Member Magazine Winter 2015 Vol. 40 No. 1

Countdown to Zero Opens January 13

defeating guinea worm

explore21 expedition 2 News at the Museum 3

From the International health topics are increasingly on issues in human health to the public, from the Up Next: Life at the Limits: Stories of Amazing Species the front burner. The recent Ebola crisis is among International Tuberculosis Exhibition in 1908 through President those that underscore the critical role disease more recent exhibitions, including Epidemic! The plays in our global welfare, and highlights the World of Infectious Disease, The Genomic Revolution, Ellen V. Futter interconnectedness of people worldwide—all of and The Power of Poison, also curated by Dr. Siddall. which makes the Museum’s upcoming exhibition Human disease does not happen in a vacuum, Countdown to Zero, presented in conjunction with and is often the result of complex, even ancient, The Carter Center, particularly timely. interactions among species within ecosystems. Countdown to Zero focuses on global efforts The Museum’s research includes many areas related to contain, eliminate, or eradicate disease, chiefly to human health, including study of the evolution The Carter Center’s 30-year campaign against and ecology of the human papilloma virus, the Guinea worm disease, which is today on the tuberculosis bacterium, and other disease-causing verge of eradication. Health workers are closing agents. Of course, human behavior is a big factor in in on other scourges, including polio and malaria, disease spread and control, and the Museum has a and better controlling diseases like tuberculosis long history of helping people understand the role and Ebola. The exhibition is curated by Museum of humans within natural ecosystems. parasitologist Mark Siddall, who has studied And so we are very pleased to collaborate with Guinea worm in Africa. The Carter Center to present the important and The Museum has a long history of presenting inspiring stories told in Countdown to Zero.

Table of Contents

News 3 5 6 Close-Up 4 The astouding colors of Yellowstone National Park’s Grand Prismatic Spring are produced by several species of bacteria that thrive in the hot spring’s waters.

Counting Down to an Extinction 6 Imagine holding your breath for an hour and a half. Or enduring temperatures Member Preview above 300° Fahrenheit and below -328° F. These are just a few of the extreme Thursday, April 2, 4–8 pm Far-Flung Field Sites 10 approaches to life on Earth showcased in the new exhibition Life at the Limits: Stories of Amazing Species—an exploration of the diverse and sometimes jaw- Discover the amazing organisms that have Inside the Explore21 Expedition 12 dropping strategies and plants employ to find food, fend off predators, evolved to face the unusual challenges of living reproduce, and thrive in habitats we would find inhospitable, even lethal. on Earth in Life at the Limits: Stories of Amazing Next 14 Consider the examples mentioned above. The elephant seal, featured as Species. Explore incredible specializations for a life-sized model in the exhibition, can hold its breath for 100 minutes to dive surviving harsh surroundings, escaping predators, Explore 20 10 23 2,000 feet in search of food. The tiny tardigrade, a microscopic shown attracting mates, living very long lives, and more. in three oversized models, can withstand extremes of temperature, hibernate Members 22 for decades when deprived of water, and survive radiation in outer space. Members are invited to see Life at the Limits: The exhibition, overseen by Curator Mark Siddall, a parasitologist, and Stories of Amazing Species at a special preview on Curator John Sparks, an ichthyologist, will take visitors deep into a cave where April 2, beginning at 4 pm. View the exhibition animals that live without light lack eyes and pigmentation. A fluorescent coral and stay for a wine reception from 5 to 8 pm in the reef will reveal the phenomenon of synchronous spawning in which different Akeley Hall of African Mammals. Please RSVP by coral species are triggered by moonlight to release billions of eggs and sperm in calling the Membership Office at 212-769-5606. unison. Live animals on display will include stick , masters of camouflage, American Museum of Natural History ISSN 0194-6110 Chairman Lewis W. Bernard USPS Permit #472-650 and the surprisingly powerful mantis shrimp. In a nod to its strength, the Hercules President Ellen V. Futter Vol. 40, No. 1, Winter 2015 will be featured as a climbable model. Coming Up on AMNH.org Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Rotunda is published quarterly by the Membership Office of the American A cacophonous soundscape will showcase the inventiveness of mating Strategic Planning, and Education Lisa J. Gugenheim Museum of Natural History, 15 West 77 Street, New York, NY 10024-5192. serenades, from the hammerhead bat’s honk to the shy pig frog’s group-sing. And On February 4, amnh.org will be introducing Director of Membership Louise Adler Phone: 212-769-5606. Website: amnh.org. Museum membership of $75 per a life-sized model of the titan arum plant will nod to another form of seduction: this a number of new features for a much more year and higher includes a subscription to Rotunda. ©2014 American Museum unusual plant releases the scent of rotting flesh to attract flies that dine on carrion. personalized online experience–one that you can Magazine of Natural History. Periodical postage paid at New York, NY and at additional Editor Eugenia V. Levenson mailing offices. Postmaster: please send address changes to Rotunda, tailor to your interest and needs. All you have to do Contributors Joan Kelly Bernard, Eliza McCarthy, Membership Office, AMNH, at the above address. Life at the Limits opens April 4 and is free for Members. is create a new user account on or after that date, Karen Miller, Anna Umansky (production) and you’ll be able to track your ticketing benefits, Design Hinterland, www.hinterlandstudio.com Please send questions, ideas, and feedback to [email protected]. Generous support for Life at the Limits has been provided by the collect web content, and more! Please visit

Photo 5 © AMNH/R.Mickens; photo 6 © The Carter Center/A. Mosher; photo 10 © AMNH/B.Benz; photo 23 © Courtesy of Nuytco Research, LTD. LTD. Research, Nuytco of Courtesy © 23 photo AMNH/B.Benz; © 10 photo Mosher; Center/A. Carter The © 6 photo AMNH/R.Mickens; © 5 Photo Peaco NPS/J. Photo © Eileen P. Bernard Exhibition Fund. amnh.org/register for more information.

Rotunda / Winter 2015 / AMNH.org 4 Close-Up at the Museum 5

Seismic Tools Though they are sometimes used interchangeably, A Sleek Seismometer the terms seismometer and seismograph describe different instruments: a seismometer measures In the course of a year, the National Earthquake Information Center, the arm of seismic waves, the vibrations traveling through the United States Geological Survey (USGS) responsible for tracking and sharing the Earth caused by an earthquake, while a information about earthquakes worldwide, reports approximately 30,000 events. seismograph records them, producing the spikey That’s an average of 80 earthquakes a day, a number made even more impressive graphs known as seismograms. by the fact that it represents only the most significant of the Earth’s constant movements: quakes with magnitudes of 3.0 or higher, a tiny fraction of the many Persistent Scale millions of earthquakes that the USGS estimates occur annually. Seismologist Charles Richter developed the Feeding this massive data collection effort are national and global seismic well-known scale in 1935 to compare magnitudes networks, which rely on hundreds of instruments like the compact, stainless- of quakes in southern California. More accurate steel seismometer pictured here. This 14-inch-tall model currently takes techniques to measure energy release, using the measurements of Earth’s vibrations at stations from Albuquerque, New Mexico, moment magnitude scale, have replaced Richter’s to Santo Domingo, Venezuela, then transmits the information digitally, making original formulation, but his name remains rapid earthquake alerts—and prompt mobilization of aid by government and interchangeable with earthquake size. humanitarian agencies—possible. Hercules beetle ( hercules) The ability to detect and locate earthquakes has been more than 1,800 Early Warning years in the making. The earliest known seismic instrument dates back to The 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck AD 132, an invention of the Chinese polymath Zhang Heng. It was designed A Natural Obsession the San Francisco area in August 2014 provided as an urn decorated with eight dragon heads, each holding a ball. Eight An Extreme Beetle No 19th-century naturalist’s collection, the a test of California’s Early Earthquake Warning open-mouthed toads circled the base, and though the exact mechanism is proverbial cabinet of curiosities, would be (EEW) system, which uses sensors to detect an unknown, seismologists think a pendulum inside the vessel was used to sense It’s no accident, of course, that this beetle is named for a mythological hero complete without . Alfred Russel Wallace earthquake’s fast-moving P-waves and issues alerts ground movement, which would trigger one of the balls to drop from dragon who was most famous for his strength. Primarily because they have an external (1823–1913) collected more than 80,000 specimens before the slower but more damaging S-waves to toad to reveal the direction of an earthquake’s waves. The instrument was skeleton, Hercules beetles, like many in its , can lift many hundreds of in the Malay Archipelago alone. Such passion hit. Where earthquakes are concerned, advance said to have accurately detected an earthquake hundreds of miles away from times their weight. is not surprising, since beetles (Coleoptera) are warning is usually only a matter of seconds the imperial court. In the male, such a show of strength is useful during competition for mates. the largest order of insects, with about 350,000 or minutes—just enough time to take cover. In 1947, noted naturalist William Beebe, who was a research associate at the known species. See a digital seismometer and a seismograph drum in Nature’s Fury: The Science of Natural Museum from 1925 until his death in 1962, described the ritual, in which two Quake State Disasters, which is free for Members. Hercules males rush at each other until one securely grasps the other and then Behind the Scenes Situated on top of the San Andreas Fault, rears up to a nearly vertical stance, with all the drama of a professional wrestling The Museum’s collection of beetles and weevils the boundary of two moving tectonic plates, match. “At the zenith of this pose [the dominant beetle] rests upon the tip of the numbers nearly 2 million—at last count, 1,977,800 California is well known for its earthquakes, Guralp CMG 3T compact abdomen and the tarsi of the hind legs, the remaining four legs outstretched in specimens—or 8.5 percent of the Museum’s from small disturbances to the disastrous seismometer midair, and the opponent held sideways, kicking impotently,” Beebe wrote. “This invertebrate zoology collection. The invertebrate earthquakes that struck the Bay Area in 1906 posture is sustained for from two to as many as eight seconds, when the victim zoology collection in turn, with more than 23 and 1989. But in terms of the total number of is either slammed down, or is carried away in some indefinite direction to some million specimens, accounts for nearly 70 percent earthquakes, California is second to sparsely indeterminate distance, at the end of which the banging to earth will take place.” of the Museum’s total scientific collection of populated Alaska, which accounts for more than Along with their strength, Hercules beetles are also notable for their size: they 33,430,000 specimens. 50 percent of all U.S. earthquakes. are among the largest of the rhinoceros beetles (), a subfamily of the scarab beetle family (). Hercules males can grow as long as 7 inches, Other Scarabs Quake Zone including the horns, and females, 3 inches. They are sexually dimorphic, most Museum collections tend to reflect the special Earthquakes occur in the middle of tectonic notably with the female lacking the horns that distinguish the male. The setae interests of its researchers. So, while the plates, too. The central U.S. is home to the New along the male’s horn aid in gripping; setae elsewhere protect the beetles from invertebrate zoology collection has only a modest Madrid Seismic Zone, which reaches into bacteria, dirt, and moisture. number of Hercules beetles, it has an impressive parts of Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, They are found in Central and South America and a few of the islands of the representation of other Scarabaeidae, primarily and Missouri and has been the source of nearly Lesser Antilles. The tropical climate plays a role in the curious tendency of their the genus Diplotaxis, collected by the late Patricia 40 earthquakes in the last 30 years. The zone elytra, or hardened wings, to change rapidly from yellowish olive to black as Vaurie during her 38-year career at the Museum. takes its name from three large earthquakes humidity rises. that destroyed the town of New Madrid, Missouri, Cleaning Up in the winter of 1811–1812. See the climbable Hercules beetle model in Life at the Limits: Stories of Amazing Species, Hercules beetle larvae, which live in and feed upon which opens April 4 and is free for Members. rotting or decayed wood, are natural recyclers with an important place in the cycle of life. Fossils suggest that scarab beetles alive 150 million years ago fed on dinosaur dung. Egyptian dung beetles () were considered a sacred symbol of death and rebirth, and ancient amulets in their image inspired the familiar gemstone

© Courtesy Guralp © AMNH/R. Mickens jewelry called scarabs.

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Guinea worm patients Sadia Mesuna (right) and Fatawu Yakubu read an educational comic book at a case containment center in Ghana. extinction by mark siddall

why would a biologist celebrate the eradication of an organism?

the life cycle of a Guinea worm, Dracunculus medinensis, cause pain in order to successfully reproduce. In addition to deeply is deviously simple. Cool water teems with life, much wounding and torturing its victims for weeks on end, dracunculiasis of it microscopic crustaceans; this is normal, and typically is a disease of starvation. It leaves families in affected areas without consequences. But sometimes, resident water fleas host incapacitated and unable to reap the crops they have sown. larvae of a rapacious, fiery serpent. When ingested, the water flea There is no vaccine for Guinea worm, and there are no drugs hosts dissolve in stomach acid, allowing the larval worms that can cure those who are infected. The pest once afflicted to move through the human body, where they mature and hundreds of millions of people from Gambia to India. But the mate. As the females of the next generation worm is now gone from Guinea, and from almost grow, they pack their own bodies with live everywhere else. At last count (2013), there were young. During this period, the victim suffers no only 148 people infected, down from an estimated immediate symptoms. A year later, the 3-foot- 3.5 million in 1986. Of the remaining cases, long mother awakens deep in her host’s leg. She 113 are in South Sudan. rises to the surface and induces a blister on her We know these numbers with precision victim’s skin that is so fierce, and of such searing because of a campaign that former President agony, that the afflicted seek relief in the coolness began leading in 1986 to destroy of water. Here, the mother dumps her offspring, the worm. That community-driven process, completing the life cycle for another generation. coordinated by The Carter Center and executed The Guinea worm has repeated this process for by the South Sudan Ministry of Health, village hundreds of thousands of years. volunteers, and trained technical advisors, is driving the parasite Picture books are used to teach children and The Guinea worm can only reproduce at the expense of those out of its last remaining human hosts. Each person known to adults how to avoid contracting and spreading it infects. Adult worms only infect humans, while the larvae be infected with the worm, along with every village in which Guinea worm disease in South Sudan. Right: Health workers in Ethiopia conduct house-to- Mosher Center/A. Carter The © right at photo Gubb; Center/L. Carter The left © at Photos only invade water fleas. It is also the only human parasite that must outbreaks have occurred or are occurring, is tracked. Intervention house searches for malaria and trachoma.

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Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease is multi-pronged: the infected are voluntarily quarantined, since Tuesday, January 13–Sunday, July 12 patients with emergent worms must be kept away from water sources; containment-care facilities welcome not just the victims Countdown to Zero, a new exhibition about scientific and social but their dependents, too; local education programs focus counting innovations that are ridding the world of ancient afflictions, on water filtration. was developed in collaboration with The Carter Center and focuses Many years ago, when I was beginning a career in on several global efforts that have been able to contain, eliminate, parasitology, I was told about the “parasitologists’ dilemma,” or eradicate disease. The exhibition will highlight the 30-year a spin on the Malthusian catastrophe. The premise was that, down campaign by The Carter Center to eradicate Guinea worm disease, should parasitologists actually manage to eradicate infectious programs to eradicate polio and for more localized elimination diseases caused by parasites, we’d be morally responsible for smallpox polio of river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, and malaria, and efforts thrusting millions of people into the inevitable conflict and for six to control diseases like Ebola. poverty that would result from population growth and increased The agent: The variola virus The agent: The poliovirus pressures on a limited food supply. But in every place where the The threat: First-ever disease The threat: Polio infections to be eradicated; the smallpox fell by more than 99 percent Guinea worm has been eliminated, the very opposite is true. Just Countdown to Zero is presented by the American Museum of Natural History virus exists only in secure labs. from 1988 to 2013. in collaboration with The Carter Center. a couple of decades ago, Ghana and Mauritania had thousands diseases How infection spreads: From How infection spreads: of cases. Now, both countries are free not only of Guinea worm person-to-person contact, through From person-to-person contact or Countdown to Zero is proudly supported by Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, but, increasingly, of the shackles of extreme poverty: per capita the air, and from contact with through contaminated food or water. infected bodily fluids and objects Defeating the disease: Lions Clubs International Foundation, Mectizan Donation Program, G.D.P. has tripled, the number of people living on less than a what does it take to wipe out such as bedding or clothing. Two vaccines—the Oral Polio Vaccine dollar a day has been halved, and the birth rate has plummeted. Mr. John J. Moores, Sr., and Vestergaard. a disease? whether the primary Defeating the disease: The smallpox and Inactivated Polio Vaccine—have This, obviously, is the result of many factors besides Guinea vaccine, discovered by Edward Jenner been in use for over 50 years, helping This exhibition is made possible by the generosity of the Arthur Ross Foundation. worms. But I can say this: so much for Malthus. method is to vaccinate, educate, in 1796, was the world’s first vaccine. bring the number of cases worldwide Most conservation efforts, like those for spotted owls or interrupt transmission by other A global immunization effort began to all-time low in 2012. and pandas, are proxies for threatened ecosystems, or seek in the mid-20th century, led by the Eradication potential: Eradication means, widespread cooperation World Health Organization (WHO). is possible, but only if vaccination to preserve “keystone species,” like sharks. Few focus on the Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease across national borders is key. Eradication potential: programs are not compromised in the 21st Century despised and downtrodden species that crawl beneath our Declared eradicated in 1980. by regional instability or opposition Monday, January 12, 7:45pm feet. As a leech expert, “save the maggots” has always been to vaccines. $20 my rallying cry, but let no one mourn this extinction.

What does it take to eradicate a disease? Former President Mark Siddall is a curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology Jimmy Carter, whose Carter Center has worked for the past 30 years and curator of the exhibition Countdown to Zero, now on view to break the life cycle of the Guinea worm, will be joined by Curator in the Akeley Gallery. Mark Siddall, a parasitologist, and Dr. Donald Hopkins, vice president for health programs at The Carter Center, for a dynamic conversation This piece was originally published in about the science and politics of disease eradication. The New Yorker’s Elements blog as “An Extinction to Celebrate.”

guinea worm disease river blindness lymphatic filariasis malaria The agent: The parasitic worm The agent: The agent: Three species The agent: Plasmodium parasites Dracunculus medinensis Onchocerca volvulus worms of nematode worm: Wucheria The threat: Though preventable The threat: The number of cases has The threat: Occurs mainly bancrofti, Brugia malayi, and and curable, malaria continues decreased by more than 99 percent in tropical areas; more than Brugia timori to infect hundreds of millions since the 1980s, to 148 cases in 2013. 99 percent of infected people The threat: About 120 million annually across about 100 countries How infection spreads: live in sub-Saharan Africa. people are currently infected, in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Through drinking water, which How infection spreads: Through with nearly 1.4 billion people How infection spreads: contains microscopic crustacean the bites of black flies. Worms in 73 countries under threat. Through the bites of female hosts that carry worm larvae. reproduce under the skin, producing How infection spreads: Anopheles mosquitoes; there Defeating the disease: thousands of offspring that inflame Through mosquito bites, which are numerous species of A concerted effort spearheaded the skin and cause blindness. transmit these worms’ larvae. Anopheles around the world. by The Carter Center—educating Defeating the disease: The worms damage the lymphatic Defeating the disease: and engaging communities in Drug treatment is critical; killing system, causing painful, disfiguring, Widespread use of insecticidal solutions to avoid contracting fly larvae in their breeding places and disabling swelling. bed nets has been successful in and spreading the disease, plus also helps interrupt transmission. Defeating the disease: stopping transmission, and vaccines making available water-filtering Eradication potential: Successful Drug treatment and bed nets are in development. Genetically tools—has brought the disease elimination efforts in Latin America can prevent transmission. engineering mosquitoes is another within sight of eradication. offer models for tackling the disease Eradication potential: approach that is being considered. Eradication potential: in sub-Saharan Africa. Identified by the WHO Eradication potential: Malaria has In 2007, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter visited Tingoli Poised for eradication. as a candidate for eradication. been eliminated in certain regions, village in Ghana, where The Carter Center while for others, control may be the worked to eradicate Guinea worm disease in most effective short-term approach.

partnership with Ghana’s Ministry of Health. © The Carter Center/L. Gubb

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The hiking boot soles lasted only a few hours into the 11-hour trek, the first of two required to reach camp on the north slope of the central highlands of Papua New Guinea. Heavy rains pelted the expedition team as they tackled a series of deep, muddy ravines and river crossings over suspension bridges made of vines. “I had expected that getting here would be hard,” wrote Museum ornithologist Paul Sweet in a dispatch from the field on October 3, “But I had no idea how hard.” Famous for the richness of its native fauna—the majority of the birds of paradise are found here, as are two of the five living egg-laying species of mammals—New Guinea’s mountainous terrain exacts a steep toll from biologists who seek out its enigmatic animals. (Papua New Guinea makes up the eastern half of New Guinea, the world’s second largest island, while the west is part of Indonesia.) Sweet, together with ornithologist Brett Benz, herpetologist Christopher Raxworthy, and mammalogist Neil Duncan, who traveled to the highlands of Papua New Guinea as part of the Explore21 Expedition last fall (see page 12), joined a long line of Museum vertebrate specialists to survey the region’s native species in increasingly remote parts of the island. Beginning in 1927, when evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr first traveled there to collect birds before joining the Museum’s historic Whitney South Sea Expedition, Museum researchers have led more than 18 expeditions to the region. But a series of three field trips, led by mammalogist and philanthropist Richard Archbold in the 1930s, is perhaps most notable for its attempts to solve the practical problem of reaching the island’s interior. Far-flung The first expedition, in 1933–1934, left Archbold convinced that transport was the greatest challenge to uncovering New Guinea’s “most zoologically interesting areas.” He decided that effective fieldwork on the island required airplanes for scouting locations, transporting personnel, and delivering supplies, especially food, to far-flung, long-term camps. For their second trip, in 1936–1937, the Archbold Expedition team used a Fairchild amphibian airplane to establish camp in the mountains, aiming to collect specimens at high elevations. But after the plane was destroyed while buoyed in the harbor at Port Moresby, the capital, the expedition was forced to abandon the original plan, ferry its team back using rafts, and settle for conducting fieldwork in the lowlands. For the third expedition, in 1938–1939, Archbold acquired a “flying boat” that could land on, and take off from, water. The so-called Guba, a long-range patrol bomber that was used by the United States Navy, was customized for the expedition and flown from San Diego to New Guinea via Honolulu and Wake Island over the course of a week in June 1938. The Field plane proved invaluable in establishing and supporting several camps for the duration of the expedition, which lasted until May 1939, explored more than 2,000 square miles across various elevations, and contributed thousands of specimens to the Museum’s collections. While the flight to Papua New Guinea no longer takes a week—the Explore21 Expedition team members arrived in Port Moresby just 29 hours after departing New York—reaching remote field sites on the island is not too different than it was in the 1930s. Small chartered planes ferried Sweet, Benz, Raxworthy, and Duncan to their base camp in the village of Malaumanda, landing on a muddy grass airstrip, lined with local residents who came to welcome the guests. From there, much like explorers who had come to the island before them, the team had to trek to high camp by foot, scaling several thousand feet through tropical rain forest—rain, mud, and all.

For the Explore21 Expedition to Papua New Guinea, team Much like in the 1930s, crossing streams and unconventional landings are par for members traveled to one of the the course when conducting fieldwork on the island of New Guinea. most remote areas on Earth. Archival images Courtesy Department of Library Services (images no. 129258 and 131472); 2014 images © AMNH/B. Benz Sites Rotunda / Winter 2015 / AMNH.org 12 13 Inside the read

Paul Sweet’s and Chris Raxworthy’s Explore21 posts from the field Expedition at amnh.org/blog to Papua New Guinea Ayuwagu satellite site (1200 m) Christopher Raxworthy Associate Curator, Brett Benz, Expedition Leader Department of Herpetology Curatorial Associate, of New Guinea accounts Ayuwagu camp The South Pacific island (690 m) Herpetologist Chris Raxworthy worked closely Department of Ornithology for only about 0.5 percent of the world’s land with Bulisa Iova, collection manager from the Ornithologist Brett Benz, who has conducted mass—but it’s home to more than 7 percent Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art fieldwork in Papua New Guinea for more than Ayuwagu satellite site Gallery, during surveys for snakes, lizards, and of its biodiversity, much of it highly unusual. a decade, studies several bird groups including (550 m) frogs. The team was working in a previously And unlike those in other parts of the world, birds of paradise and bowerbirds. Fluent unsurveyed region, and because the island’s its tropical rain forest ecosystems remain mostly Malaumanda village in Melanesian Pidgin, Dr. Benz traveled to and airstrip (680 m) amphibians and reptiles are not well known, Papua New Guinea several months before intact, undisturbed by large-scale human Dr. Raxworthy anticipates that the expedition the expedition to establish agreements with development and, in some remote areas, mostly could yield several new species. One exhilirating local landowners, choose camp locations, unstudied. Scientists estimate, for example, surprise: at top camp, at an elevation of about and secure research permits. that less than half of the island’s amphibians 2,460 meters, Raxworthy discovered “frog have been described so far. heaven… one of the most beautiful bright green tree frogs I have yet found in PNG, and other All of these made Papua New Guinea (the species that did not seem to fit the species eastern half of the island; the western half descriptions I had at camp.” is governed by Indonesia) a rich destination for the second expedition under the banner of Explore21, a new scientific initiative Neil Duncan launched by the Museum in 2013 to support Collection Manager, fieldwork focused on discovering new species Department of Mammalogy developing new collection methods, preserving Among mammalogist Neil Duncan’s many tasks biodiversity, and uncovering new knowledge on the expedition was to collect tissue samples about the natural world. from New Guinea’s rodents, marsupials, and fruit Last September, four vertebrate specialists Bush camp en route to Paul Sweet bats, which may carry zoonotic viruses (viruses from the Museum headed out on a seven- Wigilia camp (1350 m) Collection Manager, that can be passed between species), for analysis week expedition to the island’s rugged interior Department of Ornithology at the Museum. Data about the distribution and diversity of pathogenic viruses can yield together with three Papua New Guinea field Before leaving for Papua New Guinea, important information about the risk biologists. Their goal: to conduct intensive ornithologist Paul Sweet was looking forward of transmission to livestock and humans. At low surveys of the island’s birds, mammals, reptiles, to observing several species of bowerbird and Wigilia camp (1800 m) camp near the Ayuwagu River, Papua New Guinea and amphibians—as well as their viruses their exquisitely decorated bowers, some of the biologist Enock Kale recorded many mammal and parasites—and to learn more about the most elaborate animal-made structures. He was species that didn’t occur at higher elevations, not disappointed: at Wagilia Camp, Sweet wrote evolutionary processes and environmental including four species of tube-nosed bats. in a dispatch for the Museum blog, “We wake factors behind this island’s unique fauna. up to the bizarre calls of the Black Sicklebill, a The results of this work will be used in bird of paradise, and on the ridge above camp many ways: to add important specimens and Marepale camp (2160 m) we have found the maypole bowers of tissues to the Museum’s collections, to inform MacGregors’s Bowerbird.”

conservation planning for the region, and, Satellite images by Earthstar Geographics LLC. through findings about the distribution of viruses, to influence public health policies.

The Museum’s Explore21 Initiative is supported by the leadership contributions of Katheryn P. and L. Kempner, Jr., and Linda R. and William E. Macaulay. Elli camp (2460 m)

Papua New Guinea is located north of Australia on the eastern half of the South Pacific island New Guinea, the world’s second-largest island.

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January Programs and Events Live Wolf Encounter Inside Out Tour with Curator Lecture: Astronomy 101 Winter Lunchtime Bird Walks From Quasars to Quarks Tour Saturday, January 10 Sidney Horenstein Edmond A. Mathez Tuesday, January 27 in Central Park For more programs and Sunday, January 4 11 am (for children 5 and under) Thursday, January 15 Wednesday, January 21 6:30 pm Four Tuesdays to purchase tickets, 10:30 am–Noon 1 pm 6–7:30 pm 6–8 pm $12 February 3–February 24 visit amnh.org/calendar. Free; registration required $10 $25 Free for Adventurer-level Interested in becoming an Noon–1:30 pm 212-769-5200 Meet Atka, an Arctic gray wolf Explore the history and Members and above; registration amateur astronomer but $50 For updates and reminders, How far away is a quasar? How from the Wolf Conservation architecture of the Museum required 212-769-5606 unsure where to begin? In this Catch a glimpse of owls, sign up for monthly Calendar small is a quark? Explore these Center in South Salem, New with historian Sidney Horenstein. Join us for a special program, Ted Williams will get songbirds, and woodpeckers, Highlights for Members by fascinating phenomena on a York, on a visit to the Museum. This tour will take place inside presentation about our latest you on the road to becoming The Art of Diorama seed-eating birds in the fields, sending your membership special tour in the Rose Center and outside of the Museum. exhibition, Nature’s Fury, with a professional amateur Six Thursdays, and multiple species of ducks number and request to subscribe for Earth and Space. Curator Edmond A. Mathez. astronomer. The city skies may January 29–March 12 and gulls in the lakes as to [email protected]. The Dr. Mathez will discuss just offer the beginner the best 7–9:30 pm ornithologist Paul Sweet guides Museum does not trade, rent, Culture Salon: Coffee disaster risk reduction and place to start sky watching. $170 Members you through Central Park to or sell this information. SciCafe: The Science Behind Wednesday, January 21 the Museum’s research about Back by popular demand! Join observe the varied bird species Football 6:30 pm or 7:30 pm these topics. Museum exhibition specialist of New York City. Tickets Wednesday, January 7 $40 Behind the Scenes: Tom Doncourt for a hands-on 7 pm Led by Stumptown Coffee’s Research Library look at the creation of our Tickets are available by phone at Free for 21 + Nick Kirby, this after-hours Tuesday, January 27 legendary dioramas. Learn SciCafe: NYC Subways: 212-769-5200, Monday–Friday, Scientist and author Ainissa culinary tour through the 6:30 pm, 7 pm, 7:30 pm behind-the-scenes stories and Mapping the Urban 9 am–5 pm, or by visiting amnh.org. Ramirez explores the science Museum includes insights $35 discover how dioramas are Microbiome, Genome, Please have your membership behind one of America’s about many coffees of The Library hosts extensive made, from start to finish. and Metagenome number ready. favorite games, addressing the world. photographic collections Wednesday, February 4 topics from concussions Countdown to Zero: Defeating and the Darwin Manuscripts 7 pm Availability may be limited. to decision-making. Disease in the 21st Century Project—a joint effort with February Free for 21+ Please purchase tickets in advance. Monday, January 12 Cambridge University Library Geneticist Chris Mason, 7:45 pm to digitize and annotate the Catching a Comet with the assistant professor in the Please be aware that ticket sales Walk on the Wild Side $20 The Year in Review with primary written evidence Rosetta Spacecraft Department of Physics and are final for all Member programs. Eight Wednesdays, January 7– Join former President Jimmy Neil deGrasse Tyson of Darwin’s thought. Join Monday, February 2 Biophysics at Weill Cornell All programs go ahead rain February 25 Carter, Dr. Donald Hopkins, vice Thursday, January 22 Library Director Tom Baione 7:30 pm Medical College, is one of or shine. There are no refunds 8–9:30 am president of health programs at 7:30 pm and Director of Darwin $12 a group of researchers unless the program is cancelled Free for Adventurer-level The Carter Center, and Curator $20 Manuscripts Project David Rosetta, launched in 2004, combing the New York City by the Museum. Members and above; Mark Siddall, a parasitologist, Spend an evening with Kohn to view items from these is the first spacecraft to orbit subway system to swab call 212-769-5606 for a dynamic conversation Rose Director of the Hayden collections and learn about a comet, which it reached in surfaces, collect specimens, Heed the call of the wild and about the science and politics Planetarium Neil deGrasse ongoing projects to make 2014. Now Rosetta will study and create a map of the urban join an intrepid band of walkers of disease eradication. Tyson as he reviews stories these resources freely the comet for more than a year. microbiome and DNA around for a fitness experience like no about the universe drawn available online. Mission scientist Joel Parker us—information that could other: power walking the halls from breaking news in 2014. will provide an overview of signal a microbial threat of the Museum before it opens. the mission so far—and share due to bioterrorism or the excitement of why we emergent disease. study comets.

Exhibitions Countdown to Zero: Natural Histories: 400 Years The Butterfly Admission is by timed entry only. Defeating Disease of Scientific Illustration from Conservatory: Tropical Opens Tuesday, January 13 the Museum’s Library Butterflies Alive in Winter Nature’s Fury: The Science of Free for Members Free for Members Please check amnh.org Natural Disasters This new exhibition developed Featuring scientific illustrations for Member prices Free for Members in collaboration with The Carter spanning five centuries, this Housed in a vivarium that From earthquakes and volcanoes Center highlights scientific and visually striking exhibition approximates their natural to tornadoes and hurricanes, social innovations that are ridding explores the integral role habitat with live flowering nature’s forces shape our dynamic the world of ancient afflictions— illustration has played in scientific plants, butterfly species in this planet and endanger people including the 30-year campaign discovery. ever-popular exhibition include around the world. Discover that may soon eradicate Guinea iridescent blue morpho butterflies, the causes of these natural yet worm disease. striking scarlet swallowtails, hazardous events and explore the and large owl butterflies. risks associated with each.

Rotunda / Winter 2015 / AMNH.org 16 Next at the Museum 17

March Winter: Romance Under the Stars Sackler Brain Bench: Baby Animals Tour Opulent Oceans The Coldest Season Tour Saturday, February 14 One-Day Course SciCafe: Explore21 Sunday, March 8 Wednesday, March 11 Saturday, February 7 6 pm or 9:30 pm The Early Childhood Brain Papua New Guinea 2–3:30 pm 6:30 pm 10:30 am–noon $125 per person (includes open bar Saturday, February 21 Wednesday, March 4 Free; registration required 212- Free; reservations required Free registration required and appetizers) 9 am–6 pm 7 pm 769-5200 212-769-5200 212-769-5200 Celebrate Valentine’s Day with $85 Free for 21+ Baby animals come in all Join author Melanie L. J. Stiassny, Join a guide to learn about a unique NYC experience only What lies behind the wonder in Join Museum scientists shapes and sizes, and different Axelrod Research Curator of winter in North America. at the Hayden Planetarium! a baby’s eyes? Are my toddler’s as they tell tales of their recent animal species care for their Fishes, on an epic, oceanic Explore the Cullman Hall Join us for a cocktail hour tantrums or facility with rugged expedition into the young in many different journey as she discusses of the Universe, Gottesman complete with open bar, language determined by genes highlands of Papua New ways. See how baby animals the early histories that shaped Hall of Planet Earth, Bernard Champagne, chocolates, and or upbringing? In this one- Guinea. The team will share including gorillas, dinosaurs, the study of the oceans. Family Hall of North American passed hors d’oeuvres; then day course, a group of experts findings from their survey of and others learn to survive Mammals, and the Hall of join Hayden Planetarium will lead you through recent birds, mammals, amphibians, and thrive with help from their North American Forests to presenters Lydia Maria Petrosino insights into early-childhood HERE WE STAND: and reptiles, as well as families during this special Animal Drawing learn about the forces that Darwin Goes Digital and Ted Williams in the brain development. Honor Black History parasites, from one of Earth’s tour of Museum halls. Eight Wednesdays, create “winter” and how Tuesday, February 10 Planetarium for a view Saturday, February 28 most biodiverse spots. March 18–May 6 animals and plants adapt 6:30 pm of the night sky. 3–5 pm 7–9 pm to the cold. Free; registration required Free for Members Our Earth’s Future $160 (Materials not included) 212-769-5200 Experience globally minded, Four Tuesdays, March 10–31 The celebrated diorama and Charles Darwin’s Evolutionary Behind the Scenes: groundbreaking artists 6–8 pm fossil halls serve as the setting Manuscripts include numerous Invertebrate Zoology creating history at the Free; apply on amnh.org for an intensive after-hours original documents that Thursday, February 19 Museum. Legendary hip-hop Our Earth’s Future is about drawing course with illustrator trace the long maturation of 6:30 pm, 7 pm, 7:30 pm artist Darryl “DMC” McDaniels the science of — and naturalist Patricia Wynne. Darwin’s theory of evolution $35 and NEA Jazz Master Delfeayo and how to talk about it. By the All experience levels welcome. by natural selection. Mark the Visit the Division of Marsalis return to this exciting end of the course, participants Museum’s historic project to Invertebrate Zoology to see event. Renowned director will be able to confront publish the entire 30,000-item some of the Museum’s world- NASA Missions Jamal Joseph with the Oscar- misconceptions and contribute Culture Salon: African Games corpus online with Randal class, 23-million-plus Tuesday, February 24 nominated Harlem-based confidently to conversations and Gastronomy Keynes, a conservationist and marine invertebrate 6:30 pm IMPACT Repertory Theatre and about climate change. Thursday, March 19 and Darwin’s great-great- collections, hosted by $12 New Orleans’ Uptown Music 6:30 pm or 7:30 pm grandson; field biologist and Curatorial Associate Christine After an eight-year journey, Theatre premiere a new work, $40 historian of evolution James Johnson and Senior Scientific NASA’s New Horizons mission “From the African Village to the Play mancala and dice games Costa, and David Kohn, director Assistant Louis Sorkin. will soon be arriving at Pluto. Urban Village.” while snacking on Tanzanian of the Museum’s Darwin Join Brian Levine and Carter street food and sipping on Manuscripts Project. Emmart for a ride around the Nigerian palm wine in the Hall solar system, to visit this and of African Peoples. Uncover the other missions and check on meaning behind game-playing the truly amazing research with experts. they are doing.

Please check amnh.org for Hayden Planetarium Space Shelf Life: A Collection for Member ticket prices for IMAX, Show: Dark Universe Curious Minds 3D films, and the Space Show. Narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Dive deep inside the Museum’s the Space Show celebrates collection to discover the LeFrak Theater pivotal discoveries and the cosmic past, present, and future of its Tiny Giants mysteries that remain. Gaze up approximately 33 million artifacts Opens Monday, January 5 at the Milky Way from Mt. Wilson and specimens in this new series In an adventure of epic Observatory in California, plunge with original monthly videos. proportions, Tiny Giants reveals into Jupiter’s atmosphere with the astonishing lives of some very a NASA probe, and more. amnh.org/shelflife small animals.

Rotunda / Winter 2015 / AMNH.org 18

Join usaswe explore the collection comprisesmore Arrindell andJairo Arroyave with scientists,lookthrough discuss techniquesfor Tuesday, March 24 around theworld. Radford about thedelicatebalance Next Next storage spacesrepresenting share ararelookatcollection specimens. special relationshipbetween Arthur Arthur Ross Foundation. through the generosity of the of Natural History is made possible Histories at the American Museum The presentation of by Nature’s Fury is proudly sponsored Museum of Natural History. developed by the American Chicago, with additional content created by The Field Museum, Natural Disasters was originally Nature’s Fury: The Science of 6:30 pm,6:30 7 pm, pm 7:30 preserving andstudyingthese perfect placetocallhome.Talk $35 Ranging fromdeep-seafish Earth andtheSunlearn Department ofIchthyology’s Sun/Earth Sun/Earth Day hands-on activitiesatthis Saturday, March 21 than 2millionspecimensfrom to prehistoricsharks,the thousands ofspeciesand telescopes, andengagein that makesourplanetthe family-friendly event. Ichthyology Behind the Scenes: Free pm Noon–5 Travelers. for Members atMuseum the Natural On The NatureOfThings, choreographer original text fortheproduction and willprovide live narration. about climatechangeby a meditative performance and MacArthur fellow On the Nature of Things $25 Dance meetssciencein in collaborationwithauthor Wednesday, March 25; Thursday, Arthur Arthur Ross Foundation. possible by the generosity of the This exhibition is made Moores, Sr., and Vestergaard. Donation Program, Mr. John J. International Foundation, Mectizan Foundation, Lions Clubs supported by Conrad N. Hilton Countdown to Zero is proudly The Carter Center. History in collaboration with the American Museum of Natural Countdown to Zero is presented by March 26; Friday, March 27 by Karole Armitage 8 pm Paul R. Ehrlich, who wrote Karole Armitage,

The February 4SciCafe is The SciCafe seriesisproudly supported bytheScience sponsored byJudyandJoshWeston. (SEPA) programoftheNational Credits: Institutes ofHealth(NIH). Education Partnership Award cosmic address,fromEarth’s observable universe. Tuesday, March 31 and thesolarsystem’s position annual MuseumDance, the apartment? Come foracosmic season. Call 212-496-3495 for season. Call 212-496-3495 social event ofthespring Our Cosmic Address 6:30 pm 6:30 position inthesolarsystem $12 Dance thenightaway atthe Spring 2015 No in theMilkyWay galaxy instead! more information. ride intheHayden Planetarium to wheregalaxyfitsinthe the Imaginationinyour Museum Dance generous sponsorship of Made possible through the Planetarium. Earth and Space, and the Hayden and Sandra Priest Rose Center for History, the Frederick Phineas American Museum of Natural Dark Universe was created by the Con Edison. And proudly supported by Brian Abbott Cosmos-esque Shipof Christina Pease and spell outour Accenture.

“From theAfricanVillage tothe of MuseumandLibrary Services of Frederick H.Leon­ The MaxandVictoria Dreyfus The MortimerD.Sackler The Museumgreatlyacknowledges Urban Village” is supported in part Our Earth’s Future wasmade Sackler EducationalLaboratory Simon Foundation, thefamily Sidney, MiltonandLeoma Support formulticultural Schaffner Family andbythe Support forHaydenPlanetarium for ComparativeGenomicsand Foundation. Foundation, Inc.foritssupport Programs isprovidedbythe Family Foundation, Inc.,the Hall ofHumanOrigins. inThe Spitzer Human Origins, Bench, partoftheMuseum’s under grantnumberMA-10-13- Fund. Endowment fortheArts.ArtWorks. Horace W. GoldsmithEndowment programs isprovided,inpart, possible inpartbytheInstitute to establishThe Sackler Brain 0200-13. by theMayandSamuelRudin by anawardfromtheNational

and GOTO INC, Tokyo, Japan. Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, in collaboration with the California History, New York (www.amnh.org) the American Museum of Natural Dark Universe was developed by Foundation. NASA and the National Science Presented with special thanks to the Charles Hayden Foundation. acknowledges major funding from The Museum also gratefully hardt, and

Photos © AMNH/ C. Chesek, D. Finnin, R. Mickens, and M. Shanley with exception of coffee (Wikimedia Commons/Diegojaf22), volcano (© Pablo Hidalgo), San Franciso earthquake (Courtesy The Field Museum), Ethiopia health workers (©The Carter Center/A. Mosher), Darwin (© Julia Margaret Cameron), NASA Mission (JHUAPL), Tiny Giants © BBC 2014, PNG expedition © AMNH/B. Benz Rotunda / Winter 2015 / AMNH.org / Rotunda/ 2015 Winter Member Baby Animals Tour sunday 8 For details, visit One Step Beyond friday 6 After-Hours New Guinea SciCafe: Explore21 Papua wednesday 4 March Tuesdays through February 24 Walks in Central Park Winter Lunchtime Bird tuesday 3 Hayden Rosetta Spacecraft Catching a Comet with the monday 2 February For details, visit One Step Beyond friday 9 After-Hours Behind Football SciCafe: The Science Wednesdays through February 25 Member Walk on the Wild Side wednesday 7 From Quasars to Quarks Tour sunday 4 January Planetarium Program Program Program Program amnh.org/OSB amnh.org/OSB Program Wednesdays through May 6 Adult Animal Drawing wednesday 18 Museum Opulent Oceans wednesday 11 Tuesdays through March 31 Adult Our Earth’s Future tuesday 10 Member Winter: The Coldest Season Tour saturday 7 For details, visit One Step Beyond friday 6 After-Hours Genome, and Metagenome Mapping the Urban Microbiome, SciCafe: NYC Subways: wednesday 4 Member Sidney Horenstein Inside Out Tour with thursday 15 Museum former President Jimmy Carter Disease in the 21st Century with Countdown to Zero: Defeating monday 12 Family Live Wolf Encounter saturday 10

Course Course Program Program Program Lecture Lecture Program amnh.org/OSB

Member Behind the Scenes: Ichthyology tuesday 24 Hayden Sun/Earth Day saturday 21 Celebrate and Gastronomy Culture Salon: African Games thursday 19 Member Invertebrate Zoology Behind the Scenes: thursday 19 Hayden Romance Under the Stars saturday 14 Museum Darwin Goes Digital tuesday 10 Hayden Neil deGrasse Tyson The Year in Review with thursday 22 Celebrate Culture Salon: Coffee Member Edmond A. Mathez Curator Lecture: wednesday 21 Planetarium Planetarium Planetarium Program Program Program Lecture Culture! Culture!

Program Program Program

wednesday 31 Through March 27 Celebrate by Karole Armitage On the Nature of Things 25 tuesday 24 Adult Childhood Brain One-Day Course: The Early Sackler Brain Bench saturday 21 Thursdays through March 12 Adult The Art of Diorama thursday 29 Hayden Astronomy 101 Member Research Library Behind the Scenes: tuesday 27 Hayden Our Cosmic Address tuesday Celebrate Honor Black History Here We Stand: saturday 28 Hayden NASA Missions

Course Course Planetarium Planetarium Planetarium Program Culture! Culture!

Program Program Program

19 20 Explore at the Museum 21

Three Curators Tracking Evolution’s Rate through Trilobites Melanie Hopkins is working to unlock the history of the evolution of animals Melanie Hopkins over vast stretches of geologic time and, for her, the key is trilobites—extinct Division of Paleontology Join Museum that lived for almost 300 million years until 250 million years ago when Earth experienced the largest mass extinction in its history. On the Trail of Human Ancestors “My main work is studying variation within species and how that drives long- term evolution within lineages,” says Dr. Hopkins, who came to the Museum in January 2014 as an assistant curator in the Division of Paleontology after stints of postdoctoral work at The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, and the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. “One thing that I’m really interested in is when and why rates of evolution are faster in some environments than others.” Trilobites were incredibly diverse, with more than 20,000 described species. Because their shells were made of the mineral calcite, like those of crabs or clams, trilobites are well represented in the fossil record, preserved in sites all over the world from the United States to China. Moreover, like insects, they molted throughout their lifetimes leaving clues to how they changed during development. Hopkins’ fieldwork has taken her from Sweden to the deserts of Nevada and Utah. This summer, Hopkins explored several historic fossil beds near Utica. “Trilobite paleontology goes back a long way in New York State,” she says. There is also untold value in mining the Museum’s own trilobite collection of an estimated 400,000 specimens, many from localities no longer accessible. “Discoveries can actually happen opening up old drawers and finding specimens collected years ago probably for a completely different purpose,” says Hopkins. “Collections can be very useful in answering questions that we hadn’t Brian Richmond even thought about when the material was first collected.” Division of Anthropology

(L) Brian Richmond finds in footprints Visitors to the Museum’s Spitzer Hall of Human Origins are invited to “walk” new evidence of our early ancestors’ in the footsteps of hominins who lived some 3.6 million years ago. For biological behavior. (R, top) In her work with anthropologist Brian Richmond, deciphering what such footprints can tell us about Studying Tropical Bird Diversity trilobites, Melanie Hopkins benefits from the behavior of our early ancestors is the stuff of his life’s work. the proximity of fossil sites in New York “Bones and teeth tell us what species existed at a given time and place, what Brian Smith, assistant curator in the Department of Ornithology since last they looked like, and how they were related,” explains Dr. Richmond, the new January, credits his career path to a curiosity about nature ignited by childhood Brian Smith State. (R, bottom) Brian Smith explores Department of Ornithology relatively recent events to resolve the curator of human origins in the Museum’s Division of Anthropology. “But wanderings in the woods of northern New Jersey—and his mother’s passion for birds. “tips of the avian tree of life.” footprints preserve a snapshot of their behavior. They tell us how our extinct “I was really young, going through the woods and exploring, trying to find ancestors walked, how many individuals were walking, whether they were adults animals, flipping up logs, looking for salamanders, and became really interested or kids, and what other animals shared the same habitat. Footprints give us an in wildlife,” says Dr. Smith. “I wasn’t into birds at first but my mother was and she amazing window into human behavior in deep time.” introduced me to them. I slowly became more and more interested in them too.” Before arriving at the Museum in August, Richmond taught at The George Today, Smith scours the bird habitats of Central and South America and Mexico Washington University and had a long association with the Smithsonian Institution. to discover how the extraordinary bird diversity on Earth came to be and how it In 2007, he and his colleagues discovered the first 1.5-million-year-old hominin has evolved across time and space. footprints at Lake Turkana in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, opening a fascinating new “The levels of diversity in the tropics are greatly underestimated,” says line of inquiry. Smith who, before coming to the Museum, worked as a postdoctoral fellow In the field, Richmond and his team have uncovered layer upon layer of at the Museum of Natural Science at Louisiana State University. “A lot of the impressions of early hominin and animal prints first made in mud, then rapidly work I will be doing in the coming years is trying to get a better handle on what buried in soft sand. Such sites can now be recorded digitally, undisturbed, is the diversity of tropical birds.” and re-created back in the lab using a 3D printer, then analyzed using the Smith is aided in this work by modern genomics, which allows for a much biomechanics of modern humans and skeletons of humans and apes, including the clearer picture of the evolutionary history of individuals through DNA sequencing. incomparable specimens available in the Museum’s collection. Besides working with source material from the field, Smith has the added As important as the lab work is, Richmond revels in the thrill of fresh discoveries advantage of turning to stored specimens for what he calls “ancient DNA.” made in the field. “The first time, I had to pinch myself,” he says. “Here we were “We have one of the largest bird collections in the world,” he says of the sweeping sand off these beautifully preserved footprints. The last time someone Museum’s nearly one million ornithological specimens covering nearly 99 percent walked in this spot was 1.5 million years ago, and we’re now seeing it for the first of all species. “We have specimens of species that are really rare or specimens time. Toes, an arched foot, an essentially modern shape. These provide the oldest that come from areas that are never going to be collected again. It provides

evidence of a modern foot—and a moment captured in time.” © AMNH/D. Finnin © AMNH/D. Finnin and M. Shanley a very unique resource.”

Rotunda / Winter 2015 / AMNH.org 22 Members at the Museum

Donors to Naming Campaign Enjoy 2014 By the Numbers Permanent Recognition in Beloved Halls happy new year! Here’s a quick look at some of the numbers that made last year so memorable at the Museum.

15,000pounds of marine fossils 540,000 specimens 33 added to the Museum’s collections, - pushing the total past foot wingspan million 3 of the Quetzalcoatlus specimens northropi and new model in 33 artifacts curators Pterosaurs 1,158 volunteers contributed to departments across the Museum To support science while honoring loved ones, Rachael and Marshall Levine named three iconic displays, including these Triceratops relatives, in the Museum’s fossil halls. school children visited the galleries The formative years of fossil hunting at the American Museum in Rachael’s case, non-profit fundraising. Rachael graduated from 500,000 of Natural History are recorded in one-of-a-kind specimens Princeton with a B.S. degree in geology and a concentration in 530-lb in the Museum’s famed fossil halls on the fourth floor—from molecular biology and paleontology (and fondly recalls working aluminum alloy Exosuit, Barnum Brown’s Tyrannosaurus rex to a majestic mammoth with a Museum paleontologist on her senior thesis). Marshall, exhibited at the Museum some 11,000 years old. also a Princeton graduate, majored in computer science and has in March For the first time, as part of a campaign called Name a since studied molecular biology and, more recently, astrophysics, species of live spiders Dinosaur! And Other Iconic Fossil Displays, the Museum has with a passion. 16 invited donors to support its general operations and ongoing featured in filmsfrom more than scientific research by naming select fossil mounts. 44 For Rachael and Marshall Levine of Manhattan, the initiative “Institutions like this Museum Spiders Alive! was a perfect fit—a chance to support the Museum as well as to are a beacon of hope.” countries honor loved ones in a gallery with special meaning to the family. 50 showcased at the “We jumped at it,” says Rachael, explaining that their four- — Marshall Levine year-old son calls the Museum “the dinosaur museum.” “The 2014 margaret mead film festival fossil halls are the biggest attraction for us and the children.” “Rachael and I are convinced that science is the key to solving With plaques honoring their son and two-year-old daughter, the many challenges facing us today, ” says Marshall. “ Marshall Levine’s parents, and the memory of his aunt, the said it beautifully: science is ‘a candle in the dark.’ Institutions Levines have named three striking displays: a 2-million-year- like this Museum are a beacon of hope.” th old land turtle, Geochelone atlas, and an 85-million-year-old To establish a Museum legacy on the fourth floor, please Pteranodon longiceps in the Hall of Vertebrate Origins and, in the contact the Development Office at 212-769-5151. Consider that anniversary Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs, three skulls of 75-million-year a gift to name one of these exquisite displays might be the ultimate new order old relatives of the dinosaur Triceratops. way to recognize and celebrate milestones or a rare opportunity of marine animal 10celebrated by the Urban Advantage Both Levines, who are members of the Museum’s Advisory to honor and memorialize loved ones. discovered Middle School Science Initiative

Council, studied science before pursuing careers in finance and, © AMNH/D. Finnin Pterosaur © AMNH; new marine order © NERC CHESSO Project; Exosuit courtesy Nuytco Ltd.

Rotunda / Winter 2015 / AMNH.org Membership

Central Park West at 79th Street New York, New York 10024-5192 amnh.org © The Carter Center/E. Staub Center/E. Carter The © General Information Phone numbers Hours Central Reservations 212-769-5200 Museum: Open daily, 10 am–5:45 pm; Membership Office 212-769-5606 closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Museum Information 212-769-5100 Development 212-769-5151 Entrances During Museum hours, Members may Transportation and parking enter at Central Park West at 79th Street Subway: B (weekdays) or C to 81st Street; (second floor), the Rose Center/81st Street, 1 to 79th Street, walk east to Museum and through the subway (lower level). Bus: M7, M10, M11, or M104 to 79th Street; M79 to Central Park West Restaurants Parking Garage: Open daily, 8 am–11 pm; Museum Food Court, Café on One, enter from West 81st Street. Members can park Starlight Café, and Café on 4 offer for a flat fee of $10 if entering after 4 pm. Members a 15-percent discount. To receive this rate, show your membership card Hours are subject to change. or event ticket when exiting the garage.

Museum shops The Museum Shop, Dino Store, Shop for Earth and Space, Cosmic Shop, Nature’s Fury Shop, While tending his herd at a cattle camp in South Sudan, a young man wears ash on his face for decoration and to keep and Online Shop (amnhshop.com) away flies. Around his neck, he wears a pipe filter. The filter, offer Members a 10-percent discount. which strains out the small water fleas that transmit the Guinea worm parasite to humans, is one of the tools that is helping to eradicate the debilitating Guinea worm disease. Find out more in Countdown to Zero, a new exhibition that opens January 13.