and others. The structure ust as in the case of DMS, it is not I group of proteins that cause ice to of the special protein the pathogen vJ fully resolved whether the cloud- form around them. The frozen crea- produces mimics the structure of riding microbes that cause rain and tures begin to free fall to the Earth, an ice crystal, and that causes water snow to fall "mean" to do it (which and, if things go well, eventually molecules in liquid or vapor form to is to say, whether the proteins they melt, grow, and begin to divide. congregate on it and freeze. Initially, produce evolved as adaptations for There was precedent for such a hy- it seemed as though the bacteria's initiating snow and rain), or whether pothesis, if a somewhat obscure one. only use for this protein was in such consequences are incidental. In 1976, David C. Sands was freezing plant cells. But those who None of the many details that have hired at Montana State University paid attention noticed a strange pat- accumulated since Hamilton and during an outbreak on wheat of tern. The protein was present not Lenton's paper have ruled out their Pseudomonas syringae. That bacterium only in P. syringae, or in plant patho- hypothesis. Meanwhile, around the was known to produce a protein gens more generally; it was also seed of their speculation, the possibil- that raises the freezing temperature present in microbial lineages that ities have grown more complex and of water, and in doing so, causes did not infect plants at all. What wonderful than even Hamilton and frost damage to plants' leaves at other purpose might it serve? Lenton might have imagined: a tro- relatively warm temperatures. The Sands and others would soon reveal posphere filled with life doing things frozen plant cells burst, and some that P. syringae bacteria use the same we have yet to understand, things strains of the bacteria then take ad- protein that allows them to freeze that affect the formation and dissolu- vantage of the damage by consum- plant cells to drop out of the sky, tion of clouds and that ultimately, by ing the cells' contents. Sands had swaddled in the disguise of snow- stabilizing Earth's climate, may have a mystery on his hands, though. flakes. It seemed and seems possible had a hand in the origin of terrestrial He could not understand where that the proteins evolved because they multicellular life. the infections were coming from. help the microbes drop out of clouds, Hamilton is deeply missed by Sands sterilized some wheat seeds and then were secondarily co-opted those who knew and loved him. and planted the sterilized seeds in to help some pathogenic varieties of Continued on page 37 20 NATURAL HISTORY July/August 2009 / 3 ^ The First Lincoln Turns 1001 Exclusive Release Special The Coin with Many "Firsts"— Hoard First Shocked the Nation Issued to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, the 1 909 Lincoln Cent would VDB Cents have been coveted enough as a first-year-issue coin. But when designer Victor David Brenner conspicuously included his initials "V.D.B." on the i coin's reverse, it caused a nationwide scandal. Struck by the U.S. Mint, only a few 1909-dated Lincoln cents were minted before public outcry and protest got the initials removed from this spot forever. This was also the first cent to feature a portrait of a president, and it was the first to bear the motto "In God We Trust." 2009 represents the 100th anniversary of this beloved coin—a "must-have" coin for any collector! We secured a small hoard of these coins in time for the centennial, but they won't last long! Plus, each 1909 V.D.B. Lincoln Cent comes in an exclusive PCGS encapsulated holder that features the scandalous initials. Orders will be accepted on a strict first-come, first-sen/ed basis. Call today New York Mint to order yours—only $39.95 for one or $34.95/each for five! ©2009 Not affiliated 800-642-9160 ext* 6727 with the U. S. Mint «l^ A Long Drink o For thirsty sea snakes, the ocean can be a desert. "Look at tftisOHow reaCCy weircC" I exclaimed to a colleague. We were standing on the tilted deck of an old, wrecked merchant ship partly sub- merged off the coast of Papua New Guinea, near the capital city of Port Moresby. At my feet, a hundred or more sea snakes lay on the rusty deck, some stretched out side by side, others in tangled clusters. All were more or less still. Yellow-lipped sea kraits they were (Laticauda colubrina) [see photograph at left] , their two- or three-foot- long bodies dressed in alternating bands of gray-blue and black. It wasn't their aggregation on dry land, as it were, that surprised me—sea kraits are amphibious and known to gather in large groups occasionally. But, like shipwrecked sailors, nearly all of them appeared emaci- ated, and I could not imagine the reason. It would be more than passing strange for so many in a single popu- lation to be unable to find enough fish to eat. 22 NATURAL HISTORY July/August 2009 •* *«> Flat-tail sea snake, Laticauda schistorhyncus, above, is one of seven sea kraits, amphibious species that come ashore to rest and to lay eggs. Other sea snakes give birth to live young in the water. Below left: F Yellow-lipped sea krait, L. colubrina, is a species the Water author showed is dependent upon freshwater to maintain water balance, though it spends much of its time in the ocean. BY HARVEY B. LILLYWHITE That was in 1975. In the intervening decades I've re- salts in seawater poses a challenge to maintaining the played the scene in my mind now and then, each time re- less-salty body fluid that most terrestrial organisms and turning to the question: what was wrong with those sea their marine descendants possess. snakes? In hindsight, and with the benefit of additional Ancient mariners learned that we humans become se- research into sea snake physiology, I'm almost certain riously dehydrated if we drink seawater (an act called it wasn't hunger plaguing them. Although surrounded "mariposa"). Our kidneys cannot concentrate urine suf- by the vast waters of the Pacific Ocean, they were most ficiently to conserve enough water while eliminating likely severely dehydrated. They might even have been the excess ingested salt. Marine mammals, by contrast, early harbingers of climate change. can excrete more concentrated urine than ours, and they Of the myriad and diverse creatures of the sea, most have digestive-system adaptations that enable them to evolved right there in the saltwater. But a handful of extract the maximum liquid from their t'ood. As a result, them, including sea snakes, are secondarily marine, ha\'- marine mammals have no need tor freshwater. It remains ing evolved from terrestrial ancestors. The evolutionary unknown whether they, and most other marine \"erte- transition from one medium to another is ditticult. and brates, drink seawater directly. the switch from air on land to seawater presents special Marine birds and reptiles !iave come up witii a differ- problems. Chief among them is obtaining enough wa- ent solution for eliminating excess salt: specialized glands ter to stay properly hydrated: the high concentration of that secrete concentrated fluids of sodium chloride, the July/August 2009 natural history 23 principal salt constituent of seawater. Desert animals, salts ingested in salty substances, such as marine prey or too, are subjected to osmotic stresses, and some excrete seawater—no freshwater required. It has been standard potassium salts as well. The list of species known to pos- textbook dogma, for example, that sea snakes drink sea- sess salt glands includes desert birds and reptiles, along water and, in essence, distill it with their salt glands. But with seabirds, marine turtles, the marine iguana, some there is always drama in science, and my recent work crocodilians, sea snakes, and terrestrial reptiles living in shows that at least some sea snakes' salt glands are insuf- coastal zones. In marine birds and iguanas a salt gland ficient to that task, and their water balancing act more near each eye excretes through the nostrils; in marine complicated than expected. turtles the gland is in the eye socket and excretes salty tears; crocodilians have salt glands in the tongue; and sea snakes have them beneath the tongue. In tfie 1990s, my colleagues and Salt glands have been studied almost exclusively in the I studied an unusual marine reptile called laboratory, largely by infusing excess salt into an ani- the little file snake (Acrochordus gramilatus) Blue-banded mal—either intravenously, or by pumping saltwater into [see bottom photograph at left]. It is the sole sea krait the stomach—and demonstrating that salt glands secrete marine species in the file snake family, the highly concentrated salt solutions in response. But there Acrochordidae, which also contains two freshwater spe- is little information concerning when and how effec- cies. The file snakes are only distantly related to the group tively salt glands work in free-ranging animals. Physi- herpetologists call sea snakes, which includes the sea kraits. ologists have assumed that animals possessing salt glands Through a series of observations and experiments, we dis- are able to maintain water balance by excreting excess covered that the little file snake not only drinks freshwater but requires it to maintain water balance. Most populations of little file snakes live in tropical southern Asia among mangroves or in other nearshore marine habitats. They spend their entire lives in seawater, where they can potentially dehydrate despite pos- sessing a functional salt gland. We further demonstrated that little file snakes eliminate much of their nitrog- enous waste in the form of ammonia or ammonium rather than uric acid, as ter- restrial reptiles typically do. That is im- portant because the ammonia—a product of protein metabolism—is highly toxic and cannot be allowed to accumulate in body fluids. Nor can it be concentrated or precipitated, as uric acid can be, and it requires comparatively more water to eliminate via the kidneys. Thus the high protein load of the little file snakes' diet offish exacerbates their need for freshwa- ter. Indeed, little file snakes that are partly dehydrated cease to eat, presumably to conserve water that they would otherwise expend ridding the body of ammonia. The unexpected freshwater requirement of marine file snakes piqued my curiosity about how sea snakes manage to stay hy- drated—particularly in light of that odd- ly emaciated group on the Port Moresby wreck. Whereas the little file snake is the only marine species in its family, sea snakes have diversified considerably in the sea. Sci- entists recognize about sixty species in two 24 NATURAL HISTORY July/August 2009 1 distiiKt luKMgOS. TllC C.lXOIl- » ' oniy is soinowh.it in dispute. but here, tor simplicity. I'll •; folkiw .1 popuLir ilassifica- \ tioii that rcii-irds those two ^ lineages as siibtaniilies with- 5 _. in the fanuly Elapidae. Sea iyjj snakes are thought to have § evolved from terrestrial ela- f pids. u hich today include co- S bras, land kraits, coral snakes, mseakraft's d three sea krait species along the shore of Orchid Island, and ruunerous other venom- _-__— ous species in Australia. The afflaffla*S4 subfamily Hvdrophiinae contains more than titty sea snake ob\'iouslv thirst\-. and theret'ore in negative water balance. species that are entirely marine. A tew are pelagic, but most Presumably that would not occur if the snakes could in- live near shore, and they all give birth to live young in the deed get sufficient water from saltwater or from prey, us- water. The subtamily Laticaudinae contains another seven ing their salt glands. species, all m the genus hMxamda and called sea kraits. The To determine definitively whether sea snakes require group is amphibious: sea kraits come ashore to rest and to freshwater to remain in water balance, 1 spent three field lay eggs in moist, rocky places along the seashore. seasons, in 2005 through 2007, studying the question in Sea snakes are widely distributed throughout much three species of sea kraits that are common at Lanyu, a.k.a. of the world's marine tropics, primarily along coastlines Orchid Island, Taiwan. The three sea krait species represent and islands of the Indian and western Pacific oceans. A a spectrum of habits: the yellow-lipped sea krait is semiter- single species also occurs along the Pacific coast ot the restrial, the banded sea krait (L. scmij'asciata) is almost tully Americas between Baja California and Ecuador. In ad- marine, and the blue-banded sea krait (L. latiamdata) is in- dition to their salt glands, sea snakes have other mor- termediate to the other two in its allocation ot time be- phological adaptations to life in the sea. Valvular nostrils tween land and sea [sec phoio^'niplis on pages 22, 26, and 24]. prevent the entry of water, and reduced ventral scales I collaborated with Ming-Chung Tu. a biologist at let the body compress laterally—which, in conjunction the National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei, and with a paddle-shaped tail, aids swimming. All sea snakes several students assisted us. To begin, we dehydrated sea possess a single functional lung. They surface to breathe snakes by keeping them in mesh bags exposed to labora- air, though certain species can also exchange a moderate tory air. After two weeks, they were moderately dehy- amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide through the skin. drated—having lost between 10 and 16 percent of their Some species that feed or rest on the seatioor can dive body mass—and therefore thirsty. "We then placed each as deep as 350 feet and can remain submerged for more snake individually into an aquarium with seawater and than two hours. Sea snakes have highly toxic venom that watched to see whether it would drink. We weighed each most species use to immobilize their prey ot fish or eels, animal before and after to measure any water it might and many are important top predators on coral reels. A have ingested. After one hour, none of the snakes had few species specialize on fish eggs. drunk any seawater. Next, we let't the snakes in seawater for about twenty hours. o\-ernight. Again we weighed Soyne intriguing cfues them; none had gamed any significant mass. We then hinted that sea snakes might need fresh- placed each snake into a container filled with treshwater water in their diet. In the 1970s, 'William and repeated the process. All the snakes drank the fresh- A. Dunson, a biologist (now emeritus) at Pennsylvania water, opening their mouths and sucking it in. and many State University in University Park, had observed the yel- of them drank copiously within minutes ot sensing it. low-bellied sea snake, Pclaiiiis pLuiinis \scc top photograpli We also investigated whether the sea snakes would de- on opposite pnge], a fully marine species in the subflimily hvdrate when kept in seawater without a source ot tresh- Hydrophiinae, drinking freshwater in the laboratory. And water tor drinking. The snakes lost body mass at a constant in 1991, Michael L. Guinea, a biologist at Northern Terri- rate for more than a month, yet did not drink seawater. tory University (now part of Charles Darwin University) Other individuals were oftered treshwater every third in Darwin, Australia, reported observing yellow-lipped day; they drank variable amounts to rehydrate throughout sea kraits drinking rainwater in Fiji; they would lick the their time in the seawater. We didn't feed the snakes dur- simplified the water trom vegetation or gulp it from depressions in co- ing either of the dehydration periods, which conut leaves. Snakes drinking freshwater in the wild are mass measurements. Snakes are intermittent teeders with July/August 2009 natural history 25 relatively low metabolic rates, and they can go for several waves mix it in. In most cases, such freshwater "lenses" months and possibly longer in the wild without eating. are thin and short-lived, but they can occasionally ex- At the conclusion of the experiments, we tested the ani- tend to depths of sixty feet and persist several days. Be- mals that had no access to freshwater to see what level of havior I observed in the laboratory hints that saltwater- brackish water they might drink. We discovered that sea dwelling snakes are familiar with the phenomenon. Sprin- kraits will drink freshwater or very dilute seawater, but not kling freshwater over the surface of their tanks brought brackish water more concentrated than 30 percent seawater. secretive little file snakes out of their PVC-pipe burrows. Our experiments showed conclusively that at least three sea They rose quickly to the surface to drink the "rain." snake species dehydrate in air and in seawater. Moreover, they voluntarily correct for body-water deficits by drink- One migfit expect that a ing fresh or dilute brackish water, but refuse seawater. freshwater lens would persist longer after What was true in the laboratory also seems to be true in a rainfall in a sheltered location, such as a the wild. We collected sea kraits at Orchid Island that ap- bay or a lagoon, than on the open ocean. Interestingly, peared very thin, and they drank large amounts of fresh- that's exactly where some notably large sea snake popula- water in the laboratory. And in the 1970s and 1980s, in tions have been found. The distribution of sea snakes is Papua New Guinea and in Fiji, I encountered numerous characteristically patchy, and we are accumulating evi- sea kraits with peculiarly dimpled scales [see photograph on dence that the patchiness might be explained, in part, by preceding page]. My team and I recently observed that the the distribution of rainfall both in time and in space. dimpling is a symptom of dehydration—though I didn't During our field investigations at Orchid Island, we realize it back then. A quick check of historical weather noticed that sea kraits were particularly abundant near records for Papua New Guinea and Fiji confirmed my a freshwater spring we had discovered while snorkeling suspicion: I had observed the dimpled sea snakes dur- near the coastline. Subsequently, we selected eight differ- ing seasonal droughts. French scientists working in New ent coastal sites around the perimeter of the island, and Caledonia have witnessed numerous yellow-lipped sea sampled the abundance of the three Laticauda species there, kraits emerging from seclusion beneath rocks or vegeta- searching at night, when the snakes are most active. Four tion in dramatic synchrony when rain fell after a period of the sites have a known source of freshwater nearby. The of drought. The snakes drank rainwater that dripped or other four have no apparent source other than rainfall. We pooled onto rocks. Thus, it seems certain that sea snakes confirmed the distinction by testing the salinity of water can become severely dehydrated in the wild. samples taken at each site. Our sampling showed that the What about exclusively marine species? Snakes liv- freshwater sites sheltered several to seventy times more sea ing in coastal waters might have access to an underwater snakes than did the strictly marine sites, where we often freshwater spring or to brackish or fresh water in estuar- encountered no snakes whatsoever. ies. If not, their only source of drinking water appears to In 2007, we sampled the two freshwater sites where be rainfall. Because freshwater is less dense than seawater, the snakes had been most plentiful during the past two it tends to remain on the ocean surface until currents and years. Our visit coincided with a period of local drought. Banded sea kraits flBHIV hunt among fish v^^HpHBT^ on a coral reef. ^^^ 9HR •- <^Ji^^^ ''-'' .'• where sea snakes ••' '• " t-' ^^ -^ are important ^ JMSB /^ top predators. ^ y The species, L. semifasciata. tk. jT^'-'^'^- ^^ which requires ^^^^ ^^91^ freshwateeyis ^mNii-^m almost entirely ri^ A ^^awj aquatic, leaving •y ,-i ^^WM the sea mainly to t V^fflT^Hnvn^iSr ^KBtea lay eggs. ^^J^jP^A ^^^mfr . -'JIM 1 ^ V* ." ^1^-%.1 |BM|^^fl|^^M^BP^^^ 'f'^^^'^^^^mw^& j * '^» ftjl^'' ' 1 ^J % .:..> Afl Rit'^r.WBSvT ^^^ '9BB| i^ ^'^/- V^C^:V^ '3 K ''. <^ ^^^gm 9 *'r ^M^I^HI I'^^-.^r-^ ^.i^%a»J 1 '^^i •...' ;.X' -^^^r^m ,iik1 ui- luitcd th.ii tliey were less abundant th.in in tlu- previous, wetter years. The drouglu was so bad that some streanibeds were totally dr)', inciudinij; tlie source of the underwater spring we'd discovered wliiie snorkeling. Some of the villages on the island even ran out of drink- ing water. When 1 totaled the local numbers ot snakes that we'd counted each visit during three different years, and plotted them against the total precipitation that fell during the si.x months preceding each \isit, there was a positive correlation: more rain meant more sea snakes. On a local geographic scale at Orchid Island, then, the abundance of sea snakes related positively to the avail- ability of freshwater, both spatially and temporally. 1 set out to investigate whether the correlation would hold up at a much broader geographic scale. Sure enough, data in the scientific literature indicate that the distribu- tion of sea kraits generally coincides with areas having low-salinity surface waters in the tropical Indian and western Pacific oceans. Indeed, using data from South species representing four out ot ti\e distinct lineages of Asia for the known distributions of all sea snake species snakes that inhabit saltwater are now known to require combined, I discovered that in general, more sea snake tVeshwater to maintain normal water balance. The titth, species live in areas of greater precipitation. the Hydrophiinae, has not yet been thoroughly studied The distribution of Laticanda species among small is- in that context. Although hydrophiines are the snakes lands is also quite patchy, so one might hypothesize a dy- most completely adapted to lite in the sea, it does seem namic model in which populations persist in certain areas likely that they, too, need the sweet stuff: Dunson has that receive adequate precipitation and either die out or observed that some hydrophiine sea snakes undergo a emigrate from others during droughts. Dispersing indi- net loss of body water in seawater, and the pelagic spe- viduals might later repopulate the abandoned sites when cies P. pLuiinis not only will drink freshwater in the lab, the climate turned favorable once more. There are, ot but also reportedly dehydrates when fasting in seawater. course, other factors that determine sea snake distribu- My team and 1 are planning studies ot representative tions—temperature and prey abundance, for example. But hydrophiine sea snakes to settle the matter. to the extent that evolving populations have a physiologi- Understanding the water requirements ot all sea snakes cal requirement for freshwater, they are more likely to sur- could prove to be crucial to their conservation. Some vive in regions of high compared with low precipitation. researchers have suggested that they may turn out to be Moreover, the changing availability of freshwater poten- indicator species tor the health of coral reets, which are tially influences the dynamics of coral reef communities, in deep ecological crisis. Sea snakes' thirst also raises the because sea snakes can be important top predators there. question of whether other marine reptiles, such as sea The irregularity and unpredictability of rainfall pat- turtles, might turn out to be more dependent on fresh- terns is likely to limit the distribution of at least some water than we've presumed. marine snake populations. It might even explain, in w^hole or in part, certain declines and local extinctions that have recently been documented. Precipitation has Harvey B. Lillywhite i* a professor of biol- generally decreased over the tropics since the 1970s, and ogN -It tlic University ofFlorida in Gaines- climate models predict it will decrease further in tropical J^^H villc. He is also director of the university's regions with seasonal drought. Because at least some sea rf 'N^^^^^^l Seahorse Key Marine Laboratory, located snakes are dependent on freshwater, we may expect to ^^^^^^ within the Cedar Keys National Wildlife biology see corresponding changes in their populations. Refuge. Lillywhite has studied the of snakes for more than thirty years. His But little file snakes and the two sea snake subtami- latest research on sea kraits was supported lies (the Hydrophiinae and the Lati- of the Elapidae bv the National Geographic Society, Lil- caudinae) are not the only snakes that live in saltwater. Ivwhitc's Diaioiuiry of Hcrpctclo'^y (Krieger Publishing Company, A few members of two other snake lineages, both in the 2008) was named as an outstanding title b\' Clwia-: Currciii Rcriews tamily Colubridae, inhabit the brackish v/aters of salt for Aciidcmk Lilnarics. He is a past contributor to \'atural Hislory. marshes and estuaries. William Dunson has shown that Wsb Hnks rUststftttHils artfcle can be found at '. ±* those species probably also depend on freshwater. Thus, C is^-earae. i July/August 2009 n.\tural history 27 The Secret Lives of Starlings An unpredictable habitat sets the stage for cooperation and conflict in African starlings-g^^_^._.j and influences who cheats on whom. BY DUSTIN R. RUBENSTEI" r m*- 1^ *.^£?* _^ ' hen love is in the air, beautifully turned-out so species of starlings, forty-five of which are found only males trail their equally dazzling mates every- in Africa. The superb starlings live in large communal where to ensure their fidelity. And still some groups and cooperate with one another to raise offspring, of those females, albeit a minority, manage to but not without some conflict, competition, and varying elude their bodyguards and cheat on their part- amounts of cheating, from rare to rampant. Their groups ners. Some females do it for better genes, while others trade consist ofbreeding pairs as well as helpers that don't breed sex for extra food for their young. And when a female does themselves, but aid multiple nests simultaneously. Although cheat, it can be with a mysterious stranger—or with a close males do most of this helping, both sexes help. relative of her partner: his brother, cousin, or even nephew! Nearly 40 percent ofAfrican starling species are so-called What sounds like a sordid soap opera is conventional life for "cooperative breeders," meaning that additional individuals a group of African birds. Their social structure just happens help raise one breeding pair's young, but superb starlings to be one of the most complex in the avian vi^orld. are "plural cooperative breeders," with several breeding The superb starling {Lamprotornis superbus), which dwells pairs sharing a large pool of helpers. Their family groups, in eastern Africa from Sudan to Tanzania, is one of 110 or which include parents, stepparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, 28 NATURAL HISTORY Juiy/August 2009 cheat and others to stay faithful? And what environmental factors incline particular individuals to breed themselves or to help raise others' offspring? The answers are only just emerging—and they shed new light on the evolution Evolutionary biologists have long recognized that nurturing close relatives has enough of a genetic payott to explain why some individuals forgo or delay reproduction and instead remain in their group as helpers. Beginning with studies of ants and other social insects, the importance of kin in the evolution of cooperation was recognized by William D. Hamilton in the 1960s Ifor more about Hatnihou, see "Life Zone" on page 16]. The insight was soon extended to cooperatively breeding birds and mammals. Simply put, cooperating with kin and living with family is behavior that can pass the acid test of natural selection, since it perpetuates one's own genes. By the 1980s, as studies of family living in birds began to accumulate, it also became clear to Cornell University behavioral ecologist Stephen T. Emlen and others that nieces, and nephews, can swell to upwards of thn-ty indi- environmental factors might influence the decision to be viduals, more than almost any other group-living avian a breeder or a helper. A shortage of suitable nesting sites species. Within those groups, up to six breeding pairs might, for instance, constrain birds from leaving their natal build individual nests inside thorn-encased acacia trees, territory in search of opportunities to breed, and might recognize on a large territory that the whole group then defends thus favor taking on the role ofhelper. Today, we year-round. The males of the group are often related, that both ecological constraints and kin relationships likely Individuals because, as with most family-living birds, female superb figure into cooperative-breeding decisions. disperse starlings are more apt to disperse from the group than are must balance the costs and benefits of trying to males, creating a patrilineal society. from their natal territory to breed independently against calculation Within that complex web of cooperative familial re- those of staying home to help raise relatives, a lationships, mating conflict lurks. While superb starlings that will vary depending on the availability of tood, turf, form mating pairs for as long as five years and are often mates, and more. strictly monogamous, promiscuity rates can be as high as Ever since the naturalist Alexander F. Skutch made 32 percent in some family groups. What drives some to the first observations of cooperative-breeding behavior July/August 2009 natural history 29 ^ in birds, nearly seventy-five years ago in the forests of cooperative breeders: the cooperative species tend to Costa Rica, scientists have wondered why some species reside in savanna-woodlands habitat. If savannas on two cooperate and others do not, particularly when cooperative of the more arid continents in the world harbor so many and noncooperative species are closely related. It has long cooperative species, what is it about these semiarid habitats been suspected that some trait shared among cooperatively that promotes family living? The answer hinges on how breeding species explains why they live in family groups, semiarid savannas differ from other ecosystems. but the evidence for any one trait is weak at best. Take "African savanna" may conjure up images of the Seren- life span, for instance: cooperative breeders tend to be geti and its open plains, covered with herds of migrating long-lived—but there are also plenty of long-lived species wildebeests and zebras, stalked by ferocious predators such that do not cooperate. as Hons, hyenas, and cheetahs. Most African savannas, how- If no single intrinsic trait promotes cooperation, perhaps ever, are actually savanna—woodlands, characterized by a some extrinsic one related to the environment plays a role? mixture of trees and grass. Large animals are common, but African starlings offer an excellent opportunity to examine the mosaic of trees and grass also supports an abundance that question, because their many species not only exhibit a of smaller animals, including numerous species of birds. range offamily lifestyles, but also live in a variety ofhabitats. Rain—the lifeblood for all savanna plants and animals—is Africa is an ecologically diverse continent with harsh and seasonal, and for many months each year the savanna is forbidding deserts, lush rain forests, and wildlife-rich savan- dry and barren. That seasonality in rainfall explains the nas. It is no less common to see a starling darting through great wildebeest migrations, but it cannot explain why a forest canopy than it is to see one riding atop a Cape cooperative breeders are common in savannas. After all, buffalo in a savanna [see photograph on page 33] . However, seasonality is also characteristic of temperate and tropical the cooperative species live only in savannas, whereas the forests, and even of arctic tundras. noncooperative species live primarily in forests. But there is a crucial difference in savannas: the un- A similar observation has been made in Australia, where predictabUity of rainfall. Although there are pronounced an unusually high 13 percent or more of bird species are annual dry and wet seasons, the start and duration of the 30 NATURAL HrsTORY July/August 2009 — Elephants head to a watering hole on the Serengeti Plain. Along I with lions, hyenas, and wild dogs, elephants are rains vary from year to year, making the most unpredictable period in an already unpredictable among the well-known iliesc semiarid ecosystems some of the environment, with the greatest variation in rainfall. savanna mammals that most en\ironme!Ually raise their young coop- impredictable In drier years, the nmnber of aggressive interactions eratively. Superb starlings places on Earth. The absence, or even between dominant and subordinate birds is higher. Those also rely on cooperative delay, of the annual rains can mean conditions are associated with higher levels of stress hor- breeding to successfully die ditlerence between success and mones in subordinates, more of which then adopt helping raise young during the taikire for most sa\Miina inhabitants, roles. Additionally, helpers do a greater proportion of the harsh times when the including starlings. nestling feeding in in rains are meager or late. drier years than they do wetter ones. Ckirnellornithologisc irbyj. Li)\ette In contrast, during wetter years, conflict decreases; stress .ind I ha\e constructed an evolution- hormone levels in subordinates match those of dominant ^'-^ ary tree based on the DNA of all birds; and younger, inexperienced birds attempt to breed % forty-five species of African star- tor the first time. Although stress hormones are not likely '• JK^ lings primarily collected iluring to determine breeding roles in this species directly, they trips we took across the savannas, are indicatixe of level of social stress I Wl the with which an •^ ^ forests, and deserts of Kenya. Using individual must cope. Subordinate individuals must be C.»p^^.JMik rliis tree, we have shown that the adaptable in their reproductive strategies, gauging the cooperative breeders are indeed found conditions in a given year. in the more seasonally unpredictable Attaining breeding status does not always mean that life parts of Africa. When the rains fail is better, especially for male superb starlings. Preventing to come or when they are scant, it one's mate from straying and copulating with another may be impossible for many of the individual is nearly as important as finding a mate in the noncooperatively breeding starlings to tirst place. Attcr all, t'ailure to t'ather the offspring ofyour successfully raise their young. But for mate would not only mean a wasted breeding attempt, the cooperative species, with helpers but would also entail the costs of raising someone else's jx to share the burden of feeding their young. For decades ornithologists have known th.it 90 § offspring, life is easier during the bad percent ot bird species are socially monogamous, torm- times. In tact, superb starling pairs iiig pair bonds to raise young. Now we also know that I with more helpers successtully raise nearly 90 percent of bird species are promiscuous on the I more vouns^. It is thus no coincidence " that cooperative breeding is common in numerous other groups of birds that live in savannas, as well as m a variety of well-known savanna-dwelling mammals such as lions, hyenas, wild dogs, and elephants, and perhaps even early human ancestors [sec "Meet ilie .-!/- loparenis." .-ipril 2009]. Cooperation in superb starlings may offer security in the tace of unpredictable conditions, but conflict naturally arises, too. For one thing, same-sex individuals commonly fight over breeding opportunities. On average, only about four pairs per group breed, even though plenty ofother birds are capable of reproducing. Since neither the availability of nest sites nor that ofbreeding partners seems to be a limiting hictor, whv do only a subset of the capable breeders in each groupi breed? Reproductive decisions seem to be related to rank: the more dominant individuals tend to breed, whereas the more subordinate individuals tend to help. However, it is not yet clear how dominance or social rank is determined in superb starlings. Perhaps not surprisinglv, reproductive conflict is influ- enced in part by the environment. Most fighting occurs during the dry season that comes immediately before the Superb starlings form monogamous pairs for up to five years, but breeding period. That three-month period is when repro- some females are promiscuous. Securing a male helper to bring food to the nest is one reason for the cheating. ductive roles are determined, and it also happens to be July/August 2009 NATUR.M history 31 side. Indeed, molecular studies (bird paternity tests) have inbreeding. Males from neighboring groups enable such confirmed that the outwardly devoted, altruistic appear- females to provide any resultant offspring with a measure ance of superb starlings is deceptive. of genetic variation that the original mate lacks. So which males do females choose to cheat with? Like Given the two types of potential reproductive benefits everything else in the secret lives of starlings, the answer of cheating in superb starlings—help feeding offspring is not simple. Tv/o distinct mating strategies are pursued and an increase in offspring's genetic diversity—one by promiscuous females: half copulate with males from would think cheating would be the norm, as it is in many inside the group, and the other half with males from out- other cooperative breeders. But promiscuous matings are side the group. A given female's choice ofcheating partner actually fairly rare in superb starlings, accounting for, on depends upon her needs. Promiscuous females that choose average, only 14 percent of offspring produced. A closer mates from inside the group tend to have few surviving examination ofthe mating system reveals that promiscuous offspring from previous years, and thus few potential help- matings are extremely rare in some groups, but relatively common in others: promiscuity rates range from 4 percent to 32 percent among family groups. Promiscuity rates do not vary from year to year, and are not related to variation in rainfall. Nor does rank or social struc- ture seem to influence the pat- terns. Instead, promiscuity relates most closely to territory quality, which remains stable across years. Females living on high-quality ^^^' territories, with plenty of food, are less promiscuous than those living on low-quality territories with little food. As New Yorkers might especially appreciate, it all comes down to real estate. The highest-quality superb starling territories encompass large open grassy areas, or glades, where insects are readily available during the rainy sea- son, and to a lesser extent during the dry season. Superb starlings s are omnivorous throughout I the year, but they need to feed insects primar- I their nestlings — ^ ily grasshoppers—during the Superb starlings vigorously cofDpete for food with other species, such as these gray-headed sparrows breeding season. Securing that in Kenya's Samburu National Park. Despite living in cooperative groups, starlings can also experience high-quality real estate seems to intense conflict with each other, dominant and subordinate individuals tend to fight over breeding opportunities during especially dry seasons, when food is scarce. be the birds' prime reproductive strategy. Yet such glades are ers. Those females target subordinate, nonbreeding males rare, and unevenly distributed across the landscape. The from inside the group that can, and eventually do, help best real estate comes from abandoned livestock corrals, at their nests. In other words, females without potential called boiiias in East Africa, where an accumulation of helpers are trading sex for child care to improve the odds dung and urine has enriched the soil—an effect that of successfully raising offspring. On the other hand, pro- lasts at least forty to fifty years, and possibly as long as miscuous females that consort with males from outside a hundred years or more. the group gain some genetic diversity for their young. In Those nutrient-rich hot spots support large numbers of comparison with females that do not cheat, they are more insects and attract a diversity ofwildlife, ranging from large genetically similar to their rhates, possibly as a result of herds of antelopes to small creatures such as bat-eared toxes 32 1 NATURAL HISTORY July/August 2009 beneficial. In the coming months, I will begin to explore how overgrazing by cattle, goats, and sheep influences starling social behavior. Numerous studies have shown that overgrazing in Africa can lead to declines in bird and mammal populations, as well as to land degradation. My research suggests that such degradation could also have more subtle consequences for avian reproductive behavior. In addition, as the Earth continues to u arm at alarming rates, unpredict- able and extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, and tornadoes are becoming increasingly common everywhere. In sub-Saharan Africa in particular, droughts are becoming -,., frequent. . more intense and more At , '. ^^, MW^^^Miir '^B^n ""-T Vv\-.>- -. • 'i^K'jsa^ ^'^'^ ^ ' 'l9Hli| my study site at the Mpala Research tUXMSmStH^ '^SXm^^ IwB^Va' .1 V Centre m central Kenya, superb scar- rides a buffa/o ,. , , • A greater b/ue-eared q/ossystar/ing (Lamprotornis chalybaeus) atop Cape i r -i j i j j tailed . ,, ,,,.,, M ,n, Imes have lar^eh- to breed during in Kenya s Lake Nakuru National Park. , the^past two years durmg the primary [sec "The Wuiiidl MiViicnr," pn^;c 2\. Superb starlings build rainy season, which barely materialized. I will now begin their nests around the edges of glades and forage through- to examine the reproductive physiology and social behav- out the year in tliose food-rich patches. The abundance of ior of superb starlings living in different Kenyan habitats insects is essential to producing offspring during the breed- to see how they and other bird species might respond to ing period, and groups with more, or larger, abandoned global warming and its associated increase in environ- boma sites on their territories have greater access to food mental unpredictability. The secret and complicated lives tiiroughout the year. It is not yet clear how or why those of starlings still have a lot to teach us about adapting to nutrient-ricii patches affect promiscuity patterns, but clearly uncertainty. Although research about them will not reduce they are important to starlings. Thus, resource availability the volatility in New York real estate prices, it may help as it varies unpredictably in tiiiu—rainfill patterns from predict the future biotic consequences ot climate change year to year—has a greater influence on the social system ot and habitat degradation. superb starlings, in terms ofcooperation and reproductive conflict over breedina; roles, whereas resource availability ^^^^^^^^^^ f as it varies in sinnx—insect location and abundance—has a R. is assiscint pro- .J 111- 1 Dustin Rubenstein an "^ .. - , . , . greater influence on the birds mating system, with respect , '^ lessor ot ecology, evolution, and envi- . . to mating conflict and patterns ot promiscuity. ronmental biology at Columbia Uni- versity. He earned his PhD at Corne University and held a Miller Research Rainstorms on the African savanna are life-giv-^ ,. - , 1 Fellowshiri at the University ot Cali- , ,v,- 11 and lite-changmg events. Within onlya day or two mg j-^^_^^^, 3^^^j^^,^.^. p^,^ „early\en years. ot the tirst storms ot the season, lite bursts torth trom the h^ h^^ iieen studying the social bchav- dry, barren land as green grass sprouts from soil, bring- ior and reproductive physiology ot At- ncan starlings in Kenya. He also stud- ing with It a flush of new insects. A few minutes after a ^ ot . . les the complicated tamilv lifestyles L- J termites particularly intense storm, millions ot winged Caribbean sponge-dwelling snapping erupt trom the ground, causing a teeding trenzy among shrimp. Previously, he studied the breeding and migratory behavior the birds. As we've seen, starlings are adapted to the un- of birds in North and Central America, and the mating system and " 1- ,-1 iguanas in the Galapagos Islands. , I 1 . ,.-1 ,-., fU.^ .. ,,.,„,,., reproductive physiology of marine predictable nature ot these rainstorms and to the savanna j- • j - •^ f i u if i ^i u . These studies convinced hnu that how animals cope with the un- environment m general. predictable nature of the environment, particularly in the semiarid But humans are moditVing these semiarid environments. tropics, is central to our understanding of the evolution of social and Whereas traditional livestock practices have had generally mating beh.ivior. positive effects on superb starlings by creating nutrient- ^^B Web links related to this article can be found at ,, 1 w>Arw/.naturalhistorymag.com , J ^^^^B- ^ rich glades, not all human-directed changes in land use are HI^^Mm^———»gBg,.si^v July/August 2009 natural history 33 — BOOKSHELF BY LAURENCE A. MARSCHALL rora reviewer on deadline, summer comes early—50 here I am in May sifting at the time was to bring in the mus- I through a stack of warm-weather fiction with themes in natural history and the telids: ferrets, stoats, and weasels sciences. The stack is lieavy, but tlie prose is light, perfect entertainmentfor a summer fierce hunters whose natural prey afternoon out-of-doors. Here arc some of the best of the bunch: was thought to be rabbits. Kiwi author Fiona Farrell uses the a sense of gentle foreboding, and, as first ecoblunder to launch her grace- befits a zoo story, lots of red herrings. ful historical novel, though much Iris's character is nuanced, sharp, and of it is set in rural England. For resourceful, like any good heroine, starters, Walter Allbones, a lad of but believably vulnerable and inse- humble origins, supports his young- Night Kill cure as well. The narrative—thanks er siblings by taking on odd jobs to the author's own experience as a and by poaching rabbits from the by Ann Littlewood zookeeper—ably describes the daily estates of wealthy landowners. He's Poisoned Pen Press, 2008; lives of keepers, the operations of a born naturalist who knows ferrets 229 pages, $24.95 small zoos, and the behavior of cap- firsthand, as he breeds them to flush tive animals. You turn the last page rabbits from their burrows. ris Oakley loves working with big cats having learned about a part of the Returning from hunting one I I at the Finley Memorial Zoo in world you might never have encoun- night, his pockets filled with game, Vancouver, Washington, but lately tered otherwise. If a mystery's a good Allbones comes upon a Mr. Pitford things have not been going her way. read—and this is—^you leave eager and his granddaughter Eugenia. For starters, the lions seem to have for a sequel; since this is Littlewood's Pitford owns a large estate near- killed her husband. Rick Douglas. first novel, we can only urge her not by, and, like many well-to-do An experienced zookeeper, he to make it her last. Victorians, he's an avid natural his- wouldn't have fallen in the moat at tory buff Pitford's specialty is exotic the lion enclosure that night if he birds. Aware of the rabbit problem hadn't been blind drunk. Alcohol, in New Zealand, he contracts with and plenty of it, had been the bane Allbones to provide several hundred of their on-again, off-again mar- ferrets for shipment to the colony, riage, and now, thanks to alcohol, to be exchanged for avian species the marriage was off—forever. Mr. Allbones' Ferrets Pitford wants to add to his collection. Still, Iris is understandably shaken, What follows is not altogether un- by Fiona Farrell and maybe that's why she almost predictable—a growing love affair St. Martin's Press, 2009; got mauled herself: she must have between the rough-cut Allbones and 224 pages, $26.95 forgotten to close the door on old the delicate Eugenia, with occasional Rajah the Bengal tiger before going rough patches along the way. Allbones out into the cat's exercise yard. As The pioneering Europeans who has conflicts with envious villagers, a result, the foreman, Mr. Wallace, colonized New Zealand in the and run-ins with arrogant gentry. is on her case and has transferred mid-1800s found themselves in Eventually he embarks, with his fer- her to working with birds under the strange and unfamiliar territory. rets, on a white-knuckle clipper-ship graying, taciturn Calvin Lorenz. Birds, many of them flightless, filled voyage halfway around the world, ac- Birds, of all things! most of the ecological niches oc- companied by Eugenia and Pitford. Still, something doesn't quite add cupied by mammals in other parts You can almost breathe the at- up. Why would Rick get drunk of the world, and large mammals, mosphere of nineteenth-century on the very same night that he in fact, were totally absent. So, in England. But there's a modern thread had promised Iris he'd stay on the an attempt to recreate a bit of the of irony woven into the plot line. wagon, only hours after the two had old country in the new land they With the hindsight of over a century, celebrated a new intimacy by get- now dominated, settlers brought in we can see the futility of Mr. Pitford's ting back together? Could someone sheep, cattle, and pigs for husbandry, plan to, as he tells Allbones, "res- else have opened the door to the and rabbits for sport. The bunnies cue the New Zealander from ruin." tiger's cage after Iris had closed it and were a big mistake. Within a few Ferrets and stoats do indeed love rab- gone into the yard? decades rabbits had overspread the bits, but they also love a good egg If so, then who? Night Kill is a fine islands and were chewing up the with their meal. Mr. Pitford's prized Agatha Christie-style whodunit, greenery at an alarming rate. The birds, many of which (in the absence with a large cast of quirky suspects. solution recommended by experts of predators) laid their eggs unpro- 34 NATURAL HISTORY July/AuQUSt 2009 . — tccted on ttic ground, foiiiul tlicni- the t)lder he gets. His father is in a ary Mar.xist, while her sister Thisbe sclvcs on the brink ot extinction sot)n nursing home, wasting away. His prays incessantly in an attempt to after the inipoii.uion ot innstelids. wife is harried .ind ilistractcd, and puzzle out her relationship with New ZeaLindeis today set poisoned his two teenage d.iughters are rebel- Cod. Meanwhile Henry, the grand- traps for stoats throiighotit their k)r- ling against all family ties. father, is trying to simplify his lite estlands, and would surely regard Mr. The narrative of The Great by speaking less and less and reduc- Allbones's ferrets as pests, not rescuers. Pcrluipis, a series of alternating chap- ing his memory to a few slips of pa- ters revealing the inner lives ot each per tiled away in a drawer. of the five members of the Casper At first you read on because those family, resembles one of those dark people seem so extraordinary and quirky film comedies, like Liltlc Jonathan suffers a strange form of Miss Sunshine, in which unusual epilepsy triggered by clouds; his wife characters struggle to come to terms follows hallucinations around town The Great Perhaps with the harsh banality of existence. in her white Volvo; Amelia is build- Jonathan is obsessed with the hunt ing a pipe bomb in a toy airplane; by Joe Meno ^ tor a living fossil, a prehistoric giant Thisbe struggles with se.xual teel- W.W. Norton & Company, 2009; . squid that may have survived the ings for a classmate; and grandfather 415 pages, $24.95 millennia by hiding in the depths Henry keeps trying to escape his of the sea. Madeline, a behavioral nursing home so he can tly to japan. Jonathan Casper, a professor of pa- psychologist, wants to understand The satisfaction of a novel like this, leontology at the University ot society by studying pecking order however, is that the more we get to Chicago, dreams of "knowing the in birds, but is baffled by what ap- know those oddballs, the more or- answers, of seeing the simplicity pear to be a series of rapes and mur- dinary they seem. Like the protago- of the universe, of solving the big ders committed by the pigeons in nists, we must eventually come to questions." But his own personal her laboratory. The elder daughter, terms with the limited span ot our universe seems less and less simple Amelia, fancies herself a revolution- days, and the limited power we have "Bevond Walden belongs on the cottage bookshelf next to the frayed copy of the peterson bird '..:.?.' ^1 ON I ''^"Ut, book and the local trail guide." Live an Issue of 15 T: V (^ N 1) National Geographic W A I 11 I K. Join Lindblad Expeditions' team of naturalists on an exploration of the Land of Dari'fin. Call or log on now for up to 25% OFF select departure dates *'Beyond Wijlden should be required rending for all lakefront property owners, other lake users, and those who manage our land and water resources." "This is a delightful and thoughtful book. It is filled with interesting information for the causal observer and user of lakes, as well as for the serious scholar." D SEE YOUR ^1 NATIONAL « HIRUCIOH ANO I'KEsrDKNI IJHI BITUS TRAVEL AGENT OR Cxpsdltloni 'r* GEOGRAPHIC I mm i^kf iitiii4f]v °TM3^ a i CALL 1-800-EXPEDITION FOR Available wherever book^ arc sold. YOUR FREE BROCHURE S. DVD. Walker Compnny & WWW. EXPEDITIONS . com ^ www.waIkerbook!i,k:om — ALSO OF NOTE to comprehend what it all means. world are guided by a hidden agen- Ultimately, then, Tlie Great da—mathematics—known only to Perhaps is about the failure of cer- a select few who understood the tainty that we face at critical junc- workings of numbers. Whispers of the Dead tures in our lives: at coming-of-age The Pythagorean brotherhood by Simon Beckett at middle age, and at the great sum- was sworn to secrecy, which is why Delacorte Press, 2009; ming-up at the end. Perhaps. no contemporary documents sur- 309 pages, $26.00 vive. But suppose that Pythagoras, prior to his death, had written down some of his secrets and en- n last year's Written in Bone, by trusted them to an acolyte. And English thriller writer Simon suppose that this manuscript had Beckett, forensic anthropologist Pythagoras' Revenge: been preserved by a few surviv- David Hunter solved a series of gory A Mathematical Mystery ing members of the clandestine murders on a remote island off the order. And suppose that a sect of coast of Scotland, narrowly escaping byArturoSangaili neo-Pythagoreans reconstituted a similar fate. This year he's back, Princeton University Press, 2009; itself in the twenty-first century on a professional visit to the "Body 201 pages, $24.95 to welcome the second coming of Farm" in Tennessee, world famous their prophet, reincarnated as a for research in forensic science. Secret societies are . . . well, secret. human after more than two mil- Needless to say, the cadavers are not That makes them ideal players lennia inhabiting various other just of academic interest. There are in the particular brand of fiction animate forms (which species, we serial killers on the loose, and Dr. whose main thesis is that noth- can only imagine). And suppose Hunter once again finds himself ing is what it seems, and that the that a young mathematician is re- among the hunted. workings of the everyday world are cruited by the Order to aid in the guided by a hidden agenda known search for the manuscript and any only to a select few. Though it was clues it might offer on the return Arctic Drift hardly the first of this genre, the of Pythagoras. by Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler enormous success of The Da Vinci That's a lot of "supposes"—and G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2008; Code has given encouragement to there are many more in this novel 515 pages, $27.95 a swelling list of imitators, each but Sangalli really isn't in the business seeking a unique conspiratorial of writing a blockbuster thriller. His slant. Enterprising authors have plot line meanders, and his cast of So wliat if Clive Cussler pushes cre- mined the literature for esoteric characters seems to have been selected dulity to the limit? You can count groups that might provide distinct at random from a list of pulp-fiction on him for a plot that moves along frameworks for their plots—the stereotypes. Formulaic elements can- at a breathless pace and offers a few Masons, the Illuminati, the not save the tale: Pythagoras' Revenge historical and scientific "what-ifs" to Knights Templar. is not likely to be optioned as a major challenge the imagination. Cussler's Arturo Sangalli's "mathematical Hollywood movie. latest offering is co-written with his mystery" novel draws its inspira- Yet it makes entertaining and son. In it, perennial hero Dirk Pitt of tion from one of the oldest of those instructive warm-weather reading. the National Underwater and Marine orders, the Pythagoreans, who Sangalli is a science writer with a Agency (NUMA) saves the U.S. flourished around the sixth century PhD in mathematics, and /;/5 hid- from all-out war as he investigates B.C. Pythagoras, founding father den agenda is to pass on a little reports of a discovery that might of the sect, vi^as a shadowy figure, Pythagorean lore through digres- save the world from global warm- known only through secondhand sions on Greek philosophy and the ing. There's plenty of hot action in accounts. But we do know that he basics of number theory (with the the Arctic—an ideal refreshment for taught that the soul was immortal, preservation of ancient manuscripts muggy summer days. that humans could be reincarnated thrown in as a bonus). Since we Laurence A. Marschall is W.K.T. as animals, and that the eating of live in a technological world that Salim Professor of Physics at Gettysburg beans was strictly forbidden pos- relies on numbers for its day-to-day — College in Pennsylvania, and coautiwr, sibly because they resembled hu- operation, we are all, in a sense, with Stephen P. Maran, of Galileo's New man testicles. Above all, he taught followers of Pythagoras. Except Universe: The Revolution in Our that nothing is what it seems, and most of us can eat beans without Understanding of the Cosmos, pubUslied that the workings of the everyday feeling guilty. by BenBcHa Boolis. 36 NATURAL HISTORY July/August 2009 LIFE ZONE "The single best volume ever CoiiiiiiiiCil from /iiiijc 20 published that covers all But many more people, thousands of us, miss his ideas, his awe-inspir- matters Darwinian from A to Z. ing, sometimes wrong, often right, narrative of the hving world. At I have never so enjoyed a scientific book, plucking out gems of elegant Hamilton's fin)eral, Luisa Bozzi, narrative richly supported by photographs and paintings from the his partner of several years, of- history of evolutionary thought. A magnificent product of scholarship fered over him: "You will li\e not only in a beetle, but in billions ot that is also a work of art." spores of fungi and algae. Brought —Michael Shermer, author of In Darwin's Shadow and Why Darwin Matters by the wind higher up into the tro- posphere, all of you will form the clouds, and wandering across the oceans, will fill down and fly up DARWIN'S UNIVERSE again and again." EVOLUTION FROM A TO Z Every time you catch a snowflake on your tongue you have some chance at finding, buried inside it, if not Bill Haniilton, then the life he predicted. However such life tastes to you, to Hamilton it could only have tasted sweet. He was, like those snowflakes. one of a kind. Robert R. Dunn is an ccoloj^isi in the Department of Biology at North Caro- lina State Unii'crsity in Raleigh. His first hook. Every Living Thing: Man's Ob- sessive Quest to Catalog Life, from Nanobacteria to New Monkeys, was recently pnblisheil by Smithsonian Books/ HarperCollins. WORD EXCHANGE Cciitiinicd front page 6 RICHARD MILNER ness in their family. One woman mentioned that her uncles were colorblind. That mdividual not Darwin's Universe only saw three emission lines, but a Evolution from A to Z fourth line even hirther to\\'ard the ultraviolet part of the spectrum. Foreword by Ian Tattersall. Preface by Stephen Jay Gould Tetrachromats are obviously an overlooked population deserving A dazzling overview of the life and thought of Charles Darwin and study. One wonders if their capacity his incredibly wide sphere of influence. Authoritative and abundantly is recently evolved or a genetic rem- illustrated, it illuminates the ways in which ideas of evolutionary biol- nant of an ancient adaptation. ogy have leapt the boundaries of science to influence philosophy, Larry IVeginauii law, religion, literature, cinema, art, and popular culture. This thor- Ozarks Technical Coinniuiiity College oughly revised and updated successor to Richard IVIilners acclaimed Spring^field, Missouri Encyclopedia of Evolution contains more than a hundred new essays Natural History welcomes correspon- and a treasure-trove of rare illustrations. dencefrom readers. Letters shotdd be sent I'ia $39.95 hardcover e-mail to [email protected] or by fa.\ to 646-356-6511. All letters should At bookstores or www.ucpress.edu include a daytime telephone inn)d>er. and all letters may be edited for length and clarity. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA j I H ^f / ^ i THIS LAND BY ROBERT H. MOHLENBROCK The Name of the Rose Tree A grove in New Hampshire features one species in ttie huge genus Rhododendron. n April 1985, for a column on Roan Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Mountain, North Carolina, I paid It is especially common in the Great tribute to the magnificent Catawba Smoky Mountains of North Carolina rhododendron, Rhododendron cataw- and Tennessee, but one of the finest bieitse. My column this time centers stands anywhere lies in southern New- Great \aure\ and eastern hemlock on R. maximum, most commonly Hampshire. Covering sixteen acres, known as great laurel or rose bay. the stand is the focal point of Rhodo- Several features still distinguish The shrub, sometimes attaining the dendron State Park and is designated rhododendrons in the narrow sense. height of a small tree, usually lives in a National Natural Landmark. They have evergreen leaves, which are low woods along mountain streams. In 1753 Linnaeus gave the genus typically large and leathery, and bell- It occurs in the Canadian provinces names Rhododendron ("rose tree") shaped flowers, each with five petals of of Quebec and Nova Scotia, and in and Azalea ("dry") to two groups equal size and usually ten poUen- the United States from Maine to of handsome flowering shrubs, dis- producing stamens. Azaleas have ei- Georgia and westward as far as Ohio, tinguishing them, as was his custom, ther deciduous or "persistent" (semi- by apparent differences in the sexual evergreen) leaves, which are smaller parts of their flowers. A decade later and not leathery, and funnel-shaped he named a third, similar genus, flowers, also with five petals of equal Rhodora.The species of all three size but usually with five stamens. genera look a lot alike, however. Rhodoras have deciduous leaves and Acknowledging the strong family ten stamens per flower, but the petals resemblance, the German botanist are arranged into two groups, three on Johann Georg Gmelin included one side and two on the other. Rhodora within Rhododendron in There are more than 850 wild spe- 1791, and five years later the British cies oi Rhododendron in the world, botanist Richard Anthony Salisbury including at least twenty-six native folded Azalea into that grouping. In to the U.S.—fourteen azaleas, ten 1834 George Don, also British, for- rhododendrons, and two rhodoras mally organized the expanded genus (not counting myriad hybrids). Great Rhododendron into eight sections, laurel, one of the rhododendrons, is or subgenera, a taxonomy that has distinguished by its large, leathery lasted until now, although genetic leaves, about eight inches long and studies have begun to refme and two to three inches wide, combined consolidate it further. with dense clusters of large, usually Hemlock-beech-oak-pine for- red maple, and yellow birch, Wildflowers include the wild geranium, wild sarsapa- CO es'. American beech and east- along with lesser numbers spring-blooming bloodroot, rilla, wood anemone, yellow ern hemlock are common, but of American elm and paper bluebead, Canada lily, Canada dogtooth lily, and three kinds several other tree species are birch. Allegheny serviceberry, mayflower, downy rattlesnake of trilliums. prominent in this transitional gray birch, northern red oak, plantain, false Solomon's seal, Summer and autumn CD forest that falls between the and white oak occur in slightly foamflower, Indian cucumber, bloomers include Canadian boreal forest to the north and elevated areas. Arrowwood, jack-in-the-pulpit, pink lady's honewort, gaywings, moun- < the eastern deciduous forest Canada yew, and maple-leaf slipper, pipsissiwa, red bane- tain woodsorrel, northern to the south, including eastern viburnum help make up the berry, Solomon's seal, star- heart-leaved aster, white white pine, mountain maple, shrub layer. flower, waxflower shinleaf. avens, white rattlesnake- 38 j NATURAL HISTORY July/August 2009 I I'ennsyivania, and much of Michigan: and as far west as northeastern Min- nesota and the northern half of Wis- consin. Because the habitat includes a mi.xture of cone-bearing trees and cold-tolerant hardwoods, Ladd char- acterizes it as "transition forest." According to Ladd, the Great North Woods occupies lands that are relatively "new." ha\ing been cov- ered by thick glacial ice during the late Pleistocene and then gradually released from its grip between about VISITOR INFORMATION 18,000 and 10,000 years ago. Many Rhododendron State Park .^_^ Route 119W, glacial features such as moraines and fllH Fitzwilliam, NH 03447 potholes are found throughout the 603-532-8862 (at Monadnock State Park) region, and because the mountain- http://nhstateparks.org/state-parks/ pink flowers borne on flower stalks ous bedrock is usually impermeable, alphabet ical-order/rhododendron-state- with sticky hairs (probably a means of many wetlands occur. park/ ^ keeping insects that pro\ide little help The si.xteen acres of dense Rliodo- with pollination troni crawling into deridroii iiiaxinitini shrubs would be an the tunnel-like trail carved through the flowers). It lives in dense shade impenetrable thicket if it were not for it. Great laurel usually grows in rich along streams and on moist, rocky, organic soil, and its roots sometimes Pink lady's slipper forested slopes, and like many rhodo- form thick mats, similar to those cre- dendrons and azaleas, tolerates acidic ated by peat moss. At one place along soils, such as those found in bogs. the trail, where the soil becomes ex- tremely muck); a boardwalk permits Covering four and a quarter square the hiker to continue unimpeded. miles, Rhododendron State Park Beyond the boardwalk is a spruce- embraces a hemlock-beech-oak- flr swamp. A short branch trail goes pine forest, a part of the Great North through a dense growth ot mountain Woods that lies between the boreal laurel, and a wildflower trail with forest to the north and the eastern plantings by the local garden club deciduous tbrest to the south. Bota- shows off native and other species. nist Doug Ladd, who is director of At the entrance to the park, history- conservation science for the Nature buffs can pause at the Old Patch Place, Conservancy in Missouri (and whose the home built b> Captain Samuel North Woods Wildflowers is a must Patch or his son around 1815. It has for anyone exploring the region), been listed on the Nation;iI Register locates the Great North Woods in of Historic Places since 1980. all of Maine, Hampshire, and New Robert H. Mohlesbrock is a Vermont, and most of Massachusetts distinguished professor emeritus ofplant and New York; across southern Que- biology iif Southern Illinois University bec, southern Ontario, north-central Ciirhondnle. root, white snakeroot, white Spruce-fir swamp A scat- and speckled alder. Non- grove are less than twenty wood aster, wild bergamot, tering of trees include co- woody plants include bunch- feet tall, although the species wreath goldenrod, and zig- nifers— balsam fir and red berry dogwood, cinnamon can grow twice that high. The zag goldenrod. spruce —and the deciduous fern, creeping snowberry, slender, leaning stems weave Among the spore-produc- red maple and black gum. partridgeberry, spotted win- a thicket so crowded and ing plants are Christmas fern, Among the shrubs (in ad- tergreen, Virginia iris, and shaded that no other plants groundcedar, intermediate dition to abundant great several sedges. grow beneath them. The wood fern, interrupted fern, laurel) are common winter- plants bloom from late June maidenhair fern, and shining berry, highbush blueberry, Rhododendron stand Most to mid-July, producing large clubmoss. mountain holly, sheep laurel, of the great laurels in the pink or white blossoms. July/August 2009 n.\tural history 39 3 H1?TO MarketpUce. 800 442-6441 /[email protected] lath Solution^ MathTutdrDVD.cdm NEW! 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Learn legendary recreation and historic landmari The astronomical event of the sum- plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun. orbit Earth, the I nier occurs on July 22: a total During each around eclipse of the Sun. The Moon's dark Moon passes once down and once up umbral shadow will touch down in through the ecliptic. Those intersec- the Arabian Sea off the west coast of tions are known as the descending India at 6:23 a.m. local time, then and ascending nodes. On July 22, the sweep across Asia and over the Pacific Moon will be close to the descending Ocean. About 200 miles east-south- node when it is new, and thus well The duration of totality for tlie July east of Iwo Jima, the eclipse hits the lined up between the Sun and Earth. 22 solar eclipse is lorigest where the "sweet spot," where viewers stationed Second, Earth will be near aph- passing shadow slows down (highlight, center). Earth's rotation boosts the at sea should enjoy six minutes and elion, the most distant point in its viewing time. thirty-nine seconds of totality, begin- orbit around the Sun, so the Sun ning at 11:32 a.m. local time, when will appear a bit smaller in the sky that information, you might expect a the Sun is almost directly overhead. than at other times of year. And, co- viewer stationed at the center of the Thereafter, the umbra will move incidentally, the Moon will be near umbra's path to witness a total eclipse southeast, finally lifting off a little perigee, when it is closest to Earth lasting roughly four minutes (that's beyond the international date line. in its own orbit, so its disk will ap- how long it takes to cover 161 miles (Ecliptomaniacs east of the line should pear slightly enlarged. at 2,400 miles per hour). mark their calendars for July 21!) As viewed from above the North But there is another factor that Pole, the Moon orbits Earth coun- must be taken into account: Earth's Under absolutely optimal conditions, terclockwise, so its shadow travels rotation. For example, anyone stand- a solar eclipse could provide as west to east. The shadow's shape ing at the equator is being passively much as seven minutes thirty-one and size change as it moves across carried west to east at about 1,038 seconds of totality to a stationary Earth's spherical surface; the shadow miles per hour. For this eclipse. observer, but most eclipses average also changes speed as the Sun angles Earth's North Pole will be tilted about two to three minutes. Several higher in the sky—it is slowest wher- toward the Sun, making it summer- factors contribute to making this one ever it is landing most perpendicu- time in the Northern Hemisphere, especially long, and they go into fig- larly to the ground. For example, so the rotational benefit will be more uring out the best observation post. for this eclipse, if you stood on the limited, but still enough to extend A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon and looked at the umbra the duration of totality for more than Moon is lined up between the Sun when it is most nearly centered on an additional two and a half minutes. and Earth, and therefore when the Earth's disk, you would see an almost perfect circle of shadow 161 miles Moon is new. However, not every Joe Rao is a broadcast meteorologist and new Moon results in an eclipse. That across, traveling at the same speed as an associate and lecturer at the Hayden is because the Moon's orbit is slightly the Moon in its orbit—about 2,400 Planetarium in New York City tilted with respect to the ecliptic, the miles per hour at perigee. Based on (Www.haydenplanetarium.orgj. JULY NIGHTS OUT 18 A couple of hours before sunrise, in the the east-southeast with Jupiter, which is east-northeast, Mars sits about 4 degrees about 4 degrees to the Moon's right. 7 The Moon is full at 5:21 a.m. EDT below and to the right of the Moon. 12 and 13 The Perseid meteor shower 9 Jupiter and Neptune engage in the 21 The Moon arrives at perigee, the part peaks during the predawn hours for second of three conjunctions this year of its orbit closest to Earth, at 4 p.m. EDT. U.S. time zones. The meteors appear to [see "Skylog," May 2009]. Jupiter rises before It becomes new at 10:35 p.m. EDT, and emanate from the constellation Perseus. 10:30 P.M. in the east-southeast and is the descending node of its orbit crosses Unfortunately, the Moon, which wanes high in the sky several hours later. With an hour and a quarter later. Those events to last quarter on the 13th at 2:55 p.m. good binoculars or a small telescope, contribute to shaping a long total solar EDT, brightens the sky during the prime focus first on Jupiter; Neptune is the eclipse on July 21-22 (see story above). meteor-watching hours. tiny bluish "star" appearing about 0.56 28 The Moon waxes to first quarter at degrees to Jupiter's north. 16 Low in the east-northeast at around 6:00 P.M. EDT. 2 A.M. local daylight time, Mars sits about 10 As the Moon rises late this evening, 3 degrees to the right of a crescent Moon. Jupiter shines about 5 degrees to the AUGUST NIGHTS OUT Moon's right. 20 The Moon is new at 6:02 a.m. EDT 5 The Moon is full at 8:55 p.m. EDT 15 The Moon wanes to last quarter at 27 The Moon waxes to first quarter at 5:53 A.M. EDT. 6 Soon after sunset, the Moon rises in 7:42 A.M. EDT 42 1 -iATURAL HISTORY July/August 2009 - EXPiX t.. I* ;^!.^^Mpiiii«b(:^^i'c>u[c: Imm. 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W For brochures s custom made tours AMAZONIA EXPEDITIONS " Tara Tours 1-800-327-0080 800-262-9669 www.perujungle.coin 969-9014 • www.galapagostravel.com (800) Since 1980 .www.taratours.com www.peruandes.corn 783 Rio Del Mar Boulevard. Suite #49. Aptos. CA 95003 ' EXPLORING SCIENCE AND NATURE Around the Country ^j~~^^HB^^^^^H Gold artifacts from Latin American c ultures are a highlight of the new ^—.^^^^'^^^^i 1 ^B^BttiH^^^ »IIIII!!i^^^^^^^^l "Visible Vault" exhibition at the Nat jral History Museum of Los Angeles ^^B""""^ '#1^ ^^^H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H County. ^^^^^^^1 ^/r--«t:«^' '>V^^I ' jrHJ^^^^^^^H than 700 objects from an- and function, diseases and ^^^H ,^, cient cultures of Mexico, disorders, and performance •PT^ ^H^^^^^^^l Central America, and South and improvement. America into public view, Balboa Park ^^^^^^^H i71^i^^ ^MfrwI^lP^^^^^^^^H ^^^^^^^^^^H including an Aztec stone 1788EIPrado skull, Maya glyphs, pre-Inca 619-232-3821 Aj^^^H gold drinking vessels, and www.sdnhm.org® ^^^^K- ...^^^ZL——JIM^^^^^^^^^^ more. Step inside the vault and you'll find artifacts ar- COLORADO ^i^^i^^H ranged by region—covering Denver H^^^^^K --..^aMnMMM-•^..—.-^^^^^^^^^^^m cultures as diverse as the Denver Museum of — J^^^^^^^^^^l ^^^^H^ """"^t^Bf^^ >— Chupicuaro, Hohokam, Nature and Science __^^^^^^^^H^^| Jalisco, Olmec, Veracruz, Ongoing: "Space Odyssey." and Zapotec—and nearby One of the Museum's newest ARIZONA Phoenix multimedia stations that permanent exhibition halls Mesa Arizona Science Center provide handy tools for in- features 21st-century, inter- Arizona Museum of Ongoing: "Forces of Nature." depth research, including active learning technology Natural History Explore—and even ex- maps and information about that immerses visitors in Ongoing: "Mars!" The red perience—some of the each object on display. the planets, stars, nebulae, planet is revealed in this raw power generated by a Exposition Park and galaxies of our universe. new exhibition that shares dynamic Earth, including 900 Exposition Boulevard Experiment with infrared some of the latest scientific phenomena such as earth- 213-763-DINO technology scientists use to research gathered through quakes, hurricanes, torna- www.nhm.org ® see distant objects, try dock- satellite imaging and rovers does, volcanic eruptions. ing a space shuttle at the on the surface. Visitors can and wildfires. An "Immer- San Diego International Space Station, see a rover vehicle, a mete- sion Theater" puts you in San Diego Natural explore the 15,000-foot cliffs orite from Mars, and spec- the center of the action, and History Museum of Mars, and much more. tacular photographs high- hands-on exhibits help ex- Through October 10: The adjacent planetarium lighting geologic features. plain the underlying causal "Body Worlds & The boasts digital technology including polar regions, phenomena of plate tecton- Brain—Our Three Pound that may be "light-years" tectonic fractures, and the ics, ocean currents, wind Gem: The Original Exhibi- beyond the usual planetar- 2,500-mile-longValles patterns, and more. tion of Real Human Bodies." ium experience. Marineris canyon. Interac- 600 East Washington Street Visitors can learn about 2001 Colorado Boulevard tive exhibits demonstrate 602-716-2000 anatomy, physiology, and 800-925-2250 how "dust devils" form, www.azscience.org ® health by exam-ining real www.dmns.org ® dunes are created, and rifts human bodies that have develop in the planet's crust CALIFORNIA been preserved through a CONNECTICUT and the exhibition also Los Angeles process called plastination. New Haven presents some technologies Natural History Museum The exhibition includes more Peabody Museum of and processes scientists are OF Los Angeles County than 200 authentic human Natural History using to investigate the pos- Ongoing: "Visible Vault: specimens—including entire Ongoing: "Hall of Minerals, sibility of past or present life Archaeological Treasures bodies illustrating neuro- Earth, and Space." This on Mars. from Ancient Latin logical, circulatory, and other geological exhibition ex- 53 North Macdonald America." Rendered as a systems. The show also fea- plores the birth of the solar 480-644-2230 " museum storeroom, this tures new research findings system and the forces that www.azmnh.org new exhibition brings more on the brain's development shaped the Earth's early 44 NATURAL HISTORY July/August 2009 ' ^v/0«-fi^; A pistol with its brass serpentine side plate, recovered from ttie wrecl< site of tlie pirate ship Whydah, is part of the "Real Pirates" exhibition, now on display at The Field Museum in Chicago. geology: earthquakes, climb into a chrysalis, flap and movement. help people volcanic eruptions, and giant butterfly wings, hunt 4801 East Fowler Avenue explore insect meteor collisions. Discover for nectar using your nose, 813-987-6100 sounds, vision, how the planet's rocky sur- and avoid the spiders lurking www.mosi.org (^ population dis- face—on land and under around the corners. tribution, and the oceans—interacts with University of Florida GEORGIA more. the atmosphere and waters Cultural Plaza Atlanta 1525 Bernice Street to create Earth's livable cli- SW 34th Street and Hull Road Fernbank Museum of 808-847-3511 mate. From the museum's 352-846-2000 Natural History www.bishopmuseum.org Ji vast collections, see rare www.flmnh.ufl.edu ^) Through August 16: gems as well as minerals "Dinosaurs: Ancient ILLINOIS with unusual properties Tampa Fossils, New Discoveries." Chicago such as fluorescence, magne- Museum of Science and Presenting an up-to-date The Field Museum tism, and radioactivity. Industry (MOSl) Ongoing:' look at what scientists cur- Through October 25: Yale University "Kids in Charge!" Color- rently think about dinosaur "Real Pirates: The Untold 170 Whitney Avenue ful, interactive exhibits physiology and behavior, Story of the Whyiiah from 203-432-5050 encourage creativity and this exhibition builds on Slave Ship to Pirate Ship." www.peabody.yale.edu i^ science skills in this special cutting-edge science and Starting out as a slave ship facility just for children 12 explores the latest research in 1715, the Whydali was FLORIDA and under. Test differently about why dinosaurs be- captured by pirates, who Gainesville shaped wings in a wind came extinct. It includes an used it to attack more than Florida Museum of tunnel, lie down on a "bed impressive, detailed walk- 50 other ships before it sank Natural History of nails," figure out how to through of a Mesozoic-era during a storm. Now the Thnnigli September 7: crack a safe with a math- environment. Whydah reveals her secrets "Amazing Butterflies." ematical code, discover facts 767 Clifton Road NE in this exhibition, which Discover the life cycle of about an animal's history 404-929-6300 features real stories of the these remarkable insects from a single tooth, play www.fernbankmuseum.org pirates' lives; gold and sil- in a new exhibit laid out checkers on a 20-foot-square ver coins from all over the as a giant maze filled with board, and much more. A HAWAII globe; pirates' buckles, but- larger-than-life leaves, grass, separate area for preschool- Honolulu tons, and cufflinks; clay and trees that shrink you to ers features specially de- BisHOF Museum smoking pipes; pewter the size of a caterpillar. On signed activities that focus Through September 7: tableware; and cannons, your journey, slip on some on gross and fine motor "Backyard Monsters." muskets, and swords. Since caterpillar legs to inch along. skills, balance, coordination. Giant animatronic insects the Whydah pirates plun- flap their wings, wiggle their dered so many different legs, and engage in combat ships, the recovered treasure MEMBERSHIP HAS ITS REWARDS in this exhibit that explores no\v provides archaeolo- the world of insects. X'isitors gists—and visitors—with a Institutions marked with 'S participate in feel tiny compared to the fascinating window on the ® the Passport program run by the Association 10-foot bugs, which include intersections of the slave of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC). If you're a mem- Atlas beetles, a monarch trade, pirates, commercial ber of a participating museum or science center, you may butterfly, a tomato cater- actix'ity, and ever\day life in receive free admission at more than 300 other institutions pillar, a paper wasp, and a 18th-centur\' America. around the world. dragonfly. Actual specimens 1400 South Lake Shore Drive See www.astc.org/passport for more iiiformarioii. are on display in adjacent 312-922-9410 cases, and hands-on exhibits www.fieldmuseum.org ® July/August 2009 natur.'M history 45 MASSACHUSETTS NEW MEXICO Manhattan to see the effect River, step into a hidden Cambridge Albuquerque rising sea levels would have bird blind to watch migrat- Harvard Museum of New Mexico Museum of on the island, ponder your ing birds at rest and play, Natural History Through Natural History and coal usage next to a giant and much more. September 6: "Language of Science Ongoing: model of a ton of coal, in- 45 Museum Drive Color." Find out what bold "STARTUP: Albuquerque vestigate alternative energy 518-359-7800 zebra stripes, bright but- and the Personal Computer sources, and more. www.wildcenter.org terfly wings, and iridescent Revolution." Historical ar- Central Park West at 79th Street beetle wings are saying in tifacts, interactive exhibits, 212-769-5100 NORTH CAROLINA this dazzling new exhibition and videos in this new per- www.amnh.org Durham of real animal specimens manent exhibition explain Museum of Life and Science and interactive exhibits. Dis- how microcomputers devel- Tupper Lake Ongoing: "Catch the Wind." cover how different animals' oped—and how they trans- The Wild Center, This new, four-acre out- bodies produce the rainbow formed society. From early Natural History Museum door exhibition focuses on of hues found in nature, the electronic computer toys OF the Adirondacks how wind influences our varied ways their eyes per- such as Hasbro's Think-A- Opening July 4: environment. Maneuver ceive color, and how color Tron, through an early per- "Mother of Invention: How radio-controlled sailboats by is used to conceal or com- sonal computer (the Altair the Genius of Nature Can harnessing the wind, ride a municate in this interactive 8800) and the marketing of Help Us Live Smarter." Leonardo da Vinci-inspired show that lets you experi- the Macintosh, to today's In this new exhibition, find ornithopter—complete with ence colors as other animals advanced hardware and out how scientists and en- flapping wings modeling do, including parts of the software, the show traces gineers are tapping into bird flight—ten feet up into spectrum that are normally the PC industry's Albuquer- the secrets of the natural the air, launch giant "seeds" imperceptible to humans. que roots and subsequent world—copying moth eyes from a 30-foot tower to 26 Oxford Street growth. An additional to make solar panels more explore the aerodynamics 617-495-3045 gallery invites visitors to efficient, developing surgi- of seed dispersion, and www.hmnh.harvard.edu speculate about the future cal instruments inspired by much more. of personal computers. wasp mouths, making low- 433 West Murray Avenue MISSOURI 1801 Mountain Road NW energy cell phone screens 919-220-5429 Saint Louis 505-841-2800 based on butterfly wings, www.ncmls.org® Saint Louis Science Center www.nmnaturalhistory.org ® and more. Ongoing: Through September 7: "Naturalist "Ends of the Earth: From NEW YORK Walks." Explore Polar Bears to Penguins." New York six acres of trails Discover the animal adapta- American Museum of on your own, or tions, human adaptations, Natural History on daily sched- and science that are unique Through August 16: uled walks to Earth's polar regions. "Climate Change: The with museum Compare bear skulls and Threat to Life and A New educators, and find out what scientists are Energy Future." Step into discover the discovering about the status this new exhibition and banks of the of polar bears. Discover explore the science, his- Racquette the stories of polar explor- tory, and impact of climate ers who braved the cold. change—and discover how Examine real specimens to you can reduce your carbon learn which Arctic whale footprint. Interactive ex- A civilian officia has a tusk and which Arctic hibits and dramatic displays part of an army that guarded the tomb of animal has the most hair. If help explain the science China's first emperor, you're feeling adventurous, behind changes in polar stands watch in ice, don a penguin suit and try oceans, and land and the "Terra Cotta walking and sliding like a suggest concrete actions Warriors" ex- penguin. people, communities, and hibition now 5050 Oakland Avenue countries can take to reduce at the Houston Museum of Nat- 800-456-SLSC CO, emissions. Experiment ural Science. www.slsc.org '5) with a scale model of lower 46 NATURAL HISTORY July/August 2009 Visitors guide scarab beetles pushing dung balls in a video game that is part of the "Animal Grossology" exhibition, now at Pacific Science Center in Seattle. Raleigh NoRiH Carolina Museum OF Natural Sciences Through September 7: "Chocolate: The TEXAS exhibition, where you'll see 21 Starling Avenue Exhibition." Disco\tT how Fort Worth generals, officers, infantry- 276-634-4141 a small seed from the rain- Fort Worth Museum men, servants—and even a www.vmnh.net S) forest changed the world. OF Science and History cavalry horse—along with This e.\ploration of one of Through August 8: "Dino- other funerary artifacts, in- WASHINGTON nature's greatest delights saurs Alive!" Join real-life cluding armor, jewelry, and Seattle includes the natural history paleontologists on the hunt ritual objects. Pacific Science Center of the cacao tree, an expla- for dinosaur remains, and One Hermann Circle Drive Through September 7: nation of how chocolate is new information about 713-639-4629 "Animal Grossolog)'." Based made, and illustrations of their behaviors and evolu- www.hmns.org on a popular children's its many uses over time and tion, in this large-format book, this exhibition's inter- around the world. film. Realistic and scien- VIRGINIA active stations and informa- 11 West Jones Street tifically accurate computer- Martinsville tive, humorous graphic pan- 877-4NATSCI generated imagery portrays Virginia Museum of els allow visitors to discover www.naturalsciences.org T dinosaurs fighting, nesting, N.\tural History the scientific reasons why and facing catastrophic Ougoing: cats cough hairballs, skunks PENNSYLVANIA forces of nature; and 1920s "Uncovering Virginia." stink, and birds regurgitate Philadelphia documentary footage shows This new, permanent gal- into their babies' mouths, The Academy of how paleontology has both lery tells the story of Vir- among other fascinating Natural Sciences changed and remained the ginia's natural history over biological adaptations. Through September 7: same in the past 80 years. the course of the past 300 200 Second Avenue North "Geckos—^Tails to Toepads." 1501 Montgomery Street million years. Six exhibits 206-443-2001 Explore the world of these 817-255-9300 focus on different geologic www.pacsci.org (?) likable lizards, which have www.fwmuseum.org '?) epochs being studied by adapted to environments scientists in various loca- WISCONSIN as diverse as ocean beaches, Houston tions around the com- Milwaukee dry deserts, and freezing Houston Museum of monwealth. Each exhibit Milwaukee Public Museum mountaintops. Fifteen of Natural Science describes the animals and Ongoing: "Puelicher Butter- more than 1,250 living Through October IS: "Terra plants that lived there in fly Wing." Stroll through an species are on display in Cotta Warriors: Guardians the past and features a indoor tropical garden while naturalistic habitats, where of China's First Emperor." laboratory-like environ- native and exotic species you can see their size and Qin Shi Huang was the first ment where visitors can use of butterflies flutter around color variations and hear person to rule a unified the same tools scientists you; see young insects their barks, chirps, growls, China, and he had thou- do to interpret fossils and emerge from their chry- and squawks. Hands-on sands of lifelike, life-size archaeological items. See a salides; discover how artistic exhibits demonstrate the army figures crafted from tropical swamp from a time expression in other cultures animals' night vision, hunt- clay to protect his tomb when Virginia was south and in other times has been ing skills, sticky toepads, after his death in 210 B.C. of the equator, visit a site inspired by the heaur\- and and disposable tails. They lay hidden until 1974, occupied by Native Ameri- movement of butterflies. 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway but now some of these si- cans both before and after 800 West Wells Street 215-299-1000 lent guardians are tra\-eling Europeans arrived, and 414-278-2702 www.ansp.org J' abroad in this monumental much more. www.mpm.edu 5) July/August 2009 NATURAL HISTORY 47 mm. lHli?li? 1^,--=^- Ui^ing Lakes to Death ^li Lake Plantagenet, Minnesota—a kettle lake As a child during the 1950s and fish adapted to cool conditions, such the northern U.S. One problem with 1960s, I summered on the shore as trout, into warmer surface waters, such an exercise is that defining lake of Union Lake, Minnesota. As the where they languish. Bacteria that quality is a value judgment. A fisher- summers rolled by, my chore of rak- depend on oxygen for respiration man who prefers bass to trout might ing weeds near the beach grew more are elbowed out by bacteria species argue that lake quality improves with demanding, the water seemed ever that thrive on fermentation or pro- additional nutrients. For a seven- murkier, and the sandy shallows felt duce methane. That, in turn, can teenth-century voyageur, the quality squishier between my toes. Invisible lead to botulism or salmonella out- of a lake was measured by the efficacy to me were the burgeoning fecal breaks. Methane bubbling upward of travel. Are lakes now playgrounds bacteria and the increasing levels through the water column gobbles for water sports? Natural areas? The of heavy metals, such as lead. Only up whatever dissolved oxygen is left. criteria I used were nutrient pollu- years later did I make the connection If methane escapes the water, it will tion, invasive species, shoreline habitat between the changes in the water spontaneously oxidize or even catch destruction, disease-causing bacteria, and the rising number of cottages fire, producing a ghostly nighttime acid rain, and chemical contamination sprouting around the 104-acre lake. effect known as "will-o'-the-wisp." by toxic metals and synthetic organic Known as a kettle lake. Union Once a lake reaches the tipping compounds, including pharmaceuti- Lake is a remnant of the last ice age, point, there are only two reason- cals. My general conclusion: approxi- created when a block of ice stranded able management alternatives: put mately one-third of the kettle lakes in sediments melted, leaving behind the lake on a strict diet, restricting are in good shape. The rest are either a bowl-shaped depression. Kept filled nutrient intake from all external compromised or in deep trouble. by groundwater, kettle lakes lack sources, or remove some of the pol- As for Union Lake—its shore significant inlet and outlet streams. lutant. Phosphorus-enriched water once shaded by trees, its waters In consequence, one of their thorni- just above the muck can be pumped decorated with clutches of cat- est problems is being overfed with away; dissolved phosphorous can be tails and sheets of lily pads—it has nutrients, such as carbon, nitrogen, precipitated to the bottom; bottom changed. Gone are the dozens, if and phosphorus, from both natural water can be oxygenated; muck can not hundreds, of frogs that used to and human sources. Phosphorus is be vacuumed up and trucked away jump out of my way every time I the most common culprit—whether (think of it as lake liposuction). walked its perimeter, and the thou- from manufactured field and lawn sands of minnows that darted about fertilizers, laundry detergent, or hu- n 2000, Congress asked the United in schools. Last summer a fellow man and animal waste. States Environmental Protection I talked to, who was repairing a Nutrients are essential to lake Agency about the status of American cottage porch, complained that he life, yet beyond a certain threshold lakes. The agency's answer was, in hadn't had a nibble in three nights they can turn into choking pollut- essence, "We don't know." That of fishing. The biologically rich lake ants. Rural lakes develop the green- response led to the funding of a of my memories is still scenic and ish-gray, sludgy look of an urban National Lakes Assessment, designed cool to the touch on hot days, but it duck pond; coves become miniature to produce a statistically robust snap- is eerily quiet, devoid of all but boat Sargasso Seas smothered with floating shot by the year 2010. The sample noise and dog barks. rafts of reeds; and lake flies fall so covers the lower forty-eight states, thickly after expiring that their re- plus a pilot project in Alaska; more Robert M. Thorson is a profes- mains have to be shoveled off streets. than a thousand randomly selected sor of geology at the University of lakes are being surveyed. Connecticut. This story is adapted from An overfed lake lacks the oxygen In the meantime, I decided to his recent book Beyond Waldeii: The needed to decompose the excess carry out my own assessment of kettle Hidden History of America's Kettle Lakes growth. A decline in oxygen forces lakes across the glaciated fringe of and Ponds (Walker & Company, 2009). 48 NATURAL HISTORY July/August 2009 DISCOVER PARKS it^r:r *^»^« Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Salt Flat, TX W** In the end, we conserve only ^what we love..." ^ BABA DIOUM, POET America's 391 national parks are the world's greatest collection of nature, history and culture. Discover your parks today and get involved at www.nationalparks.org. America's national parks. -^ The National Park Foundation is the official charitable partner of OYSTER PERPETUAL ROLEX.COM 3LEX JEWELER CALL I -800-367-6539. ROLEX * AND OYSTER I N EW YORK '.m^^Mi^