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^:^,mp*.Si'' DECEMBER 2002/JANUARY 2003 VOLUME 111 NUMBER 10 FEATURES

50 DRY, DRY AGAIN The desert tortoise,

by tolerating immense swings in its body chemistry, can survive a drought by hunkering down tor

years at a time. BY KENNETH A. NAGY

42 REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT Superior sti"ength and keen intelligence enabled Neanderthals to flourish—until they faced unrelenting cold and minds even more cunning than their own. COVER BY JUAN LUIS ARSUAGA Charles R. Knight, Neanderthal 58 Cavemen, DODGING 1920 MASS STORY BEGINS EXTINCTION ON PAGE 42 All around,

.species were

dying off. But in

this Devonian PICTURE CREDITS: Page 19 reef, life went on.

Why? Visit our Web site at BY RACHEL WOOD wunp.minli.org/imturalhistory/ DEPARTMENTS

10 UP FRONT Who Is the Center of the Universe?

12 THE NATURAL MOMENT O Hungry Night PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL AND PATRICIA FOGDEN

14 LETTERS

18 CONTRIBUTORS

20 AT THE MUSEUM

24 SAMPLINGS STEPHAN REEBS

28 UNIVERSE Delusions of Centrality NEIL deGRASSE TYSON

34 NOW HEAR THIS Caught in Traffic ALAN BURDICK

36 THE EVOLUTIONARY FRONT Searching for Your Inner Chimp 64 BIOMECHANICS CARL ZIMMER How Does That Grab You? ADAM SUMMERS

66 THIS LAND On Golden Pond ROBERT H. MOHLENBROCK

68 REVIEW The Unselfish Genome MENNO SCHILTHUIZEN

70 nature.net CUmate Watch ROBERT ANDERSON

70 BOOKSHELF

74 OUT THERE Universe by Number CHARLES LIU

78 THE SKY IN DECEMBER AND JANUARY JOE RAO

80 ENDPAPER Walking Sewers TED STEINBERG ilii %M

• K.'V wehave |(|DnoniisfRo|ert^lflller wondBrs why ^

-_ such faith in the utter rationality of markets when we ourselves can be l

MjjjiWn ai. Bad judgment, f&usy fnformation, hglf-baked strategies—^thert are times w>ien' ,

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RETIREMENT 1 INSURANCE I MUTUAL FUNDS I COLLEGE SAVINGS 1 TRUSTS I INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

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Who Is the Center of the Universe? Peter Brown Editor-in-Chief

Mary Beth Aberlin Elizabeth Meryman Managing Editor Art Director takes work, as the shrinks put it, to "de-center." While I'm burrow- It ing through, say, the fascinating details of Neil deGrasse Tyson's Board of Editors T. Kelleher, Avis Lang column about the history of the Copernican principle in astronomy J. Michel DeMatteis Associate Managing Editor (see "Delusions of Centrality" page 28), it's hard to remember that the

Copernican principle applies to me, too. Only after I come up for air, Thomas Rosinski Associate Art Director after too many nights preoccupied with the minutiae of Natural History, Lynette Johnson Editorial Coordinator

do my family remind me that there is a world beyond the office. (To the Erin M. Espehe Special Projects Editor

tune of the Sesame Street song "People in Your Neighborhood," they Richard Milner Contributing Editor

chant, "Oh, who is the center of the universe?") Graciela Flores, Marisa Macari Interns There's a lot to be said, of course, for focus and undivided atten- tion—the upside of thinking that whatever you're doing at the moment is the most important thing in the world. It's just that the Mark A. Furlong Publisher downside is self-absorption. Equally so, there's plenty to be said for Gale Page Consumer Marketing Director the human propensity to assume that we live on a remarkable planet, Maria Volpe Promotion Director at an extraordinary time in evolutionary history. We're special. But Edgar L. Harrison National Advertising Manager what the Copernican principle says, fundamentally, is: Not so fast. Sonia W. Paratore Senior Account Manager Where we live and when we live are not remarkable, from any physi- Donna M. Lemmon Production Manager cal point of view. We're not so special, after all. That's a hard one to Michael Shectman Fulfillment Manager swallow; at bottom, I think, it's a big part of what a lot of people Tova Heiney Business Administrator don't like about science. But the Copernican principle has also been immensely fruitful for a Advertising Sales Representatives New York—Metrocorp Marketing (212) 972-1157, band of smart apes confined by a brief Ufetime and a vast universe to an Duke International Media (212) 598-4820 infinitesimaUy small patch of space-time. And it's the Copernican prin- Detroit—]a\in Kennedy & Assoc, (313) 886-4399 ciple that will enable you to take the armchair voyages we have in store West Coos;—Auerbach Media (818) 716-9613, Parris& Co. (415)641-5767 for you in this issue. With Juan Luis Arsuaga ("Requiem for a Heavy- Toronto—American Publishers Representatives Ltd. (416) 363-1388 weight," page 42), you'll visit a band of proto-Neanderthals who found Atlanta and Miaini—Rickles and Co. (770) 664-4567 National Direct Response—Smyth Media Group (646) 638-4985 shelter in a Spanish cave 400,000 years ago—thanks to the fact that rates of radioactive decay at that time were much the same as they are today. (If ToDD Happer Vice President, Science Education Arsuaga's story whets your appetite, be sure to visit "The First Europeans: Treasures firom the HiUs of Atapuerca," a new exhibition that opens at the

American Museum of Natural History on January 11, 2003.) Natural History Magazine, Inc.

With Kenneth A. Nagy, you'll explore the insides of a tortoise's Charles E. Harris President, Chief Executive Officer burrow in the desert Southwest—in fact, the insides of the tortoise Chaiues Lalanne Chief Financial Officer Judy Buller General Manager itself—courtesy of the laws governing the chemistry of minerals dis- Charles Rodin Publishing Advisor solved in water (see "Dry, Dry Again," page 50). You'll go back in time

370 million years, to a coral reef preserved in what is now an Australian For subscription information, call (800) 234-5252 cliffside (see "Dodging Mass Extinction," by Rachel Wood, page (within U.S.) or (515) 247-7631 (from outside U.S.). For advertising information, call (212) 769-5555. 58)—thanks to experiments with what happens to rocks and shells under extreme heat and pressure. You'll even take a journey back 12 billion years, to the most distant known galaxies (see "Universe by

Number," by Charles Liu, page 74), thanks to spectroscopists who have .V.Ui(ri(/ History (ISSN 0028.0712) is published monthly, except for combined issues in Julv/August ind December/J.inuaiy, by Natural History Msgnzme, Inc.. at the Ainetican matched the spectral lines in hot gases on Earth with the spectral lines Museum of Natural History, Centid Park West at 79th Street, Nesv York, NY 10024,

E-mail: [email protected]. Natural History Magazine. Inc, is solely responsible for editorial

emitted by those incredibly faraway objects in space. content and pubhshing practices. Subscriptions: S30,00 a year; for C.mada and all odrer coun-

tries: S40.00 a year. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and at addidonal nr,ailing of- Deny the Copernican principle, and miss such a show? You might as fices Copyright © 2002 by Natural History Magizine. Inc, All rights resers'ed. No part of this periodical may be reproduced svidiout ssTiticn consent of Naiurai Hisiory. Send subscrip-

well commit the ultimate soHpsism and reject the Golden Rule. tioii orders and undeliveribic copies to die address below. For subscription information, call — (800) 234-5252 or, from outside U,S„ (515) 247-7651. Posmuster; Send address changes to Peter Brown Nmiral History, P O. Box 5000, Harlan, lA 51537-5000. Printed in the US.A.

10 natural history December 2002/Jonuary 2003 wwvv.yp?

IS'-VJ

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Altamira Cave, Santillana del Mar, C TOURIST OFFICES OF SPAIN

WaterTower Place, suite 915 East 845, North Michigan Ave. Chicago, ILL. 60-611 Tel. 1.312.642.1992 Fax: 1.312.642.9817 e-mail: chicago@lourspain,es

8383 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 960 Beverly Hills, Cal 9021 1 Tel: 1.323.658.7195 Fax: 1.323.658.1061 e-mail: [email protected] 1221 Brickell Avenue Miami, Florida 33131 Tel: 1.305.358.1992 Fax: 1.305.358.8223 e-mail: [email protected] 666, Fifth Avenue - 35th floor New York, NY 10103 Tel: 1.212.265.8822 Fax: 1.212.265.8864 e-mail: [email protected] n a winter's night in die deserts of nortiiern Mexico one might expect to hear the chilHng cries of coyotes or a

solitary wolf baying at the moon. But another animal is often stirring: the grasshopper mouse. A high-pitched

- whistle led photographers Michael and Patricia Fogden to the seemingly cherubic caroler pictured here: Oiiy- clwiiiys arcnicola,.one of threa species of grasshopper mice inhabiting the deserts. The singing, performed by both

males and females, is thought to announce territorial boundaries, attract a mate, or even herald a birth. The mouse captured on film by the Fogdens was most likely a male, with seasonally thick fur, bulky hind legs, protruding olfactory bulbs, and two elongated front ^^^^^ fi :,.:;# "V^teeth. Grasshopper mice, not unlike their howling canine ^' /' mI neighbors, are built to hunt. Carnivores to the

t core, O. arenicola have been known to tear

jrf off the tails of scorpions, jam the nox- .iiwB^^^Mp ious butts of stinkbugs into the

' bite into OTound,' and even M ftp the skulls of other mice

in order to get at the ,,

si; juicy flesh of their nocturnal catch. | '^ —Erin Espelic *

tB^P^

^"^^ *^

\

*s^

X

^^^^W^

> V f-^

a. '-A.-. JL-£ THE NATURAL MOMENT O Hungry Night

Photograph by Michael and Patricia Fogden LETTERS

Handy Antidote good measure, she also Comet tails are pushed pressions and body postures The bala ants of Costa gave me some peeled away from the head of a that make many domestic Rica, described in "Bites of sugarcane, another local comet by the solar wind. As dogs look like dullards. By Passage" ["Endpaper," by remedy, to chew on. a comet moves about the contrast, many breeds of the

Nathan Welton, October Within half an hour I was Sun on the inbound seg- latter—whose appearance 2002], sound like mostly free of the effects of ment of its orbit, the tail and behavioral characteris- Venezuela's veinticuatro the ant venom. does indeed appear to fol- tics have been genetically (meaning "twenty-four") Jack Johnson low the comet. But on the modified for hundreds of ants, so called because most San Rafael, California outbound segment the tail years to suit the whims and people spend twenty-four actually precedes the comet. urges of humans—often hours in bed after being Dark Skies over Brooklyn Darrel Hoff continue to fight to the bitten by one. Like Neil deOrasse Tyson, Calmar, Iowa death, even when the losing

In more than thirty years I was born in New York dog surrenders. ofjungle adventures, I've City, but somewhat ear- In writing about the Marvin J Sheffield, D. VM. suffered numerous stings by lier—1918 to be exact. bison's "neighborhood," Pacific Grove, California

many kinds of insects. I was And I can attest firsthand Dale Lott compares the once on a mining dredge that the Hght pollution he hierarchy of the wolf pack Dale E Lott replies: Mr. out on the Caroni River in deplores in his "Universe" to human despotism. As a Sheffield, pointing out that eastern Venezuela and was column ["Let There Be wild-canid research wolves nurture and protect

picking up a diamond-siev- Dark," October 2002] is a behaviorist, I find that their offspring, asks a ques-

ing screen when my fmger fairly recent phenomenon. comparison laughable. tion that is apparently in-

trapped an unseen veinti- I remember distinctly that When have human despots tended to be rhetorical: cuatro under the screen rim. the Milky Way was easily provided for, defended, or "When have human

The sting caused an imme- observed until I was well nurtured the young of despots provided for, diate searing pain. The into my teens. their species? defended, or nurtured the

instant I removed the big Brooklyn had few electric Most packs I have stud- young of their species?"

stinger, along with the at- streethghts before the late ied are made up of the My answer is that human tached ant, the pain less- 1920s. And in September parent wolves and their despots almost always pro- ened. But within fifteen 1941 there was an amazing yearlings or two-year-old vide for, defend, and nur- minutes my armpit started display of the northern offspring, as well as subor- ture their own offspring

aching and I was getting lights: green flashes filling dinate wolves. Unattached and close relatives, just as

nauseous. And I didn't have the sky for hours. strangers seeking the secu- wolves do. Like most social

the one item I almost never Stanley B. Dickes rity of pack life may be dri- systems, despotism is at fail to carry when I'm out Sun City West, Arizona ven off and in some cases bottom a reproductive in the jungle: an onion. killed, but sometimes the strategy. At the same time, Luckily the camp boat On Comets and Canids pack assimilates them, human despots, again like

came by fifteen minutes I thoroughly enjoyed the albeit in a minor role. Yes, wolves, do not foster any-

later, and I jumped in excerpt from Dale F. Lott's the alpha pair—male and thing resembling social or while it was still a few feet book on the American female—eat the prey first: political equality. from the dredge. The dri- bison ["Plains Song," Oc- they are the ones that do In spite of those similari-

ver didn't hesitate when I tober 2002]. But it is clear the arduous and dangerous ties, as I note in the book

shouted "Camp!" My ap- that the author did not work of initiating the hunt from which the excerpt is pearance showed some- send his manuscript to your and tackling the prey. And drawn, judging wolves or thing was very wrong. The resident astrophysicist, Neil they are the first of the any other animal by human

second I saw our cook, I deGrasse Tyson. Had Mr. pack to provide protection standards of conduct is as gasped, "Veinticuatro," and Lott done so, Tyson would and chase off any intruding wrongheaded as judging she knew what to do. surely have caught the error mammals (such as bears) ourselves by their stan-

The cook made a poul- in the statement "A run- that would usurp the kill. dards. They live as they tice of crushed onion and, ning cow attracts buUs, and Skirmishes among wolves must and can.

without doing any suction a string of them are soon are rarely fatal, because the or cutting, bound it over following her, just as a tail animals have evolved a A Place in the Queue

the site of the sting. For follows its comet." complex set of facial ex- In "Bird Sees, Bird Sings"

14 NATURAL HISTOB.Y December 2002/January 2003 —

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Copa ["Samplings," Septem- slowly freezing the positing that the influ- Airlines ^3 ber 2002], Stephan water would create or- ence of the environment Afiliada a Corrtinental Airtines Reebs reports that the ganic compounds, in- could be genetically reason for the order in cluding adenine, one transmitted. Thus, for TRACK DOWN which various species of of the bases that make example, \vheat nor- PANAMA. birds begin to sing their up DNA. mally grown in the Spend 4 days and dawn chorus is how It may well be that warm Ukraine could be well they see in low comets, as they trace accUmatized to survive 3 nights in Ught. No argument their varied orbits, pick in the cold climes of Panama City for just there. But I think it is up small amounts of northern Russia. Ly- important to distinguish various chemical com- senko believed this was / J/ from Miami between the reason dif- pounds in space. When the result of a change in ferent species take up the comets approach the genotype; eventually it the order they do and Sun, the Sun's heat was shown to be caused ^679 from LA the reason that an order partly vaporizes them, by nothing more than exists at all. and the compounds the Darwinian survival

Order benefits all concentrated in the of the fittest wheat species of birds, because vapor might then con- strains already present. Package price includes round each one is thereby as- dense into complex or- Myron R. Schoenfeld, M.D. sured a turn to compete ganic molecular chains, Scarsdale, Neiv York trip airfare, daily buffet or for mates, with a mini- in much the same way mum of interspecies that compounds were Jennie Dusheck continental breakfast, car conflict. Given the se- formed in Orgel's ex- REPLIES: Lysenko was lective pressure favoring periments. As the Earth discredited not for rental, transfers and tours. order of some kind, dis- and other planets pass positing that environ- parate sensitivity to low through the cloud of mental influences could light can then serve as molecular debris, they be genetically transmit- the rule leading to the might acquire those ma- ted, but for denying the For more fun, visit either particular order that all terials as weU. Hence existence of genes at all. the species follow. vaporized comets might He held that the heredi- ocean. Then spend your George Caininarota be the source ot the tary material lay in San Jose, California compounds that can every particle of the nights in the countryside, eventually form Hfe body rather than in Ingredients of Life not only on Earth but some special informa- a mountain getaway or a OHver Sacks ["Anybody also on other planets tion-carrying, self- Out There?" November where water occurs. reproducing substance lodge in the wilderness. 2002] notes that amino MelvynJ. Oremland (such as DNA). In his acids could have been Pace University writings Lysenko even synthesized at high tem- Neif York, New York placed the word genes in peratures early in the quotation marks. His Earth's history, as Stan- Stalinist Biology fanaticism on this point ley L. MiUer showed In her article "The compelled mainstream For more information on experimentally in the Interpretation of Genes" biologists to distance early 1950s. Mr. Sacks [October 2002], Jennie themselves from any the packages, please call might also have men- Dusheck maintains that ideas about environ- tioned that not long the Soviet biologist mental influences on 1-800-FLY-COPA. afterward Leslie Orgel Trofim Lysenko was development, lest they discredited for conducted experiments because he be mistaken adher- ' Prices subject to change -without notice and valid until at the other end of the overemphasized the in- ents of Lysenkoism. Febniaiy 2005, Hotel and airfare taxes are not included. temperature scale. Orgel fluence of environment Their retreat was a loss dissolved several of the on phenotype. But that to biology. primordial ingredients influence, after all, was of our universe in then and still is obvious. Natural History i e-mail water, then found that Lysenko 's error was in address is [email protected]. CONTRIBUTORS

Since 1978 Michael and Patrida Fogden ("The Nalxiral Moment," page 12) tne mtzmoon. have spent most of their time in the rainforests of Central America, working as freelance writer-photographers specializing in natural history sub- jtay lot jects. The couple (pictured here in the Monteverde Cloud Forest 20^00 years* Reserve in Costa Rica) enjoy col- laborating in the field with scien- tists—having once been working zoologists themselves—and are fascinated by the relationships that have evolved between plants and animals. Their picture of the grasshopper mouse was taken in the northernmost part of the Chihuahuan desert in Mexico.

"When I was a child," says Juan Luis Arsuaga ("Requiem for a Heavyweight,"

page 42), "what I really wanted to be was a hunter-gatherer. Maybe that is why

I became a paleontologist. Somewhere within us all hides a prehistoric human

who still responds to the call of the wild." Codirector of excavations at Sierra de Atapuerca, in Spain, Arsuaga (foreground) has had ample opportunity to delve into the Hfeways of the Neanderthals and their ancestors, and to reflect on why they eventually disappeared. When not hunting and gather- ing fossils, he teaches human paleontology at the University of Madrid and, as a visiting professor, at University College Descend to the depths of an Ice Age London. Arsuaga is also a co- glacier. Witness the drama of a prehistoric curator of a new exhibition at caribou hunt. Enter the wigwams of a 1 6th the American Museum of century woodland village. And follow in the

footsteps of an ancient people whose story Natural History, "The First

lives on today. Experience all of this in a Europeans: Treasures from the spectacular, interactive environment that Hills of Atapuerca," opening will stimulate your senses, capture your January 11, 2003. imagination, and stir your spirit with the

glories of Native American culture.. .today, Growing up in southern California, Kenneth A. Nagy and for years to come. ("Dry, Dry Again" page 50) frequented two spots that resonate in his Hfe to this day. One was the ocean off Venice beach, where he learned to bodysurf. The other was a salt marsh near Santa Monica, where he became fascinated with the resident Hzards and snakes.

Today Nagy is a professor in UCLA's department of organismic biology, ecology, and evolution. For the past thirty-five years he has studied the physiological ecology of desert animals, particularly reptiles, and has traveled to arid regions worldwide, most recently the

Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Much of Nagy s work, however, takes place closer to home, where he began his studies: the Mojave Desert of southern California. And he stiU takes time off to bodysurf

For infomation, call 1-800-411-9671 in the Pacific two or three times a week. Located just minutes from Foxwoods® Resort Casino, exit 92 off 1-95 or exit 79A off 1-395. Open every day, 9 a.m. to 5 p m. Last admission at 4 p m. 18 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/January 2003 —

Rachel Wood ("Dodging Mass Extinction," page 58) traces her fasci- "Meet Erin Brockovich, nation with paleontology to her minus the cleavage. This childhood, when she played in a is a hell of a story-one gravel bed while waiting for the last-ditch school bus and found out that the battle after stones were fiill of fossils. From that another..." first gravel field, her passion for the - From the foreword past has taken by 6(7/ McKibben her across the globe, in par- Justice on Earth ticular to cen- Earthjustke and the people it has served

tral Asia and to by Tom Turner the United States. But the Environmentalists can prevail over big industries, such as timber, special place mining, oil and gas, and government agencies that don't comply with that led to the article in this month's existing laws. Justice on Earth tells the captivating stories of the people issue is northwestern Australia, where and places Earthjustice, the organization that pioneered environmental the fossil reefs are "truly spectacular." law, has helped protect over the past decade.

Her doctoral thesis, written at the To order, please call 1-800-584-6460 or visit www.earthjustice.org department of earth sciences of the Open University, in Milton Keynes, England, was on Mesozoic reef- Iearthjustice building stromatoporoid sponges relatives of the animals that figure proiTunendy in her article. Wood is a paleontologist on the staff of Schlum- berger Cambridge Research, in rbur Own Private Island Awaits You

England, and a researcher in the de- partment of earth sciences of the Uni- versity of Cambridge. When she isn't digging. Wood enjoys taking walks.

PICTURE CREDITS Cover: courtesy AMNH Library. #618; pp. 12-13: ©Patricia & Michael Fogden/

Minden Pictures; p. 24: rollout photo #6418/©Justin Kerr (top), ©Thomas D. Mangelsen/Peter Arnold.

Inc. (bottom); p. 26: ©Michio Hoshino/Minden Pictures (top), ©Richard Stout (right), ©Doug Per-

rine/ Seapics.com (bottom); p. 29; courtesy Luise

Ross Gallery. NY; p. 30: courtesy the artist; p. 34: G. Brad Lewis/Photo Researchers, Inc. (top). ©Donald

Brewster/Bruce Coleman. Inc. (bottom); p. 36:

©2002 Getty Images/The Image Bank; p. 38: cour- Experience Little St. Simons Island, an exclusive tesy Gagosian Gallery. NY; 42 and 45: ©Javier pp. 10,000-acre Georgia island paradise Trueba. courtesy AMNH; p. 44: ©Pierre Lau- rent/McGraw Hill Book Co.; pp. 43 and 46-47: where a seven-mile pristine and private ©David Brill; 50-53: ©Thomas Wiewandt; pp. p beach, unparalleled birding 54: ©William H. Mullins/Photo Researchers, Inc.

(top), ©Ken Nagy (bottom); p. 55: ©Jerry L. Fer- with over 280 species, rara/Photoresearchers, Inc.; pp. 58-59 and 63: ©Es- recreational activities, ther Beaton; p. 60: ©Bill Bachman (top & bottom), ©Rachel Wood (middle); p. 62: ©AMNH Library, delicious cuisine and #K10244; p. 66: ©Larry Ulnch; p. 67: ©Jessie M. five charming cottages Harris (top, left), ©David WeUing/Earth Scenes (right), map by Joe LeMonnier; p. 68: courtesy Gor- await just 30 guests. ney Bravin & Lee, NY; p. 78: Fanny Brennan. Galaxy, 1997, courtesy Salander-O'Reilly Galleries,

NY; p. 80: courtesy Ted Steinberg. ^^m American Museum S Natural History ^

THE FIRST EUROPEANS: Treasures from the Hills of Atapuerca

Who were the earliest humans in Western Europe? How long ago did they live and what were their lives like?

organized by the American wolves, lions, red foxes, wild cats, iVluseum of Natural History weasels, and bears—literally a "pit of and Consejeri'a de Educacion bones," which may have been inten- y Cultura de Castilla y Leon. tionally assembled by the hominids. On view through April 13, The First Europeans will exhibit 2003, will be more than 70 some of the most beautifully pre-

fossils and artifacts excavated served hominid fossils ever found, in- from these two remarkably cluding a partial composite skeleton evocative sites, providing of Homo antecessor as well as skulls

Americans their first-ever and jaws. Also on display will be an- glimpse of these early ho- cient artifacts and fossils of Ice Age minids and exploring their fauna that recall the climatic condi- lives and practices. Perhaps tions under which our ancestors lived. most importantly, the exhibi- In addition, dramatic photographs and

tion will consider what their ex- models of the Atapuerca archaeologi-

istence teaches us about what cal sites will be on view.

it means to be human today. Perhaps most intriguing of all is The first site, called Gran what secrets these ancient speci- Dolina, provides a revealing mens might reveal about where we record of the flora and fauna of came from and who we are. "These 1,100,000 to 350,000 years fossils are aesthetically beautiful and A partial composite sl

Opening January 1 1 , 2003, at the dating to about 800,000 years renowned authority on human evolu- American Museum of Natural ago. Primitive stone tools and hun- tion. "They cannot help but stimulate

History, The First Europeans: Trea- dreds of animal fossils have also been reflection in the viewer about what it

sures from the Hills of Atapuerca is found there. A particularly intriguing means to be truly 'human.'" •

an unparalleled exhibition that ad- aspect of this site is evidence of what

dresses these questions and reveals may be the first case of cannibalism Tine First Europeans: Treasures from the IHills

the mysteries of ancient humans. The documented in human evolution. of Atapuerca is co-curated by Ian Tattersall, exhibition features exquisitely pre- The second site, Sima de los Hue- Curator, Division of Anthropology, American served ancient hominid and animal sos, holds the largest and most com- Museum of Natural History; Jose Maria Bermudez de Castro, Research Professor at fossils—some dating as far back as plete accumulation of hominid bones Centro Superior de Investigaciones Cientifi- one million years—and stone tools ever recovered, which archaeologists cas of Spain; Juan Luis Arsuaga, Professor of found at two extremely rich archaeo- have assigned to Homo heidelbergen- Paleontology at Complutense University in logical sites in the Atapuerca Hills in sis. These remains, dating to between Madrid; and Eduard Carbonell, Professor of

the region of Castilla y Leon in north- 350,000 and 300,000 years ago, were Prehistory at the Rovira and Virgill University ern Spain. The First Europeans is co- found mixed with fossil remains of of Tarragona.

The contents of these pages are provided to Natural History by the American Museum of Natural History. trampoline. A marble rolled across the He espoused a world government. AN INTERVIEW surface of a trampoline with a heavy He did take American citizenship, WITH THE Curator of Einstein, weight in it follows a curved path. And and as a loyal American he felt it was

if you roll that marble just right it will his obligation to speak out against fas- Michael M. Shara follow an orbit around that heavy cism, against nuclear arms, against

weight. That's why the Earth goes militarism of all sorts. So that's the kind around the Sun. That's the essence of of person that he was. General Relativity. Q: Time magazine chose Einstein as Q: How did Einstein come to be a "Person of the Century." Do you agree

celebrity? Was it due to his personality? with that assessment?

Once General Relativity had been Absolutely. To my mind it was a no-

demonstrated in 1919, he became . . . brainer. The fact of the matter is that, the pop star of the world. yes, he was the most influential scien-

The public persona was largely hum- tist of the century, probably of all time.

ble. He certainly never put on airs. He Take a look at the Earth in 1 900 and

was truly disinterested in money. The the Earth in 2000. There were more

search for knowledge, the search for a changes in that century than in the previ-

fundamental understanding of the uni- ous 2,000 years in terms of technological

verse is what drove him. That was his advances...and practically every one of

raison d'etre. those is traceable back to Einstein, in-

Michael M. Shara is Curator-in-Charge That having been said, he spent a cluding the biological revolution. Crick

of Astrophysics in tiie Division of Pliysi- significant fraction of the second half of and Watson could not have done what

cal Sciences at tfie American tvluseum his life in the public eye doing very pub- they did vis-a-vis DNA had we not known

of Natural IHistory. He spol

about relativity and Einstein's celebrity. celebrity status to advance causes that work on Brownian motion is fundamental

he felt were important. to our knowledge of molecules. Q: How can someone who's not a sci- The entire computer revolution can entist understand relativity? Didn't Ein- Q: Einstein was an extraordinary man be traced to the photoelectric effect. stein say something about a young girl living in extraordinary times. Was his Much of our economy today and our

and a hot cinder? impact as a scientist amplified by his ability to communicate information is He said that very tongue-in-cheek. public role? entirely due to Einstein as well as, of

That quote, as near as I can remember Well, Einstein considered himself to course, nuclear weapons and our un-

it, is: "When you have a pretty girl sitting be a citizen of the world. And he was derstanding of how the stars shine, the

on your lap, an hour seems like a sec- willing to espouse causes that were very distances to the galaxies, and the cre-

ond; when you're sitting on a hot stove, unpopular at the time. It's not an acci- ation of the universe. We are a different

a second seems like an hour." And the dent that the FBI had a 1 ,400-page file race of people than we were a century fact that he used both heat and a pretty on him. He found McCarthyism utterly ago, utterly and completely different,

girl tells you something about Einstein. repulsive. He hated nuclear weapons. because of Einstein. What he was trying to get across was that time is relative in different frames of EINSTEIN reference. That is, time does not tick by Through August 10,2003 at the same rate for observers who are unprecedented exhibition profiles this extraordi- moving relative to each other. This nary scientific genius, whose achievements were so And then in General Relativity, what substantial and groundbreaking that his name is virtually Einstein finds is the following: matter synonymous with science in the public mind. On display tells space-time how to curve, and are letters and personal effects; documents including tells matter how to curved space-time several rare manuscripts; and eye-opening explanations move. And that pair of statements ex- of Einstein's theories. plains how gravity works. Organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New The reason that the Earth goes Yorl<: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; and the Skirball Cul- around the Sun is that the Sun bends tural Center, Los Angeles. Einstein is made possible through the space-time around itself, just like a the generous support of Jack and Susan Rudin and the Skirball of heavy weight placed in the middle a Foundation, and of the Corporate Tour Sponsor, TIAA-CREF. trampoline warps the surface of the EXHIBITIONS Color and black-and-white pho- Thursday, 12/12, 7:00-8:30 p.m. The Butterfly Conservatory: tographs of Hawaii's endangered Fred Jerome, author of The Einstein

Tropical Butterflies Alive in Winter species. File, will weave the true story of the

Through May 26, 2003 Organized by Umbrage Editions, New FBI's 23-year campaign to undermine The butterflies are back! This popular York, in association with Environmental Albert Einstein's reputation. Defense. exhibition includes more than 500 live, Time Travel: Fantasy or Reality?

free-flying tropical butterflies in an en- LECTURES Wednesday, 12/18, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

closed tropical habitat where visitors Einstein: A Curator's Lecture With clips from sci-fi films, J. Richard

can mingle with them. Thursday, 12/5, 7:30-9:00 p.m. Gott of Princeton University will clarify

The Butterfly Conservatory is made Michael M. Shara discusses Einstein how Einstein's work suggests the pos-

possible through the generous support of the physicist, Einstein the man, and sibility of time travel. Bernard and Anne Spitzer and Con Edison. the profound and world-changing syn- Einstein: Patents and Inventions

ergy between the two. Wednesday, 1/22, 7:00-8:30 p.m. Atapuerca: A New View of Join Linda S.Therkorn, U.S. Patent Evolution and Trademark Office, to learn how Monday, 1/13, 7:00-8:30 p.m. Einstein's theories may be at play

With Juan Luis Arsuaga, Professor of right now in your home or office. Human Paleontology at Complutense

University in Madrid and co-director CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS at the Atapuerca sites. Fly Me to the Moon City of Stars Saturday, 12/7, 10:30 a.m.-l 2:00

Under Antarctic Ice Tuesday, 1/14,7:00 noon (Ages 4-6, each child with

Through March 2, 2003 p.m. one adult)

Spectacular large-format photographs Join Neil deGrasse I Want to Be an Astronaut

by one of the world's leading under- Tyson, AMNH, for a Saturday, 1 2/7, 1 :30-3:00 p.m. water photographers, Norbert Wu. tour of the in 4-6, "cosmic" I (Ages each child with one adult)

This exhibition is made possible by the New York City Space Camp generosity of the Arthur Ross Foundation. Howard Gardner on Sunday, 12/8, 10:30 a.m.-l 2:00 noon Developed by Norbert Wu Productions and Genius (Ages 7-9) produced by the Pacific Grove l\/luseum of Natural History Wednesday, 1/15, 7:00-9:00 p.m. Noted psychologist Howard Gardner, Space Explorers author of Frames of Myths and Constellations of the

Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelli- Night Sl^

gences, will discuss the genius of Tuesday 12/10, 4:30-5:45 p.m. Einstein while exploring the very no- Voyages into the 3-D Universe tion of creative genius. Tuesday, 1/14, 4:30-5:45 p.m. Einstein's Dreams (Ages 12 and up) Thursday, 1/23, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

A concert performance of Einstein's Courses Dreams, a new musical about the na- Humans in Space ture of time. Three Tuesdays, 1/14-28, Kokia drynarioides 4:15-5:45 p.m. (Ages 10-12) LECTURE SERIES Students learn about the space

Remains of a Rainbow: Rare Plants Hot Topics in Science and Culture: environment and a day in the life of an and Animals of Hawaii Einstein astronaut.

December 7, 2002-March 2, 2003 Einstein and the FBI Einstein's Universe

The contents of these pages are provided to Natural History by the American Museum of Natural History. Three Wednesdays, 1/15-29, Saturday and Sunday, 1/18 and 1/19 around the world of percussion. 4:15-5:45 p.m. (Ages 12 and up) Mexican Family Day/O/'a Familiar Kilimanjaro: To the Roof of Africa This course will examine the funda- Mexicano Follow a team of hikers up Africa's mental concepts of light, time, energy, Saturday and Sunday, 1/25 and 1/26 highest mountain. and gravity. Einstein for Everyone: Worl

An Expedition into Space-Time PROGRAMS Call 212-769-5100, or visit Saturday 12/14, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 The Extravagant Universe www.amnh.org. noon (Ages 7-9) Monday, 12/2, 7:30 p.m. Adventures in Light! With Robert Kirshner, Harvard TICKETS Saturday, 12/14, 1:30-3:00 p.m. University Call 212-769-5200, Monday-Friday, (Ages 4-6, each child with one adult) Black Holes Illuminated: A Quasar's 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., and Saturday,

Thie Sun and Its Energy Perspective 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., or visit Sunday, 12/15, 1:30-3:00 p.m. Monday 12/9, 7:30 p.m. www.amnh.org. A service charge (Ages 7-9) With Joanne Attridge, Haystack Ob- may apply. servatory MIT

GLOBAL WEEKENDS Celestial Highlights All programs are subject to change. Mediterranean Festival Monday 12/30; Tuesday January 28,

Saturday and Sunday 12/14 and 6:30-7:30 p.m. This monthly tour of AMNH eNotes delivers the latest in- 12/1 5. The diverse artistic heritage of the heavens offers a view of the con- formation on Museum programs and the Mediterranean is highlighted in lec- stantly changing night sky. events to you via email. Visit tures, workshops, and performances. www.amnh.org to sign up today! Frontiers of Matter, Motion,

Kwanzaa 2002: A Soulful Celebration and Energy Become a Member Saturday 12/28, 1:00-6:00 p.m. 14 Wednesdays, 1/29-5/14 OF THE American Museum A day-long celebration of family and Stars, Constellations, and Legends OF Natural History community. Four Wednesdays, 1/22-2/12 As a Museum Member you will be Choosing a Telescope among the first to embark on new Living in America: Ttie Mexican Three Mondays, 1/13-27 journeys to explore the natural Community Astrophotography world and the cultures of humanity. Three weekends of celebrating the Five Tuesdays, 1/14-2/11 A few of the many valuable bene- artistic contributions that Mexican im- Life after Death: The Great Cosmic fits you will enjoy as a Member in- migrants are making to New York City. Recycler clude: Six Thursdays, 1/16-2/20 Special Relativity • Unlimited free general Six Thursdays, 1/23-2/27 admission to the Museum and special exhibitions, and discounts on the Space Show SPACE SHOWS and IMAX® films The Search for Life: Are We Alone? • Discounts in the Museum Narrated by Harrison Ford. Every half Shop, restaurants, and on hour Sunday-Thursday and Saturday tickets to programs • Free subscription to Natural 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Friday 10:30 History magazine and to a.m.-7:30 p.m. Rotunda, our newsletter Look Up! • Invitations to Members-only Saturday and Sunday 10:15 a.m. special events, parties, and Mariachi Real exhibition previews (Recommended for children ages 6 The IVIexican Immigrant Experience and under) For further information about all in New York levels of Membership or to enroll,

Saturday and Sunday, 1/1 1 and 1/12 LARGE-FORMAT FILMS call the Membership Office at (212) The "Great Manhattilan": Mixteca- Pulse: A STOMP Odyssey 769-5606 or visit www.amnh.org

Mexican Culture in New York Take a rhythmic voyage of discovery SAMPLINGS by Stephan Reebs

LOTS OF FOAM, PLEASE The chocoholics among us won't be surprised to Learn that people SHARK SEX Sharks do things differently were sipping decoctions of cacao a millennium earlier than archaeologists had previously from most other fishes, and sex is no excep-

thought. All too oiten when ancient ceramics are found, their well-meaning finders give them tion. Marine biologists have known for some

a good wash—one of the worst things that can happen to a piece of archaeological evidence. time about the peculiarities of shark repro- But the spouts of some of the ceramic vessels unearthed at a Preclassic (600 b.c.-a.d. 250) ductive anatomy and physiology: sharks

Maya site in northern Belize are long and narrow— a shape that generally defies efforts at have specialized copulatory organs, practice cleaning—and so food and beverage residues from the insides of those spouts remained in- internal fertilization (almost all bony fishes tact. There, W. Jeffrey practice external fertilization), can store

Hurst of the Hershey sperm for months, and produce relatively

Foods Technical Center few, well-provisioned young. Now a study by

in Pennsylvania and his Kevin A. Feldheim, Samuel H. Gruber, and

colleagues from the Uni- Mary V. Ashley of the University of Illinois at

versity of Texas at Austin Chicago has helped fill in our picture of the

found traces of theo- behavioral side of sex among sharks.

bromine, a relative of The investigators studied a population

caffeine and a smoking of lemon sharks {Negaprion brevirostris, a

gun for an extract of the species that gives birth to live young) that

tree Theobroma cacao— inhabit the waters around a small chain of Maya king with a chocolate brew, Late Classic period (a.d. 600-800) the source of all things mangrove-fringed islands in the Bahamas. A

chocolate. Before Hurst's discovery, the oldest known cacao residue had come from artifacts at large lagoon, protected from the open sea by

an Early Classic (a.d. 460-480) Maya site in northeastern Guatemala. the surrounding islands, serves as a natural

According to documents from the time of the Spanish Conquest, the Maya and Aztecs

loved chocolate froth even more than chocolate liquid, and they created the prized foam by

pouring the liquid back and forth from one container to another. The same froth, suggest the

researchers, could have been made in the earlier vessels by blowing air through the

spouts— a bit like the way cappuccino is made today. ("Cacao usage by the earliest Maya civilization," Nature 418:289-90, July 18, 2002)

EXPERIMENT OF THE MONTH "Opporiiunis- Geological Survey began feeding the birds

tic" is a good description for animal behav- and monitoring their activities through

ior, whether the animals be birds or biolo- one-way mirrors. The biologists, Verena A. nursery for the population. By tagging indi-

gists. On Middleton Island in the Gulf of Gill and Scott A. Hatch, regularly served vidual sharks, analyzing their DNA, and

Alaska stands an abandoned U.S. Air Force breakfast, lunch, and dinner to breeding capturing them repeatedly over a six-year radar tower. Years ago, high winds blew kittiwakes by pushing chopped herring period, Feldheim and his colleagues deter-

off its exterior siding, through openings in mined that females of the species normally and the exposed beams the walls behind the mate with more than one male per breeding became favored nesting nests. In two years of cycle — a behavior called polyandry, which

sites for a colony of study. Gill and Hatch has never before been observed in any fish

black-legged kittiwakes. found that the longer species that practices internal fertilization.

But that serendipitous the kittiwake parents Because the male bites and bloodies the fe-

development has also were fed, the more male at each mating, the investigators were

made it possible for bi- fledglings they pro- surprised that female sharks put themselves

ologists to monitor the duced. In fact, the through the ordeal more than once a season. seabirds, which normally breeding rates of the The study also showed that even though

nest on nearly inaccessible cliff ledges. food-aided birds became comparable to females breed only once every two years, they

The biologists' opportunism comes not rates in Atlantic colonies, which seem always come back to the same lagoon to give

a moment too soon. In Alaska at least, so far to have avoided the troubles that birth. To conserve threatened species of

some kittiwake colonies have drastically plague some of the Pacific populations. coastal sharks, biologists may have to iden-

declined over the past quarter century. To ("Components of productivity in black- tify and protect traditional nursery grounds as

test their hunch that food shortage— and legged kittiwakes Rissa tn'dactyla: re- well as the sharks themselves. ("The breeding

not, say, predation — was the primary sponse to supplemental feeding," Journal biology of lemon sharks at a tropical nursery problem, two biologists from the U.S. of Avian Biology 33:113-26, 2002) lagoon," Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 269:1655-61, July 22, 2002)

24 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/January 2003 .

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TTirapKtjiaaffipiBBSi. . ''"^^^it HOT PLANTS If you've ever visited Yellow-

stone National Park, you can probably still picture the sulfurous landscape: broad,

crusty, white rock terraces with their

patches of ocher and canary yellow; bub-

bling pools of gray mud; steaming basins of t*.. jade-green and pale turquoise water. But you might not remember the scattering of plants at the water's edge. These organisms

are as remarkable, in their own way, as the otherworldly landscape: the steaming soil

they thrive in is hot enough to kill most other members of the plant kingdom.

For six summers and two winters Richard Hope springs eternal: Arctic foxes anticipate a polar bear's table scraps. G. Stout and Thamir S. Al-Niemi, both

biologists at Montana State University in SURF AND TURF Maybe you can't tell a book foxes near Cape Churchill, Manitoba, on the

Bozeman, have documented the distri- by its cover, but it turns out you can some- west coast of Hudson Bay. In four years of bution and microenvironment of this un- times tell what was once in an animal's observation Roth found that the animals'

usual flora. For example, the soil temperature stomach by analyzing its hair. Take the arctic winter diet was higher in marine nutrients

around the roots of Dichanthelium lanugi- fox, whose diet is a mix of the marine (seal than their summer diet, particularly in years

nosum, known locally as hot springs panic carrion and seal pups) and the terrestrial when lemmings (the foxes' year-round fa- grass—the most common species in Yellow- (lemmings, bird eggs, caribou carrion). The vorite menu item) were scarce. It seems that

stone's hottest soils — is ratio of the two stable isotopes of car- in winter the foxes follow polar bears out often as high as 122 de- bon— carbon-12 and carbon-13— in the onto the sea ice to grab the spoils of the

grees Fahrenheit in sum- fox's newly grown coat can show how much bears' seal hunts. But if sea ice in the Arctic

mer and, at some sites, of its recent diet was marine, because ma- continues to decline, as it has in recent

seldom falls below 95 rine fare is the richer in carbon-13. years, arctic foxes (as well as polar bears)

degrees even in winter. The bad news is that because of global will lose access to an important part of their Searing temperatures warming, the marine part of that diet may diet. ("Temporal variability in arctic fox diet

can kill organisms by soon start drying up. James D. Roth, an as reflected in stable-carbon isotopes; the

unfolding their proteins, ecologist at the University of Central Florida importance of sea ice," Oecologia 133:

a change in shape that renders them biolog- in Orlando, recently studied the hair of arctic 70-77, August 10, 2002)

ically useless. Some plants counter the ef- fect by making so-called heat-shock pro-

teins, which probably stabilize the other ABANDONED IN THE GARDEN Many orchids have flower parts that mimic the shape and

proteins. Stout and Al-Niemi identified a scent of female wasps. Male wasps, beguiled and bamboozled by the impersonators, land

class of small heat-shock proteins (sHSPs) on the flowers, unwittingly pick up pollen, and carry it to the next floral mimic— a clas-

whose concentration in the roots of hot sic example of how natural selection can make stooges of its protagonists, to the general

springs panic grass increases as the soil amusement of biology students everywhere. But new research shows that the orchids'

temperature rises. Those proteins usually do trick may not be so harmless as a simple practical joke, and that it is mostly the imitated

not occur in the leaves, which are always females who pay the price.

cooler than the roots. Other kinds of heat- Bob B.M. Wong of the Australian National University in Canberra and Florian P. Schiestl

shock proteins are known to help plants tol- of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich measured how often male thynnine

erate heat for brief periods, but the work on wasps visited patches of wasp-mimicking Chiloglottis orchids, compared with how often

panic grass suggests that sHSPs are impor- males visited genuine female thynnines, both inside and outside the orchid patches. The

tant for long-term resistance. ("Heat-toler- biologists observed that the males' visits to orchid sites decreased with time, suggesting

ant flowering plants of active geothermal that unrewarded males learned to avoid areas where the flowers proved deceptive.

areas in Yellowstone National Park," Annals But for the females —which are wingless and cannot readily change location —the of Botany 90:259-67, August 2002) stakes were much higher. As the males learned to avoid the orchids, female wasps outside the flower patches soon had many suitors approaching them. Females within the suddenly

unpopular patches, however, had few or no visits; in their case, a gorgeous surrounding Stephan Reebs is a professor of biology at the Uni- thing of beauty. ("How an orchid harms its pollinator," Proceedings the Royal versity of Moncton in New Brunswick, Canada, and was no of the author of Fish Behavior in the Aquarium and Society of London B 269:1529-32, July 3, 2002) in the Wild (Cornell University Press).

26 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/January 2003 1

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Delusions of Centrality

Even astronomers have had a hard time accepting that humanity does not inhabit a special part of the universe.

By Neil deGrasse Tyson

much of the universe appears setting as if they were glued to the ni- Nope again. Soto be one way but is really an- side surface of a dark, inverted bowl. High-luminosity stars are the rarest. other that I wonder, at times, So why not assume they're aU the In any given volume of space, they're whether there's an ongoing conspiracy same distance from Earth, v/hatever outnumbered by the low-luminosity designed to embarrass astrophysicists. that might be? stars a thousand to one. It's the prodi- Examples of such cosmic tomfool- But they're not all equally far away. gious energy output of high-luminos-

ery abound. And of course there is no bowl. ity stars that enables you to see them

In modern times it's taken for Let's grant that the stars are scattered across such large volumes ot space. granted that we live on a spherical through space, hither and yon. But Suppose two stars emit light at the planet. But the evidence for a flat how hither, and how yon? To the un- same rate (meaning that they have Earth seemed clear for thousands ot aided eye the brightest stars are more the same luminosity), but one is a years. Just look around. Without satel- than a hundred times brighter than hundred times farther from us than

lite imagery, it's hard to convince the dimmest. So the dim ones are ob- the other. We might expect it to be a

yourself that the Earth is anything but viously a hundred times farther away hundredth as bright. No. That would

flat, even when you look out of an air- from Earth, aren't they? be too easy. Fact is, the intensity ot

plane window. What's true on Earth is Nope. light dims in proportion to the square

true on all smooth surfaces in non- That simple argument boldly as- of the distance. So in this case, the Euclidean geometry: a sufficiently sumes that all stars are intrinsically faraway star looks 10,000 (100") times dimmer than the one nearby. The effect of this "inverse-square

Aflat Earth promoted the ego-stroking view law" is purely geometric. When

all directions, it that you occupied the exact center of the cosmos. starhght spreads in becomes diluted by the growing spherical shell of space through

small region of any curved surface is equally luminous, automatically mak- which it moves. The surface area of indistinguishable from a plane. Long ing the near ones brighter than the far this sphere increases in proportion to ago, when people did not travel far ones. Stars, however, come in a stag- the square of its radius (you may re-

from their birthplace, a flat Earth pro- gering range of luminosities, spanning member the formula: Area = 4nr-), moted the ego-stroking view that you ten orders of magnitude—ten powers forcing the light's intensity to dimin-

occupied its exact center, and that all of ten. So the brightest stars are not ish by the same proportion. points along the horizon (the edge ot necessarily the ones closest to Earth. your world) were equally distant from In fact, most of the stars you see in All right: the stars don't all he the you. As one might expect, nearly the night sky are of the highly lumi- same distance from us; they aren't every map of a flat Earth depicts the nous variety, and they lie extraordi- all equally luminous; the sample we see

map-drawing civiHzation at its center. narily far away. is highly unrepresentative. But surely Now look up. Without a telescope, If most of the stars we see are highly they are stationary in space. For mil- you can't tell how far away the stars luminous, then surely those stars are lennia, people understandably thought are. They keep their places, rising and common throughout the galaxy. of stars as "frxed," a concept evident in

28 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/January 2003 such influential sources as the Bible being fixed; they appeared to wander the sky and birds in flight get left ("And God set them in the firmament against the "fixed" starry background far behind? (They aren't.) of the heaven," Genesis 1:17) and and so were called planetes, or "wan- If you jumped vertically, wouldn't

Ptolemy's Almagest, published circa derers," by the Greeks. You know all you land in a very chflierent spot as A.D. 150, wherein he argues strongly seven (our names for the days of the Earth traveled swiftly beneath your and persuasively for no motion: week are traceable to them): Mercury, feet? (You don't.) Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Sun, And if the Earth moved around the To sum up, if one assumes any motion and the Moon. Since ancient times, Sun, wouldn't the angle at which whatever, except spherical, for the heav- each planet was correctly thought to we view the stars change continu- enly bodies, it necessarily foUows that be closer to Earth than was the rest of ously, creating a visible shift in the their distances, measured from the earth starry sky. upwards, must vary, wherever and how- the stars' positions on the sky? (It ever one supposes the earth itself to be sit- Aristarchus of Samos first proposed doesn't—at least not visibly.) uated. Hence the The naysayers' sizes and mutual evidence was com- distance of the stars peUing. must appear to For the first two vary for the same cases, the work observers during of Galileo would the course of each later demonstrate revolurion, since at that while you one time they must are airborne, you, be at a greater dis- tance, and another the atmosphere, at a lesser Yet we and everything see that no such else around you variation occurs. are carried for- ward with the Edmond Hal- rotating, orbiting ley (of comet Earth. For the fame) was the same reason, if first to measure you stand in the the movement of aisle of a cruising stars across the airplane and jump sky In 1718 he up, you do not compared "mod- catapult backward ern" star posi- past the rear seats tions with the and get pinned ones mapped by against the lava- the second cen- tory doors. In the tury B.C. Greek third case, there's astronomer Hip- nothing wrong parchus. Halley with the reason- trusted the accu- John Thompson, Universe, 2001 ing—except that racy of Hippar- the stars are so far chus's maps, but he also benefited a Sun-centered universe in the third away you need a powerful telescope to from a baseUne of more than eighteen century B.C. But back then it was ob- see the seasonal shifts. That effect centuries from which to compare the vious to anybody who paid attention would not be measured until 1838 by ancient and modern positions. He that irrespective of the planets' com- the German astronomer Friedrich promptly noticed that the star Arc- plicated motions, they and all the Wilhelm Bessel. turus was not where it once was. The background stars revolved around the star had indeed moved, but not Earth. If the Earth moved we would The geocentric universe was a pillar enough within a single human life- surely feel it. Common arguments ot of Ptolemy's Almagest, and it pre- time to be noticed without the aid the day included: occupied scientific, cultural, and reh- of a telescope. • If Earth rotated on an axis or moved gious consciousness until 1543, when Seven "stars" made no pretense ot through space, wouldn't clouds in Copernicus placed the Sun instead of

December 2002/January 2003 NATURAL HISTORY 29 —

the Earth at the center of the known did that place the Sun? At the center stars. Careful taUies of their positions universe. Fearful that this heretical of the universe? No way. Nobody was and distances yield similar numbers of work would freak out the establish- going to fall for that one again; it stars in every direction along the band

ment, Andreas Osiander, a Protestant would violate the freshly minted itself. Above and below it, the con- theologian who oversaw the late stages Copernican principle. But let's inves- centration of stars drops symmetri- of the printing of Copernicus's De tigate to make sure. cally. No matter which way you look Revolutiombiis, supplied an unautho- If the solar system were in the cen- on the sky, the tally comes out about

rized and unsigned preface to the ter of the universe, then no matter the same as it does in the opposite di-

work. In it he pleads: where we looked on the sky we rection, 180 degrees away. Kapteyn would see approximately the same devoted some twenty years to prepar- I have no doubt that certain learned men, number of stars. But if the solar system ing his sky map, which, sure enough, now that the novelty of the hypothesis in were off to the side somewhere, we showed the solar system lying within this work has been widely reported would presumably see a great concen- the central one percent of the uni- for it establishes that the Earth moves and

indeed that the Sun is motionless in the tration of stars in one direction—the verse. We weren't in the exact center, middle of the universe—are extremely direction of the center of the universe. but we were close enough to reclaim

shocked. . . . [But it is not] necessary our rightful place in space. that these hypotheses should be true, But the cosinic cruelty con- nor even probable, but it is sufficient tinued. if they merely produce calculations Little did anybody know at which agree with the observations. the time, especially not Kapteyn, that most sight lines to the

Copernicus himself was not Milky Way do not pass all the unmindful of the trouble he was way through to the end of the

about to cause. In the book's universe. The Milky Way is rich dedication, addressed to Pope in large clouds of gas and dust

Paul III, Copernicus notes: that absorb the hght emitted by objects behind them. More than

I can well appreciate. Holy Father, 99 percent of all the stars that that as soon as certain people realize should be visible to us when we that in these books which I have look in the direction of the written about the Revolutions of the Milky Way are blocked from spheres of the universe I attribute view by the Milky Way itself. To certain motions to the globe of the presume that the Earth was near Earth, they wiU at once clamor for the center of the was me to be hooted off the stage with Milky Way such an opinion. almost like walking into a large, dense forest and, after a few But soon after the Dutch spec- dozen steps, asserting that you've tacle maker Hans Lippershey Vivia n Torrence, Catoptrics, 1979 reached the center simply be- had invented the telescope in cause you see the same number 1608, Galileo was able to observe such In 1785, having tallied stars every- of trees in every direction. cosmic phenomena as Venus going where on the sky and crudely esti- through phases and four moons in mated their distances, the English as- 1920—but before the hght-ab- orbit around Jupiter rather than Earth, tronomer Sir William Herschel Bysorption problem was well un- These and other observations were concluded that the solar system did derstood—Harlow Shapley, who was nails in the geocentric cofFm, making indeed lie at the center of the cosmos. to become director of the Harvard Copernicus's heliocentric universe an Slightly more than a century later the College Observatory, studied the increasingly persuasive concept. Once Dutch astronomer Jacobus Cornelius spatial distribution of globular clus- the Earth no longer occupied a Kapteyn—using the best available ters in the Milky Way. Globular clus- unique place in the cosmos, the methods for calculating distance—set ters are tight concentrations of as Copernican revolution, based on the out to verify once and for all the po- many as a million stars and are seen principle that we are not special, was sition of the solar system. easily in regions above and below the officially under way. When seen through a telescope, the Milky Way, where the least amount

Now that Earth was in solar orbit, band of light called the Milky Way re- of light is absorbed. Shapley reasoned just hke its planetary brethren, where solves into dense concentrations of that these titanic clusters should en-

30 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/January 2003 .

PAGLE OPTICS -^ OPTIC OUTFITTERS'^'^

'"'*)PW"i,5MWiWy^l)S^ able him to pinpoint the center of Systems and planetary Worlds, . . . the the universe—a spot that, after all, endless Immensity is an unlimited Ple- ® would surely have the highest con- num of Creations not unlike the biown centration of mass and the strongest Universe. . . . That this in all Probability BAUSCH may be the real Case, is in gravity. Shapley's data showed that some Degree made evident by the many cloudy Spots, the solar system is nowhere close to just perceivable by us, as far without our the center of the globular clusters' starry Regions, in which tho' visibly lu- distribution, and so is nowhere close &LOMB minous Spaces, no one Star or particular to the center of the known universe. constituent Body can possibly be distin- Where was this special Bausch & Lomb® place he guished; those in all Hkelyhood may be found? Sixty thousand light-years external Creation, bordering upon the Elite® Binocular away, in roughly the same direction known one, too remote for even our Tele- as—but far beyond—the stars that scopes to reach. trace the constellation Sagittarius.

Shapley's distances were too large Wright's "cloudy Spots" are in fact by more than a factor of two, but he collections of hundreds of billions of ^^'- v^ was right about the center of the sys- stars, situated far away in space and tem of globular clusters. It coincides visible primarily above and below the with what was later found to be the MUky Way. The rest of the nebulae most powerful source of radio waves turn out to be relatively small, nearby in the night sky (radio waves are unat- clouds of gas, found mostly within the tenuated by intervening gas and dust) Milky Way band. Astrophysicists eventually identified the site of peak radio emissions as the That the Milky Way is just one of exact center of the Milky Way, but not the multitudes of galaxies that until one or two more episodes of comprise the universe was among the seeing-isn't-believing had taken place. most important discoveries in the his- Unparalleled workmanship and optical design place the tory of science, even if it made us feel Bausch & Lomb® Elite® binocular in a class by itself. The Once again the Copernican prin- small again. The offending astronomer finest BAK4 prism glass yields the ciple had triumphed. The solar was Edwin Hubble, after whom the brightest images and sharpest edges, system was not in the center of the Fiubble Space Telescope is named. and our exclusive Rainguard® coating known universe but far out m the sub- The offending evidence culminated in delivers crisp, clear images even in the urbs. For sensitive egos, that could stUl a photographic plate made on the most inclement weather. Fully be okay. Surely the vast system of stars night of October 5, 1923. The offend- multi-coated to reduce light loss. and nebulae to which belong ing instrument was the Wilson we Mount O-ring sealed, nitrogen-purged and comprised the entire universe. Surely Observatory's 100-inch telescope, at rubber armored for water, fog and we were where the action was. at the time the most powerful in the shock protection. Long eye relief is Nope. world. The offending cosmic object great for eyeglass wearers. Close focus

Most of the nebulae in the night was the Andromeda nebula, one of the is ideal for nature observation. Also sky are like island universes, as pre- largest on the night sky. features click stop diopter adjustment sciently proposed in the eighteenth Within Andromeda, Hubble dis- and convenient twist-up eyecups. century by several people, including covered a highly luminous kind of star the Swedish philosopher Emanuel that was already familiar to as- Swedenborg, the English astronomer tronomers from surveys of stars much Thomas Wright, and the German closer to home. The distances to the philosopher Imnianuel Kant. In An nearby stars were known, and their Original Tlieory or New Hypothesis of the apparent brightness varies only with Uniferse (1750), for instance, Wright their distance. By applying the in- speculates on the infinity of space, verse-square law for the brightness of filled with stellar systems akin to our starlight, Hubble derived the distance ^e Carry A Full Line of own Milky Way: to the star in Andromeda, placing the Binoculars & Spotting Scopes nebula far beyond any known star within our own stellar system. An- We may conclude . . . that as the visible Call for Your Free >

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21 20 W. Creenview Dr. - Midcllelon Wl 53.S62 whose fuzz could be resolved into beings but also all life-forms that Ownership Statement billions of stars, all situated more than have ever lived in all of space and time. Statement of Ownenhip, Management, and Cir- two million light-years away. Not only culation (required by 39 U.S.C. 3685). Publication Name: Natural History. Publication Number: were we not in the center of things, But surely there is only one cos- 374-800. Filing Date: November 1, 2002. Issue but overniglit our entire Milky Way mos—the one vi'here we live in Frequency: Monthly, with combined issues in De- galaxy, the last measure ot our self- happy delusion. cember/January and July/August. Number of Is- to insignificant the worth, shrank an At moment, cosmologists have sues Published Annually: Ten. Annual Subscription

smudge in a multibiUion-smudge uni- no evidence for more than one uni- Price: $30. Complete Mailing Address of Office of verse that was vastly larger than any- verse. But if you extend several well- Publication and General Business Office: Ameri- one had previously imagined. tested laws of physics to their ex- can Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Stteet, New York, NY 10024-5192. tremes (or beyond), you can describe Pubbsher: Mark A. Furlong; Editor in Chief Peter the Milky Way turned the small, dense, hot birth of the uni- Although G. Brown, American Museum of Natural History, out to be only one of countless verse as a seething of tangled foam Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY galaxies, couldn't we still be at the space-time that is prone to quantum 10024-5192. Owner: Natural History Magazine, center of the universe? Just six years fluctuations, any one of which could Inc.. Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192. Stockholders: Peter G. Brown, after Hubble demoted our galaxy, he spawn an entire universe of its own. 310 W 85th St, #7A, New York, NY 10024; Ex- pooled all the available data on the In this gnarly cosmos we might oc- eter Capital Parmen IV. LP 10 E. 53rd St., New motions of galaxies. Nearly all of them cupy just one universe in a "meta- York, NY 10022; Todd Happer, 10 E. 95th St., recede from the Milky Way at veloci- verse" that encompasses countless New York, NY 10128; Charles E. Harris, 813

ties directly proportional to their dis- other universes popping in and out of Churchill Dr., Chapel Hill, NC 27517; Charles tances from us. existence. The idea relegates us to an Lalanne, 2680 Congress St., Fairfield, CT 06824; Robert E. Marks, 135 E. 57th St., New York, Finally we were in the middle of embarrassingly smaller part of the NY 10022; David W Niemiec, 535 Madison Ave., something big: the universe was ex- whole than we ever imagined. New York, NY 10022. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or

holding 1 percent or more of total amount of

We might occupy just one universe bonds, mortgages, or other securities: None. Tax

Status: N.A. Publication Tide: Natural History. in a "metaverse" countless other universes. of Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: October

2002. Extent and Nature of Circulation. Average

number copies of each issue during preceding 12 at panding, and we were the center of Our plight persists, but on ever months: A. Total average number of copies

its time and space. larger scales. Hubble's summary of the printed: 264,780. B. Paid circulation: 1. Paid out- No, we weren't going to be fooled matter, written in 1936, could apply side-county mail subscriptions: 240,594. 2. Paid

in-count)' mail subscriptions: 0. 3. Sales through again. Just because it looks as if we're in at all stages of our endarkenment: dealers and cirriers, street vendors, counter sales, the center of the cosmos doesn't mean Thus the explorations of space end on a and other non-USPS paid distribution: 10,063. 4. we are. As a matter of fact, a theory of Odier classes mailed through the USPS: 100. C. note of uncertainty. . . . We know our im- the universe had been waiting in the Total paid circulation: 250,757. D. Free distribu- mediate neighborhood rather intimately. wings since 1916, when Einstein pub- tion by mail: 1,377. E. Free distribution outside With increasing distance our knowledge Hshed his paper on general relativ- the mail: 3,032. F Total free distribution: 4,409. G. fades, and fades rapidly. Eventually, we Total distribution: 255,166. H. Copies not distrib- ity the modern theory of gravity. In — reach the dim boundary—the utmost uted: 9,614. I. Total: 264,780. J. Percent paid cir- Einstein's universe, the fabric of space limits of our telescopes. There, we mea- culation: 98.3%. Number copies of single issue and time warps in the presence of sure shadows, and we search among published nearest to tiling date (October 2002): A.

mass. This warping, and the move- ghostly errors of measurement for land- Total number of copies printed: 270,989. B. Paid inarks ment of objects in response to it, is that are scarcely more substantial. circulation: 1 . Paid outside-county mail subscrip- what we interpret as the force of grav- tions: 248,217. 2. Paid in-county mail subscrip- tions: 0. 3. Sales through dealers and carriers, street ity. When appHed to the cosmos, gen- What are the lessons to be learned vendors, counter sales, and other non-USPS paid eral relativity allows the space of the from this journey of the mind? That distribution: 9,051. 4. Other classes mailed universe to expand, carrying its are fragile, con- humans emotionally through the USPS: 100. C. Total paid circulation:

stituent galaxies along for the ride. perennially gullible, hopelessly igno- 257,368. D. Free distribution by mail: 1,331. E. A remarkable consequence of this new rant masters of an insignificantly small Free distribution outside the mail: 2,931. F Total free distribution: 4,262. G. Total distribution: reahty is that the universe looks to all speck in the cosmos. Have a nice day.

261,630. H. Copies not disttibuted: 9,359. 1. Total: observers in every galaxy as though Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is the all in- 270,989. J. Percent paid: 98.4%. I certify that it expands around It's them. the ulti- P. Frederick Rose Director of the Haydeii Plan- formation above is true and complete. Charles E. mate illusion of self-importance, where etarium in New York City and a visiting re- Harris, President & CEO. nature fools not only sentient human search scientist at Princeton Uniuersity.

32 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/Jonuory 2003 The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles

Einstein Is made possible through the generous support of Jack and Susan Rudin and the Skirball Foundation, A and of the Corporate Tour Sponsor {

American Mus Open daily Central Park West at 79th Street 212-769-5100 www.amnh.org —

NOW HEAR THIS

Caught in Traffic

A synaptic detourfrom the boardwalk

to the Great Wliite Way

By Alan Burdick

Living in a city is an ongoing act of adaptation: to the cramped caves that pass for apartments, to the beehive pace of human contact, to the astonishing olfactory varieties of

filth and decay. Most of all, one must fmd a way to sleep through the honk- ing, bleating, wailing, and screeching

of nighttime traffic. My bedtime solution was to pre- tend that the traffic noise was the

sound of the ocean, and I taught

myself to fall asleep to it. Fortunately

I didn't have to contend with loud car horns or trucks slamming across potholes, just the steady murmur of Broadway at night—taxicabs on the prowl, night owls flying home muffled by an interceding block of

buildings. I told myself that from a

distance it sounded like waves rolling Sounds that soothe and sounds that bother can get cross-wired

against the shore. I slept like a sub- in the memory networks of the cerebral cortex. merged rock.

All fine and well, until I packed up labeled "ocean" sounds in Manhat- ment of the cerebral cortex. The initial and rented a summer house within tan, why, upon falling asleep by the layer of neurons responds to specific

earshot of the sea—the real sea. seashore, did it reject the real thing? frequencies of sound—a single musical Thereupon every night for the first Who the heck was in charge in there? note, perhaps—whereas successive

month, sometime in the wee hours, I I called my fi-iend Robert Sapolsky, layers respond to arrays of frequen- was jolted awake by the thundering a neuroscientist at Stanford University, cies — a chord, perhaps—and then

sound of what I thought was traf- for some insight. First of all, he said, I more complex arrays. The visual fic—though the nearest major road should forget about "boxes" of cortex works much the same way: in- was miles away. Somehow the boxes sound—that's not the way the brain dividual neurons (in the first layer of in my brain marked "traffic sounds" handles chunks of information. After processing) recognize dots of light,

and "ocean sounds" must have gotten its journey through the ear's anatomi- whereas successive layers register lines,

mixed up, to my detriment. I got to cal resonators and amplifiers, sound then moving lines.

wondering: How is it that I can call gets processed by a small number of For a long time, brain scientists

traffic "ocean" and be soothed by it? successive layers of neurons in the assumed this layering went on indefi-

And if my brain accepted these mis- auditory cortex, a half-dollar-size seg- nitely. Somewhere, they figured, many

34 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/January 2003 a

layers along, they'd find what Sapolsky the thrum of a lawnmower. Some Therein lies my problem. As I'm calls the "grandmother neuron," the people are soothed by water sounds, sleeping in my seaside house, my neuron that would respond specifically but according to Mark Tramo, direc- auditory cortex remains alert, regis- to a photograph of your grandmother tor of the Institute for Music and tering the sound of the ocean and

(or a recording of her voice). Brain Science at Harvard University, feeding my dreams with it. Under

But they never found it, because it your response depends both on con- normal circumstances that wouldn't doesn't exist. "By the time you're get- text and on your own personal psy- bother me. Even asleep, the prefrontal ting that high up in brain processing, chociynamics. "If you lost a parent in a cortex can discriminate traffic from information is not confined within a situation hke the one in the movie ocean noise; the resulting dreams pre- single neuron," Sapolsky told me. "A Jaws," he says, "you might not Uke the sumably would have watery and non- neuron does not contain one fact and sound of waves splashing.") disruptive themes (whn-lpools and one fact only." The dupe here, as Sapolsky puts it, tidal waves excepted). Back in Man-

Instead, after registering with the is my prefrontal cortex, another small hattan, though, I'd already trained my auditory cortex, a sound passes into subunit of the cerebral cortex. The prefrontal cortex to stop telling the the associational cortex—which con- role of the prefrontal cortex is to help difference, so at the shore, it's any- stitutes 90 percent of the cerebral cor- set long-range goals and inhibit po- thing goes. My auditory cortex hears tex. There it enters a still-mysterious filing system, a crowded metropolis of overlapping memory networks. The Somewhere in your brain, neurologists figured, rolling ocean waves, for sound of in- they'd find a "grandmother neuron" that responds, stance, probably hes at the intersec- tion of numerous generic networks, say, to a recording of your grandmother's voice. such as Sounds That Ebb and Flow; But they neverfiound it, because it doesn't exist. Low-Amplitude Sounds, Water-Re- lated Sounds, and dozens if not thou- sands of others. Retrieving a mem- tentially detrimental behavior. "It has the ocean, but then, often as not, my ory—registering a familiar sound and executive control over the rest of the brain cooks up dreams of loud traffic, thinking, "Hey, that's the ocean!"—is corte.x," Sapolsky explains. "It keeps jolting me from a dead sleep. These basically a matter of driving around in you from doing things like belching dreams can be so vivid that even after the right neural neighborhoods long in public. It's the thing that corre- waking, I have the momentary illu- enough to find the right street corner. sponds most closely to what we mean sion of hearing the busy clamor of "You're working the net," Sapolsky by a superego." Broadway. says. "You're trying to access as many Ordinarily, the prefrontal cortex Too late, I realized I'd created an networks as possible." would not confuse traffic noise and internal traffic nightmare. In Manhat- ocean noise. But funny things hap- tan, I'd beaten a neural path from That's the key to my Manhattan pen during sleep. When you enter a Broadway to the ocean; I'd found a trick. As I'm falling asleep to the dream state, as you do when you first shortcut from one neural intersection din of traffic, I'm cruising the neural fall asleep and at numerous other (Traffic Sounds) to the other (Ocean networks, hunting for the taimliar times during the night, metabolic Sounds). Little did I know I was overlap of neighborhoods. Sounds activity remains constant or even in- opening up a two-way highway— That Ebb and Flow: I'm getting closer. creases in many regions of your very popular one, apparently. Who's Low-AmpHtude Sounds: I'm zeroing brain. Those regions include parts of in charge in there? No one: I'd fired in. Upon reaching Sounds That Bug the auditory cortex and parts of the only traffic cop on duty. Now, no

Me (known to my waking mind as the autonomic motor system, which matter where I turn in the neural

Manhattan traific), however, I inten- controls breathing, heart rate, diges- network, I keep hitting traffic: Mid- tionally veer away, toward Sounds tion, and the like. But in the pre- town gridlock, tunnel backups,

That Soothe Me. Hey, I hear the frontal cortex, metabolism declines; bumper-to-bumper processions of ocean! Broadway traffic and the the chief executive stops paying weekend beachgoers returning home. oceanfront are pretty close to each attention. One reason dreams can be How's a guy supposed to get any other, it turns out, just a couple so nutty and so all over the map, shut-ear around here? of carefiilly chosen wrong exits apart. Sapolsky believes, is that the pre-

is (By the way, there is no scientific frontal cortex asleep at the wheel. Alan Burdick is a writer living in New Yorii evidence that the sound of the ocean "Big, loose, adventurous thoughts City. He is at work on a book about nature for is inherently more relaxing than, say. are allowed to happen." Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

December 2002/January 2003 NATURAL HISTORY 35 —

THE EVOLUTIONARY FRONT

Searching for Your Inner Chimp

Can a few thousand genes make all the difference between people and their closest living relatives?

By Carl Zimmer

Games Balog, Chimpanzee Holding Man's Head, 1992

the past decade, as molecular panzee gene—molecular fragments line—you'll find that the two se- Inbiologists have learned to read whose identity is given by one of the quences are identical for hundreds of DNA sequences rapidly, the four "letters" in the DNA "alpha- nucleotides at a stretch. Only here chimpanzee has clearly emerged as bet"—with the sequence in the cor- and there are they punctuated by a humanity's closest living relative. Our responding human gene. rare difference. Such differences

DNA is astonishingly similar. You Say, for instance, you decide to would have evolved sometime after can see tor yourself by visiting the look at a gene known as CHRM2, the chimpanzee and human branches "Silver Project" Web site of Japan's which codes for a kind of receptor on split from their common ancestor, National Institute of Genetics (sayer. nerve cells. Stretched out alongside and one lineage or the other (or per-

lab.nig.ac.jp/~silver/), which is home the human sequence is the sequence haps, even more rarely, both) picked to a growing database of chimpanzee of nucleotides for the same gene in up a mutation. DNA. With a couple of clicks you the chimpanzee. If you read the let- Molecular biologists still don't know can compare the sequence of DNA ters in the sequence A, C, G, and exactly how many such ditterences nucleotides for a particular chim- T, shuffled and repeated line after exist between the human and cliim-

36 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/Jonuary 2003 Musical Heritage Society

invites you to choose panzee genomes. In spite of the hoopla tween the Sotil of a Man, and a Brute,

in June 2000 over the "essentially the Organ likewise in which 'tis placed complete" sequencing of the human should be very different too."

genome, enough mopping up still re- In the nineteenth century, the mained that the sequence will be truly English anatomist Richard Owen complete only as of this coming April. begged to differ. The contrast be- plus shipping & handling As for the chimpanzee genome, only tween the brain of the chimpanzee isolated fragments have been deter- and that of a person, he maintained, NO OBLIGATION TO mined—though it is a top priority for was actually quite sharp; no human the next fliU sequencing ot an organ- could ever be thought of as merely a BUY MORE, EVER! ism's genome. So far, the biggest pub- modified chimpanzee. Owen was a

Of 731 genes investigators checked in mice,

aLL but fourteen had a human match. But does that mean we have a primordial taste for cheese? lished surveys extrapolate from less fierce opponent of Darwin's evolu- than 1 percent of the two species' tionary ideas, as well as of those es- DNA. Nevertheless, most of the sur- poused by the French naturahst Jean veys have converged on the conclusion Baptiste Lamarck, one of Darwin's that the two genomes are about 98.7 intellectual predecessors. He looked percent identical. intensively for something unique in

What is one to make of this? If hu- the human brain that would set us off mans and chimpanzees are really so from other primates. The only thing similar genetically, why have they he found was a small fold in the back turned out to be so different "in the of the brain, which he could not wild"? Is genetic similarity a niismea- identify in any ape. But that was sLire of the species? Is there something enough for Owen—he made it the else, biologically, that accounts for our seat of human reason and, on that obvious differences? Or are chim- sole basis, assigned humanity to a panzees and human beings genuinely class of its own, which he dubbed Huge the close cousins that the genetic Archencephala, or "ruling brain." Savings! counts suggest, making the differences When Darwin heard about Owen's we notice at the level of the organism claims, he wondered, in the shorthand Choose from 100 classical CDs little more than skin deep? The an- of a notebook, "what a Chimpanzee on joinmhs.com — top artists swers to these questions are still up for wd say to this." But Darwin left it to like Perlman, Domingo, Ma, grabs, but however they come out, the biologist Thomas Henry Huxley, Argerich, Mutter, Karajan, Solti, they promise to echo far beyond the Owen's nemesis and a tireless defender Pavarotti, Levine and Fiedler. halls of genetics and on to the cen- of Darwinism, to publicly demolish FREE subscription to Musical turies-old debate about what is unique the idea of Archencephala. (Not one Heritage Review, where experts and what is not about Homo sapiens. to mince words, Huxley privately de- recommend the best in classical, clared that Ov/en had built his classifi- jazz, Broadway and folk CDs. discon- cation like "a Corinthian portico in Chimpanzees have been No obligation to buy more with

certing Western scientists since at cow dung.") Huxley maintained that your no-strings 90-day trial least the 1690s, when the English Owen had blatantly overlooked the membership ... no-risk home anatomist Edward Tyson became the presence of Owen's own "fold of hu- audition on every CD you try first to dissect one. noted that the manity" in the chimpanzee brain. In He Limited-time introductory offer brain a fact, Huxley argued, a human differs chimp and the human bore for new members: log on to less ape, such as a "surprising" resemblance, writing much from an chim- choose 6 CDs for 99i each. that "one would be apt to think, that panzee or gorilla, than an ape does Use this special savings code: since there is so great a disparity be- from a baboon. H2717. Visit us online now at ... joinmhs.com Huxley had essentially one source in people and chimpanzees appeared the idea that apes and people have of information on the evolution of to be nearly identical. highly similar DNA. And that gen- people and apes: their living anatomy. By the 1980s scientists were able eral conclusion has been borne out Neanderthal fossils first attracted sci- to switch their gaze from proteins to by the revolution in DNA sequenc-

entific attention in the 1860s, but it the genes that encode them. (Each ing of the past decade. wasn't until after Huxley's death in gene serves as a template for making 1895 that a steady stream of hominid what can become many copies of a But just how similar is "highly fossils emerged. In contrast, today's single kind of protein.) At first they similar"? This past October Roy

paleoanthropologists count some could only make simple comparisons J. Britten, a geneticist at the Califor- twenty precursor species that were between chimpanzee and human nia Institute of Technology, published early relatives or direct ancestors of DNA. They unzipped the twin a study asserting that estimates in the modern people. In fact, as recently as strands of a human DNA fragment. range of 98.7 percent are too high. July 2001, investigators in Too much attention, he Chad began to find fossU argues, has focused on fragments of the oldest mutations that change a hominid precursor yet single nucleotide in the known, the six- to seven- genome. DNA also mu- million-year-old Sahcl- tates when an entire anthropus tchadensis. Many stretch of the molecule of these species display a gets copied and inserted mix of both humanlike somewhere else in the

and chimplike features, genome, or is simply blurring the distinction deleted altogether. When between the two. Britten searched for these additional kinds of muta- Huxley also had no tions, he concluded that way to compare the the human and chim- biochemistry, much less panzee genomes are 95 the genes, of people and percent identical, nearly chimpanzees. The first quadrupling the previ- glimmerings of our bio- ously estimated difference chemical bond with of 1.3 percent. chimpanzees came at the Britten has discovered dawn of the twentieth a real shortconxing in pre- century. Biochemists fig- vious estimates, but other

ured out ho'w to make an- biologists may still be re- tibodies tailored to recog- luctant to start adopting nize proteins that occur in his figure. Most of the

' human blood. They then ^ insertions and deletions tested the antibodies on Mark Tansey, Nature's Ape, 1984 Britten studied occur proteins from other ani- in long stretches of so-

mals. It turned out that the antibodies then zipped each one back up with a called junk DNA, which includes no for human proteins formed bonds strand of DNA from another animal. functioning genes. The parts oi the with chimpanzee and goriUa proteins Workers measured the strength ot human genome that actually carry far more readily than with the pro- the bonds by measuring the amount codes for our body's proteins are teins oi other aniinals. That suggested of heat needed to make the hybrid much inore similar to the genes of that chimpanzee and goriUa proteins DNA fall apart. (The weakest bonds chimpanzees. Britten's work also had a shape similar to that of human began to let go at about 60 degrees shows how tricky it is to describe our proteins. In the 1960s Morris Good- Celsius; the strongest ones held to- similarity to chimpanzees with a man, a geneticist at Wayne State Uni- gether at 90 degrees.) They reasoned single number. Suppose a stretch of versity in Detroit, and his coworkers that the more closely related the two our DNA 6,000 base pairs long learned how to compare the building species, the more stable the bonds disappeared a million years ago. Brit- blocks of the proteins in humans and between tv/o strands of hybrid ten would count that as 6,000 sepa- apes. They found that many proteins DNA. The experiments supported rate changes, yet other geneticists

38 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/January 2003 would count it as a single evolution- A lot of those altered genes could the brain, very different sets of genes ar)' event. well turn out to specialize in regulat- become active in the two species. Even if ten years from no\v biolo- ing other genes. Regulatory genes Paabo concluded that the livers of gists can state the exact percentage of code tor proteins that help switch on chimpanzees and people still work DNA we humans share with chim- other genes or shut them off, thereby much the same way they did seven panzees, the number by itself won't promoting or inhibiting the produc- million years ago. Despite the similar- really mean very much. Our DNA tion of the proteins those other genes ity of the human and chimp genomes, most resembles that of chimpanzees, are responsible for. Hence a single however, evolution has created a big but we share a lot of DNA with other regulatory gene can "leverage" its ef- difference in the way genes work in animals as well. Geneticists recently fects, and if a regulatory gene evolves our brains. That fits well with what surveyed a chromosome in mice, into a different form, it could alter we can see with our own eyes: in looking for genes related to the ones not only whether but also \vhen and many ways people look a lot like other in the human genome. Of the 731 where various proteins are tran- apes, but they have large, intricately genes they checked in the mice, all scribed. Small genetic alterations can wired brains that enable them to do but fourteen had a human match. Yet create an avalanche of changes in an things no other primate can do. no one would—or should—conclude animal's anatomy and way of life. Paabo's group is now trying to figure on that basis that we have a primor- Svante Paabo of the Max-Planck- out exactly how these genes function dial taste for cheese. Instiaite for Evolutionary Anthropol- in the brain.

og\' in Leipzig has uncovered the first Putting a number on our genetic solid evidence that our regulatory n spite of Wildman's estimates for similarity isn't pointless, though. genes set us apart from chimpanzees. I thousands of altered human genes,

It helps biologists in their quest to Paabo and his coworkers sur\'eyed the geneticists have identified only a few pinpoint the genes, and the biochem- genes that are active in human and of them. They barely understand istry those genes control, that make us chimpanzee cells. They found that the what those few genes do, or how truly human. The quest is a hard one cells in a human liver use many of the they do it differently from related because most of the mutations our same genes that are active in the cells genes in chimpanzees. One of these ancestors acquired probably had no of chimp livers. But in the neurons of genes (called CAL4H) codes for an effect on human evolution at all. Most of the harmful mutations were weeded out over time, and many of the rest had no effect one way or an- other. Some of these harmless muta- tions may have spread thanks only to chance—a process known as neutral evolution (see my column "Tuning In," September 2001). The only changes that really mat- tered were the ones that altered the proteins that were themselves re- we Degin to explore the sponsible for changing the reproduc- Age of the Genome, there is a tive success of the people who inher- pressing need for public discourse ited These mutations spread them. on this vitally important topic. It thanks to natural selection. But dis- simply cannot be for experts only." tinguishing neutral from selected —Ellen V. fatter, President, changes has proved a tricky statistical Amerhan Mvseum of Natural History challenge. On the basis of early re- sults Derek E. Wildman, a biologist Rob DeSalie and Michael Yudell, Editors also working at Wayne State Univer- A tompaniott title to 272 pages "6x9 sity, and his colleagues project that Hardcover • $27.95 The Ameritan Museum of Natural between 2,800 and 4,000 of our ISBN 0-309-07436-3 genes underwent substantial change History's Fall 2001 exhibit after the human branch of the evolu- The Genomit Revolution tionary tree split off from that of the chimpanzee. Joseph Henry Press • an imprint of The National Academies Press ji www.jhpress.org • 888 624-7651 —

enzyme that helps make a sugar that that the gene shut down about two second gene that seems to have coats the surfaces of cells. More pre- million years ago. Ataken on a unique form in hu- cisely, this sugar, known as NeuSGc, The second estimate came from a mans is a gene that may have been coats cells in chimpanzees and other comparison of the junk DNA in the crucial for the evolution of language. mammals studied so far, but not in human CMAH gene with related Linguists think the advent of language humans. In us the gene that makes stretches of junk DNA present else- depended on new genes for forming

the enzyme is useless. At some point where in the genomes of chimpanzees and controlling the vocal tract and for in hominid history a long stretch of and other apes. The differences in the the abstract thought needed to string junk DNA was substituted for part of stretches of junk DNA also suggested words together meaningfully. In 2001

the gene, rendering its code nonsen- that the human gene became mactive a team of geneticists from the Univer-

sical. The useless version now occurs two million years ago. sity ot Oxford discovered that mutat- in every human being. That date turns out to be fraught ing a single nucleotide of a gene Ajit Varki, a biologist at the Uni- with significance in hominid history. called FOXP2 robs people of fine versity of California, San Diego, who Until then, hominids weren't all that motor control of the mouth, and of their ability to understand some as- pects of grammar. Geneticists discovered that a single genetic The geneticists teamed up with mutation robs people of fine motor control Paabo's group to study the evolution of the gene. Many mammals, they of the mouth, and of their ability noted, have related versions of FOXP2, though no one knows what to understand some aspects of grammar. it does for them. But the investigators found that after the human lineage discovered this inactivated gene, different from chimpanzees. They split from that of the chimpanzee, teamed up with Paabo and several were bipedal and Hved in more open FOXP2 underwent rapid evolution by other investigators to figure out ex- habitats than chimpanzees, but their natural selection. In fact, minor varia-

actly how long ago the gene shut brains were still small and they showed tions in the present-day forms of the

down. They were able to extract a no ability to make sophisticated tools. gene point to its rapid evolution and sugar from the fossils of Neanderthals Then, around 6wo miUion years ago subsequent spread throughout our

that is closely related to NeuSGc, but their brains began to expand, a process species less than 200,000 years ago

is not NeuSGc itself, suggesting that that continued, in fits and starts, until just around the time when modern Neanderthals also lacked a function- about 100,000 years ago. And when people emerged.

ing CMAH gene. If that's true, the hominid brains began to expand, the Human evolutionary genetics is an gene most likely shut down before first stone axes also began to become infant science. FOAT2 and CMAH our two lineages parted. Many lead- part of the archaeological record. are only two out of thousands of genes ing experts now think the last com- Varki and his colleagues suspect that that likely set human beings apart mon ancestor of Neanderthals and losing NeuSGc sugar may have had from chimpanzees. And biochemists modern people lived at least something to do with that change. In have yet to understand how the two 500,000—and perhaps as much as chimpanzees and other mammals, genes operate in either species—much 800,000—years ago [see "Requiem NeuSgc can be found on the surfaces less the workings of any other genes. for a Heavyweight," by Juan Luis Ar- of cells throughout the animals' bod- Even with the growing sophistication suaga, page 42]. If that's true, the gene ies. But in the brains of the same ani- of genoinic technology, biologists are

must have shut down before then. mals, other genes slow down the pro- still, fundamentally, as confused about

duction of NeuSGc, so little is found the differences between chimpanzees Varki, Paabo, and their colleagues on neurons. The biologists speculate and people as Edward Tyson was 300 found two other ways to estimate that such inhibition evolved because years ago. But the fact that science can the gene's shutdown date. Once the NeuSGc has some harmful, though begin to address such questions at the

stretch of junk DNA precluded the unidentified side effect on brain cells. level of brain chemistry is cause for

action of the CMAH gene, the junk So our ancestors may have been lucky amazement; it gives us reason to hope DNA picked up a few mutations in to lose the functioning of the CMAH that the confusion won't last forever. various groups of people. A lot of ev- gene two million years ago. The loss

idence suggests that such mutations may have entailed some kind of disad- Cciii Ziiiiiiicr's liitest book, Evolution: The

pile up at a steady, clocklike rate. On vantage, but it enabled the evolution of Triumph of an Idea, is twailahlc in paperback

that basis, the investigators estimated the brain to proceed in unique ways. front HarperCollins.

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Requiem for a Heavyweight

Superior strength and keen intelligence enabled Neanderthals to flourish for more than 200,000 years—until they faced unrelenting cold and minds even more cunning than their own.

By Juan Luis Arsuaga

has sometimes been said that Neanderthals so such behavior). And their skin would have seemed A 400,000- Itclosely resembled modern people that, dressed unusually pale, an adaptation that would have en- year-old skull in contemporary clothing, they could have abled them to make vitamin D even in the rela- from Spain's Sierra de passed unrecognized on the New York City sub- tively dim ultraviolet light available in the northern Atapuerca, op- way. I know from firsthand experience that this is latitudes the Neanderthals called home. posite page, not true. Not that I have ever run into a Nean- For their part, our ancestors, though tall, were belonged to a metro, I frequent, lighter-boned, with high foreheads that rose above derthal on the Madrid which Neanderthal ridges small faces. much less in New York City, but 1 did take part in minimal brow and Among mam- ancestor. Sima less the reconstruction of a head based on a fossil ot one mals, both a prominent forehead and a small, de los Huesos of their close relatives. I can assure you that when protruding face are universal features of immature (the Bone Pit), those of us working on the head masked one ot our individuals—and, in some cases, of adult females where colleagues with a copy ot the repro- and they elicit feelings of protective- it was discov- ered, has duction, it had a big impact on us ness and tenderness that inhibit ag- yielded more all. When a more primitive hominid gression. Our ancestors likely remains of is reconstructed—an australopith- reminded the Neanderthals of their early hominids ecine, for instance—the creature own children, and perhaps they even than any other that appears before your eyes is seemed a bit cuddly. The two species single site. tamiliar, less startUng. It probably recognized their common somehow Left: A stone brains of about reminds you of a chimpanzee, even humanity: they had flake from if a nonexistent bipedal one. But the same size, and both made stone northern there is no familiar equivalent to the tools, used fire, and may have shared France, possi- Neanderthal, so similar to us, so other abilities. bly a spear- human yet so ditferent. To come point, exem- plifies the across a Neanderthal, even a recon- he tamUy reunion in Israel was a "Mousterian" coming. In 1994, at structed one, is a thrilling experi- T ong time tool-making ence. It was no doubt even more the Gran Dohna archaeological site style associ- thrilling to our ancestors, who met near the city of Burgos in northern ated with the flesh. Spain, my colleagues and I discov- them in the Neanderthals. The Neanderthals {Homo iicaiidcniialciisis), based ered the remains of a species that may have been the in Europe, and modern humans {Homo sapiens), last common ancestor leading to both hominid originating in Africa, may first have laid eyes on lines. The fossils we found—so far we have eighty each other m what is now Israel perhaps 100,000 fragments representing at least six individuals—are years ago. To our ancestors, the Neanderthals must about 800,000 years old, the oldest known in Eu- Addplciljiviii trunks and rela- rope. Anatomically they appear more advanced than have appeared stocky, with broad The Neanderthal's tively short tbrearms and shins. Their sloping fore- Homo ergastei; a hominid species that arose in Africa Necklace: In Search of the First later spread out of heads and forward-projecting faces would have nearly two million years ago and Thinkers, byjiwn looked strange, and the heavy brow ridges that that continent eastward into Asia (where the species Litis Arsuaga, tmiis- lated by Andy Klati therefore formed a continuous double arch above their eyes is known as Homo erectus). We have named (Neil' York: Four Walls Bgli! Win- and nose gave them a proud and fierce profile, like our distinctive fossil hominid Homo antecessor (Latin dows. 2002). 62001 the daunting visage of an eagle. The Neanderthals' for "human forebear"). liy jiiaii Luis Arsuaga; Iranslaliou '02002 their as a "third hand" might The Gran Dolina people apparently made rela- habit of using jaws hy Four Walls Eighl have been noticed (patterns of tooth wear indicate tively primitive stone tools: none of the tools associ- I Vuidou's.

December 2002/]onuary 2003 NATURAL HISTORY 43 ated with their remains include the bifacially appeared, however, they had evolved to become a chipped, symmetrical Acheulean "hand axes" al- new species we call Homo heidelbergeiisis, whose ear- ready being manufactured in other parts of the Uest known fossil remnant (a mandible discovered

world (named after an archaeological site near the near Heidelberg, Germany) is perhaps half a million

town St. Acheul, in northern France). One remark- years old. Members of H. Iieidelbergensis lived and

able feature of some of the fossils, though, is the evolved in Europe and were the "grandparents" of presence of cut marks left by stone tools. Flesh was the Neanderthals, who succeeded them. Typical

sUced from the bones, as if they had belonged to Neanderthal physical traits begin to be evident in game animals captured for their meat. We interpret fossils from at least 250,000 years ago, and are full- these marks as evidence of cannibalism. As we blown in those from 127,000 years ago.

excavate more of this site, we may learn other sur- The tool kit of H. Iieidelbergensis included the prising—and disturbing—things about H. antecessor. Acheulean hand axe, whereas by 250,000 years ago The evolution Meanwhile, however, even more sophisticated tools of stone we have had our hands are present, of the Mouster- tools: A chop- full with a site that came ian type (named after Le ping tool, to light earlier: Sima de Moustier, a rock-shelter in upper left, los Huesos (the Bone southwest France) [see illustra- was formed by Pit). Situated less tion at left]. tool- removing sev- than Mousterian

eral flakes of half a mile from Gran makers—Neanderthals are stone, whereas Dolina, Sima stands out the prime examples—care- more work and as the largest concentra- fully trimmed a stone so that a clearly envi- tion of early human re- then they could strike off a sioned pattern mains in the world. De- flake of some useful shape. are evident in posited 400,000 years That two-step process, which the creation ago, the skeletons of at required more planning than of a bifacially least twenty-eight indi- earlier methods, may have symmetrical viduals there are so well been mastered thanks to an Acheulean preserved that we are increase in brain size. "hand axe," tiniest their upper right. finding even the of bones—rthe so- Our own ancestors in Africa also began to make To produce called hanmier, anvil, and stirrup of the middle Mousterian tools (or their variants) at roughly the one Mous- ear. What led to the accumulation of so many of same time their own brains became larger. On the terian flake, their fossils at this one site makes for an intriguing basis of these similar developments in the European lower left, the detective story [see "The Bone Pit," page 46]. and African hominid populations, as well as other tool maker evidence, some physical anthropologists argue that first shaped a Both sites lie within the hills of the Sierra de At- there must have been a continuous genetic ex- stone "core." apuerca, a mass of limestone that rises 3,550 change between the two populations, that they A more so- feet above sea level and overlooks an inland plateau. never became totally separate. But those who take phisticated In prehistoric times the region would have been a this position are in a distinct minority. The weight kind of core, hospitable setting, people could have found of evidence is that the populations followed a paral- lower right, where

could yield shelter in caves eroded out of the karstic landscape. lel course biologically, though techniques of tool- numerous One can almost picture them standing on the hill- making could have been transmitted between the elongated sides, gazing down upon herds of herbivores graz- species. After the two species eventually came into blades. ing peacefully beside a lazy river on the plain close and steady contact in Europe, the Nean- below. The richness of the region for paleoanthro- derthal population seems to have faded away with- pology first became apparent in 1976, when cavers out leaving any descendants. came upon some of the fossils at Sima de los Hue- sos. It took six years to remove the tons of sediment In their heyday, between 127,000 and 40,000 that covered the tossil-bearing strata, and even now years ago, the Neanderthals were quite success- the excavations are only partly complete. Probes ful, spreading out from Europe to populate the

nearby revealed the Gran Dolina site, as well as oth- Middle East and southwest Asia. But then the

ers that remain to be explored. first European representatives of modern humans,

I have hypothesized that the remains buried at popularly known as Cro-Magnons, began to turn Sima de los Huesos belong to descendants of our up. Two factors may account for the triumph ot Gran DoHna hominids. By the time the descendants our ancestors.

44 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/January 2003 —.

First, they had developed a new tool kit that in- nization and identification. As worsening environ- cluded various side scrapers, the burin (a chisel- mental conditions reduced the human population like tool), and the awl, all made by modifying long in number and density, symbolic communication thin flakes, or blades, of stone that had been struck took on even greater importance. Finally, even the ofif a prepared core [see illustration on opposite page] stable Mediterranean world was dramatically af- With this hthic tool kit, the Cro-Magnons were fected by climate change. Forests gave way to able to manufacture points for hunting from mate- steppes and large herds of horses, soon to be fol- rials such as antler, bone, and ivory. As the Belgian lowed by horse hunters: none other than our an- archaeologist Marcel Otte says, people turned the cestors the storytellers. animals' own weapons, their horns and tusks, against them. Nevertheless, some Neanderthals The difference in the ways Neanderthals and those who survived in relatively dense populations Cro-Magnons confronted the hostUe cUmate in close proximity to Cro-Magnons—were able to is dramatically apparent if one looks east, to the take up the new technology. Russian Plain. This vast, low-lying plain stretches The second reason for the success of the Cro- from the Carpathian Mountains in the west to the Magnons was, paradoxically, the increasingly inhos- Ural Mountains in the east and to the Arctic

800,000- year-old fos-

sils of Homo

antecessor in- clude (top row) cranial fragments, (second row) toe and foot

bones, (third row) jaw frag-

ments and a radius, and (bottom row)

teeth, a wrist

bone, and a kneecap.

pitable climate. Although the most bitter glacial Ocean in the north. In the south, it ends at the conditions had not yet descended on Europe 40,000 Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, and the solid wall of years ago, the center and north of the continent the Caucasus Mountains that lies between the two. were cold. The irony here is that Neanderthals were In the present warm period of the twenty-first biologically better adapted to the cold than Cro- century, the average January temperature at the Magnons were. But through language and other center of this area, at 50 degrees north latitude, is symbolic systems, the Cro-Magnons were able to 14 degrees Fahrenheit. It is by no means a hos- make more effective cultural and ecological adapta- pitable place to spend a night in the open. tions to the cUmate, and to form alliances among The first humans who dared to migrate into the groups separated by great distances. Russian Plain were Neanderthals. The migration Those accomplishments of modern humans may began about 120,000 years ago, in the interglacial have arisen through the sharing of stories and old period that preceded the last glaciation. They myths that hnked people with the naairal world reached sites as far as 52 degrees north latitude.

and with their common ancestors. Modern hu- There is no doubt, then, that they were able to mans were also proud wearers of personal orna- adapt to extreme conditions, and it is hard to deny ments, whose use probably supported group orga- that they must have possessed an extraordinary apti-

December 200Z/3anuary 2003 NATURAL HISTORY 45 . —

tude for organization and planning. Would human The Cro-Magnons, in contrast, succeeded in existence in such circumstances be possible without conquering the Russian Plain, apparently using

it? Nevertheless, the coming of the last glaciation bone awls and needles to make garments as warm forced a Neanderthal retreat to the south, where as the ones of the modern Inuit. As the last ice age they took refiige on the Crimean peninsula and the drew to a ferocious climax, the Cro-Magnons northern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains. The learned to build shelters framed with mammoth

last of them probably disappeared from the area be- bones and covered with skins, and to keep their

tween 25,000 and 30,000 years ago (that is when hearths burning continually within the shelters. they disappeared from Iberia, the Spanish peninsula, When other fuels were scarce, they fed the fire with

where we have the best dates for late Neanderthals) mammoth bones. When the cold was at its fiercest.

The Bone Pit

Discovered in 1976, Sima de tat Rovira i VirgiH in Tarrag- more than two times as popu-

los Huesos (the Bone Pit) is a ona, Spain, and me) has identi- lous as the older.

crevice packed with the well- fied at least twenty-eight indi- At Sima de los Huesos, it

preserved fossils of people who viduals. Perhaps a particular turns out that the proportion of perished 400,000 years ago. Ap- human group that moved dead in the targeted age groups parently their comrades sought a around a great deal took occa- closely matches a living popula- secluded spot in which to de- sional shelter in the caves. tion, suggesting that death posit the bodies of the deceased When a member of the group struck catastrophically across a

and so shield them from the died near the cave, the body community. An epidemic is one depredations of carrion eaters. was carried to the hidden niche possibility that immediately In the cave-riddled hillsides of and deposited there. Such a comes to inind, but large-scale

what is now called Sierra de At- burial tradition could have been epidemics were unlikely in pre- apuerca, they found a narrow maintained for generations, historic times, because the entrance leading into a spacious, with the pit gradually becom- human population was too unlit chamber, never occupied ing home to an impressive col- small and dispersed for the by people, though bears had hi- lection of human skeletons. quick spread of pathogens. Boc-

bernated there. In one corner But there is also the intrigu- quet-Appel and I imagine in-

not far from the entrance, there ing possibility that all the peo- stead an ecological crisis, such as was a mysterious vertical shaft ple whose remains were deposi- a protracted drought or a suc- almost forty-six feet deep, the ted at Sima de los Huesos died cession of severe winters. bottom invisible from above. together, or at least within a Human groups do not wait Here they let the bodies drop, in short period of time. Jean- passively for such crises to pass.

what is the earUest known case Pierre Bocquet-Appel, a paleo- They take off in search of better of human funerary activity. demographer at the Museum ot circumstances. Perhaps one such

The bones, which I believe Man in Paris, has proposed a struggling group sought relief in belong to the species Homo hei- conceptually simple test: iden- the Sierra de Atapuerca, usually delbergensis, are piled one on top tify the dead by their teeth, and a resource-rich locale. Some of the other, so my colleagues tally only the individuals be- the aged, the sick, the dis- and I are proceeding carefuUy tween age five and age twenty- abled—fell by the wayside. with the excavation. For now, four. In known populations Once they arrived, the suffering the best way to identify individ- without access to modern med- may have continued, or perhaps uals from among the many sets icine, there are about as many they arrived in such a debili-

of remains is by their teeth. Jose living people between the ages tated state that they just did not Maria Bermiidez de Castro of of five and fifteen as there are last much longer. In either case, the National Museum of Nat- between fifteen and twenty- many more died. The survivors ural Sciences in Madrid (one of four. Nevertheless, in the deposited the bodies in the cave, the three directors of the Ata- cemeteries of the same com- where they remained until re- puerca Project, along with Eu- munities, which reflect mortal- discovered by cavers, 4,000 cen- dald CarboneU of the Universi- ity by age, the younger group is turies later. —J.L.A.

45 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/January 2003 —

beginning 25,000 years ago, modern human beings geographical boundary between Cro-Magnons were prepared to survive the desolation ot what and Neanderthals in northern Iberia the Ebro must have been a terrifying northern world. Frontier, after the Ebro River. In general terms, that boundary also fell between two large biogeo- Meanwhile, by 32,000 years ago, modern graphical regions: the green "Euro-Siberian" part people had occupied almost the entire Euro- of northern Iberia and the drier Mediterranean pean continent. Spectacular examples of their sym- Iberia. According to Zilhao, that is no coinci- Skeleton known as bolic expression are preserved in what is called Pa- dence. The Cro-Magnons came to Iberia frorn the Kebara 2 was leoHthic art—from painted friezes in Chauvet Cave northern ecosystems of the Euro-Siberian world unearthed in southeastern France to animal statuettes of ivory misty forests filled with red deer, roe deer, and from an Israeli in Vogelherd Cave in Germany. Perhaps the most boar; steppes where great herds of horses, reindeer, cave. It is the surprising of all is a half-human, half-Uon ivory fig- mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, saiga antelope, most complete in Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany. and musk oxen grazed. Their forests and grasslands urine unearthed skeleton of a chamois and By this time the Neanderthals had lost a lot of were home to aurochs and bison; Neanderthal their former territory, though they stiU occupied goats inhabited the rocky heights. ever found, the entire Iberian Peninsula, except for a band In contrast, the Neanderthals stuck close to their despite the across the far north. The Portuguese archaeologist evergreen forests of holm oak and cork oak, with- missing skull, Joao Zilhao of the University of Lisbon calls the out arctic fauna and perhaps without bison. Their legs, and feet.

December 2002/]onui2ry 2003 NATURAL HISTORY 47 ecological equilibrium was upset when the wave of Some paleontologists wonder why our species, cold blowing over Europe penetrated deep into the thought to have originated between 150,000 confines of Iberia, drastically affecting the Mediter- and 200,000 years ago, took so long to reach Eu- ranean ecosystems and effectively destroying the rope and eclipse the resident humans (or near-hu-

world of the last Iberian Neanderthals. While the mans, according to this school of thought). One

Cro-Magnon people of the steppes s'wept down proposed answer is that though early modern hu- into southern Europe in the wake of this climate mans were anatomically, or at least skeletally, mod- change, the last Neanderthals probably retreated to ern, a few of their neuronal circuits had yet to be milder lowlands near the sea. fully connected. Until those circuits were com- This reconstruction of the end of the Nean- pleted, they lacked the creative consciousness pos-

derthals is appealing because it Unks human events sessed by fuUy developed Cro-Magnons.

to the natural environment. But there is an enor- I do not see it that way. I beHeve the less robust mous paradox to accom- physique of H. sapiens was Even the modate: why were the closely related to the emer- hyoid bone, Neanderthals, a group of gence of our species' ca- shown above human beings who had pacity for articulated lan- the mandible, evolved and adapted to the guage. The first modern at right, was a far in sur- preserved in cold on continent humans Africa were

the Kebara 2 from the equator, replaced rounded by other popu- skeleton. The by other people, more re- lations as robust as the bone, situated cently arrived from tropi- Neanderthals, but modern at the base of cal Africa? In answering people followed a different the tongue, this question, many paleo- strategy to solve the same appears mod- anthropologists attach ecological problems. They ern, suggest- considerable importance developed a brain special- ing to some to the fact that the Nean- ized for the manipulation scholars that derthals, for the most part, of symbols, a less protuber- Neanderthals did not use personal orna- ant face that was part of a had the ca-

pacity for mentation (the exceptions apparently arose when magnificent articulatory instrument, and a body speech. Neanderthals imitated the Cro-Magnons, just as less pov/erful when suddenly called on to exert they imitated Cro-Magnon stone-working tech- concentrated force, but more energy-efficient in niques). Not that scholars think that ornamentation the long run and so better suited to extended mi- itself offered some great advantage in combatting a gration. In sum, modern humans were completely harsh environment; but rather they see it as a sign modern from the beginning—and could readily of a different mentality. have melted into a modern subway crowd.

One possible hypothesis is that ornamentation So what enabled Neanderthals to hold on as long was not meaningful to the Neanderthals because as they did? My answer is that—in addition to they had not attained the intellectual capacity to being stronger and better adapted to the European

capture the symbohsm behind it. In this view, their environment—they were humans too, and highly brains had developed to favor "natural" intelligence, inteUigent ones at that. Our hypertrophic capacity a kind of "instinctive intuition." Although that for symbolic communication and linguistic articu-

served them well in hunting and other cooperative lation is useful for teUmg stories, but that would not

enterprises, it could not match the Cro-Magnon fa- necessarily have given us a decisive advantage. cility for abstraction or symboHc communication. From the point of view of history with a capital

(Or to put it another way, compared with Cro- H, however, there is little anthropological ques-

Magnons, Neanderthals were deep-seated realists, tion about what happened. The Neanderthals not so carried away by their imaginations.) were replaced by modern humans. There may

A second hypothesis is that the Neanderthals did have been some genetic mixing, but not enough

have a fully modern capacity for language and for for any Neanderthal genes to reach us. It would

the use of symboHc communication, through ob- thrill me more than anything if I could say that I jects and otherwise, but became extinct before hav- had even a drop of Neanderthal blood to connect ing the chance to develop those capacities to the me with those powerful Europeans ot long ago.

extent that our ancestors did. In my view, the truth But I am afraid my relationship with them is Ues somewhere between the two hypotheses. strictly sentimental.

48 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/January 2003 .

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To survive in its desert home, the tortoise of the American Southwest must tolerate

immense swings in its body chemistry.

By Kenneth A. Nagy

Life is tough in the desert. Temperatures can equihbrium in the body is called be blisteringly high or chillingly low, some- homeostasis. times both in a single day. Rains are infre- Among vertebrates, mammals quent and often too fleeting or, paradoxically, too and birds are the masters of hard to be of much benefit to the organisms living homeostasis. They are endo- there. Finding enough food year-round in a dry cli- therms, or warm-blooded ani- mate can also be a tricky business. Some arid re- mals, generating their own body gions, such as the central portion of Chile's Ata- heat, and they can finely tune cama Desert, are so inhospitable they are essentially the thermal, water, and chemical barren, with no known plants or animals in thou- balance of their bodies from sands of square miles. Yet some deserts can be sur- minute to minute. That fine-

prisingly rich and diverse in life. Among the latter tuning, and the self-containment are the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of southwest- it makes possible, has enabled

ern North America, where I have spent a good part mammals and birds to occupy of the past thirty-five years studying how native many of the habitats on Earth, wUdhfe survives and even prospers. including deserts. Animals that persist in such arid regions do so Reptiles, in contrast, tend to largely because they are able to maintain a constant respond more slowly to environ- internal environment in the face of harsh and mental changes than endotherms changing external conditions. In most vertebrates, do, and their physiological ad- when body temperature, water and salt concentra- justments are less precise. As tions, or a host of other factors stray from their op- ectotherms, or cold-blooded an- timum levels, regulatory mechanisms kick in to imals, most desert reptiles con- reestablish internal equilibrium. The cells of many trol their body temperature, for mammals, for instance, live in a water-based solu- instance, by basking on a sun- A desert tor- tion that inust be kept at relatively unvarying condi- warmed rock in the morning and seeking shade

toise (Co- tions of temperature, pH, and osmotic pressure with at noon. The method is energy-efficient, but it pherus agas- respect to the surrounding environment. The cell's also affords less exact and less continuous control sizii) pauses internal chemical stability is maintained despite over temperature than does the internal furnace after taking a changing rates of nutrient input and waste output, of mammals. drink from a as well as changing concentrations of dissolved min- But most reptiles don't really "go with the flow" shallow pot- erals in the fluid surrounding the cell. This complex and allow their body composition to change when hole. In the internal their vary. maintain cheirdcal Mohave Desert balancing act gets repeated above the cellu- surroundings They

even a patch lar level as well, because tissues and organs, too, can homeostasis nearly as well as birds and mammals do. of moist sand function efficiently only within a narrow range of That, of course, consumes resources, and suggests

is a bonanza. conditions. The general process of maintaining that even in a resource-poor environment such as

50 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/January 2003 the desert, internal stability is well worth the rela- The desert tortoise begins the year in a state of tively expensive homeostatic lifestyle. Yet life is al- hibernation, "sleeping" from roughly Novem- ways on the lookout for an open niche; it would be ber through February in a slanting burrow dug surprising indeed if every form of vertebrate life three to six feet deep in sandy soil. The burrow showed blind devotion to the homeostatic dogma. provides the tortoise with a relatively humid and Two species of reptile—the ornate dragon, a lizard cool, but not freezing, microhabitat during winter. of western Australian deserts, and Gophems agas- A hibernating tortoise burns Httle energy firom its sizii, the desert tortoise of the Mojave—are known store of fat, and the humid air in the burrow keeps to tolerate wide swings in their internal biochem- the animal from dehydrating. istry. And the desert tortoise stands alone in appear- In decades of fieldwork, my students and I have ing, at times, to abandon homeostasis altogether. followed more than a hundred tortoises—some for

December 2002/January 2003 NATURAL HISTORY 51 . a

At the en- as long as five years—at four study sites across the

trance of its Mojave Desert. By tagging individuals with minia- burrow, a ture radio transmitters, we discovered that the tor- desert tortoise toises often hibernate in the same burrow over sev- peers out at a eral years. We also determined that most tortoises dry, brown weigh roughly as much after hibernation as they world. The did when they entered their burrows the preceding burrows, fall—about six and a half pounds for an average which are middle-aged (thirty- to forty-year-old) adult. Their from three to constant weight attests to their amazing abiHty to six feet deep, serve as hiber- conserve both water and energy over the winter— nation cham- key factor in their survival.

bers for the Imagine now that you are a vegetarian tortoise in tortoises in the Mojave Desert, and you have to depend solely winter and as on the plants around you (mostly the annuals) for cool retreats all of your nutritional needs, including water. The in summer. Mojave is green only every other year or so, when enough winter rain has fallen. Even then, new

plant growth lasts only from February to mid-May. During long dry periods nothing grows for two or even three years, and the desert becomes dry and the winter rams have been kind, your menu can brown. In such conditions, your survival depends include desert dandelion, evening primrose, bristly on having a "relaxed" homeostasis—in this case, a langlosia, and other succulent young wildflowers. high tolerance for nutritional stress. My students Such a diet is easy to digest, and it provides you

and I have often been surprised to find tortoises ac- with more than enough protein, water, and miner-

tive even when no green food is available. als to meet your immediate needs. But rather than In March, rousing yourself from hibernation, excreting the excess in urine, as would most other

you emerge from your burrow and begin to eat. If animals, you retain it. That water, which can be reabsorbed as needed through your bladder wall, will carry you through the inevitable dry periods As If the Desert Weren't Stress Enough . . later in the year. When your internal "canteen" is

In 1990, as desert tortoise populations began to decline cat- full, it makes up as much as 30 percent of your

astrophicaUy at some sites, the species was listed as "threat- total body weight. ened" in the Mojave and western Sonoran Deserts. Yet de- In good—that is, rainy—springs you gain spite that protection, recent observations and censuses show weight, but at the same time you may be slowly

that the remaining populations are continuing to fall. Today losing body fat. Succulent greens can contain so desert tortoises in southern CaUfornia must contend with much water that a stomach fuU of food holds fewer even more than drought and disease. calories than you burn while moving around the Predation is on the rise—notably by ravens, coyotes, feral desert. Even when the spring desert is a flower gar-

dogs, and other desert predators that are drawn to the water, den, it's more important to store extra water and food, and garbage that are plentiful near human habitations. protein for the stresses ahead than to sustain perfect Poachers also prey on the tortoises, and highway crossings nutritional balance. You simply make up for the

pose ever-increasing risks. The desert habitat of the tortoise is energy deficit by burning stored fat.

crisscrossed by ofl-road vehicles, turned into pasture for cows The green season, if it has come at all, lasts only and sheep, and lost to wildfires. Entire populations of tortoises until mid-May, and by June the desert plants have have been bulldozed away, together with their habitat, to mostly wilted and died. For a while, you continue make room for suburban backyards and golf courses. to devour the dry grasses, but you also retreat more Kristin H. Berry of the Western Ecological Center of the often into your burrow to escape the heat and dry-

U.S. Geological Survey in Riverside, California, is leading a ness. By this time, the extra water you gained in team of veterinarians, biologists, and conservationists in an ef- the spring has been lost through defecation and

fort to understand the causes of disease and death in wild tor- respiration. But you still don't empty your bladder, toises. Their goals, for now, are to keep the "threatened" sta- and the concentrations of dissolved mineral salts tus of the tortoise fr-om worsening to "endangered." —K.N. (mainly potassium, sodium, and chloride ions) ab- sorbed from your food are building up in the scant

52 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/Jonuary 2003 liquid that is not reabsorbed by your body. Unlike of isotope loss from its body water over time, which marine turtles and many desert lizards, you have teUs us its rate of water gain and rate of water loss. no specialized glands that help you get rid ot extra Charles C. Peterson, a physiologist at the College salts. So your "canteen" becomes packed with ex- of New Jersey in Ewing, and others have tound cess salts and waste uric acid and urea, but holds that dehydrated desert tortoises can survive with relatively little water. osmotic concentrations in their blood as much as If you continue to lose water—but not salts or 200 percent greater than those of well-watered other dissolved substances—by respiratory evapora- tortoises. People and many other mammals are in tion, and if the osmotic concentration of salts and trouble if dehydration raises blood osmotic concen-

In a drought all a tortoise can do is hunker down underground, storing internal concentrations of chemicals that would kill most other creatures. other wastes in your urine reaches the osmotic con- tration by as Uttle as 8 percent. Even desert camels centration in your blood, the concentrations in your can tolerate only an increase ot 40 percent. blood and urine will begin to increase together. By If the summer and fall remain dry, tortoises stay in the time the full-blown summer drought hits, you their burrows and go directly into hibernation in are spending nearly all your time underground, October, without having eaten any food since early dropping any pretensions to maintaining osmotic summer. If it rains, however, they rouse themselves homeostasis. All you can do is hunker down in your and emerge en masse to drink copiously and replen- burrow, enduring internal concentrations of chemi- ish their "canteens." No one knows how tortoises, cals well beyond those that would kill any mamniiil ^^•hile still in their burrows, realize that it is about to or bird and nearly all other reptiles. ram. Philip A. Medica, a biologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Las Vegas, observed some as a summer How do we know all this? One of the goals ot tortoises emerge from their burrows our research is to account for all the water thunderstorm approached. The tortoises scraped the tortoise obtains, uses, and retains. The basic out shallow depressions in the soil, which caught technique is to label the tortoise's body water by the rain. Then more tortoises emerged, put their injecting it with "heavy" water, which is made up faces into the puddles, and sucked the water in chemically of heavy isotopes of hydrogen or oxy- through their noses and mouths for long periods. gen. Heavy water acts like ordinary water to the If the tortoises get a chance to drink their fill be- tortoise, but for us it tags any water it mixes with fore the onset of winter's hibernation, they will fi- and tells us the volume of water in the animal by nally discharge the old urine they have been hold- the principle of dilution. When we recapture the ing since the preceding winter or spring. Then they tortoise weeks or months later, we measure the rate drink some more. In a day or two their osmotic

Taking a bite out of the

desert floor,

a tortoise in-

gests gravel.

A fairly com- mon habit, gravel eating

may help alle- viate mineral shortages.

December e002/January 2003 NATURAL HISTORY 53 concentrations are back to normal, their bladders spring breeding.) Males contribute only sperm,

are full of clear, dilute urine, and they resume feed- which is easy to produce. Females, however, must ing, mainly on dry grasses left over from sprmg. generate much more organic material in the form

When the weather is dry, the tortoises can take of eggs, and that requires more resources. in extra calories and build up fat deposits rapidly. In good, wet years females may have little diffi- Thunder- Because they consume so much more plant matter culty finding food that provides them with storms per stomachful of food on the dry diet of summer enough water, energy, and protein to produce quickly draw and fall than they do on the wet spring diet, the eggs. In May or June they normally lay about tortoises out tortoises can store more energy than they burn. But seven eggs, which are deposited in shallow holes of their bur- there is a downside. Dry grasses contain salt;^ but Ht- dug just inside the burrows. Even in lean years, rows. After a tle protein or water, and so once again the tortoises' though, many females still manage to lay three or rain, the tor- chemistry falls out of balance. four eggs, as Brian Henen, a physiologist at the toise shown T

in the se- To tolerate all the chemical seesawing in the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, quence of course of a year, tortoises orchestrate a distinct South Africa, has discovered. Thus, instead of photographs brand of chemical management. They do not bal- skipping reproduction for a year, as some other above nego- ance their nutrient budgets day to day, as endo- desert reptiles and birds do, female tortoises sacri-

tiated boul- therms do, or even week to week; their schedule is fice their own body stores of proteins, fats, and ders to reach an annual one. But if no rains fall during the warm water—the very materials on which their own a small pool, seasons and the tortoises don't get a chance to survival may depend—to reproduce. then plunged drink, they will enter hibernation dehydrated, How might such a seemingly unfavorable repro- in and drank malnourished, and with a bladder full of toxic ductive option have evolved? One possible expla- tortoise-style, waste. Some tortoises may perish in hibernation nation is that natural selection has favored the de- through its nose. after a dry year, and multiyear droughts can be par- scendants of female tortoises that hedged their bets. ticularly deadly. During a prolonged dry spell at Producing eggs takes time, and so female tortoises one of Peterson's study sites, many tortoises died, must begin the reproductive sequence of events for

apparently froin lack of food and water. the year in the early spring. Yet it the offspring are to survive, the eggs need somewhat moist sand in In spite of near-constant challenges to their sur- summer, and the young need green food and per- vival, tortoises must nonetheless attend to the haps a drink of water in the fall, before they enter task of perpetuating the species. Males, always in- their first hibernation. But the vagaries of the

terested in sex, court females throughout the spring desert climate make it impossible to predict when and summer. (Although desert tortoises usually hi- rains will occur. The females can't know in early bernate alone, a male may try to "body block" a fe- spring whether or not the energy they spend in re-

male into a burrow for the winter, thereby gaining production is likely to pay off in surviving babies.

exclusive access to her v/hen it's time to emerge for So they risk their own well-being every year on the

54 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/January 2003 —

gamble that rain will soon come, and that their high levels of those hormones can reduce the effec- hatchlings will emerge from the burrows into con- tiveness of the immune system, thereby allowing in- ditions conducive to feeding and growth. fections or diseases to become estabUshed. Once she lays and buries her eggs, the female Whatever the mechanism, stress combined with desert tortoise is finished with her parental role. disease has proved to be deadly for tortoises. In the She has, however, provisioned each egg with a late 1980s and early 1990s in the western Mojave, grubstake: a substantial amount ot nourishing desert tortoise populations crashed [see sidebar on yolk, which, soon after the egg hatches, is safely page 52]. Elliott R. Jacobson, a veterinarian and enclosed in the baby's gut. The energy and water zoologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville, in the yolk lasts for weeks, giving the hatchling and his colleagues discovered that a respiratory dis- time to stray from the nest site, find or dig a bur- ease caused by Mycoplasma microbes was spreading row, and locate sources of food. rapidly in wild tortoises that were already weakened Recently a team ot investigators led by David by drought. The benefit of relaxed homeostasis

In the full desert heat, tortoises rarely leave their burrows.

)> But if it rains, they emerge en masse to replenish their '^canteens.

Morafka, a biologist at the California Academy of having a better chance of surviving drought Sciences in San Francisco, found that young desert comes at the cost of greater susceptibility to disease. tortoises are much more vulnerable than adults to In the modern world of disease microorganisms that dehydration, starvation, and predation. The shells spread by jet plane, that cost may be a high one. of hatchlings and juveniles stay soft until they reach Tortoises and turtles are the descendants of an six or seven years of age. While desert predators, ancient lineage, well known for their keen survival particularly ravens and coyotes, can't do much skills. However precarious their lives in the desert, damage to adults, they can easily penetrate the tortoises have persisted for millennia by adapting shells of young tortoises. their biochemistry in unusual but effective ways. But those techniques could soon become a lost art. Although relaxed homeostasis enables adult Today there may be fewer desert tortoises in the desert tortoises to make it through tough times, Mojave Desert than there are living as captive pets nutritional stress is a nearly constant feature of their in the backyards of Los Angeles County. Our on- live lives . Exactly what effects that stress may have on going efforts to understand how tortoises in tortoises is not known, but in vertebrates, stress of the wild can help ensure that after conquering the any kind generally triggers the release ot the stress desert, they will still be able to survive without hormones corticosterone and cortisone. Prolonged being relegated to captivity in suburbia. D

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All around, species were dying off. But in

58 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/Januar^ 2003 Extinction

this Devonian reef, life went on. Why] By Rachel Wood

Windjana Gorge, during northwestern Aus- tralia's dry winter, is a magical place. An in-

conspicuous cleft within steep red cliffs marks its entrance; the cUtfs themselves rise abruptly from a wide, dry plain, dotted with ancient boab trees. But who, upon entering the lush gorge, could remember the bar- ren landscape just left behind? In deep ponds—the sea- sonal remains of the mighty Lennard River that floods the gorge during the wet season—swim freshwater croc- odiles. In the surrounding trees cockatoos chatter. Farther into the depths, the gorge widens; here, in the heat of the day, large colonies of fruit bats fidget in the eucalyptus trees, and an occasional wallaby bounces across the traU.

But Windjana Gorge is remarkable not only for its liv-

ing natural history. The steep limestone cliffs also record in their sediments one of the most fascinating events in

the history of life on Earth: a mass extinction of reef spe- cies that took place some 370 million years ago, at the end of the Devonian Period. Even more, the limestone bears silent witness to the subsequent recovery of an en- tire marine ecosystem of the time. Mass extinctions are extraordinary natural phenom- ena that have surged to the fore of scientific and popular attention in the past two decades, though paleontolo- gists have recognized their existence for more than a

century. In part, that attention is propelled by the idea that a collision of a giant meteorite with the Earth wiped out the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous The Lennard River cuts Period, some 65 million years ago. Even more com- through peUing, both the threat of nuclear war and the ongoing northwestern loss of biodiversity have raised the possibility of mass ex- Australia's tinctions in a contemporary context. But even before Kimberly the demise of the dinosaurs, the Earth had undergone Plateau. The no fewer than four such events. 200-foot cliffs left by the cut In mass extinctions, some species that make up a com- expose the munity often disappear immediately; a variety of ecolog- remains of a ical effects then cascade through what remains. Yet de- great barrier spite the special status that evolutionary biologists now reef from the

assign to mass extinctions, there is Uttle consensus about continent's ancient past, the scope and intensity of those cascading effects. How and clues to a rapidly do they unfold? To what degree can they remodel massive ex- ecosystems? important a role have they played in How tinction some shaping the history of life? To help explicate the answers 370 million

biologists have proposed, I have spent the past few years years ago.

December 2002/January 2003 NATURAL HISTORY 59 /t;"'^*^ studying the details of t pecially within reef

the Devonian catastro- communities such as the phe recorded at Wind- one at Windjana Gorge. Some fossils jana Gorge. Surprisingly, Before the extinctions, at Windjana Gorge date the evidence I have un- reefs grew virtually from the covered suggests a less wherever there were Frasnian stage, calamitous, more en- warm, shallow seas that before the couraging outcome to at fringed large continental Devonian mass least one aspect of these landmasses; worldwide, extinction for- ecological disasters: after they covered an area of ever changed the communi- the Devonian extinc- some two million square ties that make tions, species diversity miles. After the extinc- up fossil reefs. recovered much more tions, that area shrank to (Upper image): rapidly than evolution- what was probably a

Sticklike stro- ary biologists had fifth to a tenth of its matoporoids thought possible. former size. Paleonto- (short white logists find remains of veins) of the reefs genus Sta- he Devonian \vorld that grew after the chyodes, en- Toffers little that we extinction event only in crusted in cal- can recognize m our rocks from what are cified cyano- own. Atmospheric lev- now Canada, northeast- bacteria. els of carbon dioxide, ern Russia, the northern (Lower image): a greenhouse gas, were Caspian Sea region, and Central part of between twelve and the Canning Basin of a twenty-one- times higher Australia. foot-wide twenty northwestern stromato- than they are today; as In most regions the reefs poroid. An im- a consequence, tropical simply perished. portant mem- seas were considerably ber of warmer. Tropical forests o understand what Frasnian reef had just begun to estab- causesc mass extinc- communities, X lish themselves, and mammals, reptiles, birds tions, paleontologists geologists unravel it became ex- and and must tinct at the had not yet made their appearance. the clues embedded in sedimentary rocks and in the end of the Reef communities were also quite different. fossil record the rocks contain. Initial analyses, Frasnian. Modern corals had not yet evolved, and two now- which simply plotted the number of species against extinct groups, known as tabulates and rugosans, their age, suggested that most extinctions took place flourished in the reefs. Sponges, particularly the between the Frasnian and Famennian stages, at the

now-rare stromatoporoids, were not at all Uke most end of the Devonian Period (stages are subdivisions of their modern counterparts; they possessed a solid of periods of geological time). In some parts of the skeleton made of calcium carbonate, rather like that world, layers of black shales, rich in organic matter, of corals (most sponges now rely on sihcates). The mark this interval, and investigators thought that ancient sponges provided much of the backbone of such distinctive sediments might yield some indica- the undersea reef structures. Algae-Hke microbial tion of what caused the global disruption. coiTunumties were also of far greater importance At the time represented by the Frasnian— than they are in modern reefs. Such microorgan- Famennian boundary, sea levels began to fluctuate isms could trap sediments and precipitate lime- rapidly up and down by as much as 300 feet; the cy-

stone, and though they rarely fossilized, they did cles of rise and fall were at least as rapid as any of the leave characteristic freestanding mounds and oscillations predicted for the next few decades of the

columns, built on the seafloor. twenty-first century as a result of global w^arming. The catastrophe of the Late Devonian was The fluctuations intermittently exposed large re- roughly equivalent in magnitude to the event at the gions of continental shelf, then plunged the regions

end of the Cretaceous that killed the dinosaurs. At back under the sea. There is no known phenome-

least 57 percent of all species eventually perished as non on Earth today that would explain them, but a result. But the fossil record shows that the extinc- whatever their cause, oceanographers reckon that tion rate was particularly severe in the tropics—es- the result could have been upweUings of cold, oxy-

60 NATURAL HISTORY December lOOZ/January 2003 —

gen-poor, nutrient-rich waters from the ocean tional collaborators. Playford and his colleagues dis- depths onto shallow marine shelves. The upwellings covered that the large reef exposure at Canning would have led not only to the development of dis- Basin is a remnant of a much larger belt of reef tinctive sediments deposited in these shallows (such complexes that once extended some 630 miles far- as the black shales of the Late Devonian) but also, ther to the north. They also estabUshed that the reef and more importantly, to the asphyxiation (and ex- complexes developed in shallow, tropical seas on tinction) of much tropical marine life. the flanks of a trough that was bounded by faults, More recent analyses, however, based on more and that the Canmng Basin rocks record almost 15 accurate global counts of species, suggest that ex- million years of continuous reef building. tinctions took place most rapidly just after the de- The gorge cHQs display a classic section of lime- position of the black shales. That fmding has led to stone sediments that include the remains of a fring- a quite different, and perhaps more compelling, ex- ing reef. The reef itself created a wave-resistant planation for the die-offs. Toward the end of the margin; sediments bearing corals and stromato- Middle Devonian, the concentration of carbon poroids formed "behind" it—that is, facing inland dioxide in the atmosphere dropped precipitously from an ancient ocean. "In front" of it a steep slope possibly the greatest decline in atinospheric carbon developed, plunging into the ancient ocean basin. dioxide at any time in the past 550 miUion years. Toward the western end of the gorge the exposed That decline caused an equally dramatic drop in rocks are progressively younger, passing from the global temperatures. So, many scientists now think pre-extinction Frasnian community to the post- that a uniquely deep and rapid global coohng event extinction Famennian. Yet these sediments lack the may have triggered the Late Devonian extinctions. obvious changes that other sediments show from The cooUng, together with global regressions of the same epoch. None of the black, low-oxygen the sea, a shift in the weathering of rocks, the rise shales so common at other sites are present in of tropical rainforests, and the consequent accumu- Windjana Gorge, indicating that the marine envi-

Postextinction reefs were different but not simpler; the players changed, but the game remained the same.

lation of substantial amounts of soil, points to a ronments in this ancient precursor of northwestern time of massive global disruption. Australia might have simply been too shallow for

The fossil record agrees with this scenario. Warm, low-oxygen bottom waters to have reached them. shallow-water corals—the tabulates and the Until recently geologists and paleontologists had rugosans—perished, but those living in cooler, agreed not only that reef communities are more deeper waters seem to have survived. Reef-forming susceptible to mass extinctions than are other eco- algae apparendy emerged from the environmental logical communities, but that they recover more changes nearly unscathed; the simple communities slowly, too. It was thought that the high biodiver-

they formed may have been tolerant of stressfial con- sity of reef communities and their complex ditions. And most persuasively, sponges and bra- ecological interactions would substantially delay chiopods that preferred cold waters proHferated their return to the fossil record—perhaps by as throughout the time of the most rapid extinctions. much as two million to ten milhon years. Thus

when I began to explore the cMs of Windjana that in the few areas Few places on Earth can match the Canning Gorge, I expected to find Basin in northwestern Australia for its continu- where reef building persisted into the postextinc- ous record of reef succession in the Frasnian and tion, Famennian stage, the reefs would appear only Famennian stages of the Devonian. The Canning as lo\v-diversity, remnant communities, dominated

Basin is a Umestone outcrop nearly 220 miles long by a few species of Umestone-depositing algae. and as much as thirty-one miles wide; Windjana Gorge cuts through the northern part of the out- But close scrutiny of the fossils has revealed quite crop. Much of our knowledge about the geology a different story. There are indeed radical dif- and evolution of these reefs comes from the classic ferences between the pre- and postextinction reef work of PhiUip Playford of the Geological Survey communities, but not the ones I expected. Com- of Western Australia, together with many interna- munities of microorganisms and stromatoporoid

December 2002/Jonuary 2003 NATURAL HISTORY 61 sponges dominated the earlier, Frasnian reefs. Ex- do these findings say about the past as Rugose corals What of the tensive mounds and columns of microbial lime- revealed in Windjana Gorge? Certainly, that

Devonian stone were deposited, some as high as eighteen the history of postextinction Ufe in the reefs is far Period make inches and often encrusted with stromatoporoids. more complex, and far more interesting, than any- obvious the Other calcium-depositing microorganisms also in- one had previously supposed. Many of the species group's affin- habited the reefs, particularly in areas sheltered by found in the gorge's Famennian sediments were ity with free- in small cavities within the frame- swimming ani- overhangs and newcomers. Furthermore, though the mass ex- mals living work of the reef. A tremendously diverse range of tinctions certainly killed off a great many species, today, such as unusual growth forms arose among stromatoporoid these strange communities seem to have suffered jellyfish. sponges, ranging from thickets of small, branching no substantial loss of biodiversity as a result, nor Corals similar individuals to remarkably large and spectacular any simphfication of their ecological interactions. to the ones domes, columns, and giant, flowerlike whorls as In short, the players changed, but the game re- pictured in this diorama, much as twenty-one feet in diameter. Many of the mained the same. representing sponges grew in ways reminiscent of the living These observations have overturned the assump- the reefs of corals that form reefs today. tion that reefs can only recover from mass extinc- what is now In the remains firom postextinction Famennian tions slowly. In spite of the almost complete loss of north-central times, instead, dramatically difierent reef commu- large, heavily calcified animals following the Late Texas, were nities appear but not the simple, low-diversity Devonian extinctions, the record of reef building present in the — Australian communities paleontologists formerly expected. at Windjana Gorge is virtually continuous. The reef. The stromatoporoid sponges have almost totally stones there demonstrate that after a mass extinc- tion, reefs can recover their ecological stabihty, and even develop completely new ecologies, in "just" a few hundred thousand to a nuUion years. That conclusion reinforces current ecological thinking—based on analyses of living popu- lations—that communities are simply chance asso- ciations of species vwth similar ecological require- ments, rather than fixed networks of interactions. They can change, but need not die out, when one or more of their species become extinct. New conxmunities can form by taking in new species from the groups close at hand. Associations be- tween community members likewise are not frxed; the ecology clearly changes as new species join the

firay, while older species persist. disappeared, and a variety of diverse microorgan- The record of reef recovery in the Windjana isms have taken their place. These communities chfls should not, however, be misinterpreted. The were present in the earlier, Frasnian reefs, but here extraordinary resilience of the ecosystem there was they formed strange new platelike structures of due, in large part, to the region's microbial com-

flaky layers that grew tall and wide in complex munities and their contribution to reef building. tiered configurations. As they had in the Frasnian Cyanobacteria and other microorganisms can toler- communities, some microorganisms grew in the ate a wide range of stressful conditions, such as re- sheltered areas between the huge platy growths. duced productivity in the surrounding environ- A snorkeler exploring the Famennian reef slope ment or rapid dechnes in seawater temperatures. would also have found clusters of tubular and vase- Their tolerance may account for the continuity of shaped sponges encrusting the exposed surfaces of the communities in which they played a role. the structure, and a rich, hidden biota thriving on In communities of larger organisms that succumb the protected undersides. Even the smallest mud- to extinctions—for example, the plants and animals fdled cavities of the reef harbored abundant Ufe, that are being lost today as a result of the current such as the tiny, shelled arthropods known as ostra- crisis in biodiversity—the process of reconstitution codes. In fact, the postextinction reefs hosted a re- after a mass extinction would presumably occur far markably diverse fauna, including twenty species of more slowly. And the evolution of any subsequent sponges as well as many species of brachiopods, ecosystem, if one were to develop, would almost bryozoans, and crinoids. certainly take a radically difierent course. D

62 NATURAL HISTORY December lOOZ/January 2003 —

Massive global cooling probably led to the Devonian ex- tinctions, leaving the Frasnian sponges and corals high and dry, so to speak, as fluc- tuating sea levels exposed the shallow reefs to the air. The ex- tinctions opened the way for the development of a new eco- logical com- munity which itself eventually gave way to today's land- scape of walla- bies and croc- odiles, but nary a living sponge. BIOMECHANICS How Does That Grab You?

Biologists are discovering that bacteria can cling

to your cells much the way a "finger trap" grasps yourfinger

By Adam Summers ~ Illustration by Shawn Gould

Cranberry juice, and lots of it: seen with the naked eye; the globs that's all most people know remain even after the stirring stops.

about urinary tract infections. Other strains hardly stick at all, Hke

But I always find my thoughts drifting vagrants drifting wherever the from juice to the troubling question surrounding fluid takes them. of invasion. Some strains of Escherichia coli, the same bacterium that Uves in But there's more to stickiness your gut, invade the bladder through than bacterial strains. the urethra, despite the fact that Evgeni Sokurenko, Viola sterile urine, flowing at nearly five Vogel, and their colleagues

feet a second, scours it several times a at the University of Wash- day. Why aren't the bacteria simply ington in Seattle have found washed away, like the itsy-bitsy spider that even for some invasive

climbing up the water spout? The bacteria, adhesion is not a

answer hes in the abihty of bacteria fixed trait. Working with strains form of a to stick to cells—a biomechanical feat of E. coli that don't form permanent tube. When a child on a molecular scale. globs in suspensions of cells, they dis- inserts a finger into each

Covering the surface of E. coli are covered that the strength of the bond end of the tube, the weaving hairhke projections called fimbriae. between the proteins on the bacterial bunches together and both fingers sUp Each fimbria bears a protein tip that fimbriae and the molecules on the in easily. When the child tries to puU can bind to sugar (or to sugar-coated outer membranes of other cells can them out, though, the tube lengthens or sugar-containing) molecules on vary, depending on the strength of and so tightens around the fingers: the the surfaces of cells. But getting the the force threatening to remove harder the puU, the tighter the hold.

stickiness just right is tricky. If the them. Specifically, when the suspen- Of course, a number of mecha- fimbriae are too sticky, they'll adhere sions were stirred, the blood cells nisms have the same effect as a finger to anything that happens to be float- immediately clumped together, but trap. And until recently investigators ing around—which is just about as when the stirring stopped, the globs could not analyze how such an effect usefril as unrolled strips of masking dissipated and the cells went back might be operating at the scale of

tape collecting dust bunnies. But if into suspension. individual fimbriae. After all, a bac-

the fimbriae grip too loosely, the What seemed to be happening was terium is so small that thirty or more bacteria will detach from the surface that the bacteria clung tightly to the of them, laid end to end, would of a cell at the slightest joggle. cells in response to the large shear barely span the width of a human

It turns out that not all E. coli strains force exerted on them by the fast- hair. And the width of a fimbria are equally gummy. Some glom on moving fluid. But as the fluid came to compared with the size of a bac-

tighdy, sacrificing mobility for a nice rest, the fimbriae's grip on the red terium is roughly as the width of our

stable home. Sticky strains stirred into blood cells loosened. In other words, hair is to us. That makes fimbriae too a suspension of red blood cells "glue" the fimbriae seemed to act Hke a small for Ught microscopy, high speed the cells together, eventually resulting "finger trap," the children's toy made video, and most of the other tools in cell globs that are big enough to be of woven wicker or plastic in the familiar to readers of this column.

64 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/January 2003 So Sokurenko and his colleagues the harder it grabbed—-just Uke the the tip changed less when the turned to computers to test how finger trap [see illustration below]. protein was pulled. A different sub- some bacteria might vary the strength The biologists also manipulated stitution in the amino acid chain of their grip on other cells. The biol- the chemical structure of the protein made the fimbria more flexible, ogists built computer models of the in the model. When they replaced enabling the protein to unfold more complex protein that forms the just one amino acid in the fimbria! readily, even under low flow. fimbriae. As the biologists "puUed" protein (to simulate the effect of a The investigators then tested the on the computerized cheinical simple mutation at one site in the effect of rigidity on the grip strength models, the protein unfolded, bring- bacterium's DNA), the strucaire of of actual E. coli bacteria with various ing more of its sticky tip into contact the fimbria's tip became more rigid, kinds of fimbriae. Sure enough, the with its point ot attachment on the and so the shape of more rigid structure could not adapt other cell. The harder the pull, the as well to changes in shear force greater the contact area for the exerted by fluid flow, but the more fimbria's rip, and so flexible version unfolded fully, even

in slow flows, giving it a strong grip. That corollary finding has important implications for the evolution of bacterial strains: even small genetic changes can spell the difference between a floppy, mobile strain and a rigid, stationary one.

So picture this battle plan for invading the urinary

tract. In just twenty-four

hours E. coli can run through more than sixty generations—enough to take advantage of what natural selec-

tion can do for its foot soldiers. The

infection is launched by the variably adhesive bacteria, which can move the fastest during in- tervals between high flows, and can hang on the most tenaciously when the high flows come. Once the bacteria have "captured" Two different schematic mechanisms have been proposed to explain how shear an area, a small genetic change can force could make the bacterium Escherichia coli (shown covered with blue "hairs," turn them into highly adhesive, or fimbriae) bind tighter with host cells. In what biologists call the "catch-bond" always-sticky colonizers. Urination mechanism [a, left), the force pulls a string connecting a hinged vise (in orange, either representing the adhesive tip of a fimbria) to the bacterium. (The string won't dislodge group; the only represents the pilin domain, the part of the fimbrial protein that connects the tip hope is large doses of cranberry juice

to f. coli.) This action closes the hinges, strengthening the bond between the (whose tannins make E. coli less protein and a cell-receptor sugar mannose, in green) on the molecule (a called sticky) —or a good antibiotic. surface of the cell (red). In the "cryptic-bond" mechanism [b, right), the force on

the pilin causes a previously unrecognized binding site to swivel toward the cell,

creating a stronger bond between the cell's sugar molecule and the fimbria's Adam Summers is an assistant professor of ecol-

adhesive tip. Note that an actual bacterium's fimbriae are all roughly the same og^i and evolutionary biology at the University length; for clarity, some are shown longer here. of California, Irvine ([email protected]).

December 2002/January 2003 NATURAL HISTORY 65 THIS LAND

On Golden Pond

Miners and heavers

have created a lovely, quiet California wetland— through no fault of their own.

By Robert H. Mohlenbrock

The Sierra Buttes loom over Sand Pond.

1884 prospectors entered a tran- develop into a wetland. And once the From there, for the next five miles, I Inquil valley in the northern Sierra mine was worked out and the enjoyed the view of a broad valley Nevada mountains of California. prospectors moved on, beavers added where cattle roam and graze. Near the

A forest oflodgepole pines, set off by a to the wetland by felling more trees. small community of Sattley, I turned cluster of picturesque lakes known as Then, in the early twentieth century, west on California Highway 49 and the Sardine Lakes, covered the moist, cleanup crews hauled away the tail- followed the circuitous ascent to Yuba twenty-acre basin. From various van- ings from the gold mine, leaving a de- Pass, cUmbing from 4,940 feet in the tage points in the valley the men pression that created a lake. The result valley to 6,700 feet at the pass. A U.S.

could see the serrated crests of the was far more inviting than this history Forest Service campground is beau- Sierra Buttes rising in the distance. would suggest. The lake, known as tifully situated at the top of the pass.

But the peaceful setting was about to Sand Pond, is a popular s'wimming Descending westward, I entered the

be disturbed: the prospectors found area in the Tahoe National Forest. A charming village of Bassetts, where I gold in the quartz strata of the sur- marsh has developed just east of the caught my first glimpse of the scintil-

rounding hiUs, and soon the Young pond, and only a few lodgepole pines lating Sierra Buttes. From Bassetts, I America Mine was in fuU production. remain as a reHc of the earlier forest. took the Gold Lake Highway north

To get at the gold, the miners cut I found the drive to Sand Pond for nearly two miles, then followed down much of the lodgepole-pine breathtaking. From Interstate 80 near the forest service road to Sand Pond

forest. Without the trees to absorb the Lake Tahoe, I proceeded north on and the Sardine Lakes. moisture, most of the basin began to CaUfornia Highway 89 to Sierraville. The forest service has constructed

66 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/January 2003 a mile-long looped nature trail that diameter; other, lower-growing rushes red osier (the same species found in the begins about 200 feet east of the appear singly or in small colonies. eastern United States), and at least Sand Pond parking lot. The trail tra- Near the edge of the marsh, and also three species of willows (Scouler's, ar- verses the marsh from one end to the scattered within it, is rose spiraea, royo, and Salix lasiandra). Several sedges other along an extensive boardwalk, a lovely pink-flowering shrub. Wild- and rushes from the marsh grow entan- after which it passes through a conif- flowers include yellow monkey gled beneath the shrubs. erous upland forest on its south side. flower, willow herb, and After twisting around large boulders, Bigelow's sneezeweed. dropping down out of the upland The shallow pools woods, and crossing a stream, the contain leafy pondweed, trail ends back at the Sand Pond whose two-inch-long parking lot. leaves float on the water. Just north of Sand Pond, but in Bladderworts, whose in- Plumas National Forest, are two other tricately branched, blad- areas worth visiting. One is a short trail der-bearing stems are to Frazier Falls, a 176-foot cascade. completely submerged,

The other is the Red Fir Nature Trail, send up small aerial stems off a dirt county road. The trail loops with inch-long yellow through an ancient forest of red firs, flowers. Bordering the some of them more than 150 feet tall. open water and some-

times growing in it is HABITATS threeway sedge. If you look straight down on Marsh Except for a few lodgepole this foot-tall sedge, only pines, the marsh is a dense covering of three of the plant's twelve grasses, sedges, and rushes among or fifteen leaves will be small pools of standing water. Sedges apparent, so perfectly are of the genus Carex are the most di- the others aligned be- verse group of plants. Bluejoint grass neath them. is common, its silver-green spikelets borne on slender, four-foot-tall stems. Moist woods Just before

Soft rush, with its hollow stems, reaching the boardwalk grows in tufts as large as two feet in you pass through a smaU forest of lodgepole pine, quaking aspen, and

white fir. The under-

story is a diverse mix of Upland forest harbors California goldenrod, above left. ferns and wildflowers. Western azalea, top, and yellow monkey flower, above The most conspicuous right, inhabit the marsh.

plant is corn Hly, a peren-

nial that can grow four feet tall and Upland forest The higher and drier whose fifteen-inch-long, ten-inch- terrain east and south of the marsh

wide leaves appear corrugated because supports Jeffrey pine, white fir, incense

of their thick veins. Other wildflowers cedar, and Douglas fir. In the shrub to look for are western mountain layer are green-leaf manzanita, bog bil- aster, meadow rue, pink wintergreen, berry, western azalea, and leather oak.

and Chinese houses (a plant in the Wildflowers include largeleaf avens, a MiMP snapdragon family). pink honeysuckle, California golden- rod, false Solomon's seal, and Wash- For visitor information, contact: Streamside A stream that borders ington Hly. Tahoe National Forest one edge of the marsh and eventually 631 Coyote Street empties into Pond is lined with a Nevada City, CA 95959 Sand Robert H. Mohlenbwck is a professor emeritus (530) 265-4531 dense thicket of shrubs. The major ofplant biology at Southern Illinois University www.r5.fs.fed.us/tahoe species are mountain alder, rose spiraea, in Carbondale.

December 2002/January 2003 NATURAL HISTORY 67 REVIEW

ciha. Without the bacteria the light organs do not mature, and the squid remain uniUuminated. The Unselfish Genome A flamboyant personaHty, MarguHs has never avoided controversy. I once saw her dressed in purple velvet and The case for cooperating genes perched on the edge of the stage at a congress, confronting, with her cus-

tomary optimistic bravura, a hall full of By Menno Schiithuizen skeptical bacteriologists. Beginning in the late 1960s, she brought into main- stream biology the idea that cell or- ganelles such as mitochondria and

chloroplasts are nothing less than relicts of symbiotic bacteria that were incor-

porated into the parent cells eons ago. In the ensuing three decades she has been the tireless champion of symbio-

sis, arguing with some success that other cell components have Ukewise evolved fi-om bacteria, and that sym-

biosis is a pervasive and crucial process in evolution. Not surprisingly, then, in Acquiring Genomes MarguHs and Sagan once again impress us with the won- ders of microbial liaisons. But their book goes further. The

authors maintain that symbiosis is the

stufli"that evolution is really made of in

their view it should replace random genetic mutation as the main driving

force of evolutionary novelty. To put it

boldly (and MarguHs and Sagan do): it Alexis Rockman, Evolution, 1992 isn't natural selection, but "the unseen beings" that "play the major creative Ever heard of Demodex folliculo- with, among other things, some of role in the genesis of new species." rum, a 0.4-millimeter-long niite our daily quota of B12 and K vitamins. The changes come about via the fu- and a relative of the spiders? In their most recent book Lynn Mar- sion ot complete genomes, either Probably not—but if you squint you guUs, of the University of Massachu- through integration at the level of the' can get a close-up of one of its pre- setts Amherst, and Dorion Sagan esti- chromosome (like most of the genes in

ferred habitats. The eyelash mite, as it mate that a staggering 10 percent of the bacterium that later became our

is more commonly known, lives on our dry weight is made up not of our mitochondria) or through their union almost everybody's face, feeding on own cells but of our symbionts. as joined, co-dependent organisms.

dead skin cells and often burrowing Acquiring Genomes is full of such The six known species of the single- into eyelash folHcles. And that is not marvels of symbiosis. Another good celled marine organism Euplotidium,

the only creature we share our bodies one is the glow-in-the-dark squid Eti- for instance, are distinguished from

with. A veritable menagerie of mi- pryiiuia scolopes. In its belly is a two- their Euplotes relatives by a band of crobes inhabits our various nooks and lobed spotlight, complete with a bumps on their surface, from which

crannies. Spirochetes live in our translucent muscle covering it and a defensive ribbons shoot when the Eu- gums; staphylococci, micrococci, and dark reflector behind. The light plotidium are approached by other,

a small yeast from the genus Pity- (which confuses predators) is emitted predatory protozoans. On close in-

rosporon clothe our hides. And then, by the bacterium Vibrio fischeri, which spection, the bumps turn out to be of course, there's the gut, home to hatchling squid recruit from seawater bacteria that are "body-farmed" by

species of bacteria that provide us with a "welcoming ring" of beating Euplotidium to serve as a defense organ.

68 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/]anuary 2003 Neither Euplotidiuiii nor their bacterial addition to proffering an appreciation brains. Quite aside from the fact that I bodyguards can live on their own, and of symbiosis as a new center of gravity do not think kOUng and eating another so this Hfe-form clearly evolved \vhen for evolutionary biolog\', Ryan has a species counts as symbiosis, the evolu- one genome acquired the other. social-poUtical agenda. He feels that tionary rationale is naive. Even if our

In spite of such fine examples, neo-Darwinism, with its focus on Uttoral forebears grew larger brains be- however, Marguhs and Sagan's argu- competition and natural selection, has cause of their diet, the advantage could ment loses some of its charm when led to Darwinian justifications for not be genetically inherited, so it is the authors begin to downplay the rel- such e\dls as social inequality, rape, and hard to see how it could have affected evance of natural selection to make war. A better appreciation of the role human evolution. Such uncritical rea- way for evolurion by symbiosis. Surely of cooperation in nature, says Ryan, soning, particularly toward the end of the merger of a Euplotes-hke ancestor "would introduce some sense of bal- his book, where he increasingly fo- with a live bacterium, giving rise to a ance into our understanding of these cuses on human society, weakens new organism, could not have been highly controversial aspects of human Ryan's overall thesis. instantaneous. As with any other close societal and psychosexual behavior." Another flaw of the book is its ten- ecological relationship, the merger So Ryan embarks on a quest for ex- dency to invoke straw men. I do not would have required gradual mutual amples of peaceful collaboration in think sociobiologists, as Ryan claims, adaptation (presumably by the natural nature that will support his crusade actually believe altruism operates selection of gene mutations). against the excesses of Darwinism. among the members of a species

But MarguUs and Sagan have de- Danmn 's Blind Spot is well researched, through acts of kindness that are con- cided that biology can do away with stantly monitored for their future random mutations, now that a value. In fact, his alternative explana- much Acquiring Genomes: more powerful originator of evolu- tion that "love, friendship and 'to- A TIteor}' of the Origins of Species — tionar\' novelty is available in the form getherness'" are "embedded our by Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan m of symbiosis. They maintain that the human genome" is entirely in Une (Basic Books, 2002; $28.00) — accumulation of small genetic muta- with Darwinian sociobiology. The lat- tions is virtually always destructive and Darti'in's Blind Spot: ter vie'w simply asserts that the possi- "does not lead to new species or even Evolution Beyond Natural Selection biUty ot reciprocation has given kind to new organs or new tissues." It is a by Frank Ryan people the edge in the evolution of "half-truth whose lack of explicative (Houghton Mifflin, 2002; $25.00) our species, and so morality has be- power is compensated for only by the come hard-udred in our genomes. religious ferocity of its rhetoric"—an covering the spectrum ot comment Ryan, Uke MarguUs and Sagan, ap- assertion that will raise the eyebrows on the topic from Adolf Hider (who pears to be picking a fight by exagger- of not a few evolutionary geneticists. appropriated Darwinian terminology ating maverick biologists' disputes And as for natural selection, the au- to justif)' the Holocaust) to Beatrix with traditional biology. He almost di- thors note that "a staunch resistance to Potter (who was barred in 1897 from rectly blames the horrors of the Ger- any systematic effort to identify' [its speaking before the Linnaean Society man concentration camps on such ex- causal] agent or agents" persists: a slap of London on the symbiotic lifestyle emplary scientific figures as the in the face at evolutionary ecology. of hchens because she was a woman English biologist T H. Huxley. And Nevertheless, Margulis and Sagan and who, in frustration, resorted to his pages are Uttered with the unsung do have a point—evolutionary biolo- writing her famous series of children's heroes of symbiology, who saw in nat- gists have largely ignored the formi- books). Ryan has an eye for detail and ural symbioses the model and ratio- dable status of symbiotic interactions a knack for spinning a yarn from many nale for Utopian and fuUy coUaborative as ecological processes, as well as their loose threads, and these talents make societies but who were suppressed, ac- potential for shutthng genes between the book highly readable. cording to Ryan, by evil conventional genomes. With its wealth of detail, At some points, though, his conclu- biology. It makes an amusing read and their book should act as an eye- sions become just too far-fetched. He a diverting story; but, unfortunately opener. But I fear that its iconoclastic points out, for instance, that our earU- for Ryan's argument, it may be too style may polarize rather than unify. est ancestors Uved near the shores of good to be true. oceans and lakes, and so Uved in "a dif-

of the same ground is cov- frise exosymbiosis" with fish—which Much Menna SchUthuizen is an assodatt professor of ered Frank an Enghsh are rich in certain fatty acids that pro- by Ryan, evolutionary biology at the University of physician and science writer, m Dar- mote brain growth. Hence, he con- Malaysia Sabah. He is the author of Frogs, win's Blind Spot. But Ryan goes on cludes, Uving in close association with Flies, and Dandelions: The Making of where MarguUs and Saean leave off: in fish caused the evolution of our large Species (Oxford University Press, 2001).

December 2002/January 2003 NATURAL HISTORY 69 —

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remote sensing from satellites and air- rian, who is gradually working his Asia * Africa * Europe craft. The site tracks the waxing and way through the animal de- Central & South America kingdom, waning of snow cover, glaciers, sea picts himself on the flyleaf as a frog. 10-28 day tours $1395 to $2995 ice, and ice shelves. It also monitors Includes Land, Air, Hotels, Guides rising sea levels and conditions in "Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the -ser> the permafrost. In its "State of the Sloth, written and illustrated by Eric Cryosphere" (nsidc.org/sotc/intro. Carle (Penguin Putnam, 2002; $16.99) Toll-free: 1-877-356-7376 for brochure html), the NSIDC reports that "re- Adam Gopnik recently worried in www.djoserusa.com gardless of parameter or measurement Tlie New Yorker about his three-year- method, the amount of snow and ice old, whose imaginary playmate, Char-

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eral decades." If your child's Hfe is similarly fliU of A more anecdotal look at global busyness, she might take comfort in climate change in the polar regions Carle's gentle defense of the sloth and and elsewhere can be found at "Glo- the slothful Hfe. A museum of picture- bal Warming: Early Warning Signs" book art founded by (and named for) (www.cHmatehotmap.org). Created by Carle opened in Amherst, Massachu-

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the site has a world map you can cHck FOR MEDIUM-SIZE PEOPLE on to learn about the "fingerprints" With and "harbingers" of cUmate change. The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat The site also includes a report on the Called Fish, by Jacqueline Briggs Mar- EXPLORAMA potential consequences of the warm- tin; pictures by Beth Krommes (Houghton tiitpy/uiuiui.eKpiorama.com ing chmate for different regions of the Mifflin, 2001; $15) While the good E-mall: [email protected] United States and for sectors ranging ship Fish was slow^ly being crushed in

from health. ice, sat in USA (800) 707-5275 agriculture to human the Arctic the captain the galley and played each phonograph Fax:(51 94) 25 2533 RO.Box 446 record one last time before tossing it Iquitos-Peru Robert Anderson is a freelance science writer living in Los Angeles. into the stove. Based on a true account

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an Inupiat family (including two Campbell Bartoletti (Houghton Mifflin, There's never a shortage of large-for- young girls) whose cold-weather skills 2001 $18) Black Potatoes tells the story mat books to keep the dust off kept the members of the expedition of the havoc wrought by a fungus that the furniture. Represented here are ahve. Written in blank verse and illus- arrived in Ireland in 1845 in ship- exceptional picture-book treatments trated with black-and-white scratch- ments of guano. The crop failures, of nature and some ghmpses of par-

board drawings in the style of Inupiat multiyear famine, and mass emigra- adise—both on Earth and above it. art, the story is followed by pho- tion that followed are familiar enough, tographs of the survivors. but Bartoletti makes them new by in- Birds, by Robert Bateman (Pantheon cluding rare first-person accounts col- Books, 2002; $40) A Hfelong birder TTte Dinosaurs ofWaterhouse Hawkins, lected from scattered primary sources and renowned wildlife painter assem- by Barbara Kerley; drawings by Brian (she studied GaeHc for the purpose). bled this portfolio-cum-field diary to Selznick (Scholastic Press, 2001; $16.95) chronicle a worldwide "personal "What first drew me to this story, of birding odyssey." Bateman's brilliant course, was the dinner party," Kerley images (220 new paintings are col- writes. That would be the formal lected here) portray the birds in their dinner party held on New Year's Eve, natural postures and settings. Field 1853, in the belly of a huge model of notes provide factual details along a dinosaur in London's Crystal Palace. with concise, evocative ruminations

But Hawkins, the first to sculpt the on his wanderings. lumbering beasts whose fossils had re- cently been unearthed, met opposi- Coral Reefs: Cities under the Sea, by tion as well as success. In America he Richard C. Murphy (The Daiwin Press, ran afoul of Boss Tweed, whose thugs 2002; $45) The lesson here—abun- smashed his sculptures and buried dantly illustrated in beautifully clear,

them in Central Park. color photographs—is that people might make their own communities FOR NEARLY GROWN PEOPLE more sustainable if they imitated the Revenge of the Whale: The True Story Plato-like republics of coral reefs, of the Whaleship Essex, by Nathaniel where a variety of marine species col- Philbrick (Putnam Juvenile, 2002; lectively enhance the survival of the $16.99) "Never before, in the entire whole. A marine biologist, educator, history of the Nantucket whale fish- and photographer. Murphy maintains ery, had a whale been known to attack the useful communitarian analogy Remarkable Trees of the World a ship," writes Philbrick. titles But on No- by Thomas Pakenhani throughout eight chapters, whose vember 16, 1820, a huge buU sperm (W.W Norton & Company, begin with "Power Plants and Farms" whale twice rammed the whaleship 2(X)2; $49.95) and end with "Social Security." Essex. In ten minutes the ship sank, leaving twenty-two men stranded in Black Potatoes shares with Bartoletti's Last Stand: America's Virgin Lands, small boats in the middle of the Pacific other books her warm-hearted indig- text by Barbara Kingsolver; photographs

Ocean. Revenge is based on firsthand nation at the plight of the poor and by Annie Griffiths Belt (National Geo- accounts of the voyage—including the manifold ways in which they are graphic Society, 2002; $40) Remnants one by the ship's fourteen-year-old left without egress from misery. She of virgin land, surviving piecemeal cabin boy—and on extensive knowl- points out that while people were and scattered across nearly four mil- edge of nineteenth-century whaling starving in the ditches, ships left Ire- lion square miles of U.S. territory, are and the physiology and psychology of land full of grain and livestock. the subject of this highly styHzed pic- starvation and cannibalism. The "Famine," she says, "is not about a ture book. Color photographs and

combination of unflinching truth- lack ot food; famine is about who has hand-colored black-and-white prints telling and deep compassion for the access to food." create images as rich with nuance as men makes the story unforgettable. the pristine landscapes themselves, and

But because it is so powerfully told, Diana Lutz keeps an eye on children's litera- novelist Kingsolver contributes a

the cannibalism may be unbearable ture for her daughter Emily. She is the editor of moving "swan song" for these "lost for some readers. Muse, a science magazine for children. corners" of wild grandeur.

72 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/January 2003 ;

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Eden," Bruemmer writes. To prove it, he traveled the globe to record forty- three species that herd for safety, con- gregate for feeding or breeding, or lay their eggs en masse. His stunning im- ages of multiplicity are accompanied by solo and small-group shots that capture the animals' behavior in their wild environments. ass m jininor.\ Oceans, edited by Sue Hosteller (Rizzoli, ^ for five soloists, chorus and orchestra 2002; $39.95) Eighty masters of the art of photography present flawless, mainly black-and-white images of The Liatin Mass Meets the 21st Century oceans and seascapes. Evocative and provocative, the pubhcation coincides With new music composed and conducted with a travcHng exhibition and auc- by Thomas G. McFaul tion of hmited-edition prints in sup- featuring soloists from port of the Natural Resources De- The Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera fense Council. "Tom McFaul's Mass in C minor is a profoundly moving homage

Planet Earth, edited by the German to the Baroque. It is filled with resplendent choruses, brilliant Aerospace Center (Knopf 2002; $40) virtuoso counterpoint, and deeply felt emotion..." "The beauty of these photos," writes - MAURY YESTON, Tony-winning composer of Titanic art critic Robert Hughes in his superb "...Baroque-like in its musical style. ..original with colors of textual introduction, "is only an accident," interpretation and turns of phrases. ..inspirational and refreshing because what we're seeing is actually ...the great texts come alive thanl

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What can we do with them to learn Universe by Number something about the universe? Here's a start: we can count them.

Can cosmology be as easy as one, two, three? Simple addition goes a long way in astronomy. That is particularly true By Charles Liu in cosmology, the often difficult pur- suit of knowledge about the universe

as a whole. In the 1920s Edwin Hub-

cosmos is a cluttered place. but to pick and choose our targets, ble showed that the Milky Way was TheStars dot the night sky in and then to classify and categorize just one of a vast number of galaxies every direction—hardly sur- them: planets into gas giants and ter- scattered throughout the universe. At prising, given the hundreds of billions restrials; galaxies into spirals, ellipti- about the same time, inspired by the of stars in our galaxy alone. If our cals, and irregulars; and so on. Most idea put forth in Einstein's general

own solar neighborhood is any guide, of what we understand about the theory of relativity that space itself is each star among those billions could cosmos begins with organizing what curved, an international community host a handful of major planets, we observe into families; all of us, of physicists and astronomers such dozens of moons, millions of asteroids scientists or not, classify things in as Alexander Friedmann, Georges and other minor planets, and billions order to transform raw information Lemaitre, Willem de Sitter, and Albert

(if not trillions) of icy comets. Now into knowledge. But how do astron- Einstein proposed various models of throw into the center of the galaxy a omers deal with the vast majority of the shape of the universe. Because supermassive black hole two and a objects in astronomical images—the galaxies are the glowing tracers of half million times the mass of the Sun, foreground st'ars, the background matter in the universe, it made sense add a few bilHon Suns' worth of free- galaxies—when we know almost to map the number and brightness of floating interstellar gas and a few tril- nothing about the objects but their galaxies all across the sky. The maps lion Suns' worth of unseen dark position and apparent brightness? could then be compared with the pre- matter, and you get the dictions of the models to approximate contents of see which model was not

a single galaxy, our own ruled out. Milky Way. Finally, mul- Eight decades have tiply that by a hundred passed, and we astron- bilhon or so—the num- omers are still at it. But ber of galaxies between along the way we've man- us and our cosmic hori- aged to shed some light, zon—and you have the not just on cosmic geom- number of objects in the etry but also on cosmic

visible universe. It truly evolution. These insights boggles the mind. aren't exactly a bonus; That sheer quantity they're a product of sci- alone poses a serious entific necessity resulting dilemma for us astron- fi-om the realization that omers. As eager as we counting galaxies has two may be to study every major complications. single thing out there, First, we are embedded assigning ourselves such in the curved space that a task would be like Einstein first described; asking an entomologist we look out at a vast uni- to get personally ac- verse along sight lines quainted with every in- distorted by the very The "deep field," a long-exposure image made by the Hubble Space sect on Earth. The num- Telescope, shows that even what was thought to be an "empty" part galaxies we are trying to

bers leave us no choice of the sky is dotted with galaxies, some more than 12 billion years old. observe. Imagine drawing

74 NATURAL HISTORY December 2002/Jonuory 2003 . . "

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a fine grid of dots on a rubber sheet, spatial curvature and galaxy evolution. given cosmic geometry the average Now stretch the sheet tightly against a cosmology-by-galaxy-counts proceeds number of galaxies in any patch of table, then a saddle, then a beach ball, in stages. First we count the galaxies. sky. (Some astrophysicists wryly call An ant cHnging to the middle of the Then—-just as our predecessors did such omnibus constructions kitchen- sheet, aware only of the sheet's two- we make models of the universe by sink models, since you can throw in dimensional surface, would see the positing various shapes and evolution- just about everything.)

ary rates tor it, Nagashima chose to test the predic- Astronomers are creating "kitchen-sink" predicting the tions of the model against three "deep galaxy counts we fields"—composite images of a single m odels— throwing everything in— to make " -* ° would get tor part of the sky. Usually taken over sev- an accurate reconstruction of the universe. each model. Fi- eral days and nights, and combining nally, we com- exposures made with red, green, and dots spaced ditferently in each case, pare the data with the predictions and blue filters, these images show, in ex- We earthhngs are in the same predica- tweak the models until they match, quisite detail, extremely distant and ment as the ant, except that our The more galaxies we count, the faint galaxies. Two of the images were "curved sheet" has three dimen- made with the Hubble Space sions instead of two. Taking the Telescope; one exposure lasted galactic census of the entire uni- 141 hours, the other, 118 hours verse therefore requires that we [see image on page 74]. The third take curvature into account, or image was a twenty-two-hour we'U misinterpret what we see. exposure with the 8.2-meter Second, when we look out- (323-inch) Subaru Telescope on ward into space, we also look Mauna Kea, Hawaii [see image at

backward in time. The observ- left]. According to Nagashima,

able universe is about 13 billion the best match between the years old, which we know be- model and the deep-field images

cause its edge is 13 billion light- suggests that the universe will ex- years away. By definition, then, pand forever, never collapsing

every single galaxy in the uni- back upon itself, and that its ex- verse must be younger than 13 pansion may even be accelerat- billion years of age. Pictures of ing. The result confirms other the universe thus combine past research—in microwave astron- with present. Infant galaxies omy, for instance, and in surveys

growing rapidly, adolescents The Subaru Telescope in Hawaii made this deep-field of distant supernovas—that indi- forming new stars at a furious image of a small patch of the northern sky. cates that an unseen dark energy rate, adults making stars gently pervades the universe, inexorably and steadily—they're all in the more accurate—and complex—the pushing the galaxies apart. mix, all at different distances, and models get. As you might expect, though,

all with different histories of birth Nagashima's work also conflicts with and growth. ne of the latest entries in the the results of some other previous It gets worse. We also have to take o model-universe competition studies. But what gives it special account of a number of other was recently published by Masahiro weight is that the model matches not processes, such as galaxy clustering Nagashima of the National Astro- just the deep-field images but also im- and galaxy merging, surface bright- nomical Observatory ofJapan and his ages made across the spectrum, from

ness, and the obscuring power of dust. collaborators. Their model is "semi- ultraviolet to visible to infrared. Even All of these processes can change with analytic"—part complex equations, so, Nagashima's model can't reproduce time, drastically increasing or decreas- part raw computer simulation—and all the galaxy counts unless even more ing the number of galaxies we see. It packed with an assortment of compu- parameters are added and adjusted.

all adds up to a huge mess of cosmic tational knobs and switches. With it, The search for the true shape of the change, collectively called galaxy evo- Nagashima and his colleagues can universe goes on, one galaxy at a time. lution. Ignoring this factor would take into account the rate of star for-

completely confound any interpreta- mation, the size of newborn galaxies, Charles Liu is an astrophysicist at tlie Haydeu

tion ot galaxy counts. the effects of dust, and a laundry list Planctariiiin and a researcli scientist at Barnard

To deal with the complications of of other variables, to predict for any College in New York City.

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THE SKY IN DECEMBER AND JANUARY By Joe Rao

Mercury spends western elongation from the Sun, 47 more than 26.5 degrees to our line of much of De- degrees, on January 11; a few days later sight: a certain delight for anyone cember in the a telescope will show that the planet's lucky enough to be favored with a

evening sky, disk appears exactly half lit. telescope for the hohdays. slowly moving In January Saturn dims only slightly.

away from the Mars rises at about 3:30 A.M. through- It's already well up in the east at sun-

Sun. It arrives out December. On the 6th it comes down, and it sets in the west-north-

at its greatest to within about 1.5 degrees of the west an hour or two before sunrise. eastern elonga- dazzling Venus, which shines 363

tion on the times brighter than Mars. The Moon is new at 2:34 A.M. on De- 26th, 20 degrees from the Sun's glare. In January Mars and Venus con- cember 4. It reaches first quarter at

Despite that separation the view is a tinue rising together, but somewhat 10:49 A.M. on the 11th, full at 2:10 limited one, because the planet sets earlier, about four hours before the P.M. on the 19th, and last quarter at about fifteen minutes before the end Sun. Although stiU 179 million miles 7:31 P.M. on December 26. In January of evening twilight. from Earth at midmonth and relatively the Moon is new at 3:22 rm. on the

Mercury is barely visible after sunset faint beside Venus, Mars is hardly bor- 2nd. It reaches first quarter at 8:14 on New Year's Day; you will probably ing. Moving from Libra into Scorpius A.M. on the 10th, full at 5:47 A.M. on

need binoculars to catch it. The planet on the 20th, Mars buzzes past the arc the 18th, and last quarter at 3:33 a.m. passes inferior conjunction on January of three stars known as the Crown of on the 25th.

1 1 , then rises above the dawn horizon the Scorpion. It passes just south of by the 18th. In the last ten days of the double star Graffias on the morn- A total ecUpse of the Sun takes place

January it begins its best morning ap- ing ofJanuary 22. on December 4. The Moon's dark parition until September 2003. umbral shadow follows a narrow path Jupiter rises in .the east-northeast just beginning at local sunrise over the

Seeing Venus is a good reason to get after 9:30 P.M. local time on Decem- South Atlantic, crosses southern Africa

up early in December; it shines before ber 1, and then about four minutes and the Indian Ocean, and ends at

sunrise like a modern-day Christmas earlier with each passing night (it's up local sunset over southern Australia.

star. The planet crossed between the at 7:30 P.M. by the end of the TotaHty lasts between fifty and ninety

Earth and the Sun in November and is month). On December 4 it halts its seconds in parts of Africa and roughly now climbing to glory in the south- normal eastward drift among the thirty seconds near local sunset in parts

east. Venus is always bright, but this stars, stopping in the constellation of southern Austraha.

December both its altitude and its Leo and reversing course toward the

brilliance are exceptional. west, back into Cancer (the shift is The Geminid meteors, which seem By late December the lamplike called retrograde motion). to emanate from the star Castor in "morning star" comes up about four By the beginning of January the Gemini, reach their peak early on a

hours before the Sun. Its ascent culmi- planet reaches a good altitude for tele- Saturday morning, December 14. It's nates about 28 degrees above the hori- scope viewing—nearly 30 degrees one of the best meteor displays of the zon on December 1, and the maxi- above the horizon—by about 10 RM. year and is easy to see after the bright mum altitude increases to about 32 local time; its ever-earUer rising pushes waxing gibbous Moon sets at about 2 degrees by midmonth. From the 3rd back that time each day until, by A.M. A Geminid meteor should burst until the 9th Venus shines as bright as month's end, the planet reaches the across the sky, on average, about once the planet ever gets, at magnitude same viewing altitude by 7:45 P.M. a minute. -4.7. On snowy ground, Venus-Hght might be bright enough for surround- Saturn-watchers in December will The solstice takes place at 8:14 RM., ing features to cast Venus-shadows. enjoy their finest month in three December 21. In January the planet continues to decades. The planet attains opposition

draw all wakeful eyes to the southeast- to the Sun on the 17th: it rises as the The Earth reaches perihelion, its clos-

ern sky before dawn. Viewed from the Sun sets, reaches its highest point in est approach to the Sun, on the night

northern midlatitudes, Venus rises the southern sky at midnight, and sets ofJanuary 3—4. Our favorite star is just

within a half hour of 4 a.m. local time as the Sun rises. It shines as bright as it 91,405,304 miles away throughout the winter and spring ever does, at magnitude —0.5; only

nearly two hours before dawn's first two stars, Sirius and Canopus, are Unless otherwise noted, all times are ^iven

light in January. It reaches its greatest brighter. The planet's rings are tipped ill Eastern Standard Time.

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Walking Sewers

B\/ Ted Steinberg

When Europeans visualized American for that object when men can be got to do it." cities in the nineteenth century, it was In 1821 city authorities went to war against the not Indians or buffaloes but pigs that pigs, taking many into custody when Irish and black came to mind. "I have not yet found any city, women banded together to defend the animals.

county, or town where I have not seen these lov- Other significant pig-related conflicts erupted in able animals wandering about peacefully in huge 1825, 1826, 1830, and 1832. The fital blow to the herds," wrote Ole Munch Raeder, a Norwegian urban commons came in 1849. Gholera broke out lawyer, during a visit to America in 1847. Swine, in New York, and health officials linked the out-

he observed, kept the streets clean by "eating up all break to the city's filthy conditions. No animal sym- kinds of refuse. And then, when these walking bolized dirt more clearly than the pig. Police, armed sewers are properly filled up they are butchered and provide a real treat for the dinner-table." Working-class women, who de- pended on pigs to supply tood for the table, allowed them to scavenge the urban commons for garbage. Thus city pigs converted people's waste into pro- tein for the working poor. But a food source to some proved a nuisance to others. By 1849 so many pigs were wan- dering the streets of Little Rock, Arkansas, that according to one newspa- per, they had come "to dispute the side walks with other persons [emphasis in the original]." The creatures were not the sedate porkers one encounters today in Rounding up the pigs, from Frank Leslies Illustrated Newspaper August 13 1859 children's zoos; they were wild animals that copulated in pubHc and had the annoying habit with clubs, drove thousands of swine from the of defecating on people. Worse, they injured and dwellings of the poor, banishing them uptown. By occasionally killed children. 1860 the area below 86th Street had been secured as The authorities in New York City had sought to a pig-free zone. And by the last decade of the nine- ban swine from the streets as early as the 1810s. Pub- teenth century, the urban commons—a surrogate Hc outcry led to the repeal of that ordinance. But for the open range in the South and West—had van- Mayor Cadwallader Golden stood firm against the ished from the scene m cities throughout America. pigs. "Why, gentlemen!" he remonstrated in 1819, The urban pig was ultimately exiled to the farmyard,

"must we feed the poor at the expense ot human where, to this day, it perpetuates for people the divi- flesh?" EHminate the urban commons, he argued, sion between the country and the city. and the poor would be forced to find jobs to pay for Ted Steinberg is a professor of history and Imu at Case West- food, instead of taking their meals at the expense of ern Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Tliis essay is the city's more refined residents. As for the role of adapted from his book Down to Earth: Nature's Role in swine in street cleaning, Golden intoned, "I think American History, which was published this past May by our corporation will not employ brutal agency Oxford University Press.

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