About the MCZ
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Museum of Comparative Zoology Harvard University Annual Report 2018. 2019 About The MCZ The Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University is a global center for research and education focused on the comparative relationships and evolution of animal life. The MCZ collections comprise approximately 21 million extant and fossil invertebrate and vertebrate specimens, which are a focus of research and teaching for the MCZ, Harvard, and outside students and researchers. Contents Feature: Javier Ortega-Hernández 2 Faculty-Curator Profiles 3 Emeritus Profiles 6 Courses Led by Faculty-Curators 7 Research Making Headlines 11 Highlights from the Collections 14 Projects & Initiatives 17 Awards & Recognition 20 Grant Recipients 22 Publications in 2018 26 Financial Data 29 Personnel 30 Director’s Message The past year saw significant accomplishments by the MCZ in our core areas of research, teaching and collections stewardship. These activities are made all the online access to MCZ specimen more urgent by recent authoritative data. Looking ahead, negotiations reports that document impending are underway for the acquisition threats to biodiversity worldwide. of an important fossil collection as Perhaps the most chilling is the claim early as next summer. that “around one million species Following a great multiyear run as already face extinction, many within executive director of the Harvard decades, unless action is taken to Museums of Science & Culture, which reduce the intensity of drivers of includes the Harvard Museum biodiversity loss.”1 MCZ and other of Natural History, Jane Pickering natural history institutions can accepted a new appointment play a unique and essential role in at Harvard as director of the documenting the full extent of life Peabody Museum of Archaeology on Earth and in helping to craft & Ethnology. One of HMSC’s many strategies to conserve it, and we highlights this year is a grant from take this obligation seriously. the Institute of Museum and MCZ’s success is a function of Library Services to use 3D-scanning our ability to attract talented and technology to develop teaching James Hanken creative people to work and study aids derived from MCZ’s specimen Director with us, and we scored big this collections. year on two fronts. First, in January I am saddened to report that a we welcomed Prof. Javier Ortega- member of the MCZ Faculty passed Hernández as our new curator of away this year. George Putnam Jr. Invertebrate Paleontology, and was a longtime friend and supporter you can learn more about Javier’s of the MCZ. In addition to serving background and research plans on the Museum’s governing board, in the feature story. Second, the George, together with his wife inaugural class of Edward O. Wilson Nancy, was the founding donor of Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellows was the Putnam Expeditionary Grants selected, and they arrived in time program, which supports field- for the start of the 2019–2020 based research by MCZ graduate academic year. With support from students, postdoctoral fellows and additional donors, we are able to faculty-curators. He served with the fund four researchers who will U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II About the cover: Two sibling dusky discover, formally describe and salamanders (Desmognathus fuscus) and was an alumnus of Harvard before and after metamorphosis. The name new animal species. molecular basis of cutaneous respiration College and Harvard Business in these lungless salamanders was the On the curatorial front, we acquired School. George’s kindness, wise subject of the doctoral dissertation of Zachary Lewis in the Hanken lab. Photo several valuable collections that counsel and advocacy on behalf of by Zachary Lewis. will enhance our holdings in both the MCZ will be sorely missed. Opposite page: Double fluorescentin situ vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, hybridization marking mRNA expression of neural transcription factor, nkx2.4 and we received another digitization 1 Summary for policymakers of the global (magenta) and neural pool (green) assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem within Hofstenia miamia. Experiment grant from the National Science services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy performed by undergraduate researcher Foundation that will facilitate free, Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Deirdre Potter of the Srivastava lab. Annual Report 2018 . 2019 1 Introducing Our Newest Faculty-Curator The MCZ is pleased to welcome Dr. Javier Ortega-Hernández as curator of Invertebrate Paleontology and assistant professor in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. Dr. Ortega-Hernández joined Dr. Ortega-Hernández's research utilizes the MCZ in January 2019 exceptionally preserved fossils that, due to after his postdoctoral stint unusual circumstances during the process as a Herchel Smith Fellow of fossilization, contain information about in Biological Sciences at the the soft tissues such as the legs, eyes and University of Cambridge. “Javier brains. He has helped pioneer the use of X-ray brings to Harvard a wealth of computed tomography to investigate the expertise regarding a group of 3D-preserved morphology in pyritized fossils animals that are fundamental from the Cambrian in South China, making to our understanding of the it possible to study features that are normally evolution of life on Earth,” says concealed within the rock. MCZ Director James Hanken. The Ortega-Hernández lab will bring together As a paleobiologist, Dr. Ortega- traditional paleontology and fieldwork, Hernández explores the developmental biology of extant organisms, origin and early evolution of state-of-the-art imaging and other analytical Javier Ortega-Hernández invertebrate animals during the techniques to study the evolutionary history “Cambrian Explosion” more than 500 million years ago, when animal fossils first appeared, relatively suddenly, all around the world. He has spent most of his career studying extinct arthropods and their modern descendants, including arachnids, millipedes, centipedes, crustaceans and insects. “Arthropods and their relatives represent one of the most successful animal groups in the history of life on Earth,” says Dr. Ortega- Ortega-Hernández Javier Hernández. As such, arthropods are an of arthropods and their close relatives. “We are excellent group for addressing the origin of expanding our access to numerous exceptional animals during the Cambrian Explosion and fossil discoveries around the world, providing investigating how evolution has produced material to better understand the extinct one of the most versatile and adaptable body biodiversity of Cambrian and Ordovician plans known. ecosystems,” he says, “and we are implementing high-end imaging techniques to obtain as “By combining available information on the much morphological data as possible from embryonic development and segmentation of the material.” extant species, it has been possible to better understand how the Cambrian organisms— According to Dr. Ortega-Hernández, “The with their often strange body plans—are MCZ, brimming with invaluable collections Collinsium coliosum reconstruction related to living groups and learn something of great scientific significance, has been a by Javier Ortega-Hernández based about their early evolution that would be powerhouse for invertebrate paleontology. It on the fossil at right otherwise impossible to realize if we only houses an extremely supportive staff that is as study organisms alive today.” excited about these resources as I am.” 2 Museum of Comparative Zoology Faculty-Curator Profiles Scott V. Edwards Professor of Biology Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology Curator of Ornithology Prof. Edwards' research focuses on the evolutionary biology of birds and related species, combining field, museum and genomics approaches to Andrew A. Biewener Rinaldo Tony understand Charles P. Lyman Professor of Biology the basis of avian diversity, evolution and behavior. Director, Concord Field Station Current projects use genomics technologies to Prof. Biewener's research focuses on understanding the study comparative genomics and the evolution of biomechanics, neuromuscular control and energetics flightlessness and other traits in birds; phylogeography of animal movement on land and in the air. His goal and speciation in Neotropical and Australasian birds; is to understand general principles that govern the and the genomics of host–parasite coevolution biomechanical and physiological design of vertebrate between house finches and a recently acquired animals related to their movement in natural environments. bacterial pathogen, Mycoplasma. Brian D. Farrell Gonzalo Giribet Monique & Philip Lehner Alexander Agassiz Professor for the Study of Professor of Zoology Latin America Professor of Organismic & Professor of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology Evolutionary Biology Curator of Invertebrate Curator of Entomology Zoology Director, David Rockefeller Harvard College Professor Center for Latin American Studies Prof. Giribet's primary Faculty Dean, Leverett research focuses on the House evolution, systematics Prof. Farrell's research is and biogeography of invertebrate animals, Stephanie Mitchell broadly concerned with including the use of the evolution of ecological Dunn © Casey interactions between host plants and animals and their morphology and next- parasites, such as insects and other tiny consumers. generation sequencing techniques. Current projects in the Giribet lab include a textbook on invertebrates and a His current projects