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2011-01 R&C Newsletter

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2011-01 R&C Newsletter Research & Collections Newsletter January 2011 re•search (rī-sûrch′, rē′sûrch) n. 1. Scholarly or scientific investigation or inquiry. See synonyms at inquiry. 2. Close, careful study. 3. When performed on collections, the raison d’être of all great natural history museums. Collection News Mineral Sciences Two major donations were received recently. The first is the mineral and gem collection of Hyman and Beverly Savinar. The Savinars had been strong supporters of the Mineral Sciences Department since the early 1980’s and many beautiful specimens that they have donated now grace the Gem and Mineral Hall. The remainder of their collection, received in the form of a bequest, includes many more exceptional pieces. The second donation, received from Peter Greenfield, is a single specimen, but one of considerable significance. It is the world’s largest faceted aquamarine gemstone, weighing 2,594 carats (well over a pound). The 6,021-carat crystal, from which the stone was cut, was mined in Brazil in the 1950s. For many years, the crystal was in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. After passing through the hands of mineral dealers David Wilber and Gilbert Gautier, the crystal was purchased in 1979 by Fallbrook, California, gem and mineral dealer Bill Larson, who decided to have it faceted by gem cutter Joanne McLean. Mr. Greenfield purchased the gem shortly after it was cut and held onto it for more than three decades before donating it to the Museum. The gem is planned for display in the Gem and Mineral Hall. 1 Malacology The Malacology Section acquired the extensive worldwide Terebridae (Auger shells) collection from the estate of Olive Schoenberg-Dole (Kailua, Hawai‘i) along with other Hawaiian specimens of the families Strombidae, Conidae, and Mitridae. Mrs. Schoenberg-Dole was an advanced amateur collector and was a contemporary with Malacology benefactor and Research Associate Twila Bratcher. Her collection of 1500+ lots will complement the 2000+ lots of Terebridae donated by Twila in 1997. A small portion of the Olive Schoenberg-Dole terebrid collection featuring Terebra achates, an endemic Hawaiian species. Ichthyology A 12 foot long oarfish (Regalecus sp.) washed up at Malibu on the 27th of November and was frozen by biologists at the California Wildlife Center. Chris Thacker transported it back to the Museum. The specimen will be examined, measured, sampled for DNA and cataloged. Photo by Darrell Rae, from the LA Times story. For more information follow this link: http:// latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/12/oarfish-malibu- deep-ocean-rare.html. Crustacea A beautiful specimen of a Giant Japanese Spider Crab, Macrocheira kaempferi, has been moved from its home of more than 60 years on the campus of USC to the third floor of the Museum. This exquisite specimen was originally a gift from Dr. Tune Sakai of Japan — known at the time as the personal carcinologist to the Emperor of Japan — to Dr. John Garth of USC, former curator of the Allan Hancock Foundation collection of Crustacea. The specimen has remained at USC since it was given to Dr. Garth sometime in the 1950s. Giant Spider Crabs are not only the largest of the crabs, they are the largest of all arthropods on the planet. They are found only in the waters of the western Pacific, and are most abundant in the Sea of Japan, south of Honshu Island and in the vicinity of Suruga Bay. Giant Spider Crabs can exceed 12 feet across the tips of their outstretched claws, and they can weigh more than 40 pounds. They support a small-scale fishery in Japan, where they are found at depths down to 2,000 feet, and they are considered a delicacy. We are especially grateful to Tania Collas and her team for helping us move it from USC and to Mike Alvarez and our shop personnel for the beautiful job they did constructing the new case, moving the crab to the third floor, and mounting in on the wall. Visitors to the third floor will see the crab in its case on the wall just to the east of the elevators. 2 Entomology Local entomologist Bob Allen donated his collection of 100 Neuroptera to the museum's Entomology Section on January 4, 2011. One of the few North American experts on this group (lacewings, owlflies, antlions, and relatives), Bob assembled a unique collection especially strong for Southern California species. The photo shows some nemopterids, the most attractive of the neuropterans. In December 2010, Entomology Research Associate Dr. Ron Hennessey donated a large collection of about 1000 mutillid wasps, commonly known as "velvet-ants." These beautiful creatures are usually found in warmer parts of the world, including California. The wingless females lay eggs on bee or wasp larvae and the mutillid larvae feed as external parasitoids. The females have a wicked sting, giving one large species the common name "cow-killer." Mammalogy Sea World San Diego donated two fully articulated marine mammal skeletons to our collection in December: a pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) and a false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens). Visiting researchers using the Mammalogy collection in November and December included: Alex Hubb (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil), Mizuki Murakami (Waseda University, Tokyo), Brian Kraatz (Western University, Pomona, CA), Rachel Racicot (Yale), Curt Walker (Dixie State College, Utah) and Jennie Allen (Cal State LA). Polychaetes Our types (the name-bearing specimens for a species, and the crown jewels of any collection) have been growing in number. We now have 2,206 individual lots, second only to the Smithsonian in the U.S. and one of the largest collections in the world as well as the most important for the Northeast Pacific. Growth comes partially from donations while the majority of new types are the result of revisionary work on specimens already in the LACM collection. These specimens were collected as long ago as 1895 or as recently as a few months ago such as Newport, Oregon, material which includes some undescribed species & new records (see Field Work). In contrast to the situation at many museums our type collection is extensively used. During the last ten years nearly half of the type specimens have been borrowed or examined in-house by visiting researchers. Our catalogue has been updated in preparation for conversion to the new DIS database & web access while the types are being re-curated and re- labelled by Leslie Harris with the help of Kathy Omura (MBC). Polychaete types awaiting new labels while snuggled in their foam earthquake-stabilization holders. 3 Archaeology On December 21, 2010, the Archaeology collection received a donation from Hollywood resident Christopher Stendahl consisting of eight Pre-Columbian vessels from Mexico and Costa Rica. Christopher is the son of Alfred Stendahl, whose shared expertise and personal donations played a key role in the building of our museum's collection. This recent donation includes five vessels from Colima and La Mixteca, Mexico, a figurine fragment from Veracruz , Mexico, and two intricately decorated vessels from Costa Rica. At right is large Mixtec bowl, which has four elaborate glyphs on the exterior. Perhaps with some research we will be able to decipher the meaning behind these carefully constructed messages from the past. Vertebrate Paleontology Cogstone Resource Management company on 10 December made a donation of a significant voucher collection of Pliocene marine and terrestrial vertebrate fossils that were obtained through a paleontological mitigation program at the Gillibrand Quarry in Ventura County. This collection, including a surprising abundance of specimens of sea cows, is from a site in which this Museum has had a long-time interest. Ms. Anna Scharf of Milan, Italy, kindly donated four field notebooks written by her late father, David Walter Scharf, when he was a graduate student in Geology at Caltech in the 1930’s. These are among the very few surviving field notebooks documenting the huge vertebrate fossil collections, amassed by Dr. Chester Stock and his Caltech students, that were acquired by our museum in 1957, and thus they are an invaluable addition to our collection records. History A story of hope in the City of Dreams One of the key 20th century artifacts in the History Department collections that will be featured in the forthcoming Los Angeles exhibit On Shifting Ground is a bright neon sign from La Esperanza Mexican bakery and restaurant, once located at 507 N. Main Street, across from the Pico House and old Plaza. More than a business sign, La Esperanza, which means "hope" in Spanish, reflected the hopes and dreams that proprietors Ezequiel and Guadalupe Moreno shared with their diverse customer base. Elected officials, police officers, Hollywood movie stars, and immigrant workers flocked to this little oasis in the hub of pre and post World War II downtown. Actor Jack Webb of Dragnet fame was a close high school friend of one of the Moreno girls and even continued to eat at the restaurant during his days as TV officer Joe Friday. Many other stories have emerged from this sign, especially stories of lasting friendship. From the 1920s to the World War II internment of Japanese Americans in February 1942, Katsuke and Hatsuko Shishima and their seven children lived above the Mexican bakery where they ran a hotel and, a few doors away on Main Street, a popular grocery store. One of these children, Bill 4 Shishima became best friends with Ezequiel and Guadalupe’s son, Rudy Moreno. They were inseparable pals up until the time when the Shishimas were forced to sell their two businesses with only six days notice and subsequently sent off to an internment camp. Last month, curators William Estrada, Sojin Kim, and curatorial assistant Kristen Hayashi brought retired school teacher Bill Shishima (at left) to Santa Ana to be reunited with his boyhood friend, Rudy Moreno (at right), a retired baker.
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