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KoRi Bustard In Preening Mode

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M SCHOLASTIC www.scholastic.com alllidlUHBEia SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. mmDECEMBER 2006/JANUARY 2007 VOLUME 115 NUMBER 10 FEATURES

COVER STORY 30 BIG BIRD

The kori bustard, the world's heaviest flyer, depends on the rain in the Namibian plain

for its breeding success. TIM AND LAUREL OSBORNE

36 DIG IT! An air-lubber surveys the pleasures and perils i

of the burrowing life. ROBERT R. DUNN 42 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LINNAEUS '^^E^'rw^^ {^^^^^^^^^^^H

Tlie great biological classifier ^^^k '^SI^^^^^B ^^ft ,->'v^. ^^^^^H celebrates his 300th birthday i^KE^ in 2007, while Buffon, born the ^P jndB^/- ^^Mflfl^^^^ same year and Linnaeus 's greatest rival, has been forgotten. Are we celebrating the wrong birthday? I^L RICHARD CONNIFF

ON THE cover: Male kori bustard, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania Photograph by Christophe Ratier 28 BIOMECHANICS The Jaws That Jump Adam Summers

48 THIS LAND Salt of the Earth Robert H. Mohlenbrock

50 REVIEWS: GIFTED IN SCIENCE -^il- Best Books for Young Readers, 2006 Diana Lutz

56 And for the Coffee Table DEPARTMENTS Laurence A. Marschall

4 THE NATURAL MOMENT Get Along, Little Doggies Photograph by Florian Schulz

6 UP FRONT Editors Notebook

8 CONTRIBUTORS

12 LETTERS

14 SAMPLINGS News from Nature 62 nature.net 20 PERSPECTIVES The Good Earth Turn, Turn, Turn Robert Anderson

Donald Goldsmith 66 THE SKY IN DECEMBER AND JANUARY Joe Rao

68 AT THE MUSEUM

72 ENDPAPER Fearful Symmetry Shaily Menon

PICTURE CREDITS: Page 60

Visit our Web site at 14 www.naturalhistorymag.com It's URg A Video Game BtrHJeadl^^

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4i N MURAL HISTORY December 2006/JBnuary 2007 THE NATURAL MOMENT Get Along, Little Doggies

Photograph by Florian Schuiz —

THE NATURAL MOMENT UP FRONT

See preceding two pages The Long View

Our annual double-month issue that brackets the holidays takes the long view this year—26,000 years long. That's the time the Earth needs to do its impersonation of the one-second wobble of a spinning toy top beginning to slo'w down (see "Turn, Turn, Turn," Last winter a pair of coyotes, by Donald Goldsmith, page 20). One consequence of the Earth's slow napping on a fresh pallet of wobble—more properly known as precession—is that the North Star snow in Yellowstone National (Polaris) was not always, and will not always be, the navigator's friendly Park, were roused by the far-off beacon of the north. Goldsmith reminds historians, archaeologists—and howl of a fellow coyote. The male re-enactors—that if they hope to evoke the ancient world, they must re- stood up, shook the snow off his member that the Egyptians, the Greeks, and their contemporaries looked fur, and bayed loudly in response, on a sky whose north pole was closer to the rather dim star Thuban, in while the female stayed curled in a the constellation Draco, the dragon, than to our familiar Polaris. Our de- ball. Then, according to photog- scendants in the 140th century will fmd north easily by looking for Vega, rapher Florian Schulz, she added a bright "summer" star usually too low on the horizon this time of year a more mellow call to the chord, to be visible (at reasonable hours of the night!) at mid-northern latitudes. aimed at her lusty partner. By those standards, the birthdays whose 300th anniversaries we're Coyotes are perhaps the most gearing up for in this issue are recent history. Carl Linnaeus and Georges- vocal wild mammals in North Louis Leclerc, the Count of Buffon, the two leading "natural historians" America, particularly from January of the eighteenth century, were both born in 1707. As Richard Conniff until March, when they couple up tells the tale ("Happy Birthday, Linnaeus," page 42), the two could hardly to mate. But their sounds—howls, have been more divergent in background, or scientifically more at odds: yips, and so-called yip-howls Linnaeus, the provincial, self-promoting Swede, pious and gregarious, the changed throughout Yellowstone man with one great idea whose name resonates in "Linnaean" taxonomy in January 1995, when gray wolves today; and Buffon, the sophisticated Frenchman, poUtically adroit, confi- were brought back into the area. dante of the rich and powerful, brimming with ideas, yet now virtually The coyotes certainly had some- forgotten. Each was the other's greatest enemy. Linnaeus wiU get by far thing to cry out about: their popu- the Panthera /eo's share of the attention in this year's celebrations; but lation was swiftly halved. Even a Buffon, Conniff argues, deserves at least equal honors for his scientific scrawny wolf is three times heavier depth and his adherence to the evidence from nature. than the average, thirty-pound adult coyote, and preys easily on coyote pups. To me and maybe to you, it's comforting, in the bleak midwinter, to Coyotes are adaptable, though; contemplate the Hfe that goes on ceaselessly beneath the frozen soU. they have struck a balance with the In his article "Dig It!" (page 36), Robert R. Dunn takes us on an eye- larger canines in Yellowstone and opening voyage into that flourishing underground ecosystem, where he even benefit from their leftovers. finds an astonishing diversity of burrowing activity. Dunn also reports

Particularly when the snow is deep, that biologists have found wonderixiUy creative ways to study hfe in the the wolves seem to leave more soil. One investigator put marine worms in a kind of transparent gelatin, scraps from their winter kills, mak- which approximated the densit)' of sediment; then she flooded the gelatin ing the season easier for scavengers: with Hght.The force made by the worms at various points along their magpies, ravens, . . . and coyotes. bodies as they burrowed through the gelatin caused differences in how the Schulz had waited nearly an light was reflected. So by watching the worms and their "hght shows," she hour for the coyotes in his picture could tell a lot about the ways they move. to stir. His snowy vantage point was near the Lamar River in the northeast corner of the park. When Neil deGrasse Tyson returns to us in our ne.xt (February 2007) issue the animals finally broke the chilly with a fascinating tale of neutrinos, the "httle neutral ones" from silence, Schulz, his toes thoroughly the depths of space that ceaselessly zip through our bodies. Until then, numbed, was grateful for the we wish you a joyous hoHday season and a peaceful New Year. wake-up call. —Erin Espelie —Peter Brown

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CONTRIBUTORS

Although based in southern Germany, the nature and wildlife photographer FLORIAN SCHULZ ("The Natural Moment," page mm 4) spends much of his time abroad. During the past few years, largely under the sponsorship of the Blue Earth AlUance, he has Peter Brown Editor-in-Chief traveled extensively through the northern Rocky Mountains. Mary Beth Aberlin Steven R. Black Executive Editor Art Director One result is an award-winning book, Yellowstone to Yukon: Free- Board of Editors dom to Roam (The Mountaineers Books, 2005). The photo- Erin Espelie, Rebecca Kessler, graph of two coyotes featured in these pages is another. More of Schulz's pho- Mary Knight. Vittorio Maestro, DoUy Setton

tographs of the Rockies are on display at the American Museum of Natural Geoffi'ey Wowk Assistant Art Director History in New York City, through January 15, 2007, as well as on his Web site, Graciela Flores Editor-at-Large

www.visionsofthewilcl.com. Contributiug Editors Robert Anderson, Avis Lang, Charles Liu, Laurence A. Marschall, Richard Milner, people to take Ufe easy, the husband-and- Never Robert H. Mohlenbrock. Joe Rao, Stephan Reebs, wife team TIM and LAUREL OSBORNE ("Big Judy A. Rice, Adam Summers, Neil deGrasse Tyson Bird," page 30) began their long-term research

project on the kori bustards of Namibia in 1997, Charles E. Harkis Publisher

after Tim retired from his job as a management Edgar L. Harrison Advertising Director Maria Volpe Promotion Director wildlife biologist in Alaska. The move from the Sonia W. Paratore National Advertising Manager colder clime, however, was a welcome change. Rachel Swartwout Advertising Services Manager The two met in the early 1970s in Cahfornia, where Tim earned a master's de- Meredith Miller Production Manager Michael Shectman Fulfillment Manager gree in biology at Humboldt State University, in Areata, and Laurel did gradu- For advertising information ate work in zoology at the University of Cahfornia, Berkeley. They married and caU 646-356-6508

went to Africa, where Tim did a stint working for the Zambian National Parks. Advertising Sales Representatives

Ultimately, however, he focused his work on Alaska's caribou, moose, and Detroit—Bixvon Media Sales, LLC, 313-268-3996 C/i(w^o—Robert Purdy & Associates, 312-726-7800 wolves, while Laurel raised two girls and the occasional orphan moose calf. In West Coast—On Course Media Sales, 310-710-7414; Namibia the two own a wildlife farm on the border of the Etosha National Peter Scott & Associates. 415-421-7950 Park. There they run a lodge while continuing their investigations in the park- Toronto—^American Publishen Representatives Ltd., 416-363-1388'| Atlanta and Miami—Pickles and Co., 770-664-4567 lands and elsewhere in Namibia, now focusing on two smaller bustard species. South America—Netcorp Media, 51-1-222-8038 National Direct Response—Smyth Media Group, 914-693-8700 An assistant professor of zoology at North Carohna State Uni-

versity in Raleigh, ROBERT R. DUNN ("Dig It!" page 36) says he Todd Happer Vice President, Science Education

became interested in burrowing animals while digging for ants Educational Advisory Board Myles Gordon American Museum of Natural History with a spade, because it led him to appreciate the seeming ease David Chesebrough COSI Columbus with which some creatures move through the soil. A frequent Stephanie RatclifFe Natural Histoiy Museum of the Adirondacli contributor to Natural History, Dunn's earUer article about army Ronen Mir SciTech Hands On Museum

Carol Valenta St. Louis Science Center ants, "Impostor in the Nest" (June 2003), was based on a field season chasing army ants as they poured into and out of the soil. "I spent many Natural History Magazine, Inc. days," he recalls, "wishing I had the forearms of a mole or were the size and Charles E.Harris Praident, Chief Executive Officer shape of a worm." Another focus of his work is the evolutionary, ecological, and Judy Duller General Manager biogeographic consequences of dispersal of seeds by ants, the subject of his most Cecile Washington General Manager Chaiu-ES Rodin Pubhshing Advisor recent article for this magazine, "Jaws of Life" (September 2005).

At work on a historical book about the discovery of life on To contact us regaixiing your subscription, to order a new visit our earth, RICHARD CONNIFF ("Happy Birthday Linnaeus," page subscription, or to change your address, please Web site www.naturalhistorymag.com or write to us at Linnaeus "because the story starts with him." 42) began with A Natural History resident of Connecticut, Conniff routinely pursues his craft in RO. Box 5000, Harlan, lA 51593-0257. unroutine circumstances, from tea in the members' dining Nmural HisloT)- (ISSN 0028-0712) is published monthly, except for combined Magazine room at the House of Lords to the driver's seat in a demolition issues in July/ August .ind December/Januar)', by Natural History Inc., in affiliation with the Americ.in Museum of Natural Hbtor); Central

Park West at 79th Street. New York, NY 10024. E-mail: nhmag@natural derby. He is the author of five books about human and animal historyniag.com. NatunI Histor>' Magazine. Inc., b solely responsible for edito- behavior, most recentiy The Ape in the Corner Office: Understanding the Workplace rial content and publishing practices, Subscriptions: S30.00 a year; for Canada and all other countries: S40,00 a year. Periodicals posrage paid ai New York, NY. Beast in All of Us (Crown Business, 2005). He has also written widely about and at additional mailing offices. Canada Publications Mail No. 40030827. Copyright € 2006 by Natural Hisior>' Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. No wildhfe, culture, and other topics for a variety of major national magazines. part of this periodical may be reproduced without written consent of Malwal History. If you would like to contact us reg.irding your subscription or to enter a Harlan, Conniff won the 1997 National Magazine Award for Special Interests, and the new subscription, please write to us .it Natural Histor>', RO, Bos 5000, lA 515y3-0257. Postmaster: Send address changes to iViKtinil Hisioty, P. O. Box 2000 John Burroughs Award for Outstanding Nature Essay. 5000, Harlan. lA 515.17-5000. Printed in the U.S.A.

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LETTERS

Jaws—or Lips? time, the sharks readily ate turning back toward me. I sharks are highly curious, R. Aidan Martin and Anne them. More carefiiUy con- was still holding my kayak and they gently "feel" ob- Martin ("Sociable Killers," trolled experiments are paddle, and aimed a blow jects with their teeth and

10/06) claim to differ with needed; they wiH, I believe, at the shark's head. I don't gums. We believe they my theory that white support my hypothesis. know if I actually hit it, rarely consume humans be- sharks avoid feeding on A. Peter Klimley but the next thing I knew cause their encounters are people because they prefer University of California I was on the surface. I usually motivated by curios- fattier prey. But the Martins Davis, CaUfornia swam to shore, remember- ity rather than hunger. offer no reason a shark ing something John E. Mr. Klimley has suggest-

would not eat a human it In the twenty-five years I've McCosker, a biologist at ed that fat helps maintain has bitten—out of "curios- Uved in far northern Cali- the California Academy of the white shark's body ity"—except to say the fornia there have been at Sciences in San Francisco, warmth. But though a shark may be fought off. least a dozen nonfatal had said in a television pound of dietary fat carries In fact, there are many white-shark attacks on local program—that white twice the calories of a cases in which white sharks surfers. One man was sitting sharks attack to disable pound of protein, the usefial have not eaten incapacitated on his board in five or six their prey, then circle until energy from protein, or heat humans. An abalone diver feet of water, when a white it stops struggUng. Hberated by its digestion in- off northern CaUfornia was shark in the ten-foot range Matt Hiiiton side the animal, is superior. seized by the head and car- swam under him, circled Trinidad, California Pound for pound, protein ried in the jaws of a white not only generates the same shark before being released; -o amount of metabolic heat as the diver swam ashore. In fat, but protein also "burns" two other cases a shark car- more slowly, spreading the ried a surfer underwater by heat out longer and so the ankle or leg, then let maintaining body tempera- the victim go. Such obser- ture more effectively. In ad- vations led me to suggest dition, the importance of that white sharks be called marine mammals in the Lips, not Jaws. Like pri- white shark's diet has been mates, they handle large exaggerated, partly because

of observer bias (it is rela- food items gently in their ;^./t^ Hps, tasting them before de- tively easy to observe attacks -5>:)_J?) ciding to eat them. on seals) and partly because White sharks also reject ^^CZ^^.O gut-content analysis is limit- other lean but vulnerable ed (fish remains are relative- species. Sea otters common- ly delicate and inconspicu- "Hon, /oo/e what I did with yourfruitcalie!" ly float up on the shores of ous). Fourteen quantitative Monterey with bite wounds back, and grabbed him by R. AiDAN Mai^tin and studies show that almost 75 and embedded fragments of the thigh. He was dragged Anne Martin reply: A. percent of the white shark's shark teeth, yet a sea otter under, but the shark let go Peter Klimley suggests that diet is low-fat food (fishes, has yet to be found in a immediately. white sharks reject humans squids), and sUghdy more

white shark's stomach. About a week later I as food because they are too than 20 percent comes from Crude experiments sup- launched my kayak lean, but most shark attacks marine mammals. plement such anecdotes. through the surf a few on humans are very differ- Matt Hinton recounts a The rib cage of a northern yards from where the at- ent from predatory attacks. neat story! White sharks

elephant seal, with the fatty tack had occurred. "Time The 85 percent of victims may employ the "bite, spit,

layer removed, was present- to go trolling!" I joked to who survive often report and wait" tactic when tack- ed to a white shark off San myself. Not ten minutes that the animal moved ling large and powerflil prey, Francisco. The shark later there was a tremen- slowly and methodically, such as northern elephant bumped the carcass once, dous bang at the back and that the wounds from seals, but with smaller and

but after several minutes left of the boat, and I was the initial (and often only) more agile prey they typi-

it uneaten. Yet when chunks dumped overboard. Un- strike were minor compared cally do not delay between

of seal fat were put in the derwater, I saw a white with the damage typically attacking and feeding. water at the same place and shark about ten feet long inflicted on prey. White (Continued on page 61)

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SAMPLINGS

He reports a success Litter Running rate as high as 80 per- Bugs cent—and a meat yield You may feel more secure Man that beats hunting with when your skeletons are hid-

Couch potatoes may dis- bow and arrow, club, or den in the closet, but a young

agree, but people are fairly spear Only hunting with assassin bug is safest when

well built to run in the heat. dogs proved superior. the carcasses of its victims are We sweat more per unit of Conditions have to be conspicuously arrayed across body surface area than any just right: the days must its back. Investigators have other animal, and our up- be long and hot, and the interpreted such "corpse cam-

right posture exposes less terrain must slow down ouflage" as a strategy to help

body surface to the sun Persistence hunter and his quarry the quarry. Furthermore, vulnerable juveniles of certain

than would walking on all the hunters must be ter- assassin-bug species, which

fours, and more surface to the cooling wind. On rifically fit—^the runs Liebenberg observed lasted prey on other insects, avoid

the hunt, those traits give people a distinct advan- as long as six-and-a-half hours and covered as many predation themselves. Sens-

tage over most quarry. In fact, Australian Aborig- as twenty-two miles. And the hunters' tracking skills ing nothing but a pile of ines and various Native American and African must be exquisite; finding and following the quarry corpses and other debris, a groups have traditionally practiced "persistence every time it bolts out of sight or mingles with a predator—perhaps a gecko hunting," chasing antelopes or other game in the herd is no easy task—^teamwork helps. But done or an adult assassin bug

midday heat, often for hours, until the animals right, Liebenberg says, persistence hunting is so moves on.

overheat and collapse. effective that it may have helped select for the Now Christlane Weirauch, During the past twenty years, Louis Liebenberg, excellent thermoregulatory system, bipedal pos- an entomologist at the Ameri-

an animal tracker and the owner of CyberTracker ture, and long strides that we all possess. Perhaps can Museum of Natural His-

Software in Cape Town, South Africa, has observed sadly, the practice is dying out, though the physical tory in New York, has figured

the only persistence hunters still left, the !Xo and skill endures in those who shun couches and run for out how the juveniles don

/Gwi bushmen of the central Kalahari in Botswana. fun. (Current Anthropology) —Stephan Reebs their camo: they have minute ~ brushes on their hind legs No Joy Like other drugs, Prozac various concentrations, some with which they sweep often ends up in lakes and matching the levels that com- corpses, soil, sand, or plant in Mudville streams after being excreted monly occur in bodies of freshwa- material onto their backs.

The freshwater mussels of North and making Its way through a ter. All the mussels were carrying "Glue," which oozes from

America are in trouble. Of 300 na- wastewater-treatment plant. larvae; within forty-eight hours, hairlike structures on their

tive species, some 70 percent are Fluoxetine hydrochloride, its mussels in each tank had prema- backs, sticks the debris in extinct, endangered, or declining. active ingredient, boosts the turely released their larvae, which place. When a juvenile molts

Invasives such as the zebra mus- concentration of the neurotrans- were often too immature to sur- to a larger—but still juvenile

sel have been, er, muscling them mitter serotonin in the brain. vive. The greater the concentra- size, it retains its leg brushes

out of lakes and streams; devel- To test its effect on mussels, tion of fluoxetine hydrochloride, and glue, but it must renew

opment and pollution are also Rebecca M. Heltsley, a biologist the more larvae were released. the camouflage. Once it molts

threatening their habitats. Now at the National Institute of Better filtering of sewage would to its adult stage, though,

the beleaguered bivalves must Standards and Technology in give freshwater mussels a less de- both brushes and glue disap-

add yet another peril to their list Charleston, South Carolina, and pressing outlook, says Heltsley. pear, and the assassin bug

of woes: a new study shows that several colleagues placed female (Presented at the national meet- faces the world camouflage-

the widely prescribed antidepres- eastern elliptio mussels in tanks ing of the American Chemical free. (American Museum sant Prozac, a common pollutant, of water laced with serotonin, or Society, September 2006) Novitates) —Mary Knight interferes with their reproduction. with fluoxetine hydrochloride at —Rebecca Kessler

heavily female—^which could con- Fahrenheit: nests in warmer sand

Baked Eggs tribute to the endangerment of give rise mostly to females; nests

All sea-turtle eggs can develop the various species. in cooler sand yield mostly males.

into either male or female hatch- Stephanie Jill Kamel and In many sea-turtle populations fe-

lings; which gender depends on Nicholas Mrosovsky, both zoolo- male hatchlings heavily outnumber the temperature of the sand gists at the University of Toronto, the males, which could impair re-

where the eggs are buried to in- studied hawksbill-turtle nesting production. But could nest loca-

cubate. Now, it seems, tourist de- sites on the Caribbean island of tion explain it?

velopment is leaving so much hot Marie-Galante in Guadeloupe. Not surprisingly, Kamel and

sand in its wake that batches of Among hawksbillsthe "pivotal" Mrosovsky determined that sand

Female hawksbili turtle lays eggs. sea-turtle hatchlings are tipping temperature is 84.6 degrees amid low-growing vegetation is

14 ! NATURAL HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 Martin Wikelski, an ecologist at Prince- New Planets ton University, and several colleagues glued minute, custom-made radio trans- on the Block

mitters to the undersides of fourteen Planets outside the solar sys-

dragonflies known as common green tem keep popping up in the darners, which the investigators captured Milky Way. Two "exoplanets"

in New Jersey. Then they tracked the were discovered 26,000 light-

darners for twelve days by car and light years away, the farthest yet aircraft. The insects, like birds, began their detected—by a team of astron- flights only after several nights of plunging omers led by Kailash C. Sahu of

temperatures (a herald of winds from the the Space Science Telescope In-

north that assist their southward journey). stitute in Baltimore. The team

Also like most birds, the dragonflies alter- also identified fourteen more

nated days of flying and resting, stayed possible exoplanets in the same put on overly windy days, and avoided region. Another two exoplanets Migratory dragonfly, radio-ready for takeoff crossing large bodies of water. were identified by a team led by

Unlike birds, though, dragonflies that fly south in A. Collier Cameron of the Uni-

Four-Winged Migration the fall probably do not come back in the spring; versity of St. Andrews in Scot-

Think of a migratory flier, and chances are a bird instead, investigators think, their progeny use the land. The new discoveries bring comes to mind. But at least nine species of dragon- return ticket. Future studies, perhaps aided by the total number of known exo-

fly in North America head south in the fall, too. satellite tracking and longer-lasting transmitters, planets to more than 200.

Until recently, though, migratory dragonflies could may solve some enduring mysteries. For example, Most of those have been in-

not be tracked because radio transmitters were too Wikelski showed that the dragonflies advanced ferred from periodic wobbles in

big for them to carry. A new study has changed all thirty-six miles in six days, but no one yet knows the motion of their parent stars,

that, and determined that dragonflies and birds how far the little migrants ultimately travel, or their which can be detected from

abide by some of the same rules of flying. final destination. (Biology Letters) —S.R. shifts of their spectra. The wob- bles could be caused only by the

gravitational pull of an unseen Enemy at the Gates giant planet.

Plants have pores on their leaves Maeli Melotto and Sheng But detecting the spectral called stomata, which let carbon Yang He, both plant biologists at shifts is tricky, and the four new dioxide in and oxygen and water Michigan State University in East exoplanets, as well as the four- vapor out during photosynthesis. Lansing, and three colleagues teen candidates, were all discov- That function would seem to deposited virulent bacteria on ered with a much more efficient make each stoma a portal for in- the leaves of Arabidopsis plants, technique. Telescopes are pro- vaders, too, such as disease-caus- then observed that most of the grammed to search for stars ing bacteria. Indeed, botanists stomata closed tight within two that dim at regular intervals; the have long assumed that plants hours. The plants, they deter- dimming could result when an cannot bar entry to pathogens, mined, detect and respond to orbiting planet transits, or partly and so must fight them internally. certain molecules on the surfaces eclipses, the star. The method is But a new study shows that stom- of the bacteria. Thus the so rapid that instruments can re- ata function more like the "portcullises" are probably the peatedly scan millions of stars Pea-leaf stomate, magrtified WOX portcullis of a medieval city: plants' first line of defense for the telltale sign.

plants close them when under at- against bacterial invaders. But natine that forced the stomata to All four newfound exoplan- tack, and invaders pry them open the bacteria kept up the attack, reopen within a few hours. (Re- ets are gas giants, like Jupiter, to gain entry. producing a chemical called coro- markably, the plant biologists and at least that big. Unlike also noted that the bacteria se- Jupiter, though, they are so warmer than the hawksbills' found that the sand beneath lectively swarmed open stomata.) close to their central stars that

pivotal temperature, and so the palm trees gets as hot as it How have such a dramatic de- they orbit in periods of be-

nests there are likely to produce does in deforested areas—3.6 fense and counterattack re- tween forty-three hours and females. Sand in the shade of degrees warmer than under mained unknown until now? It four days (Jupiter orbits the forests high on the beaches is native forest, and well above the was simply a case of misguided Sun every twelve years). Sahu cooler, and so friendlier to males. hawksbills' pivotal temperature. assumptions. So prevalent has estimates that some six billion

Trouble is, when Caribbean Palm-fringed beaches could been the idea that stomata can't more exoplanets are scattered beachfronts under development therefore produce few or no prevent invasion that investiga- across the Milky Way, just wait- are cleared of their native forest, males—and spell more problems tors studying plant disease often ing to be detected. (Monthly palm trees are often planted in- for the hawksbills. (Ecological injected pathogens directly into Notices of the Royal Astronomi-

stead. Kamel and Mrosovsky Applicatior}s) —S.R. the leaves, thus bypassing the cal Society; Nature) —S.R.

stomata entirely. (Cell) —S.R.

December 2006/January 2007 NATURAL HISTORY 15 —

(D SAMPLINGS: THE WARMING EARTH Don't Blame the Sun

The theory that the Sun, not of the Max Planck Institute for

human activity, is responsible for Astrophysics in Garching, Ger- most of the warming of the Earth many, together with two col-

in the past century has been de- leagues, analyzed records of vari- Sunspots (dark areas} and faculae (bright areas) dot the solar surface. bated for many years. According ation in solar luminosity caused by

to that theory, the Sun has in- changing dark and bright areas on records of sunspots and faculae ing the past 200 years, they dis-

creased in brightness, and the the Sun—sunspots and faculae. from the past century, as well as covered, but only by about 0.04 brightening accounts for most of The team began by examining isotope ratios in the Greenland percent. That variation, they con-

the warming. A new study puts twenty-five recent years of pre- and Antarctic ice sheets, which clude, is far too small to have con-

the theory to rest. cise solar-luminosity records gath- register changes in solar activity tributed substantially to the accel- Astrophysicists Peter Foul

Heliophysics, Inc., in Nahant, Mas- craft. To peer further back in correlated those data with recon- since the mid-1970s. Although sachusetts, and Hendrik C. Spruit, time, they scrutinized historical structions of how temperatures other solar traits—variable ultravi-

have varied in the Northern olet rays or solar winds, for In- Hemisphere during the past mil- stance—may yet be discovered to Warm-Weather Friend lennium, giving a fine-grained pic- play a role, people burning fossil

Good news is rare in research on global warming, but here's a hope- ture of the effects of changes in fuels are responsible for the bulk

ful discovery. Certain species of coral may be able to cope with the Sun's brightness on climate. of the recent warming. (Nature)

warming seawater with a little help from their microscopic friends. The Sun did get brighter dur- —Gracieta Flores

In return for a safe place to live, in the tissue of hard coral, single- celled algae of the genus Symbiodinium supply their hosts with

photosynthesized sugars, and help calcify the coral's hard skeleton. Broken Refrigerator

When rising sea temperatures kill the algae or cause them to become In the forests of Ontario, Canada, twenty-five years the gray jays' toxic to their hosts, hard corals suffer bleaching and may die. But rising temperatures have caused breeding season has advanced by

some corals harbor several strains of Symbiodinium, which differ in a decline in gray jays and may about a week. More disturbing,

their response to light and tempera- eventually eliminate the species the number of nestlings has de-

ture, and in some of their metabolic in the southern parts of its breed- clined, on average, by half a bird, products. Investigators suspected ing range. and the overall population has

that the algal strains might also alter Thomas A. Waite, an ecologist plummeted by half. Moreover,

the thermal tolerance of their hosts. at Ohio State University in Colum- Waite and Strickland determined

To test that idea, Madeleine J.H. bus, and Dan Strickland, a natural- statistically that warm fall temper-

van Oppen, a marine geneticist, and ist at Ontario's Algonquin Provin- atures, which have risen by about

Ray Berkelmans, a coral ecologist, cial Park, analyzed population five Fahrenheit degrees in the

both at the Australian Institute of data collected between 1980 and past thirty years, probably caused

Marine Science in Townsville, trans- 2006 in the park, which stands at those changes. But how?

planted colonies of Acropora mitle- the southern edge of the gray Most likely by affecting the

pora, a common Indo-Pacific hard jay's range. Waite and Strickland food supply: the team found

coral, from their home waters on discovered that In the past that the breeding of gray jays

Australia's Great Barrier Reef to that received food from people

warmer sites on the reef. They also throughout the winter was un-

tested the colonies' thermal toler- affected by fall temperatures.

ance in the laboratory and geneti- To prepare for winter, a gray jay

cally identified the strains of algae hoards hundreds of times its Acropora millepora living inside. After a year, the inves- body weight in perishable food

tigators discovered, the transplanted corals increased their heat tol- as many as fifty pounds of erance, a direct result of shifting the strain of Symb/odin/um that berries, fungi, insects, and verte-

dominates their tissues. Apparently, the corals initially take up an brate flesh. The stores are partic-

assortment of strains; if a strain with low heat tolerance Is lost dur- ularly important because the jay ing high-temperature stress, a more heat-tolerant strain takes over. breeds before winter's end.

Will hard corals survive the next century's hike in sea tempera- Warm autumns could cause the tures, predicted at between one and three Celsius degrees? Shuf- stored food to rot, Waite and

fling their Symbiodinium strains will probably not be enough to save Strickland hypothesize, which

the corals, say van Oppen and Berkelmans. But it may buy enough would probably delay and com- time to save them by reducing emissions of greenhouse gas. promise breeding. (Proceedings (Proceedings of the Royal Society Bj —G.F. of the Royal Society B) Gray jays —G.F.

16 NATURAL 2006/January 2007 i HISTORY December A Will TO Give

ov^ffair with the American Museum ofNatural History

Professor William Thierfelder of So it was only 'natural' to name the Museum as the sole benehciary of my retirement fund. When I pass on to

Dowling College in Oakdale New York the Beyond— and get to spend quality time with Stephen has recently named the American Museum of Jay Gould and other icons of the Museum—my legacy gift

Natural History as the sole beneficiary of his retirement will help the Museum to continue its mission. I couldn't

fund. Recently, he wrote a love letter to the Museum, part think of a better way to say thank you to a place that has

of which said; been the hive of my continuing education and the source of

my never-ending zest for life and the remarkable planet on "/ have written poems, gotten the idea for the next story, which we live." and created lesson plans for my courses in just about

every nook and cranny of the Museum. And in recent If you would like more information about giving a legacy

years, I've been able to take members of my classes at gift, or a gift that provides you income for life, call or

Dowling College to experience first hand the Museum's e-mail the Office of Planned Giving at (212) 769-5119 or many wonders. [email protected].

American Museum o Natural History ^ SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

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For your free travel packet, call 1-866-891-3638 toll-free or visit arizonaguide.com. PERSPECTIVES year—discoveries that long ago shook the very core of human understand- ing and led to the abandonment of Turn, Turn, Turn the idea that the Earth lay at the cen- ter of the cosmos. Those two rhythms rule our lives: the Earth's daily spin

In addition to its daily spin and its annual trip produces sunrise, sunset, and the alter- nation of night and day. Our planet's the the wobbles— around Sun, Earth affecting annual trip around the Sun takes us the seasons, the "north star," and human history. through the cycle of seasons, winter to spring to summer to fall. And just how, exactly, does spring By Donald Goldsmith emerge from winter every year? Not, as many believe, because the Earth's elliptical path takes us closer to the Winter brings the year's lon- seasons will change, Polaris will lose Sun. Changes in the distance between gest nights—extra hours its role as our north star. A slow cycle Earth and Sun have only a modest of darkness in which to of the heavens will eventually bring effect on the seasonal cycle. Instead, watch the stars wheel their ways around Polaris back to its familiar role—but seasonal variations arise because the our basic point of reference in the sky: not for another 26,000 years, and not Earth's axis of rotation, the imagi- a star named Polaris. Known today as before other stars have taken their turn nary line through the north and south

the North Star (for its unique status as as celestial beacons for the stargazers poles, does not stand upright with the star most closely aligned with the of the distant future. respect to the plane ofthe Earth's orbit

projection of the Earth's north pole on Centuries of effort by the world's around the Sun. The rotation axis tilts the sky), Polaris seems to stay steady finest thinkers have led to a basic un- by about 23.5 degrees from perpen- no matter how long the dark night. derstanding of why the winter nights dicular. It also maintains a constant The explorers who first sailed between are cold and dark. Today most school- orientation in space—in other words, continents clung to it for orientation children know that the Earth rotates with respect to the stars—through- in their travels. And yet, as surely as the on its axis once each day and revolves out the course of a year. So our an- nights will again grow shorter and the around the Sun once every nual motion alternately exposes each

Our twirling Earth, bulging at the equator from its spin, slowly wobbles in space as the

Sun 's gravity tries to pull it upright.

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direction, it sweeps out the shape of an upside-down cone, perpendicular

to the floor; that motion is precession.

There is, of course, one big difference between the top and the Earth: the precession of the top can take less than a second; the precession of the Earth takes almost 26,000 years. Compared with twenty-six millen- nia, time scales measured in decades or even in centuries are so brief that for most practical purposes, the Earth's axis continues to point in the same direction. Today, north in any sea- son can be determined by noting the position of Polaris. In the long run, however, the spatial orientation of the Earth's rotation axis does change. Every 26,000 years (more accurately, every 25,785 years), the two points on the sky directly above the Earth's North and South Poles—the extended ends of the axis ofrotation—trace out complete circles on the background

of stars. The radius of each circle is

equal to the tilt of the rotation axis, 23.5 degrees. Thus the rotation axis

changes only its orientation, while

Earth undergoes three periodic motions: its daily rotation, its yearly revolution around the Sun, maintaining a constant angle to the

and a slow precession, or wobble, of its rotation axis. The wobble causes the axis to sweep out Earth's orbital plane [see diagram on an inverted cone in space above the Northern Hemisphere. The axis traces a complete circle this page] , as it sweeps out an inverted on the sky every 26,000 years [see illustration on page 24]. Polaris and Vega each serve as cone in space. "north star," at intervals of 12,000 to 14,000 years.

In spite of the glacial rate of preces- hemisphere, northern, then southern, all over the world. In fact, if our plan- sion, you can't fully understand an- then northern again, to more direct et's rotation axis were perpendicular cient history or archaeology without

sunUght. to the plane of its orbit, rather than taking account of the fact that Polaris That direct sunHght, as the Sun tilted, day and night would be equal has not always pointed the way north. rises higher and stays longer in the throughout the year, and there would Four-and-a-half millennia ago, when sky, causes summer in the hemisphere be no seasons to celebrate. the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu built the that tilts toward the Sun and win- Great Pyramid, Polaris was nowhere ter in the hemisphere that tilts away. Lurking within the faithful cycles near the "north celestial pole," the point (The higher Sun and the longer days of day and night, winter and sum- that lies directly above the Earth's north

make roughly the same contribution mer, is a third cyclical motion, which pole at any particular time. In those to the seasonal differences, though arises from the Earth's daily rotation days, astronomical observers reHed on a

of course the two effects are closely and interacts with its annual revolution. much fainter star, Thuban, in the con-

intertwined.) On two days of the That motion is called precession. It is, stellation Draco, the dragon, to serve year, the spring and fall equinoxes in essence, an almost imperceptibly as the north star; they may even have (which fall on or close to March 21 and slow wobble that creates a subtle and oriented the galleries ofthe pyramid on

September 22 each year), the Earth's intriguing wrinkle in time. To visual- the basis of Thuban 's position. rotation axis tilts neither toward nor ize precession, imagine a top slowing One and a halfmillennia later, at the

away from the Sun. On those two down as it spins on the floor. Before time Homer composed the Odyssey,

days, day and night have equal lengths it stops spinning entirely, it begins precession had left Thuban relatively

22 I NATURAL HISTORY December 2006/Janusry 2007 ''Fascinating"' ''essentiaV'^ natural history from YALE

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Earth's Belize... a great place Circular trace (blue) on the map of stars shows how the direction of the Today's north to observe wildlife. rotation axis processes, or wobbles, with time, as seen from Earth. close to the star Explore thousands of celestial pole—the point directly above the Earth's north pole—lies roughly 4,500 years ago, the star Thuban served as the miles of rivers, marshes Polaris. In Egyptian times, will pass near Vega. north star, and in about T2,000 years the north celestial pole and lagoons. Visit Maya

villages and ancient

temple sites. Seek out famous for being useless as a north star. Homer's wan- century B.C., isjustly the elusive Jaguar, if dering hero Odysseus had to do his the first to note its effects. Hippar- you can. Snorkel on not by best with the Big Dipper—the seven chus made his breakthrough the longest barrier of the north bright stars of the constellation Ursa observing the position reef in the Western Major, or big bear, which then, as celestial pole, but rather by noting Hemisphere. All in caused by now, lay relatively close to the north some of the other changes a relaxing, peaceful are the celestial pole: "For so Kalypso, bright precession. High among them country where the goddesses, had told him to times ofthe year when the Sun reaches Your people are as warm among sea, keeping particular points on the sky, as it seems Caribbean and friendly as the make his way over the move among the constellations, Gateway climate. Experience the Bear on his left hand." In fact, to Central of them from view. to ^^e diversity of Belize, the constellation would have moved blocking some America, course, your English-speaking around the sky quite a bit during (Astronomers now realize, of

^ ^ neighbor on the the night, making Odysseus's navi- that it is the Earth that moves.) of the Caribbean coast of gational task considerably more dif- Even as the orientation only or pre- Central America, ficuk than Kalypso's directions imply. Earth's rotation axis wobbles, 2 hours from the U.S. continues to take its Still, the Big Dipper was a rough-and- cesses, the Sun the ready indicator of the way north [see yearly lap around the sky, along an- 'CalM-800-624-0686 or visit our ilhistmtion above]. path called the ecliptic. Although www.travelbelize.org fcvvebsite: The discovery of precession, like cient astronomers could not see the Homer's great poem, was a signal stars that happened to lie behind the achievement of ancient Greek cul- Sun at various times of year, their ex- enabled them ture. The Greek astronomer Hip- cellent record keeping which con- parchus, who lived during the second to accurately reconstruct I

2006/January 2007 s«a .^ .sA^sfiiW^ftfeSrMitf'^ 24 NATURAL HISTORY December stellations provided a "house" for the times of the year of the spring and fall and a half zodiacal constellations. If Sun at any given moment. equinoxes—^which we also measure the horoscope column says that you are There were twelve such houses, by the visible seasonal changes on a Libra, for instance, you are actually which match the familiar constel- Earth—the effect acquired its full a Virgo or even a Leo (assuming you lations, or signs, of the zodiac; to- title: "precession of the equinoxes." If judge by the Sun's actual position along gether they form a band around the you could wait for 365 times seventy- the ecliptic at the time of your birth). sky that includes the ecliptic. In the two years—approximately 26,000 Conventional astrologers deal with zodiacal system for keeping track of years—you would find that the equi- that awkward fact by arguing that the year, created by astronomers in noxes take place once again at their astrology has codified the meaning ancient Mesopotamia, each time the original times ofthe year, because one of the times of the year, not the lo- Sun entered a new house heralded the full cycle of precession had finished. cation of the Sun against the back- beginning ofa new month. Every new Nowadays on the spring equinox, drop of constellations in the zodiac. year, moreover, began on the spring the Sun is near the first point in the A minority sect, known as "new age equinox when, as the Mesopotamians constellation Aquarius, which leads astrologers," insists that conventional had determined, the Sun blocked the some astrologers to refer to our epoch astrology requires wholesale revision, constellation Aries from sight. as the "Age of Aquarius." precisely because of precession. Both But Hipparchus noted that some- groups agree, however, that in the thing had happened during the two How seriously do you read your 230th century, more or less, the two millennia since the Mesopotamian horoscope? Ifyou think the Sun's systems will once again coincide in system had been codified: the Sun no position in a particular constellation their predictions and their accuracy. longer occupied its specified position has important effects in deterinining For astronomers, the chief effect on the first day of spring. Instead, he birth signs, yours is wrong! Astrologers of precession appears in star charts, determined, the Sun was reaching its codified their basic principles roughly which record the coordinates ofceles- marks along the ecliptic progressively three millennia ago, and so precession tial objects. Those coordinate systems earlier, by one day every seventy-two has sUpped the Sun's location at any usually designate a particular position years. Because precession changes the particular time of year by about one on the sky—say, the Sun's position at

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the time of the spring equinox—as bit. (The plane of the Moon's orbit way north on a clear starry night [see their primary reference point. But around the Earth happens to nearly illustration on page 22] precession continuously slides that coincide with the plane of the Earth's point along the ecliptic, and—since orbit around the Sun, so both the Moon Do other planets precess? Certainly, most coordinate systems depend and the Sun act in nearly the same way provided they, too, are not spin- on the orientation of the Earth in on the bulge.) ning perpendicularly to their orbital space—it also changes the orientation Ifthe Earth did not rotate, or if it ro- planes, and pro\dded they have equa- of the coordinates that astronomers tated extremely slowly, the two objects torial bulges gravitationally affected measure from that point. As a result, would indeed set the Earth's rotation in the same way that the Sun's gra\'ity astronomers must attach a particular axis nearly upright. But because the affects the Earth. Although astrono- "epoch" to the coordinates they use; Earth rotates rapidly, the net effect of mers have never directly measured the

today the standard epoch is January the Sun's and Moon's gravity on the precession of any planet except our

1, 2000 (before that, it was January Earth's bulge drives precession. Draw own, an observer on, say. Mars could

1, 1950). Computers can readily make the vectors, do the math, and you find detect the same kind of precessional the small adjustments needed to up- that the forces give rise to a 26,000- changes that we find for Earth. But the rotation axis of

a tilted spinning object is not the only thing that pre- From the 130th through the 150th cesses. If an orbit is not per- fectly circular, its long axis centuries, when Vega becomes the north can change its orientation in space, giving rise to a pre- star, no one will have trouble finding north cession of the entire orbit. For example, the Moon's orbit around the Earth un- dergoes just such a preces- date an object's coordinates from the year circle, never changing the amount sion, historically called the "regres-

current epoch to the present time; of tilt but continuously varying the sion of the Moon's nodes." The full once fed into a telescope's tracking Earth's orientation in space. cycle of precession lasts 18.6 years, system, the updated coordinates en- Polaris, which has acted as the north which explains why eclipse "seasons" able astronomers to work unfettered star since the time of Columbus, will also vary over an 18.6-year cycle. by precessional effects. continue to serve us well for many Another important example of or- Even in less meticulous circles, more centuries; in fact, the north bital precession affects the elliptical

though, precession still rears its wob- celestial pole on the sky will move orbit of Mercury. Astronomers who

bly head. It affects the calendar, which even closer to Polaris during the next studied the orbit during the nine- must correct for the slippage in time 150 years. Eventually, however, the teenth century observed a relatively that Hipparchus first noted. Our Gre- celestial pole will wander on, and large precessional effect. They cal- gorian calendar incorporates preces- Polaris will no longer work as a good culated that the gravity of the other sion by changing the usual rule for north star. Our descendants will labor planets could account for more than

leap years: It omits the leap day in under virtually the same handicap 90 percent ofthe observed precession. every century year, such as 2100, that that our brethren in the Southern But try as they might, a small fraction

is not evenly divisible by 400. Hemisphere have for centuries. Bereft of the total remained unexplained of a south star, they have been forced forty-three seconds ofarc per century. What causes precession? The an- to compensate by using the Southern Since each of the 360 degrees in a swers are gravit)', angular mo- Cross as a pointer toward the south full circle is equal to 3,600 seconds mentum, and the fact that the Earth has celestial pole. of arc, the unexplained precession of

a bit of a belly around its midsection, In about 11,800 years, just over Mercury's orbit seemed trivial. a bulge at the equator. The bulge itself halfwav through the cycle of preces- But that "trivial" amount turned arises from the Earth's rotation, which sion from now, the northern end ot into a key piece of confirming evi- tends to fling the planet's central regions the Earth's rotation axis will point dence for Einstein's general theory outward. The gravit)' of the Sun and almost directly at the extremely bright of relativity. Einstein's theory makes the Moon attract the bulge, and tend star Vega. In those navigationally fa- a precise prediction ot the amount to make the Earth "stand up straight," vorable times, from the 130th through of precession of Mercury's orbit, by

attempting to make its rotation axis the 150th centuries (more or less), calculating how much the Sun bends

perpendicular to the plane of its or- no one will have trouble finding the (Continued on page 60)

26 v-\TURM I HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 G

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- The Boston Globe RosettaStone Language Learning Success BIOMECHANICS The Jaws That Jump

Trap-jaw ants have smashed the record forfastest predatory strike on Earth, with mandibles that double as spring launchers.

By Adam Summers ~ Illustrations by Tom Moore

Dressed in shorts and wet- their mandibles wide apart, often suit booties, I was out for a cocked open at 180 degrees or more late evening walk in south by a latch mechanism. When min-

Florida. Suddenly I felt a dozen little ute trigger hairs on the inner edge stabbing pains in my foot. Think- of the mandible come in contact

ing I must have stepped in a stinging with something, the jaws snap shut

nettle, I carefully backed one foot at speeds now known to reach 145 out of range, but the stinging got miles per hour. No passerby could worse, not better. A flashlight re- outrace that. The astoundingly high vealed the true source of my misery: speed gives the jaws, despite their my foot had landed squarely in a nest light weight, enough force to crack

of Argentine fire ants. To this day I open the armor of most prey and bear the scars of their assaults. get at the tasty meat inside.

Recently I was reminded ofjust The key to the jaws' speed (and how powerful ants can be when their even more amazing accelera- inflicting damage on intruders. A tion) is that the release comes from team of biomechanists has studied stored energy produced by the the incredibly speedy bite of a group strong but slow muscles of of Central and South American ants. the jaw. Think how an The team clocked the bite as the archer slowly draws an fastest on the planet—and discov- arrow in a bowstring

ered that it also gives the ants the against the flex of a unique ability to jump with their bow: nearly all the jaws, adding to an impressive array energy from the of already known defenses. archer's muscles Trap-jaw ants nest in leaf lit- pours into the ter, rather than underground or in flexing of the mounds. There they often feed on bow. When well-armored and elusive prey, in- released. cluding other species of ants. As they stalk their dinner, the trap-jaws hold

Trap-jaw ant propels itself nearly

straight into the air fay hitting its mandibles—which are already cocked open—against the ground. The action triggers a latch mechanism that suddenly releases the energy

stored in the open mandibles; they close against the ground with a force 400 times the ant's body weight, launching the ant forcefully upward (see trajectory in red on opposite page).

28 ! NATURAL HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 the energy stored in the bow wings modes of aerial locomotion [see illus- From an evolutionary point of the arrow toward its target much tration below]. view, the trap-jaws are an intrigu- faster than the archer could by In the so-called escape jump, an ing story. The ants clearly evolved throwing the arrow like a javelin. ant orients its head and jaws perpen- an entirely new function, propul- The biomechanics of energy storage dicular to the ground, then slams sion, for a system that was already is the bailiwick of Sheila N. Patek its face straight down. That trig- useful—chewing up prey. Several and Joseph E. Baio, both biomecha- gers the cocked mandibles to release lineages of trap-jaw ants have inde- nists at the University of Califor- with a force 400 times the ant's body pendently hit on the tactic of stor- nia, Berkeley. They teamed up with weight, launching the insect ten or ing energy in their jaws to penetrate two ant experts, Brian L. Fisher of more body lengths nearly straight well-defended prey. In Odoiitomachus, the California Academy of Sciences into the air [see illustration on opposite the horizontal, bouncer-defense jump in San Francisco and Andrew V. page] . The ant doesn't seem to go could have arisen out of attempts to Suarez of the University of Illinois in any particular direction, but the bite intruders, but the high, escape at Urbana—Champaign, to look at jump is presumably fast and unpre- jump—with jaws aimed directly at the trap-jaw ant Odontomachiis baiui. dictable enough to help the insect the ground—must have arisen from a evade, say, the probing tongue of a different, perhaps accidental kind of Fisher, Suarez, and other field bi- lizard. Not only can the jumping ant behavior. Such a serendipitous event ologists had already noted that gain height and sow confusion, but it would have been a rare instance in catching O. hauri was like grabbing may also get to a new vantage point which banging one's head against the for popping popcorn—and very hot from which to relaunch an attack. ground got good results. popcorn at that, because a painful The second kind ofjaw-propelled O. bauri is a member of a large sting goes with an ant's trap-jaw bite. locomotion is even more common group of trap-jaw ants whose bodies The insects bounced around in a than escape jumping. If an intruder and trap-jaws come in a variety of dizzying frenzy and propelled them- enters the ants' nest, one of the ants sizes. That should enable Patek and selves many times their body length bangs its jaws against the intruder, Suarez to determine the evolution- when biologists or smaller intruders which triggers the trap-jaw and pro- ary history of the jumps, as well as approached them. Patek and Baio pels the interloper (if small enough) which body parts make for the best made high-speed video images of in one direction, out of the nest, and jumping. Fortunately, no one has their movements, and discovered the ant in the other. Often the force any plans to allow these little beau- that the secret of their self-propul- sends the ant skimming an inch off ties to gain a foothold in south Flor- sion was the well-executed "fir- the ground for nearly a foot. The at- ida. Otherwise my next set of scars ing" of their mandibles. They also tack, for obvious reasons, is known as might go a lot farther up my leg. observed that mandibles started to the "bouncer defense." In the wild, Adam Summers ([email protected]) is decelerate before they ^possibly gangs of defending ants team up to meet— an assistant professor of bioengineering and to avoid self-inflicted damage. Most attack hostile strangers, sending them of ecology and evolutionary biology at the important, the ants had two distinct head over heels out of the nest. University of California, Irvine.

Trap-jaw ants have two distinct jumps. The vertical jump, known as an escape jump (red), worl

The kori bustard, the world's heaviest flyer, depends on the rain on the Namibian plain for its breeding success.

By Tim and Laurel Osborne

stood under a broiling sun in the middle abandoned the wildebeests and ran, straight toward Weof Halali Plain, a sea ofbaked earth and the kori bustard. The kori—no fool he—took one yellowed, knee-high grass in Etosha look at the three charging cheetahs and trotted National Park, in northern Namibia. A hundred rapidly away through the grass, putting an end to feet away, paying us no mind, stood a large male our recording session. The cheetahs bounded off kori bustard, the world's heaviest flying bird. We the scene, while the scavengers headed back the attached a parabolic microphone to a tape recorder, way they came, ending the drama. aimed the instrument toward the bird, and listened We weren't too disappointed by the kori's disap- w^hile we recorded his low, booming call. With each pearance. Witnessing a sequence of interactions call, the kori inflated his esophageal pouch with air among no fewer than five large animal until his neck was four times its usual thickness, its species—six, including us—had patch ofwhite feathers fluffed out like a cheerleader's been well worth the dis- pom-pom. When he finally released the air, out ruption. Besides, it came a six-note series ofbooms, each a half-second was October, apart, concluding with a bill snap: a deep, resonant and the kori mating call. He took thirty seconds to reinflate his pouch before calling again. Suddenly a dust cloud appeared near a ^f

herd ofblue wildebeests that had been _^» , •*'^K grazingpeacefiilly 500 yards away. One of us (Laurel) scanned the commotion with bin- oculars. Three chee- tahs were chasing newborn wil- debeest calves. Torn between completing the recording session and watching the kori-bustard mating rare sight of predation in action, the other of us season (which is also (Tim) finally put the microphone down and picked the rainy reason) had up binoculars. We both watched as the adult wil- just begun; it would debeests in the herd, which was now on the run, continue until the fol- stopped, turned, and faced the oncoming cheetahs. lowing March, and-sb Outnumbered and confronted by fifteen powerful there would be plenty of wildebeests, the cheetahs skidded to a halt. other chances to record the Meanwhile, hot on the heels ofthe cheetahs, came boom calls of the male koris, a dozen jackals and two hyenas, already anticipating belted out to entice females to ,;"y the kill. Cheetahs lose many of their prey to hyenas, tryst on the-African plains. and c^ce they saw the advancing scavengers, they Two years earlier, in Febru- ary 1997, had begun study- » we

Female kori bustard hunts for insects in the grasslands ing the life history of the kori of Etosha NationaHPark, Namibia. bustard, haying "retired" to Namibia

DSfcember 2006/January 2007 from Alaska, where Tim had gered great Indian bustard. All four have long bills worked as a wildHfe biologist. and backward-projecting crests on their heads. Most investigators who come Courting males all give "balloon" displays, just as to Africa prefer to study endan- "our" kori did when it made its boom call, by gered "charismatic megafau- inflating their esophageal pouches. That na"—cheetahs, lions, rhinocer- accentuates the bases of their white oses, and the hke. Although kori neck feathers, making them vis- bustards are not ferocious, fuzzy, % ..^ ible from afar. or even particularly threatened, The kori bustard is di- they certainly are mega: they stand vided into two sub- four feet tall and have a wingspan of species. The one nearly nine feet. The males weigh in at we study, A. kori thirty pounds or more. And anyone who kori, ranges throughout parts of Angola, Bo- has observed the males' striking mating tswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, displays and rowdy battles knows that they and Zimbabwe. The other, A. kori stnithi- are charismatic. uncuhis, lives in the East African nations of Strangely enough, despite their charms, no Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, one had ever bothered to study them in depth and Uganda [see map on page 33] . The total before we took up the task. After one week population of y4. koris is unknown, but the we were the experts in Etosha National species (that is, the two subspecies together) Park; after one month, the experts in has been declining in parts ofSouth Africa and elsewhere, largely as a result of habitat

loss. For the most part, however, koris seem to be doing fme and remain a common sight throughout most of their ranges, including Etosha National Park. We were fortunate to have started our study oftheir life history in 1997: the rains were plen- tiful that year, and most of the females produced young. We had planned to catch the birds, radio-tag them, and follow their daily peregrinations. At first we could only catch adult males, because they cannot fly farther than half a mile. We flushed them and ran them down on foot after they landed. But the Africa; method was not successful with the smaller, lighter after two females, which can fly long distances and disappear months we out of sight. (Koris usually fly only when escaping became the un- a predator or inoving to a nearby location. Mostly disputed world ex- they walk instead, at about two miles an hour.) perts on kori bustards. We caught five males and attached radio tags During the past ten years to them—small devices slightly larger than two we have come to know a great double-A batteries, which are fitted to a kori like deal about the behavior and reproduc- a backpack. We then tracked the birds every day tive life of this remarkable yet overlooked for as long as three years—until they died or the bird, whose fortunes are intertwined with tag's batteries ran down. We learned that after the males move otf / the changing seasons and weather patterns breeding season ends in March, the (^f its African habitat. the plains and into the woodlands. We had hoped to determine the size of their home ranges, but Along with twenty-four other bustard species, we soon discovered that the ranges are anything al^arge-bodied, ground-dwelling birds of but consistent: our five koris covered between the African, Australian, and Eurasian plains, the seventeen and 245 square miles.

kOri is a member ofthe Otididae family. Its closest The males return to the plains to breed every

relatives are its three genus mates, Ardeotis ambs, year in late October or early November. Like many the Arabian bustard of North Africa, A. australis, birds, kori bustards breed in a lek—an area where the Australian bustard, and A. nigrieeps, the endan- males congregate to display, to squabble, and once

December 2006/Jsnuary 2007 NATURAL HISTORY 31 J

Dominance competition between two male kori bustards in Tanzania erupts into a slioving match. Male posturing and dominance displays during the breeding season often lead to combat.

females arrive, to court. Koris are unusual in that the ing bouts, but within Etosha National Park, the males gather long before the females arrive, often presence of numerous predators selects for males in late December. That leaves two months for the that are light enough to get airborne rapidly. The boys to compete with one another for dominance heaviest male kori on record, at forty-eight pounds, and for a prime location within the lek. Typically, lived in a farming area devoid of predators, but a kori lek includes six or seven males, each about the heaviest bird we found in Etosha weighed only 500 yards apart. They strut around with tail raised, thirty-four pounds. neck ballooned, and head crest erect [see photograph To test male dominance we commissioned a on cover this issue] pausing now and then to sound taxidermist to make a slightly larger-than-life of , their booming call. fiberglass model of a male kori in display posture. We named him Gronk, after the noise koris make One alpha male rules each lek. He maintains his when they are harassed: a low, growl-like bark. We dominance by slowly patrolling his domain. tried Gronk out on several males and soon discov- When he approaches other males, most of them ered that he was more than large enough to qualify show submission: they lower their tail feathers, as an alpha. Most males, when they caught sight deflate their neck, drop their crest, and run away. of him, assumed the submissive posture and fled. In other words, they impersonate females, then But when we placed Gronk some 200 yards away

scram. If, however, an approached male holds his from a known alpha male, the alpha immediately ground and maintains his display posture, a fight approached and started circling, challenging his ensues. The birds circle each other, slowly closing fiberglass rival. Because we were keen to radio- the distance between them. Then they lock bills, tag him, we had set up a capture net nearby. So shoving breast to breast, sumo-style, for as long as before he could actually attack Gronk, we herded twenty minutes, until one bird breaks away and him into the net. The incident made us wonder, flees, the victor in hot pursuit. The chases some- though: would the lek hierarchy have been up- times go on for more than half a mile. The alpha set if the alpha had made contact with Gronk? male then returns to the lek to strut his stuff, and the loser slinks back later. Kori bustards can actively suck water when they drink, as the

It would seem an obvious advantage for a male female in the photograph demonstrates. Most other bird spe-

to weigh as much as possible to win such push- cies must fill their mouths, then tip their heads up to swallow.

32 NATURAL HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 We decided that would be the first and last time we set up Gronk for an alpha male.

The scientific literature on koris, such as it is, is full ofreferences to "pairs" ofkori bustards that feed each other during courtship and share incubat- ing duties on the eggs. Yet in our first year we saw no pairs at all until July, when we spotted a female with her single male offspring; he weighed thirteen pounds and towered over his mother by six inches. Kori bustard subspecies Ardeotis Icon Icon When the female turned to feed a tender morsel Ardectis koristnithiunajlus to her big baby boy, she engaged in the "courtship feeding" described in the literature. After that observation, we were not surprised to find that kori bustards are polygamous, and that males mate with as many females as possible. The males strut around the lek, stopping to emit their Mozambique / ~ Swaziland booming calls. Near sunset, the females approach Lesotho the lek on foot, feeding as they go. The males Soulti Africa advance on the females. If a female is receptive to a male, she approaches him and lies down a few remain on the plains to nest. But they were strangely feet away. He then straddles her from the back absent. Not until April did the first female reappear and pecks repeatedly at her head for ten to fifteen on the plains, and she arrived with a chick that was minutes. The mating itself lasts just a few seconds, already quite large. Where was her nest? Where had after which the couple parts and never associates she raised her chick? The only way to find out was again—until perhaps the next mating season. to capture and radio-tag some females, something Before we arrived, the Etosha park staffhad never we had, so far, been unable to do. seen a kori-bustard nest or small kori chicks. After We set up a salmon gill net, a hundred yards observing kori mating behavior in the February of wide, that we had brought with us from Alaska. our first study season, we had expected females to Then we slowly herded the mother and her large

//^

'^^;c mothers. Predation on the chicks was high: after a year, eleven of the fourteen—almost 79 percent—had been killed. We wondered ifour radio tags or the identification tags we attached to their wings might have attracted predators. So we measured the mortality rate ofthe untagged chicks that accompanied our nine radio-tagged

females. It was similar: 75 percent. Finally, based on our knowledge of how various predators kill, we were able to infer that black-backed jackals and leopards took nearly three-fourths of the kori chicks, and that caracals, lions, and

martial eagles probably ate the rest. On one memorable occasion, we got ex- pert assistance from three San bushmen. We showed them three adjacent sites where kori

bustards had been killed. At the first site, they walked around humming to themselves. At the second site they showed us where a leopard had taken a steenbok in addition to the kori. At the third site they were ready to explain what they saw. A female leopard and her cubs had Iain in the shade on one side of a tree in the morning while they ate the kori. Then, in the afternoon, they had moved around to the shade on the other side to finish off their kill. The mother had been killing, killing, killing Bushmen in Botswana display a captured kori bustard. The bushmen to feed her cubs, but they were growing big traditionally eat both the meat and eggs of the bird, whose wing- now, the trackers concluded, she span can reach nearly nine feet. San and would soon stop killing on the cubs' behalf.

chick toward it. The mother saw the net, but she On the way back to our truck the San trackers w^as more interested in watching her chick, so she commented with a laugh that Laurel, who had made the mistake of putting her head through the worn boots all day, walked with her toes crossed. mesh and was soon entangled. We had our first She does; they could tell from the way she walked. female! We equipped her with a radio tag in hopes Philip E. Stander, a biologist then on the staff of of tracking her to her nest the following year. That Namibia's Ministry ofEnvironment and Tourism, season we captured and radio-tagged eight more once asked the same three bushmen to reconstruct adult females with the gill net. 560 known leopard kills. The bushmen turned out We tracked the females almost every day and to be correct in 98 percent of their reconstructions, discovered that their home ranges were better without ever having seen the leopards. defined than the males', covering as many as thirty-four square miles. Surprisingly, an adult Once we had radio-tagged both females and female with her young was often accompanied by chicks, we began to learn the secrets of kori- a subadult female. The association typically lasted bustard life. We finally located six females on nests. just a few days or a few weeks, and then the pair But the nests were in thick woodland, not on the would split apart, never to reunite. We assumed plains where we had expected them to be. Two of that the birds benefited somehow from the loose the females had walked from the plains, where we associations—perhaps assisting each other on had seen them near displaying males, to nest in a lookout duty for predators. woodland fifteen miles to the south. We found that That first year in the park we located seventy adult kori nests—really just dirt patches scraped free of females accompanied by chicks: thirty-five had a vegetation—are usually on the east side ot a small single chick, thirty-three had two chicks, and two tree for afternoon shade, and on top ot a slight rise had three chicks. (A mother kori with three chicks to ensure proper drainage. Females and their young had never before been recorded.) We also managed remain together until the chicks are eleven months to radio-tag fourteen chicks from nine untagged old, then part ways.

34 NATURAL HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 During our second year in the park, 1998, the grass, which feed insects, which fatten female koris, rains were late and poor; only one of our nine so they can breed successfully. radio-tagged females laid an egg. We could find As for the males in the leks, their boom calls only one other female with a chick in the entire coincide with the rains, and they call only when park. The area over which the females wandered the rains are sufficient. In some years they call from was much greater than it had been in the preceding, November until March. In other years the calls rainy year: they covered as many as 160 square miles, compared to at most thirty-four the year before. It was the same story in 1999. Then, in 2000, we had double the rainfall of either of the preceding two years, and located thirty-nine females with chicks. Clearly, rainfall was highly influential in de- termining the kori's breeding success, but how did the two factors fit together? The Etosha Ecological Insti- tute, home to the government's scientific body in the park, uses satellite data to track fires and determine vegetation growth. The institute staff have also combined the satellite data with direct measurements of grass biomass to determine how the vegetation cover in the park fluctuates from month to month during the rainy season. In 2001 we began compar- World's heaviest flying bird seldom flies long distances; kori bustards travel institute's ing the data to the primarily by walking. Female koris, such as the one in the photograph, are lighter bustards' breeding success, and than the males, and thus better able to fly. The photograph v/as made in Kenya. discovered a strong trend: once

25 percent of the ground is covered by vegetation, echo from late October until January, then cease. the birds breed. In some years, the rains make In those years, the males abandon the plains, and breeding possible in late December, some years risk missing the females altogether. in March, some years never. In Namibia, we determined, insects make up the After a decade of observation, the ups and downs bulk of the kori bustards' diet. But without good of the koris' breeding success have come to grass cover, the insect population cannot provide remind us ofnothing so much as a college fraternity the female koris with the nutrition they need for party. The male koris call, strut, push, shove, and breeding. The females spend 95 percent ofa twenty- fight, not unlike frat boys getting a keg ofbeer and three-day incubation period on their eggs. Thus, starting a party early, before the girls arrive. The before laying, the females need to build up enough female koris don't show up until they are nice and fat to sustain them through the long incubation. plump, not entirely unlike college girls who arrive Their nutritional state determines when they at the party only after they are primped and ready. show up in the lek. If the rains are plentiful, they During rainy years, the party is a hit, and many arrive in late October; if the rains are poor, they young are born. But if the rains are late or sparse, arrive much later. But if the rains come too late, then by the time the girls make an appearance, the their chicks are born during the spring dry season, boys are long gone and the party is a bust. when food is again scarce, resulting in a poor crop Such is the rocky love life of the kori bustard in of chicks. We thus identified the chain of events the semiarid and unpredictable habitat of Etosha driving the kori bustard's breeding: rams bring National Park. D

December 2006/January 2007 NATURAL HISTORY 35 An air-luhher surveys the pleasures and perils of the burrowing life.

By Robert R. Dunn

Nicholson sneaked out of his was the only fifteen-year-old boy from Canberra Peter J. AustraHan boarding school bedroom one testing his girth against that of a wombat. night and ran into the nearby forest. The Everything was going well until the passage moon was slight and the clouds were heavy, but through which Peter was crawling began to nar- he knew where he was going. Once there, he row. Because Peter's explorations were secret, no took out his flashlight and lowered himselfhead- one would know where to look for him if he first into the burrow of a common wombat. turned up missing. Who would think to check

The common wombat is a chubby marsupial a wombat hole? And the threat of burial was that can weigh as much eighty pounds. It lives real. Peter had previously found the remains of in an underground nest, or den, served by a net- wombats that had been trapped in their own work of tunnels collectively as long as a hundred tunnels. Dirt fell on his back. Deep beneath the feet, and all wide enough—between twelve and forest, he began to worry. When tunnels cave twenty inches—to accommodate the animal's in, animals that are effective diggers can escape. liind end. By midnight, it is safe to say, Peter Those that aren't, become part of the soil.

- - - A^ S .V

Artist's impression of bow Peter J. Nicholsor), a young Australian teenager, explored the burrows of the common wombat. Nicholson's explorations as a boy in the early

1 960s led to the first detailed documentation of . the animal's underground world.

DorutYilxr ZOOd'/Jiiauaiy 2007

..tJrtOMJHMt5£-.»i>* *- fl ^€ Soil is built of broken-down things—moun- help but notice other subterranean life. It must tains, trees, decayed bodies. The agents of the have scurried over, under, and around him.

breakdown are the elements, and also the ani- A digging animal has a few necessities if it is

mals that plow through the earth. But moving to make headway. It needs to dig. And it needs through earth is not like moving tiirough air. to do something with the dirt it has dug—dump Earth is denser, more comple.vly structured, more it out or at least compact it. Those two simple reluctant to allow" passage, and more apt to close steps, with a few twists, can create complex un- in upon you. When people walk, air moves for- derground structures, ranging from a few inches ward and around them. Belowground, wombats to many hundreds of yards in length. Almost and other mammals cannot just push forward. all animals' burrows feature two Idnds of spaces, They must dig. chambers and tunnels. (Earthworms mostly The wombat, for its part, is a rather ordi- make tunnels; ants make lots of chambers.) jiary burrower. It claws at the earth with its On top of that basic structure, there are many powerful forelegs and spends part of its time additional adjustments to prevent collapse, to aboveground. Truly subterranean animals rarely make it hard for a weasel (for instance) to get leave the earth. We only glimpse hints of their in, to prevent carbon dio.xide from building up presence. We see tunnels in our lawns. We find to toxic levels, to store food, and to dispose of a mole in the road, after it has tumbled out waste. But the basics are dig and remove. of an embankment. We sink a spade into the Many unrelated lineages of animals have soil and pull up worms. We turn a stone, and converged on similar body types and hfestyles a blind ant struggles to disappear. Worldwide, that make tunneling easier. In almost every case, among mammals alone, more than 280 species their adaptations involve a suite of losses (such in eleven families spend most of their lives un- as reductions in eyes, external ears, and girth) derground. Still, most underground creatures as well as gains (heightened senses of smell are insects, worms, or other invertebrates (as are and touch, longer incisors, stouter forelimbs most creatures generally). When Peter looked with longer, sharper claws). Peter Nicholson around liim in the wombat's hole, he couldn't possessed none of those adaptations, but he

^^^W& did have a trowel. To dig his way through the tight it in the semideserts of Ethiopia and Kenya. The tunnel, he hacked away at the earth with his trowel, animal is now known as the naked mole rat (Het-

pushed dirt down beneath his belly, and kicked it erocephalus glaber). behind him. Naked mole rats are best known for their behav- ioral adaptations—^who can ignore a mammal with

Underground hfe is at least superficially unap- a queen? But they also have anatomical adaptations pealing. There is no hght. It is hard to move. for their underground Hfestyle. They dig by Ufting

It is hard to detect and find food. Nothing comes their head and then bringing their incisors down

easily. But there must also be advantages to being on the soil in front of them. Most of the digging

underground, even if it is only to escape the lum- is done at night, accompanied by low squeaking bering creatures above. Among the mammals Uving sounds—mole rat work songs. underground are bamboo rats, moles, marsupial As the incisors chip away, the mole rat also scrapes moles, mole rats, pocket gophers, tuco-tucos, voles, with its forelimbs and pushes the dirt under its beUy and the like, each an independent evolutionary and out behind itself. Naked mole rats and other foray into the subterranean ecosystem. members of the genus Heterocephahis occasionally So predictable are the adaptations for life un- even form digging chains. One mole rat shovels dirt derground, that in 1974 the zoologist Richard D. back to a second mole rat, which, in turn, pushes Alexander of the University ofMichigan predicted the dirt farther back to others, until the last in line the existence of a kind of social mammal not then expels the soil outside [see illustration on page 41]. known to exist. On the basis of his knowledge of One obstacle that Peter, the wombat, the mole rat, social insects, Alexander made twelve predictions and most other mammals quickly encounter when about the hypothetical mammal. It would live digging is their size. It's not just that the bigger you

somewhere in Africa; it would have a morpho- are, the more you have to excavate. A wider and

logically distinct queen; it would live on tubers; more muscular animal exerts more force, but beyond

it would engage in "cooperative reproduction"; some optimal (and typically small) size, that greater and so on. Alexander then went looking for the force does not translate into more force per unit predicted creature and helped discover and study area, or pressure. An elephant can pound mightily

Many burrowing animals dig with their limbs, among them (clock- wise, from lower left) the northern carmine bee-eater of eastern Africa, the Atlantic puffin, the northern mole cricket of the central and eastern United States, and the marsupial mole of western Australia. Particularly robust forelimbs have evolved in the mar- supial mole and the mole cricket. The birds rely on their beaks to

loosen soil, which they then kick out with their feet. The animals

are not all drawn to the same scale.

38 NATURAL HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 on the ground, but the pressure its foot exerts is less other invertebrates. The dark landscape of soil is than that exerted by a mole rat's teeth. Smaller and populated with many miniature, elongate writhing thinner animals can even push their way through the beasts—mole crickets, sand gropers, and many kinds soil with their heads. In addition, where the texture of tunneHng larvae. Like roots, they find their way of the soil is not uniform, they can often find ways chemically. They probe the soil for soft spots. They between and around roots, stones, and other hard move and leave a hollow trail behind them. obstacles that would block a larger animal. One major advantage of having a body shaped

But if narrower bodies are easier to shove through like a tube is that relatively httle dirt must be moved the messy ether of soil, why are most subterranean out ot the way to advance, and the dirt need not mammals kind of, well, plump? One of the answers even be moved so much as compressed. But tubular may be that mammals must maintain a near-constant life is not without its disadvantages. Imagine you are body temperature. Long, narrow bodies have more twenty teet below ground in a hole barely wider than surface area relative to their volume than do plump your body. All around you is earth and darkness. You bodies, and so they lose heat faster. The same holds must move forward without limbs. for birds, which also inaintain a near-constant body So how do they do it? The pine snake loosens temperature. Although no birds are subterranean, sandy soil at the end of the tunnel by scraping with several species, including kiwis, many penguins, and its "nose" and then bends its head down to "hoe" shearwaters, do dig burrows for nesting. the sand out ot the hole. The eastern hognose snake

has a small protuberance on the front of its head that Turn that logic around, and you begin to under- acts as a small spade. The shield-nosed cobra wiggles stand what kinds of animals tunnel more easily its flat nose while moving its head from side to side. beneath us. When animals do not have to produce In amphisbaenians, a group of lizards, limblessness their own heat, it is less energetically costly to have has evolved several times. Some are shovel-snouted, a tubular body. And so animals shaped Uke the prob- such as Rhiiietirafloridaiia, which loosens dirt with ing ends of roots have evolved repeatedly: in snakes, its nose, then scoops it up with its head and presses in a Hneage of amphibians, in no fewer than four it against the roof of the tunnel (it has an enlarged groups lizards, and, course, in its of of worms and many , scale on the top of head, which may faciHtate that

Snakes and other limbless, tubular organisms usually rely on their heads to excavate or compact the earth. The eastern hognose

snake (a) has a protuberance at the front of its head that helps

scrape the soil and compact it upward. Rhineura floridana (b) belongs to one of several lineages of shovel-snouted amphisbae- nians, or "v\/orm lizards," that have independently evolved a tech- nique similar to that of the eastern hognose snake. The Louisiana

pine snake (c) loosens sandy soil with its "nose " and "hoes " it out

by bending its head downward. The shield-nosed cobra (d) moves

its head from side to side, scraping the soil with its flat shield. The

Saharan sand viper (e) buries itself by flexing its side, as shown in

the cross section of its body (f), and twisting to scoop out sand.

December 2006/January 2007 NATURAL HISTORY 39 movement). Keel-headed amphisbaenians scoop its skin [see illustration below] . In essence, the animal

dirt side to side. Round-headed amphisbaenians ram turns its skin into a kind of second tunnel, and its straight into the soil, but precisely how they do so skeleton presses against both skin and earthen tun-

has yet to be studied. nel. Then, keeping its hind end anchored against Some legless animals that move through soil do the tunnel wall, the caecihan releases its front end not burrow forward so much as straight down. The and throws its body forward while simultaneously Sahara sand viper commonly sinks into the hot compressing the soil by repeatedly raising and low-

desert sands to surprise prey, avoid predators, and ering its head [see "Biomechanics: Squeeze Play," by perhaps to regulate body temperature. Instead of Adam Summers, September 2003]. Its skeletal muscles

tunneling with its head, however, the snake remains straighten the spine, while other muscles squeeze it

entirely horizontal. Its secret trick is to expand one into a narrower, longer shape. The combined mus- side of the body and twist at the same time. The cular forces create a hard-driving, pistordike digging expanded side then acts like a kind of shovel, scoop- stroke—a motion that has evolved hand in hand with ing sand out froin beside and beneath the snake [see a toughened nose and a thick skull.

illustration on preceding page]. Earthworms also push forward through holes no

wider than they are, but their main digging force is Trapped in a hole precisely their own width, lateral. Contrary to popular opinion, worms do not many animals—including humans—would simply eat their way through the soil. (If they have die. So even for animals that lack arms and legs, the the choice, they eat leaves, which they painstakingly tunnels they dig generally offer them some elbow pull into their tunnels from the soil surface.) To room and legroom (for want of better terms). But move, an earthworm pushes the front of its body

some legless animals can so contract and expand into whatever crack is before it and then expands

their bodies, or sections of them, that they can pass its body laterally by shortening itself. The expansion

through a hole substantially narrower than their widens the hole and opens up additional cracks it

most expanded girth. can foUow.The technique is known as "crevice bur-

Among such shape-shifters are some species of rowing." It is perhaps the best animal imitation of caecilians, which are snakelike (or, less flatteringly, the narrow end of a digging plant root. Like a knife wormlike) amphibians. At least one of those caeci- or a sharp stick, small crevice-burrowing worms can

lians, Dermopliis mexicamis, fattens and shortens its exert much more pressure against the soil than big

body by scrunching up its spine lengthwise inside worms can—hence the relative rarity of the latter.

Ml

Expanding the body inside a tunnel or crack is another tunneling technique, adopted by some cae

cilians and worms in their separate ways. The Mexican

burrowing caecilian Dermophis mexicanus, left, is an am-

phibian that can fatten and shorten its body by scrunching

up its spine lengthwise inside its skin. The schematic diagram

above shows its body in relaxed mode (a) and when shortened

and pressing against the tunnel sides (b). By keeping its back end

braced and straightening the forward part of its spine, it rams its

head against the tunnel's forward end like a piston (c). By contrast,

the night crawler (right) first wriggles into an existing crevice and

then expands laterally (detail), compacting the soil around it.

40 i NATURAL HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 a

Recently Kelly M. Dorgan, a graduate student in ants and subterranean termites can dig, but more oceanography at the Darling Marine Center of the often than not they just pass belowground among University of Maine, in Walpole, Maine, reported air pockets too small for us to notice. yet another way of moving forward. Dorgan put marine worms in a kind of transparent gelatin, at As Peter Nicholson's wombat tunnel narrowed about the same density as sediment, so that she could and its coUapse became ever more likely, the watch how they moved. She and her co-workers young explorer might well have been alarmed. But also flooded the gelatin with light; the force the discovery beckoned more insistently than reason. burrowing worm exerted on the gelatin at various Determined to push on, he struggled through the

points along its body caused differences in how the narrow part of the tunnel and went even deeper be- Hght was reflected. Dorgan and her team were able fore coming back to the surface. There, he carefully to quantify those differences, thereby getting a good noted and sketched what he had seen. picture of how the creature burrows. Peter made many other forays underground, at Their results show that the marine worm moves times even coming face-to-face with the wombats. forward by extending its mouth—or technically, its The result, the most complete study of the burrows pharynx. The animal extrudes its pharynx into a of common wombats that had ever been done,

crack, exerting the greatest force at the crack's rim. earned first prize as a science project. His story is

The crack widens the way split wood spreads under true; it is told inJames Woodford's delightful book. the force of a wedge. The Secret Life of Wombats.

For all ofthe organisms I 've discussed so far, the soil Peter eventually graduated from his boarding is a barrier that must be carved away, chewed up, or school and went on to become a businessman. But— pushed to the side. But for the smallest organisms, the true amateur—he never tired of watching animals. soil is an ether. As solid as it seems, soil is between 40 When Woodford was writing Tlie Secret Life ofWom- and 60 percent air. Small animals, such as mites and bats, Peter welcomed the chance to go back to see springtails, simply pass from air pocket to air pocket. the creatures. Within minutes, he began to move Ants and termites are perhaps the smallest organisms some dirt and lower himself into a hole. He made

that still dig, excavating dirt by the mouthful. Some it to the first turn in the tunnel but then had to kinds of termites and ants (including army ants) live come back up. Like Alice after her visit to Wonder- their entire lives underground. Not coincidentally, land, Peter had grown too big. His secret world had

those species lack eyes and are narrow-bodied. Army sealed shut, as though all of it had been a dream. D

Naked mole rats, whose social structure re- sembles that of an ant colony, sometimes form !%- chains to move excavated soil out of a tunnel. The lead animal (below right) chips its way m- forward with its upper canines. African ter- mites of the species Macrotermes natalensis

(right) carry soil particles to the surface in their mandibles. There they cement the particles into an ever-growing mound.

December 2006/January 2007 natural history 41 Happy Birthday, Linnaeus

The great biological classifier celebrates his 300th birthday in 2007,

while Buffon, born the same year and Linnaeus 's greatest rival, has been forgotten. Are we celebrating the wrong birthday?

By Richard Conniff

ms^M

Dot I

MirillODC.S |,l.„„anin SEYI'AI.IS ome and stand here," instance, was a name Linnaeus ,svs-ri:.MA'ri': \.\Tni.i:

said a guide in a room ,k-r< r coined. People today tend to c' on the second floor of take his system for granted, the house where the natural- and scientific names such as E.

ist Carl Linnaeus lived with coli and C. elegans have become his wife, five children, several part ofthe common language. monkeys, parrots, and a pet rac- Of Linnaeus himself, even bi- coon. The house, in Uppsala, ologists specializing in natural

Sweden, is now the Linnaeus history generally know little Museum. "Do you feel the way or nothing.

the floor is worn away under But for those who had your feet?" struggled to make sense of Linnaeus stood on this spot the world before Linnaeus, to lecture his students, in a the system he invented \vas corner of the room where the cause for jubilation. "When professorial elbow naturally Linnaeus started," says Thier- eases back onto the carved ry Hoquet, a science historian

mantle. By all accounts, he was at the University of Paris X- a charismatic teacher, both rib- Nanterre, "natural history ald and full of religious fervor was a mess, and people need- (;.n.Ki(Bi:T. for the wonders of the natural ed guidelines. Do you know world. The words Linnaeus in Greek mythology the story spoke here inspired nineteen of Linnaeus's sexual system for classifying flowering of how Ariadne fell in love his students to undertake voy- plants appears in the 1 736 edition of his Species with Theseus, and gave him a Plantarum. Linnaeus first assigned the flowering ages of exploration to the far ball ofthread to help him find plants to classes according to the number of sta- corners of the Earth. He called his way out of the Minotaur's mens, or male parts, of each flower, and further them his "apostles," praised differentiated each class into orders according to Labyrinth? Linnaeus gave us

their every "immortal" dis- the number of pistils, or female parts. the thread." covery, and saw half of them Having followed that thread

die overseas in the service of his mission. His ideas myself, I wanted to know more about Linnaeus. A

would also prove indispensable to later explorers, good way to do it, it seemed to me, was to look from Captain James Cook and Charles Darwin to not just at Linnaeus, but also at his underappreci- biologists of the present day. ated French rival, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte Linnaeus was, ofcourse, the inventor ofthe system de Buffon, whose encyclopedic Histoire naturelle

by which every living species gets its two-part scien- became one of the best sellers of the eighteenth

tific name, its genus and its species. Homo sapiens, for century. Both men were born in 1707, and so both

42 NATURAL HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 I 1 "3^ -,•.,, .;:.:.; are rapidly approaching their 300th birthdays. And both struggled with the sanae fundamental ques- tions, which still trouble biologists today: What exactly is a species? Where does one species end and another begin? How do species and habitats affect each other? 1 1 f^^^^> ! ^^^B Both Linnaeus and Buffon were towering figures in their day, and each despised the other. Linnaeus regarded himselfas anointed by God to bring order to the chaos of creation. Buffon, who was in many ways the deeper thinker, questioned the very idea of creation and provided crucial scientific evidence ^v'^'^j^^^^^^^^^^^F ^S^^ against Biblical assumptions about the age of the Earth. Linnaeus focused his relentless energy on naming species and organizing them into groups. Buffon ridiculed the whole idea of imposing order ii ^i^^H on nature, preferring instead to focus on how species

- a behaved and how they related to one another. 'VHB

And yet with the questions they asked, Linnaeus ' and Buffon together launched one of the greatest ^/j^'':'^i!'^^" intellectual quests in history—to understand life on Earth in all its diversity. In place of the animal folklore that earlier naturalists had complacently ^m'' repeated since Roman times, they demanded speci- ' > mens and eyewitness accounts. When they began i w their work, the number ofspecies known to science was no more than a few thousand. Today, it numbers ^^^B^^l about L7 million. Linnaeus will get much of the credit for that, in tercentennial events around the world in the coming year. But as I learned about Buffon, whose own tercentennial will be largely ignored, I began to wonder: could it be that we're celebrating the wrong birthday? m The known world at the start of the eighteenth I^H century did not include Antarctica, nor much IHHi Botanical expedition to Lapland, where Linnaeus acquired more than a glimpse of the coast of Australia. But the costume depicted in this 1775 lithograph, helped estab- every ship coming home from Africa, Asia, and the lish Linnaeus's image as an explorer and proved critical to Americas seemed to carry some bizarre new crea- his success. Linnaeus portrayed his expedition as a perilous ture: an opossum appeared on the crowded London adventure among dangerous natives, though he probably quays, an iguana in Antwerp, a chambered nautilus spent only a few weeks among the Sami people there. shell in Paris. How did such creatures live? Where did they fit in the scheme of creation? How did about recording his observations. He was also they affect ideas about our own species? Naturalists ambitious and spectacularly egotistical ("Nobody caught in the tide of strange new life-forms had has been a greater botanist or zoologist," he once no language or methodology for discussing such wrote). By the age of twenty-five he had already questions. They could not agree on how to name completed an expedition to Lapland, sponsored by the plants and animals in their own backyards. the Royal Society of Science in Uppsala. He later How could they possibly make sense of species at depicted his journey as a perilous adventure among the opposite ends of the Earth? dangerous natives in uncharted regions. But in her Linnaeus was hardly an obvious candidate to 1999 biography, Linnaeus: Nature and Nation, the his- provide the answer. He was a provincial, descended torian Lisbet Koerner of Imperial College London from four generations of Lutheran parsons in the concludes that he probably spent no more than a Swedish countryside. But he was a careful observer few weeks among the Sami people there. He also of plants and animals, and compulsively organized claimed double the distance he actually traveled.

December 2006/January 2007 NATURAL HISTORY 43 Siegesbeck protested that Linnaeus tva. Linnaeus responded by giving the nam

female parts, in each flower. Such a simplistic sexual system was, he knew, artificial (other botanists soon

replaced it with a reliance on a broader range of

traits) . But it instantly opened up the botanical world to anyone who could look into a flower and count. Second, he devised precise rules for describing any species, which, again, even beginners could follow. And third, he gradually introduced his binomial system. A species that used to suffer under the name Arum surnmis labris degustantes mutos reddens became instead simply Arum maculatum.

Linnaeus shrewdly served up this new system with a lyrical dollop of sexual innuendo. He described flower petals as "the bridal bed," perfumed and hung with "precious bed-curtains," awaiting "the time for the bridegroom to embrace his beloved bride." He spoke blithely of two brides in bed with one husband (two pistils and one stamen). Sex undoubtedly attracted newcomers to the charms ofbotany, and the simplicity ofthe Linnaean system gave them confidence in their identifications. The French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau later celebrated the Linnaean system as a source of "great pleasure," because the layperson was no longer confined to making isolated observations. Testimonials of delight and gratitude arrived from around the world. By the time he was thirty-three, Cherubs and a trumpet-bearing angei weave garlands about Linnaeus was already boasting that scholars abroad the image of Linnaeus in this adulatory, 1 806 portrait by regarded him on a par with Newton and Galileo. Francesco Bartolozzi. The religious iconography reflects Then, as now, Uppsala was a college town of Linnaeus's Bible-based beliefs, an integral part of his scien- pink-, cream-, and ochre-colored buildings ar- tific approach. Like most of his contemporaries, Linnaeus little river, Fyrisan. rooted his definition of species in the plants and animals ranged around a pretty the with which the God of Genesis populated Eden. The garden where Linnaeus practiced his craft as a botanist and as a professor at Uppsala University possibly because he was being paid by the mile. occupies much of a city block in the middle of His image as an explorer proved critical to his town, with his house on one corner. From here, success. In Amsterdam, London, and Paris, he Linnaeus used to lead regular collecting excursions dressed in a showy variation on the native costume into the local countryside joined by as many as 300 ofthe Sami. Together with his buoyant personality, people at a time. With his characteristic passion the figure he cut gained him entree with the lead- for order, Linnaeus organized them into platoons. ing scientists of the day. He quickly impressed his They armed themselves with butterfly nets and new friends with his ideas about the classification carried their trophies home pinned to their hats. of species, which he published as Systema naturae, Kettle drums and hunting horns announced their at the age of twenty-eight. jubilant return at the end of the day, accompanied The Linnaean system incorporated three impor- by cries of "Long Live Linnaeus!" tant innovations, none ofthem completely original. From the start, Linnaeus also attracted critics. The First, Linnaeus classified flowering plants according German botanistJoharm Georg Siegesbeck protested to the number of stamens and pistils, the male and that Linnaeus was turning innocent flower gardens

44 NATURAL HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 into beds of harlotry. Linnaeus, who suffered criti- cism poorly, responded by giving the name Sieges- beckia to a small, foul-smeUing weed. Another vocal critic, though not on sexual grounds, was the French naturalist Buffon.

The Jardin des Plantes in Paris is today an en- closed compound of rose gardens, tree-lined alleys, and museums about the natural world. Georges-Louis Leclerc, a son of provincial bour- geoisie, assumed the powerful title ofadministrator here in 1739, when he was just thirty-two. During the next half-century, he more than doubled the size of the Royal Botanical Garden, as it was then known, to its present sixty-four acres. He also laid the foundations for what was to become the Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, one of the finest natural history museums in the world. Leclerc was a talented administrator, politically adroit, a confidante of everyone from Benjamin Franklin to King Louis XV. But the key to his reputation was his writing, which made him internationally famous as Buffon—later Comte, or Count, of Buf- fon—a name taken from a small Burgundy village near his country home in Montbard. From 1740 on, Buffon spent half the year in

Montbard ("Paris is hell," he wrote). Here Buffon set out to catalogue the king's collection of natural artifacts, taking on his new task with such enthu- Books, a globe, and a few animals serve as decorative elements in this 1769 portrait of Buffon, in contrast to the siasm that he eventually wrote thirty-six volumes religious imagery in the painting of Linnaeus on the of his encyclopedic Histoire naturelle. It an became opposite page. Unlike Linnaeus, Buffon scrupulously avoided attempt to synthesize everything then known about religious and supernatural explanations. Buffon suggested the animal and mineral worlds. The Histoire naturelle that animals were not immutable forms created by God, but was an immediate best seller—and remained a pillar rather adapted to their habitats. of French literature until Buffon's lofty prose fell out of favor in mid-twentieth century. fon dutifully signed a declaration of his faith in

What made Buffon different was not just his Scripture. ("It is better to be humble than hung," style, but also his scrupulous avoidance of religious he remarked.) But he left his "reprehensible state- or supernatural explanations. Linnaeus and most ments" unaltered. other contemporaries still rooted their definition Buffon's keen interest in habitat and behavior of species in the plants and animals created by God anticipated sciences such as ecology and ethol- to populate Eden. Buffon, by contrast, thought it ogy, which were still 200 years in the future. And was absurd to imagine God being "very busy with though he had no inkling of evolution, he wrote the way a beetle's wing should fold." He defined a about how species could be transformed by their species scientifically, as a group ofanimals breeding habitat. He believed, for instance, that a cold, wet together over time. climate caused animals in the Americas to be smaller. Such departures from orthodoxy angered re- (His friend Thomas Jefferson, then the American ligious authorities, who presented Buffon with a ambassador to Paris, gently corrected this error by list of fourteen "reprehensible statements." Buf- presenting the Royal Botanical Garden with the

December 2006/January 2007 NATURAL HISTORY 45 hide of a moose.) Buffon's aim was to incorporate them together on the basis of traits they have in particular observations about animals into general common. Then they fight.

theories about the natural world, and it earned But if the system Linnaeus invented is so flawed,

him a reputation as "the Pliny and the Aristotle of why has his reputation endured? Partly it's because France." Given the egos involved, a clash with the binomial identification has proved so convenient.

"Newton and Galileo" of Sweden was inevitable. And partly it's because Linnaeus was extraordinarily lucky. Although he was thinking about God and Buffon struck the first blow in the mid-1740s, creation, he developed a rudimentary hierarchy of attacking Linnaeus for imposing an artificial classification that would prove congenial, a century order on the disorderly natural world. He gleefully later, to the new evolutionary thinking ofDarwin. pointed out absurdities in the groups Linnaeus had His timing was also impeccable. He provided a proposed. Did tulips really belong with barberries? coherent system of classification just as the age of Or elm trees with carrots? Linnaeus had mistakenly discovery was revealing the overwhelming richness

grouped those species together because he did not of plant and animal life. realize that a particular trait—the number of pistils and stamens, for instance—could evolve indepen- Buffon, meanwhile, proposed no alternative way dently even in the most distantly related species. It of coming to grips with the abundance of new was even worse in zoology. On the basis of dental species. He made the mistake, as absurd as anything structure, for instance, humans and monkeys both in Linnaeus, of putting human beings at the center turned up in the order Anthropomorpha. But so did of the animal world, and his Histoire naturelle paid inordinate attention to species that were useful and familiar to us. Per- Buffon thought it was absurd to imagine haps Linnaeus was a mere collector God being ''very busy with the way and classifier, as Buffon argued. And '' maybe he lacked Buffon's insight into a beetle's wing shouldfold. ecology and animal behavior. But Buffon somehow missed a point all

two-toed sloths. "One must really be obsessed with modern scientists understand: Classification is the classifying to put such different beings together," essential first step. You need to know what species

Buffon wrote. you are looking at, before you can begin to talk Linnaeus dismissed his antagonist as a "hater of about how they behave. all methods," who delivered "few observations" The attack on Linnaeus mainly hurt Buffon him- and much "beautiful ornate French." He quoted self. According to Phillip R. Sloan, a historian of

the Bible ("And I have cut off all thine enemies science at the University ofNotre Dame, the Histoire out of thy sight") to prophesy that the "Frenchman naturelle was quickly translated into most major Eu-

named Buffon" who "always wrote against Lin- ropean languages. But it was twenty-five years before naeus" would suffer the wrath of God. the first translation appeared in England, where the Buffon's objections to the Linnaean system arose cult of Linnaeus was particularly devout. (Even in partly from sincere belief. "Nature moves through the eighteenth century he was celebrated there as unknown gradations and consequently she cannot "the immortal Linnaeus.") be a party to these divisions," he wrote, "because But does Buffon deserve to be forgotten? His she passes from one species to another species, and relative obscurity, like the immortality ofLinnaeus, often from one genus to another genus, by imper- also turns out to be largely a matter of luck.

ceptible nuances." From Montbard, I walked along a canal to a col- He was highlighting a problem that bedevils bi- lection of handsome stone buildings with red tile ologists to this day. The Linnaean system, even in roofs, just outside Buffon's namesake village. It's

its modern form, is far from perfect. New evidence an old forge where, late in life, Buffon conducted routinely obliges taxonomists to move species from a series of remarkable experiments. He had his one genus to another, or even to an entirely different workers take molten balls of iron of various size order. At times, the revised groupings can seem as and composition from the smelter and carefully

absurd as the ones Buffon lampooned. Buffon was measure how long it took them to cool down. His also correct in arguing that the Linnaean system theory was that the Earth originated as a fireball,

is often arbitrary. Taxonomic "splitters" tend to gradually solidifying as it cooled. By scaling up recognize new species on the basis of relatively from iron balls to the size of the planet, he hoped small differences. Taxonomic "lumpers" group to estimate the age of the Earth. His numbers

46; NATURAL HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 Le Jardin des Plantes, the most important botanical garden in France, is depicted around

1805. In his i^3lf-century as its administrator, Buffon more than doubled its size. According to one story, Buffon's son was sent to the guillotine during the French: Revolution by for-

mer neighbors that Buffon pere had evicted in the course of expanding the garden. ranged from 10 million years to as little as 75,000 reasons. He died in 1788, a year before the French years, the estimate he published when his "Epochs Revolution, which, unsurprisingly, had little regard of Nature" finally appeared m 1778. tor such a close ally ot the king. Buffon's son went

Geologists now know that the Earth is billions to the guillotine. At least the revolutionaries un- of years old. But Buffon's work was the beginning derstood the value of Buffon's work well enough to of the end for the biblical belief that all creation found the Museum national d'Histoire naturelle on dated back just 6,000 years. According to the late the collections he had largely assembled. But one of Stephen Jay Gould, "Epochs of Nature" was "the the early zoologists there, Georges Cuvier, set out to most important scientific document ever written turn natural history into a scientific discipline. And in promoting the transition to a fully historical clearing the path to professionalism meant pushing view of nature." Buffon and the kind of amateur naturalists he had

The forge is now a museum, but amazingly, the inspired into the dustbin. exhibits make no reference whatever to the experi- But even Cuvier later conceded that Linnaeus ments Buffon conducted there. And that seems to be and Buffon together possessed the essential tools Buffon's tate in history. His ideas, though essential for rapidly advancing the scientific study of nature: in their day to the advancement of science, were "Linnaeus knew with precision the distinctive traits consigned thereafter to oblivion. of creatures; Buffon comprehended in a glance some oftheir most remote relations." Without both, Thierry Hoquet, the author of a recent book natural science as we know it would not exist. about Buffon, credits him with four important At the Jardin des Plantes, a bronze statue ofBuffon ideas in the history of science: the understanding presides in casual splendor over the gardens and the of geologic time, the definition of species on bio- natural history museums he helped make great. One logical terms, the role of habitat in shaping species, day this past summer, a worker—an unwitting agent and the conviction that species can transform over of the cult of Linnaeus—set up a sprinkler directly time. Those ideas all stand up to modern scrutiny. in front of the statue, so that it seemed to be spitting But they are relatively complex, and buried in a indifferently onto Buffon's ruffled blouse. But then prodigious stream of other ideas. the pressure went off, and for a little while, the image Buffon's reputation also suffered for political of Buffon glistened aa:ain under the Paris sun. D

December 2006/January 2007 NATURAL HISTORY 47 THIS LAND

Salt of the Earth

Hidden among Florida's sand pine scrublands

is a diverse host of other hah itats.

By Robert H. Mohlenbrock

Visitors to central Florida who northern end, whose drive through Ocala Nation- tree species are com- al Forest without leaving the mon to areas much main roads may get the impression farther north.

that the region is one giant sandy Large shell mid- area with scattered pine and shrubby dens, or ancient trash thickets. That habitat, known as sand heaps, beside some of pine scrub, certainly dominates, but the springs, creeks, and if you poke around a Httle further, rivers show that Na- you'U find natural springs, clear tive Americans Uved in the region You can sample a variety pack

streams suitable for canoeing, hun- for thousands of years before the first of the region's habitats about eight dreds of lakes of every size, cypress Europeans arrived. Spain claimed miles to the north of Pats Island, near swamps, longleaf pine savannas, wet Florida in the sixteenth century, but the town of Salt Springs. The spring- prairies, and other natural attractions. abandoned the claim two centuries waters rise in a pool and meander

Although Ocala is the only national later, and Florida entered the Union four miles southeast as Salt Springs forest in the continental United in 1845. Pats Island, within Ocala, has Run, before they empty into Lake States with subtropical conditions, more recent historical interest. The George. They originate in a fairly

there is also a hardwood habitat at its name designates an isolated forest, not shallow aquifer kept warm by the an actual island: here a swath of mild climate, not geothermal activ-

longleaf pine is surrounded by a ity. They maintain the pool at about sea of sand pine scrub. Marjorie seventy-two degrees year round. The

Kinnan RawUngs, who stayed water is not only warm, but also salty.

at Pats Island in October 1933 One theory is that it originated as with two local residents, Calvin ancient seawater that entered the and Mary Long, based her Pu- aquifer in Pleistocene times, between Htzer Prize—winning novel, Tlie 1.8 million and 12,000 years ago, Yearling, in part on her hosts' when sea levels were often high.

experiences. Although the "is- Another possibility is that it has pen- § land" is now uninhabited, visi- etrated inland firom thin salt beds and Mm'^hLk^.^it tors can walk the YearUng Trail, firom seawater that has been concen- Coontie plant, a species of cycad off Florida Highway 19. trated in tidal lagoons.

Sand pine scrub palmetto, garberia, Jackson two evergreens popular as are American beautyberry, Distinguished by two- to vine, and woody goldenrod. ornamentals, are the sig- coastal plain staggerbush, < three-inch-long needles in Lichens, popularly referred to nature trees. In spring, the and rusty staggerbush. clusters of two, sand pines as deer moss, form light gray, magnolia puts out ten-inch- Dwarf palmetto and Jackson rise between thirty and sixty crumbly mounds across the wide white flowers; they are vine are also common.

feet high. Beneath them grow sandy soil, which is so dry in followed by cone-shaped Partridgeberry, with its little bluejack oak, Chapman's oak, places that prickly pear cac- fruits containing red seeds. round leaves, provides the and sand live oak. Farkleberry, tuses also appear. American holly blooms during ground cover. with acrid fruits, dominates the summer, its small, whitish the shrub layer. Other com- Moist hammock American flowers paving the way for Pond pine flatwoods The mon woody species are dwarf holly and southern magnolia. red berries. Common shrubs five- to nine-inch-long needles

48'\Ar'_K/'L HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 ferent species of trees stems were dug, prepared, and eaten.

and shrubs, all of the At one time several commercial habitats merge into one coontie mills were operating in cen- another to some degree. tral and south Florida. The starchy

Eastern diamondback product is said to have a vanilla fla- rattlesnakes live in the vor; the journal of an early settler

area, so it is safer to keep describes it as "giving a very sweet

to the trail. In the wet- cookie, or you can boil it up sort of test part of the bayhead, like grits and make a breakfast cereal

the way is elevated on a out of it." Unless the underground boardwalk. The halfway stems are properly prepared, though,

point is an observation they are poisonous. deck that overlooks Salt Springs Run. Robert H. Mohlenbrock is distin- Notable at the begin- guished professor emeritus ofplant biology at ning of the trail are two Southern Illinois University Carbondale. specimens of coontie (Zamia jlcridana) that M T"*^*^ O Ocala- the Forest Service has (19) >> _^^ National KIV J^ ^lU-^ ^.Forest'' planted. The species

Salt Springs Run, looking west is a native of the sand Salt Springs "^ pine forest, but it has Recreational a." Salt Springs S\^'iminers and snorkelers can gain become rather rare. It stands about Area J ^

access to the pool in the forest's three feet tall and has long, stiff ^Salt Sprir\gs Lake Salt Springs Recreation Area, near leaves that resemble palm leaves. f . Salt Springs Trailhead the town. The facihties also include The seeds are orange and about an ~Sa/t Springs Run a campground, picmc shelters, rest- inch long, borne in cones about the rooms, a concession stand, fishing size of hand grenades (in fact, the piers, and boat ramps. But to explore cones look a bit like hand grenades). Lake George the forest habitats, look for the Salt Coontie is one ot only eleven gen- Springs Trail, a two-mile loop that era and about 140 species of cycads begins along the east side of Florida that remain in the world today. The Highway 19, about a mile south of cycads, which are related to conifers, the campground. Dropping almost were the dominant plants on Earth imperceptibly downhill from its start- when the Jurassic dinosaurs roamed, ing point, the trail goes through a between 200 million and 146 mil- sand pine scrub habitat, a moist ham- Uon years ago. mock (a tract of forested land that The coontie plant grows from a VISITOR INFORMATION rises above adjacent marshland), a large underground stem that is fiUed National Forests in Florida pond pine flatwoods, and an exten- with a starch known as Florida ar- 325 John Knox Read, Suite F-100 Tallahassee, FL 32303 sive bayhead—a swampy forest dom- rowroot. From the time of early 850-523-8500 inated by several species of bay trees. Indian occupations until the early www.fs.fed. us/rS/florida Although distinguished by dif- European settlers, the underground

of the pond pine grow in in clumps. Yellow jessamine Loblolly bay, in the tea, or A high-climbing vine is laurel groups of three, and they climbs over the vegetation. camellia, family, has leaves greenbrier. are conspicuous on the trunk that resemble the leaves of as well as on the branches. Bayhead This swampy forest magnolias, but edged with Streamside Growing on the

The trees grow sixty feet tall. is dominated by four spe- small teeth. Other com- bank of Salt Springs Run is Sweet gum and wild olive cies of bay trees. The leaves mon trees are dahoon, red Jamaica swamp sawgrass, a trees also live in this habitat. of red bay and swamp bay, maple, and swamp tupelo. coarse sedge with sharp teeth

Switch cane, a bamboo- both in the laurel family, have The understory is made up along the edge of its narrow like grass, stands as high as a spicy aroma when crushed. of cinnamon fern, marsh fern, blades. Largeleaf marsh pen- twelve feet; slender wood- Sweet bay, a kind of magno- netted chain fern, royal fern, nywort and southern cattail oats is a grass that grows lia, has white-backed leaves. and stinking camphorweed. are rooted just offshore.

December 2006/January 2007 NATURAL HISTORY 49 REVIEWS: GIFTED IN SCIENCE Best Books

for Young Readers, 2006 By Diana Lutz

FOR THE VERY YOUNG moisten their eggs, Sandra Markle explains, by secreting a sticky liquid Discovering Nature's Alphabet, by Krys- that they whip into bubbles with their ^A^e tina CasteUa and Brian Boyl (Heyday hind legs, and then laying their eggs in Books; $15.95) the foam, w^hich hardens around them This elegant alphabet book was in- and prevents them from drying out. spired by a tree in the shape of a Y at Trapped inside the bubbles of foam

Joshua Tree National Park. Noticing is a supply of oxygen for the grow- the tree, the authors, a husband-and- ing baby frogs. Other frogs pee on their eggs periodically or stuff them into pouches on their backs, where they are moistened by mucus secreted by the skin. Those are only a few of

the fascinating firog facts in Markle 's vention of the paper-bag machine, the new book. In her acknowledgments theft ofher paper-bag patent, the ensu- she thanks four frog experts and seven ing courtroom battle, and her ultimate wildlife photographers. By drawing triumph. In charming watercolors, on such a depth of expertise, she has red-nosed, plaid-panted men goggle at produced a photo essay that works on the slim-waisted, rosy-cheeked Mat-

two levels: it enthralls children even as tie like sailors at a mermaid. But small

it entertains knowledgeable adults. drawings at the bottoms of the pages, wife team, challenged each other to meant to be Mattie's notebook sketch- find the forms of other letters in na- Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret es, can be hard to understand. ture. They found a C in a seedpod on E. Knight Became an Inventor, by snow, an S in a sinuous cactus, and a Emily Arnold McCuU (Farrar, Straus and Extreme Animals: Tlie Toughest Crea-

P in the tail of a gecko on a wall. Five Giroux; $16.00) tures on Earth, by Nicola Davies; illus- years and 2,000 photographs later The machine that cuts, folds, and trated by Neal Laytoii (Candlewick Press; they had finished this quiet but ele- glues the square-bottomed paper bags $12.99) gant earth-art alphabet that combines at your local grocery has lately en- In the past ten years the science press the fluid forms of script letters with joyed a minivogue, appearing in many has been full of stories of extremo- the engaging irregularities and rough pubhcations, including the magazine philes. That usually means oddball

textures of living things. I edit. Marvelous Mattie is a picture bacteria that can withstand extremes book about the woman who invented of temperature, pH, or radiation. But Slippery, Slimy Baby Frogs, by Sandra it—and roughly ninety other inge- I've always wondered just how much Markle (Walker & Company; $16.95) nious devices. She got an early start, interest people really have in such There's a reason supplying her broth- single-celled creatures, marvelous as most eggs have shells. ers with acrobatic kites they might be. Extreme Animals broad- Frogs—whose eggs and racing sleds. By the ens the picture to include larger, more are shell-less—have to time she was twelve she familiar animals that can lay claim to struggle to keep their had invented a guard various incredible qualities or stunts of eggs moist. If the egg's to prevent heavy metal endurance. thick, protective jelly shuttles from flying off Nicola Davies begins with a con- coat dries out, oxygen automatic looms and test that pits the Arctic musk ox, the can't get through to the beaning nearby workers. bowhead whale, the emperor penguin, developing embryo in- Maruelous Mattie takes the polar bear, and the sea otter against side. Foam-nest frogs her story up to the in- one another for the title of world's

50 NATUP.AL HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 j second expedition the following "glued it into his diary so cunningly

fall, when he succeeded in find- that it looks like one of the diary pag-

ing and killing several animals es." As Schlitz wryly puts it, "This was EXTREME suitable for stuffing. Wild Lives a bizarre thing to do."

I is full of such wild contradic- As he dug his way through Troy tions, which continually ensnared and Mycenae, Schliemann continued

the directors and curators at the to change the details of his life, aU for Bronx Zoo as they struggled to a better story. In the end he built his improve zookeeping practices. own "Palace of Troy," where he lived "The problem, for the most with his wife and children. "It con- part," writes Kathleen Weidner warmest coat (you don't know who Zoehfeld, "was not lack of intelli- The Hbro Schliemann The Dr£Am:er Who Dug Ur Troy wins, do you?). Wood frogs, ice fish, gence or compassion, but lack of and springtails vie for the honor of knowledge." Who would have guessed having the most potent antifreeze (the that buffaloes, when imported to the springtails win). The camel gets a con- Bronx, would suffer gas from the rich solation prize because its body tem- New York grass? Who knew that go- perature yo-yos more than any other rillas prefer the stems and inner lin- mammal's. Other extreme Ufestyles get ings of banana peels to the bananas Davies's attention, but she saves the ul- themselves? But people learn. Horna- timate prize for last: the water bear, or day was ashamed of killing the buf- tardigrade, is crowned toughest crea- faloes, and went on to establish a herd ture on Earth. at the Bronx Zoo from which many KOnERT »YBIi Davies writes in a kid-friendly, con- of the animals now in public herds are versational tone with flashes of humor, descended. Providing hope without tained not one stick of comfortable but the occasional detail or the refer- pandering. Wild Lives is an honest and furniture," his daughter Andromache ence to scientific experiment show intelligent discussion of the difficul- [wince!] complained. that she knows her material. The infor- ties of caring for animals appropriate- In the standard account of the dis- mal cartoons by Neal Layton (which ly outside their native habitats. covery of Troy, Schliemann is awk- include scratched-out irdstakes) con- wardly cast as an early archaeolo- vey the fun of finding out cool stuff The Hero Schliemann: The Dreamer gist. In Schlitz's carefully researched, about animals. Who Dug for Troy, by Laura Amy sophisticated, and far more amusing Schlitz; illustrated by Robert Byrd (Can- account, Schliemann's obsessions and FOR INTERMEDIATE READERS dlewick Press; $17.99) his inability to distinguish fact from Everyone knows there was some- fiction bring him into focus as the Wild Lives: A History of the People & thing slightly off about Heinrich monomaniac he was. Animals of the Bronx Zoo, by Kath- Schliemann's discovery of the an- leen Weidtier Zoehfeld (Alfred A. Knopf; cient city of Troy. Few of us, though, The Jumbo Book of Outdoor Art, writ- $18.95) are sure just what it was. Laura Amy ten and illustrated by Irene Luxbacher When William T Hornaday, the first Schlitz explains that the problem was (Kids Can Press; $16.95) director of the Bronx Zoo, learned Schhemann himself, who was seem- In The Jumbo Book you can find in- that the American bi- ingly driven by a structions for freezing frost patterns son, or buffalo, was on childhood of almost permanently into paper, sculpting a the verge of extinc- Dickensian misery to mask that looks Uke an animal's skuU, tion, he was deeply turn his life into a dra- or making a flip book of a banana rot- concerned—so much ma-fiUed story. While ting. Inspired by the ideas of teachers so that he organized a still young, he traveled at an arts school in Toronto, Canada, collecting expedition to California to give a HieJumbo Book is a mad, happy jumble to Montana. There he brother a proper buri- of observation, art, science, and imagi- killed two buffaloes al. While stiU there, he nation. Raw materials for the projects from the only herd he wrote a "vivid eyewit- include bark, dead flowers, grass seed, could find, but because ness account" of the leaves, twigs, and old vegetables. their hides were too San Francisco fire of The book also gives recipes for A History of the People & "scruffy and tattered," Animab of the flrom Zoo 1851 (even though he making art materials from nature, WsionEB Zoaiiraio he had to mount a wasn't in the city), and such as dyes from beets and pigments

December 2006/j3nuary 2007 NATURAL HISTORY 51 from soils. Even the paper can be cus- the day"). But occasionally they rise to that will make the scientists live in tomized. Kids can make lovely bubble eloquence. "Tell them all," said one of children's imaginations. paper by floating paper on bowls of the captains who stayed south, when soap bubbles tinted with tempera; he heard of the fleet's pUght, "I will Team Moon: How 400,000 People marbleized paper by floating paper on wait for them as long as I have an an- Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon, by oil and colored water; and aged paper chor left or a spar to carry a sail." Catherine Thimmesh (Houghton Mifflin;

by rubbing it with wet tea bags. All $19.95) the projects in the book have clear- FOR ADVANCED READERS "Fate has ordained that the men who ly passed the kid test: not only will went to the moon to explore in peace children be able to do them, they will With a Little Luck: Surprising Sto- wiU stay on the moon to rest in peace. want to do them. ries ofAmazing Discoveries, by Den- These brave men, Neil Armstrong and nis Brindell Fradin (Dutton Children's Edwin [Buzz] Aldrin, know that there

Trapped in Ice! An Amazing True Books; $17.99) is no hope for their recovery." No, this

Wlialing Adventure, by Martin W. I didn't expect much from this book, isn't a sentence from an "alternative- Sandler (Scholastic; $16.99) which describes the lives of eleven sci- history" novel. It is a speech prepared In 1871, thirty-nine ships filled with entists; most biographies for children 1,219 men, women, and children sailed are painfully pedestrian. But I read into the Arctic Ocean in pursuit of Dennis Brindell Fradin's book with the bowhead whale. Thirty-two of the increasing pleasure. Who knew that ships' captains ignored the warnings of as an old man Newton liked to take the Inuit, who paddled out to the ships bubble baths, blowing soap bubbles to warn the whalemen that the weath- through a pipe and watching them er was more severe than normal. The burst? Who knew that Horace Wells, ships remained in the north until they one of the discoverers of anesthesia, became pinned against the coast near became addicted to breathing anes- Point Belcher (close to the northern- thetic gases, went mad, sprinkled acid most part of modern Alaska) by enor- on two women, and killed himself? mous ice packs. Knowing that either Who knew that in the nineteenth- their ships would be crushed between century Vienna of Ignaz Philipp heaving blocks of ice or food would Semmelweis, "the father of infection for President Nixon in the event the run out, the captains voted to attempt control," pregnant women knelt and Apollo 1 1 lander became stranded on a desperate escape in small whaleboats. begged to be admitted to the second of the Moon. two maternity cUnics, the one staffed by If you think you know the story of midwives rather than doctors, because the Moon landing. Team Moon might they were much less likely to die there? surprise you. Catherine Thimmesh TRAPPED Who knew that Sir Alexander ("Alec") puts the drama back into the famil- IN ICE! Fleming filled outlines of dancing bal- iar story by interviewing engineers lerinas traced onto agar with colonies rather than astronauts, and by focusing of pigmented bacteria and called them on the engineering problems behind "germ paintings"? Who knew that the the scenes instead of on the show the man who got the Nobel Prize for the astronauts were putting on TV. Error discovery of pulsars said that Jocelyn inessages kept cropping up during the BeU, the woman who found the pul- lander's descent to the Moon. Fuel sars, was "a joUy good girl" who was suppUes ran so low that mission con- "just doing her job." trol was afraid the lander would crash. M-AATIN W. SANDLER ^^S| In Fradin's world, people are often The temperature of a plugged fuel

ill, suffer writer's block, don't have a line soared close to the flash point. To his credit, Sandler manages to telescope when they need one, are The crises continued as the capsule

tell the story by incorporating the called liars when they are teUing the headed back to Earth: at the last min- men's own words, quoting from ships' truth, turn desperate, run mad, and ute an engineer discovered that the logs and sailors' diaries. The whalemen suffer grotesque deaths. All this, of system set up to sanitize the film shot

are almost comically laconic ("Spot- course, is horribly interesting. Fradin on the Moon might melt it instead. ted seven whales," one wrote in a log- takes every opportunity to bring chil- Extensive research and original inter- book. "Gave chase. One whaleboat dren (or their dogs) into the story, but views inform this enthusiastic account stove in. Three whales taken. So ends the main thing is that he tells stories of the first lunar landing, which gains

52 NATURAL HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 " Cambridge ore

Ever ThSilf 'ii ossible

Superfractals

Michael F. Barnsley

Superfractals is the long-awaited successor to Fractals Everywhere, in which the

power and beauty of Iterated Function Systems (IFS) were introduced ... Now, SuperFractals 20 years later, Michael Barnsley brings the story up to date by explaining how IFS have developed. New ideas such as fractal tops and super IFS are introduced, and [f]or the first time, these ideas are explained in book form, and illustrated with breathtaking pictures.

''i .

Patterns ofNoturc

Darwinism and its Discontents Michael Ruse

"Ruse is unique in his combined knowledge of evolutionary principles, history of science, philosophy, and theology, and he brings them all to bear with clarity and effect in evaluating the present-day status of evolutionary thought." - Edward O. Wilson, Harvard University

A Generation at Risk Geoff Foster, Carol Levine, and John G. Williamson, Editors "A Generation at Risk makes a huge contribution to our understanding of the

impact of the HIV epidemic upon children... and Is a 'must read' for those in the influence and enabling arenas, including nongovernmental organizations and ministries of health and education, who are making policy decisions on affected children's behalf." I - Journal of the American IVledical Association

"" why Life Why Life Speeds Up As You Get Older speeds Memory Shapes our Past up AS How YOU Get Douwe Draaisma, Translated by Arnold Pomerans and Erica Pomerans older "Draalsma...is a terrific writer, whose erudition and passion for the topic are apparent in every page.

- Nature

"Douwe Draaisma's Why Life Speeds Up As You Get Older won prizes when it

appeared in Dutch, and is a treasure. The result is informative, amusing and

moving. Long after you close it, it leaves a good memory." - New Scientist

mm' UNIVERSITY PRESS —— 1^

authenticity by quoting the engineers directly even when they're speaking Engineering rather than English.

The Printer's Trial: The Case ofJohn Peter Zenger and the Fight for a Free Press, by Gail Jarrow (Calkins Creek Books; $18.95) One of the cornerstones of the

American free press is the 1735 court FREE earrings! case that first distinguished American See offer below. from British libel law. In British law, anyone who printed criticisms of the government could be accused of se- ditious libel—whether the criticisms were true or false. In fact, writes Gail Jarrow, the Ubel was considered more serious if the published statements A Trip to Australia were true, for the perverse reason that readers would be more likely to be- Reveals the Wonder lieve them. yxr The case in question opened when of Giant Golden Pearls the British colonial government ar- rested a barely Hterate printer named Just before 1900, in a small isolated town have to worry about perfumes or cosmetics John Peter Zenger for printing anon- called Broome Australia, fishermen came discoloring these pearls like you do with ymous attacks on William Cosby, the across the rarest oyster-a giant named the ordinary pearls. In a more ecologically lavishly corrupt British governor of Pinctada maxima. This world's largest oyster friendly approach, the Australian Pacific York and Jersey. Zenger contained the voluptuous South Sea Pearl pearl seed is extracted from fresh oyster New New the most sought after pearl in the world. shells and then organically micro-coated in was charged, even though he didn't After this discovery, Broome soon became the laboratory vnth the same nacre that coats write the attacks, because he was the the dominant pearl trading post in the naturally grown pearls. Giant 12mm golden only one who could be identified. world and hterally 80% of all worldwide South Sea pearls can cost up to $50,000 for At trial, Zenger's lawyer, the brilliant pearl trading passed through Broome. an 18" strand. Why even think about that Philadelphia attorney Andrew Ham- when you can now wear an 18" strand of A trip to Broome. We took the long trip to 12mm hand-coated enhanced Australian ilton, ignored British law and argued, Australia to study the famous white hpped Pacific Pearls with a consistently round shape over the protestations of the judge, oysters that produced magnificent pearls and a rare golden color for under $300. that should decide whether that are often 11 -14mm—about 8 times the the jury size (and 8 times the price!) of a standard A rare deal. Try the Australian Pacific the "libels" were true. oysters Collection risk-free for 30 days. If for pearl. Not only did these produce Jarrow 's method matches the sophisti- they also any reason you are not satisfied with the rare South Sea pearl, but cation of her topic. A typical two-page produced a tremendous amounts of your purchase, please just return it to spread includes a primary document mother of pearl or nacre. Nacre is the us for a full refund of the purchase price. and explanatory caption on the left- lustrous iridescent substance which is secreted by the oyster to form the shiny Not Available in Stores hand page, and the author's narrative inside of their shells. When nacre secretions Australian Pacific on the right. But don't be fooled by

are deposited around the pearl seed they Golden Collection: all the primary documents into think- build up to form a full sized pearl. Our 12mm Necklace $299.85 +SSlH ing the book is dry and scholarly. They bio-scientists went to work to see if we 12mm Bracelet $199.95 +S&.H record political shenanigans so outra- could improve upon Mother Nature's 12mm Earrings $69.95 +S&H geous that even Jon Stewart and Ste- process a little. By extracting the seed Special Offer'. Colbert wotild sputter and gasp. pearl from young oyster shells and speeding Order the 12 mm Pearl Necklace phen up the process in the lab, we coated these & Bracelet and receitie the natural seed pearls with nacre from the earrings FREE! $499.80 + S&H Lutz keeps an eye on children 's liter- inside of the giant shells, and were able Diana Promotional Code PLS233-03 to produce the breathtaking hand-coated aturefor her daughter Emily, and her roundup Please mencion this u'hen you call. the year's hooks for children on science and Austrahan Pacific Pearl. Call to order toll-free, of 24 hours a day, 7 days week nature is a regular feature of our end-of-year Golden beauties. These golden enhanced issue. She is also the editor of Muse, a science organic pearls are extremely large in size 800-724-9435 magazine young people ten and older. 12mm—but they are much more consistent for 14101 Sourhcross Drive \V., in shape than ordinary pearls that have to be \'f'1l11<>'|* Dept. PLS233-03 extracted from 4-5 year old oysters that are Jrf.TMjVA^s^i.T'i Bumsviiie, Minnesota 55337 dead. They are also less porous so you don't www.stauer.com This year, give the gift of inspiration.

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f S T 1 1 r t i IP ^^1 m?Mnia!iiMi.TOnTS^ C^ CREATIVITY, HIH LIVES AND THE RENEWAL OF nI'^l WARS 1 RUSSELL G A Li ON f OICK

TERRY TAMMINEN

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iULni ;!jLrii(\Lv)

EVOLUTION AND ii^..^y CHRISTIAN FAITH

What Jesus and Darwin "At last, proper attention is given to the biodiversity at our have in com vast biomass and i5gi ta MtlTni Bwir ^^l»S^,: $14.95/ feet.. ..This is a well-writtcn and

$25.95 Cloth %, important book." -E.0. Wilson $17.95 Paper

800.621.2736 islandpress.org ISLANDPRESS HMEIHiiw t inspire changeg And for the Coffee Table By Laurence A. Marschall

Pollen: The Hidden Sexuality are even two species of flying

of Flowers, by Rob Kesseler and snake—which, I am certain, Madeline Haiiey (Firefly Books; look far less threatening in pho- $60.00) tographs, placidly embracing Seeds: Time Capsules ofLife, by branches and leaves, than wrig- Rob Kesseler and Wolfgang Stitppy gling, eerily airborne, through (Firefly Books; $60.00) the jungle canopy. Artist and visual arts profes- sor Rob Kesseler and two plant Little Polar Bears, by Thorsten biologists at the Royal Botanic Milse (Bucher; $45.00) Gardens in Kew, England, have The World of the Polar Bear, combined talents to capture the by Norbert Rosing (Firefly Books; polymorphic world of botanical $45.00)

sex. Artfully framed blowups, in It's ironic that the word "cud- coffee-table format, command dly" seems so apt in describing full-page status throughout, Earth's largest land predator, with occasional diagrams and yet that's the impression one concise text blocks lending an gets from these two magnificent element of scholarly analysis to the of writer-photographer Nick Garbutt picture books. Both show polar bear

often abstract beauty of the micro- and photographer J. Cede Prudente, a mothers and cubs sleeping together, graphs and photographs. land that still hosts the orangutan and moms caressing their young, and cubs But the images also convey a re- the world's smallest elephant may be- playfufly roughhousing in the snow. markable sexual tension. In the pollen come more familiar to Enghsh-speak- In one idyllic scene, the German na- book, one can almost feel the sensuality ing couch potatoes. ture photographer Thorsten Milse in a close-up of lily anthers, languish- One of the book's memorable pho- has captured a diminutive cub hitch-

ing under the weight of their thick tographic sequences depicts the visi- ing a ride on its mother's back, while coating of fertile powder. The off- ble Hfe cycle of the gargantuan flower two siblings tussle nearby. In another, spring of this floral licentiousness, on Rafflesia, a parasite on jungle vines. Milse's compatriot Norbert Rosing display in the matching volume, Seeds, After hving for a year or so as a red- has caught a fox tugging fearlessly at

are even more bizarre. That book il- dish-brown bud that resembles a cab- the hind leg of a bear, "perhaps to

lustrates the wide range of strategies bage plant, the flower unfolds virtu- urge it to go hunting." for seed dispersal, from multi-armed ally overnight into a stinking hooked spheres that catch on passing blossom that can reach three fur, to dehcate, winged laceworks that feet across and weigh more float on the wind. than ten pounds. Then, after Little POLAR BEARS If plants could read, they might a week of display and poUi- y be appalled to see their sex hves ex- nation, it disintegrates, leav- Bpr plored so up close and personal, but ing behind a puddle of gluti- ^ we human beings can only marvel nous black goo. So rare is the and delight. sight of a flowering Rafflesia

that Borneans have been If. Wild Boyneo:Tlie Wildlife and Scenery known to charge admission ofSabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kali- when one appears on their

mantan, by Nick Garbutt and J. Cede property. Prudente (The MIT Press; $34.95) Among many other pho- Borneo, a short hop southeast tographic pleasures are por- of the Malay Peninsula, may be the traits of splay-nosed, pot- third-largest island in the world (after bellied proboscis monkeys, pitcher If the images seem to depict a

Greenland and New Guinea), but it's plants big enough to digest rats, and peaceable kingdom, that's not tar from unknown territory to most Western- a variety of unlikely "flying" creatures, the truth—both books record expe- ers. Now, thanks to the collaboration firom frogs to colugos to lizards. There ditions to Canada's remote refuge for

56 NATURAL HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 polar bears, Wapusk National Park, Titans dense clouds to reveal a chilly a vast territory east of the Churchill world marked by river channels and River along the southwestern shore what might be lakes of liquid meth- YUCATAK of Hudson Bay. The books also neatly ane and nitrogen. OUR HISTORY, complement each other, despite some Those two unmanned space mis- OUR CULTURE... unavoidable overlap. Milse focuses on sions have produced many tens of YOUR VACATION. mothers and cubs, and even seems to thousands of images, of which only a have crept into their dens (unoccupied, small selection could be reproduced in one hopes) to give readers a bears-eye these handsome books. Even this sam-

view of the world outside. Rosing ple, however, is awe-inspiring. The ex- takes a broader, ecological perspective, quisite detail of the Mars photographs shooting Arctic landscapes along with owes a lot to a panoramic imaging sys- portraits of sleepy foxes, snow-rimed tem designed by Postcards author Jim musk-oxen, and herds of sunbathing Bell and his co-workers. On a num- walruses. The creatures may be polar ber of the landscapes here, the tracks and the land frigid, but the work of of the rovers can be seen converg-

these two fine photographers is warm ing towards the Martian horizon Hke and radiant. lanes on a highway—a roadway made by ahen explorers on a strange planet. The images of Saturn, which show the planet's rings

and moons from a range of dis- sure: The Yucatan Peni tances and perspectives, convey POSTCARDS FROM=- Highlights: Ek'Balam • Valladolid • Merlda • Izamal a sense of loftiness and grandeur Uxmal • Kabah • Celestun • Chichen Itza that contrasts with the intimacy of the Mars shots.

MARS When many of us were young, ^adventure south of the border in I

not that long ago, Mars and Sat- Yucatan Peninsula. This fascinating region is filled urn were unknown and unknow- with ancient ruins, colonial cities, and exotic able, just distant smudges of light flora and fauna, On an educational journey with THE FIRS! PHOTOGRAPHER ON THE RED PLANET seen through a telescope, darkly. learn about the history j;,„ „,.,.,.,.aure of These books celebrate the newly Mayans and experience the unique JIM BELL discovered beauty of extraterres- culture of modern Yucatan. trial worlds, and the ingenuity of Explore the ruins of Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Ek'Balam, the teams of scientists and engi- and Kabah, induding the extraordinary neers who have brought the so- "Pyramid of the lvlagician"and "Temple of Masks." Postcards From Mars: Tlie First Pho- lar system into our Hving rooms. Alas, Smithsonian Journeys Travel Adventures offers the tographer on the Red Planet, by Jim current budget priorities at NASA, best in educational travel worldwide. Bell (Diitton; S50.00) mandating travel to Mars at the cost of Our cuitom-crafted touis are created for Saturn: A New View, by Laura Lovett, unmanned scientific missions, do not adventurous travelers like you, who seek the thrill of Joan Hormth, and Jeff Cuzzi (Abrams; augur well for many sequels to these discovery and learning, combined with flexibility $40.00) glorious volumes. and economical rates. And our local expert speakers read this review, As you a pair of really make the difference between simply

wheeled rovers. Spirit and Opportuni- 100 Caterpillars: Portraits from the seeing and truly understanding your destination. ty, are crisscrossing the Martian desert, Tropical Forests of Costa Rica, by Call 1-800-528-8147 and mention promotion as they have since early 2004. About a Jeffrey C. Miller, Daniel H.Janzen, and code: A409-AX1-918 or visit our web site at billion miles farther from Earth than Winifred Hallwachs (Harvard University 'MA/w.smJthsonianjourneystraveladventures.org the rovers, the Cassini spacecraft is or- Press; $39.95) * Rate i"; r.oi De;>nr:, i.^n,;' r^'-'.v ha'.eii nn dniiiiit' occiinanrv biting Saturn, well into the third year Bntterjlies of the World, photographs of its scientific mission to examine by Giles Martin; text by Alyriani Baran IME.„ COME & VMKE UP IN YUCATAN the planet, its rings, its sateUites. (Abrams, and NewYork; $35.00) («Ucatan.com »\\w.v(5ltmexico.com On the surface of the largest of those The intricate coloration of butter- sateUites, Titan, is the probe Hiiygeus, flies and moths, so aesthetically pleas- YUC/^kV L-OLLETn VACATIONS: released by Cassini on Christmas Day, ing to the eye, is an adaptation that 2004; Huygens parachuted through enables the insects to rest unnoticed

December 2006/January 2007 NATURAL HISTORY 57 »

New from Thames & Hudson on bark, on flowers, or in the leaf- suggesting the bends in the river that

strewn shadows of the forest. Other go on for miles. The print is exquisite, patterns come into play when cam- of course, but what strikes one most

ouflage fails: Brazil's owl butterfly is the sense of power evoked by the looks so much like a predator when river-level perspective, and the per-

the false eyes on its rear wings are ex- fect sense of timing reflected in such posed that hungry birds instinctively a briUiant rendering of motion, Hght, flee in panic. and shadow. Both of these books do justice to The Canyon, next to Yosemite per-

their photogenic subjects, but in dif- haps, is America's dearest and most-vis- ferent ways. 100 Caterpillars showcases ited natural wonder. But though the

the richness of a single UNESCO place is famUiar, the presentation in this

World Heritage Site, the Area de Con- book is firesh and exciting. Trimble has servacion Giianacaste in northwestern assembled a gorgeous sample of the Costa Paca.The uniformly posed cat- work of forty-seven Canyon photog- erpillars, arranged as an inventory of species, look Hke so many fat worms Edited Robin Hanbury-Tenison by in Mardi Gras drag. Matching pho- $40.00 hardcover / 304 pages / 420 illus. tographs and descriptions of their f^ adult the half ^ forms occupy second of Joyce Tyldesley "M 1 the book. CHRONICLE OF THE In contrast, Gilles Martin's Butter- utterflies r samples the entire world of but- l flies 1 fc- I s QUEENS^ terflies and moths—and does so \mxh OF panache. He has snapped his subjects in a variety of namral settings, giving EGYPT the photographs a sense of texture and ^ FROM EARLY DYNASTIC TIMES depth of field that is firequendy exhila- TO THE DEATH OF CLEOPATRA rating. What's more, Myriam Baran's raphers, from Timothy H. O'SuUivan's text bubbles with gossipy facts and sur- first wet-plate landscapes of 1871, prises, adding dimensions the camera through the work of such well-known cannot capture. The yellow and steel- masters as Ansel Adams, the Kolb blue caterpillar of the death's-head brothers, and EHot Porter, to lesser- hawk moth, for instance, looks terrify- known contemporary artists such as ing enough in Martin's close-up, but Mike Buchheit, Liz Hymans, and Gary

when threatened, Baran informs us, it Ladd. There's plenty of backstory in by Joyce Tyldesley can shriek Uke a cornered mouse. the text, explaining how at least some $34.95 hardcover / 224 pages / 273 iUus. of the photographic magic is achieved. Lasting Light: 125 Years of Grand Amy Scott's book on Yosemite in- Canyon Photography, by Stephen Trim- cludes equally striking landscapes and ble (Northland Publishing; S40.00) related artworks in a variety of media, Yosemite:Art ofan American Icon, ed- ranging from such early paintings as ited by Amy Scott (University of Califor- Albert Bierstadt's otherworldly 1868 nia Press; $65. 00 /cloth, S34. 95 /paper) painting Sunset in theYoseniite JMey to There's a photograph by Ernst David Hockney's photo-collage Mer- Haas in Stephen Trimble's book that ced River,Yosemite Valley, Sept. 1982. Es- took my breath away. Photographed says by six art historians and museum from what must have been the bow curators, a historian, and an ethnogra- of a boat running the Colorado River pher inform the works.

rapids, it shows the steep walls of the Laurence A. Marsch.^ujl, author of The inner canyon in shadow, converging Supernova Stor)', is W.K. T. Sahm Professor straight ahead to a narrow gap where of Physics at Ccttysburg College in Pennsyl- by Zahi Hawass the river plummets through. Beyond vania, and director of Project CLEA, which

$65.00 hardcover / 316 pages / 300+ illus. the gap, in brilUant sunhght, is another produces widely used simulation software for wall of schist, and beyond that, another. education in astronomy. '^^ Thames & Hudson thainesandhudsonusa.com 58 NATURAL HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 are exactly alike Screw-on cap • Platinum-plated fittings • No two Maestro pens

Kb S8 o 0) N tn o 01 X

'S m - > o c£ .0)K rao) o W^ .f2§ D.Z) to

. lulu :p8}sod • uiiu i7i./fl, JaieuJBia LULU 9ei./9ei. :paddBO . slubjB i.g/os ^A^B\^N\ 991-/891. PERSPECTIVES (Continuedfrom page 26)

space (and time) in the neighborhood age bringing with it the rise and downfall of the planet. The theory's prediction of astral configurations and rulerships, with corresponded almost exactly with the their earthly consequences. observed precession, and played a cru- cial role in gaining rapid acceptance Then ask: Could precession really have among scientists for Einstein's revolu- seemed so impressive to our ancestors? tionary hypothesis. Have we become so indifferent to the 8- to 27-day CriiiseTours™ cosmos since they looked to the skies ifanyone asks you why you should and expounded a host of explanations from $ 1,099 pp So care about precession, be prepared that we have lost our sense ofwonder? Orient L'nes offers you llie wanders of Soutli America, from Rio to to answer with confidence and pride. And if so, are we better or worse off Santiago. Voyage to the world's soutliernmost town. See glocier-

studded fjords. Shop for tlie perfect lapis lazuli. Experience the Not for any reason linked to daily than they were, adrift in space on our majesty of lierro Del Fuego. Discover far yourself oil the hidden gems life, for ecUpses and star charts remain rotating, revolving, precessing planet? of this exotic country that attracted fomed conquistadors. Plus, our the provinces of astronomers. Rather, award-winning CruiseTours give you the added bonus of hotel stoys Donald Goldsmith is the author oftwenty and city sightseeing before cruise. precession turns out to describe a deep or ofter your Join us and discover books on astronomy, including Connecting why Orient Lines is known as 'The Destination Cruise Specialists." truth about the cosmos, worth under- with the Cosmos (publislied by Sourcebooks in standing in its right. own 2002). He is tlie co-author, with Neil deGrasse If your questioner demands more Tyson, Origins: Fourteen BiUion Years of m Orient LINES' of THE DESTINATION CRUISE 5PfCIALIST5 than that, ask him or her to consider Cosmic Evolution (Norton, 2004).

www.orienriines.com what the discovery ofprecession could have meant to earlier civilizations. In For reservations, see your travel agent. PICTURE CREDITS Cover; ©NHPA/Chnstophe Ratier; pp.4-5 ©Florian Schulz/www.visionsofthewitci.com; p.8: For brochures, call I "800-333-7300. their book Hamlet's Mill, two histori- ConnifFphoto ofby Alan MacWeeney; p. 1 2 ijonny Hawkins;

'Farc shoivn in U.S. dollars for CniiseTour only, per pcnon. based on double occupano', for a ans of science, Giorgio de Santillana p. 14; (top) courtesy Louis Liebenberg. (bottom) DBen Os- minimum cin^oi)' inside srareioom. applicable on sclea sailings only. Air^iarc B additional Co borne/nacurepl.com; p.l5; (top) DCIiristian Ziegler, (bot- CniiseTour liire, at^ijable from sclea U.S. idrio and dcparcure caxcs may apply. All ofFeis ate and Hertha von Dechend, speculated tom) Phototake Inc/Alamy;p.l6;(top) Royal SweciishAcad- based on av^labilicy, capiacy concrolled. noc combinable wcii othct ofFets, sitbjea Co change emy of Sciences, (middle) ©Gary Bell/Oceamvide images, without notice and be withdtawn any time. Govecnment service that precession was known not only may at taxes, chatgcs and tees com, (bottom) Thomas Waite; p.20; illustrations by DaWd are additional Ohent Lines b not responsible for typographical ermts ot oirtissions. Barneda; p.22 & 24; illustradons by Ian Worpole; pp.28-29; Ships Registts- Bahamas. ©20% NCI Cotporation. Ltd to Hipparchus in the second century illustrations by Thomas Moore; pp.30-31; Courtesy the B.C., but also to the Babylonians, many authors; p.32; ©David Hoskjng / Alamy; p.33 and 49; maps by Le Monnier; p.33; ©NHPA/Nigel Dennis; centuries earlier. Such a discovery must Joe J p.34; ©Peter Johnson/CORBIS; p35; ©Mike Wilkes/naturepl. have been mind-boggling: com; pp.36-37; illustrations by Natabe Parker/NJP Wildlife

Art; pp.38-41 ; illustradons by Patricia J.Wynne; p.42; ©The Natural History Museum, London;pp. 43 8c 44; ©Visual Arts [Precession] became the vast impenetrable Library (London) / Alamy; p.45; Carmontelle/Hachette; p. 47 Mary Evans Picture Library; p.48; Jody Ha^Ties. The pattern of fate itself, with one world-age Cycad Society; pp.48-49; Matthew O'Mally/SJRWMD: succeeding another, as the invisible pointer p72: National Gallery, London, Great Britain/photo by Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY of the equinox slid along the signs, each

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printed: 263,826. B, Paid circulation: 1. Paid outside-county mail subscriptions; 244,176. 2. Paid in-county mail subscrip-

tions: 0. 3. Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, counter sales, and other non-USPS paid distribution: 7,893. 4.

Other classes mailed through the USPS; 100. CTotal paid circulation: 252,169. D. Free distribution by mail: 1,759. E. Free

distribution outside the mail: 3. 181. FTotal free distiiburion; 4,940. G.Total distribution: 257, 109. H. Copies not distributed:

I. Total; circulation; 6,717. 263.826. J. Percent paid 98.1%. Number copies of single issue pubhshed nearest to filing date

(October 2006):A. Total number of copies printed: 264,594. B. Paid circulation: I. Paid outside-count^' mail subscriptions:

247,79 1.2. Paid in-county mail subscriptions: 0.3. Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, counter sales, and odier

non-USPS paid (distribution: 5,43 1.4. Othet classes mailed through the USPS: 1 00. CTotal paid circulation: 253,322. D. Free

distribution by mail; 1,658. E. Free distribution outside the mail: 2,922. FTotal fi-ee distribution: 4.580. G.Total tlistribution:

257,902. H. Copies not distributed: 6,692. 1. Total: 264, 594. J. Percent paid: 98.2%. I certify' that .all information above is true and complete. Charles E. Harris, President & CEO.

60 NATURAL HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 EXPLO

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In collaboration with the CORNELL LAB of ORNITHOLOGY nature.net

gives students an appreciation for the The Good Earth time it takes nature to create an inch of decent soU (about 500 years), and for By Robert Anderson the fraction of our planet's entire sur-

face that is arable land (about 10 per- BIR The soil underfoot rarely gets its cent). Students who want to explore the due. As a geologist, I viewed soO underground microcosm at its smallest

when I considered it at all—as an im- scale should visit the "Microbe Zoo," a SONGS pediment, an annoying, transient layer creation of the Center for Microbial hiding the interesting bedrock beneath Ecology at Michigan State University beautifully An interactive and it. Nevertheless, when I worked at the (www.commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/dlc-me/ illustrated compendium of over American Museum of Natural History, zoo/index. html). Click on "DirtLand" 250 North American birds in song I was repeatedly drawn to a diorama of and then "Root Cellar" to learn about a forest floor that reveals the hidden the rhizosphere. world of soil in oversize detail. Under a blanket of giant, decaying oak leaves The Field Museum in Chicago has and an acorn the size of a watermelon, a wonderful exhibit devoted to life a cutaway displays a burrowing earth- in the soil (www.fieldmuseum.org/under worm as big as a python, as well as an groundadventure). On the Web you can unfamiliar collection of arthropods and tour the exhibit virtually, which gives a fungi—all busily building soil for the good sense of what visitors experience next generation of trees (you can see it when they walk through the subter- at www.amnh.org/learn/musings/SP02/ ranean world in the museum, enlarged

mind.html). to make them feel less than an inch tall. The conservationist Les MoUoy de- The Smithsonian Institution in Wash-

scribed the wonder I felt, in his book ington, D.C., is working on a major soil Tlie Lii'iiig Mantle: Soils in the New exhibit, scheduled to open in 2008. Go Zealand Landscape: to soils.org/smithsonian/index.html and

For only rarely have we stood back and cUck on the movie in the upper right, celebrated our soils as somethmg beauti- or "Learn about the Exhibit" to see

ful, and perhaps even mysterious. For what what the museum is planning. Listen at: other natural body, worldwide in its dis- My favorite Web site on the subter- CHR0NICLEB00KS.COM/LISTEN interesting secrets (( // tribution, has so many ranean world, however, is Thomas E. to reveal to the patient observer? Loynachan's "Soil Biology Movies"

Because of soil's economic impor- (www.agron.iastate.edu/~loynachan/mov).

tance, it's hardly surprising that the U.S. A professor of agronomy and microbi- "Bird Songs is a significant new Department of Agriculture has a page ology Loynachan has sixteen videos on learning device for birdwatchers. devoted to those who have written in his site, with commentaries that show By bringing digital audio techno- praise of dirt (soils.usda.gov/education/ soil creatures in action. Perhaps the most

logy to the printed bool<, you can resources/k_12/quotes). USDA also has a fascinating of the lot are the nematode- primer on soU biology (soils.usda.gov/sqi/ trapping fungi, the Venus flytraps of the relate the songs and calls of those concepts/soiLbiology/biology.html); the mushroom world. Another intriguing birds you see from the comfort first chapter outHnes the vital impor- site is the "Rhizosphere Image Gallery," of your armchair. This unique and tance of the subterranean food web. where soil scientists photograph the informative tool, combining text, The Bureau of Land Management underground with a special "root cam- illustrations, and sounds, should has a good site on the biological com- era" to observe what's going on below in "biological the surface (ic.ucsc.edu/~wxcheng/wewu/ be on every coffee table." munities living western soil crusts" (blm.gov/nstc/soil). CHck on index.html). It gives you a sense of why

- Dr. Paul Green the "Just for Kids" button on the left of hfe in the soil remains mysterious. Director of Citizen Science, the screen for a kid-friendly version. Thomas Jefferson penned more than National Audubon Society "Soil," we are told, deUghtfiilly, "is the one self-evident truth: "Civilization it- top layer ofthe Earth's surface, hke frost- self rests upon the soil." ing on a birthday cake!" NASA, not to

be left out, has a "SoU Science Basics" Robert Anderson is a freelance science

page (soil.gsfc.nasa.gov/basics.htm) that writer lit'ini; in Los Angeles.

62 NATURAL HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 Wildlife Diversity TURTLES THE BEGINNING OF THE TURT OF THE WORLD AGE OF MAMMALS Franck Bonin, Bernard Devaux, Kenneth D. Rose and Alain Dupre Analyzes the events translated by Peter C. H. Pritchard The Beginning of the that occurred In this complete guide to the woild's nearly directly before and

300 species of turtles, the authors reveal Age of Mammals after the mysterious intimate, little-known details of these K-T boundary

intriguing reptiles in their native habitats. which so quickly thrust mammals from obscurity

to planetary dominance.

DRAGONFLY GENERA OF THE KENNETH D. ROSE NEWWORLD An Illustrated and Annotated Key MAMMALS Mammals of South America to the Anisoptera RosserW. Garrison, OF SOUTH Natalia von Ellenrieder, AMERICA and Jerry A. Louton Rexford D. Lord "Dragonflies have been moving up to A vivid snapshot of South join butterflies as a model group for American fauna, with 252 stunning natural history and scientific study. This photographs—most taken by the well-organized and readable book will author during his 40 years as an help speed that trend." ecologist and mammaJogist in the —E. O. Wilson, Harvard University region—and engaging descriptions of each of the mammal families found on the continent. Rexford D. Lord

BATS IN FORESTS Conservation and Management

edited by Michael J. Lacki, John P. Hayes, and Allen Kurta foreword by Merlin D. Tuttle

Over the past two decades it has become increasingly clear that bat conservation and management are strongly linked

to the health of forests within their range.

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Just before sunrise from December 7th good telescopic views of the planet the 12th at 9:32 a.m., and to new on until the 14th, Jupiter (magnitude just yet, though. Even with good mag- the 20th at 9:01 A.M. The Moon -1.7), Mercury (-0.6), and Mars (1.5) nification, Venus remains a dot of daz- waxes to first quarter on the 27th at cluster low in the east-southeast sky. zUng light, just barely out of round. 9:48 A.M. In January, the Moon re- The best time to look for this intrigu- turns to friU on the 3rd at 8:57 A.M.,

ing pre-Christmas gathering is around From late December until next May then wanes to last quarter on the 1 1 th 6:30 A.M. local standard time—though Mars rises soon after the beginning of at 7:45 a.m. and to new on the 18th at the group's low altitude and proximity morning twilight. On New Year's 11:01 P.M. First quarter falls on Janu-

to the Sun will probably make it im- Day, when it Ues 222 million miles ary 25th at 6:01 RM. The Moon oc-

possible (or nearly so) to see Mars with from the Earth, Mars is a dim, +1.5- cults, or gUdes in front of, the Pleiades the unaided eye. The trio becomes magnitude object low in the south- star cluster for observers in North most compact on the 10th—the three eastern sky. That makes it somewhat America and Europe on the night of planets fit inside a one-degree circle. fainter than the ruddy star Antares, December 3—4. Unfortunately, the

On that morning, they resemble a which is nearly ten degrees above the Moon is nearly friU that night, making

small arrowhead pointing west, with Red Planet and to its right in the con- it hard to observe the occultation even Mars at the tip of the arrow. stellation Scorpius, the scorpion. Dur- with a good telescope. ing January the planet moves twenty-

By the 20th, Mercury is rising even four degrees eastward, from the con- The Geminid meteors, which peak on later, just forty-five minutes before the stellation Ophiuchus, the serpent the night of December 13—14, could

Sun does, and so it becomes hard to holder, into the constellation Sagittar- be the best shower of the year. You see. The planet reaches superior con- ius, the archer. In fact, Mars nearly might see as many as seventy-five junction, behind and roughly in line keeps pace with the Sun. With a large slow, gracefril Geminids an hour. The with the Sun, on January 7th, and telescope, you might be able to resolve meteors appear to radiate from a spot then bolts back into view late in the the planet into a tiny disk. in the sky near the stars Castor and month in the evening sky. By the 27th Pollux, in the constellation Gemini,

you might gHmpse Mercury with the By the end of December, Jupiter is the twins, which wiU be fairly high in naked eye low in the southwest, be- rising a few minutes before 5 A.M. the northeast sky by 10 P.M. local stan- tween about thirty and forty minutes local standard time, and by the end of dard time. On the night of December

after sundown. Use Venus as a guide; January it's coming up about ninety 12—13 the Moon, which is just past you will see Mercury about eight de- minutes earlier. Jupiter has moved last quarter, rises at about 12:30 A.M., grees below and to the right of the from the constellation Libra, the which leaves about two and a half

bright planet (your clenched fist held scales, where it spent much of 2006, hours of dark skies for good meteor at arm's length measures roughly ten into the richly starred region of Scor- watching. Conditions improve there-

degrees of arc). pius 's head. Then, on January 29th, after, as moonrise is delayed by about the largest planet officially moves into an hour with each passing night and During December Venus begins to Ophiuchus. the Moon continues to wane. Before climb up out of the sunset's glow in the Geminid maximum, small, faint

earnest and returns, at magnitude Saturn is in the constellation Leo, the meteors dominate the shower. During

—3.9, to reclaim its role of brightest Hon. At the start of December it rises and after the peak period, bright me- evening "star." Look for Venus vwth out of the east-northeast shortly after teors and fireballs appear. binoculars shortly after sundown very 10 P.M. local standard rime and reach-

low in the southwest. On December es its highest point in the south just be- The Sun arrives at the Solstice, its

1st the planet is just four degrees fore dawn. By the end ofJanuary the southernmost position in the sky, at

above the southwest horizon at sun- planet rises before 6 P.M. and is highest 7:22 RM. on December 21st. Winter

down (as seen from around forty de- in the sky around 1 A.M. By dawn it begins in the Northern Hemisphere;

grees north latitude); it touches the drops low toward the west-northwest summer in the Southern Hemisphere. horizon about a half-hour later. horizon. During December and Janu-

By New Year's Day Venus is eleven ary a thirty-power telescope is enough Earth reaches perihelion, its closest ap- degrees high at sunset and remains up to reveal the famous ring system, which proach to the Sun, at 3 RM. January

for more than an hour. Come the end appears ripped at about twelve-and-a- 3rd. Our planet is 91.4 million miles of January, this interval increases to half to thirteen degrees toward Earth. from the Sun.

almost two hours, and Venus is sriU

about nineteen degrees above the The Moon is fuU on December 4th at Unless otherwise noted, all times are east-

horizon at sunset. Don't expect any 7:25 P.M. It wanes to last quarter on ern standard time.

66 NATUR.M HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 I LETTERS

(Continuedfrom page 12)

Sensory Trade-off In his article "Broken Pieces of Every- day Life" (10/06), Sean B. Carroll sug- Some places are more gests that trichromatic vision is tied to than others. reduced olfactory perception. "The enlightening fraction of fossil olfactory receptor genes," he writes, "is significandy high-

er in all species with flill color vision"

(such as the Old World primates). But Mr. Carroll skips over the fact that some

reptiles equipped vwth fiill color vision also have excellent olfactory perception.

Mr. CarroU also states: "Because de- caying genes accumulate multiple de-

fects, their inactivation cannot readily be reversed." Yet, New World howler monkeys appear to have "recaptured" color vision. Herb Windolf

Prescott, Arizona Lighthouses are only part of the story. l^eOutpr'Ban^ Sean B. Carroll replies: The obser- Learn more. Call 877.0BX.4FUN. outerbanks.ore

vations I report about the fate of olfac- tory-receptor genes in various primates with color vision are based on data from DNA. How such genetic change un- folded in reptiles is not known in such Hold the whole world in your hand with detail. According to Kurt Schwenk of the University of Connecticut, in jomirascope^ Storrs, in some reptUes with full color vision, olfactory perception is excel- 8 X 20 monocular lent, in others it is reduced. The spe- Jomirascope is so small that it fits cies' lifestyles Ukely maintain differing unobtrusively in a man's coat pocket or a lady's

pressures on the olfactory system. • purse. Yet it packs a tremendous wallop in its tiny Till' upiia ofjomirascope

are 8x20 - 8.x magnification The howler monkey does indeed body Its 8 X 20 fully prismatic and hard-coated optics with 20 mm objective lens. have fuU color vision, but acquired it give you 8x magnification, with a remarkable field of It comes ill a neat zippered objective lens affords millions of years later than our Old 430 ft. at 1 ,000 yds. Its 20 mm canying case. The objective lens unusual light gathering even at dusk or dawn. What World ancestors did, by independent- can be used as an 8x magnifier ,*I .?.^.r microscope attachment was that rustling in the bushes? With jomirascope ly duplicating an opsin gene. The fos- (S29.95. ifor $59.90) is also available. you'll discover that it was an ivory-billed woodpecker sil opsin gene was not repaired. In the Do you wish to explore every feahire on the moon, or How to order howler monkey, by the way, the pro- (with some luck) discern the rings of Saturn? You may order by toll-free phone, by mail, or portion of fossil olfactory receptor jomirascope will be your instrument of choice. Much by fax and pay by check or AMEX A'isa/ MasterCard. Please give order code shown. Add genes is high, independently exempli- smaller than even "pocket" binoculars and with greater $6.95 for one, $9.90 for three ship./ins. and sales fying how acquiring color vision can magnification than most, jomirascope should be your tax for CA delivery. You have 30-day refiind and constant companion. lead to reduced olfaction. one-year warranty. We do not refiind postage. exclusive importers of this outstanding We are the For customer service or wholesale information, optical device and are therefore able to bring it to you please call (415) 356-7801. Please give order Natural History welcomes correspondence at the great price ofjust $59.95. But, here is tlie even codeY786. readers. Letters should sent via from be better deal: Buy hvo jomirascopes for $1 19.90 and e-mail to [email protected] we'U send you a third one, with our compliments,

or byfax to 646-356-6511. All letters absolutely FREE! You really shouldn't be without it, jomira division of joniira/advance should include a daytime telephone number, so take advantage of this of this offer and order your Street, #21 San Francisco, 94107 jomirascope(s) today! 470 Third 1, CA and all letters may be editedfor length

and clarity. Order by toll-free phone: 1-800/600-2272, or (fastest!) by fax: 1-415/356-2804. Visitourwebsiteatwww.joinira.com At the Museum American Museum S Natural History ^ www.amnh.org

Origami Holiday Tree

orange elephant has arrived from Pune, TheIndia. So have the blue and cream-colored pachyderms and the silver giraffe. From across the country and around the world, the safari gathers, fantasy folds that make the shapes of Kons and tigers and bears—and birds and butterflies and Burmese pythons.

The Origami Holiday Tree is back, an annual tradi- tion, with a safari theme for 2006 and more than 300 intricate and astonishing paper examples of biodiversity. The American Museum of Natural History's entirely original tree decorations are largely the work of OrigamiUSA, a 1,600-member organization headquartered at the American Museum of Natural History.

Beginning in late spring and gathering momentum through November, volunteers fold, experiment, and

fold some more. Magical creatures alight from all over as a folder in Hawaii, another in California, some international enthusiasts, and about 40 local OrigamiUSA members deliver their fragile orna- ments for the 14-foot tree.

The Origami Holiday Tree can be viewed through

January i, 2007, in the Theodore Roosevelt Memor-

ial Hall on the Museum's lower level. OrigamiUSA volunteers will be on hand throughout the holidays

to teach visitors of all ages the art of paper folding.

Try your skill and take home a purple bunny (easy) or a plaid camel (harder) as a handmade souvenir of your holiday visit to the Museum.

Previous Origami Holiday Tree themes have included "Flight," "Winter," and "Under the Sea." This year's "Safari" theme proves just as festive. PEOPLE ATTHEAMNH Lizards ei Snakes: Alive! A fascinating display of 60 live speci- Maria Diana Last Chance! around the world. Last day, Lieutenant mens from Department of Security and Safety Don't miss these three wonderful exhi- January 7. bitions, now in their final weeks: Yellowstone to Yukon UM OF^ Voicesfrom South ofthe Clouds Spectacular photos chronicle the effort to m Villagers in southwestern China use provide wildlife unimpeded access to nat- A evocative photographs and storytelling to ural ranges in the North American West.

OR^ )ti document their world. Through January 2. Ends January 15. ^#L ^ The Museum at Your Fingertips You might say Maria Diana was born to handle crowds and kids. www.amnh.org

Twelfth in a family of 13 children, she With a few clicks at your computer, immerse yourself in all the Museum has to

is happiest working Halloween when offer without leaving home. Simply visit www.amnh.org for detailed information the halls are jammed with double about public programs, cutting-edge scientific research, and more, including our

strollers, or the Friday after Thanks- permanent and special exhibitions.

giving, the single busiest day in the For example, a Hnk to www.amnh.org/gold offers a sparkling exploration of our Museum's year. newest exhibition. Gold. Here, through multimedia, glittering images, and de- Maria started 20 years ago when scriptive text, you can preview the exhibition's features to be sure you won't miss Museum security included grounds- favorites when you visit in person. Or, after your on-site experience, use the link to keeping, and today her job can be take a virtual tour and learn more.

best described in one word: diplo- macy. That can mean nudging par- ents changing diapers in front of Can You Guess What This Is? dioramas to use the changing tables in restrooms; quieting rowdy teens, Students in class- through newly developed content reminding them they are "in a mu- rooms around both in magazines and online.

seum, not a park"; patiently explain- the country took their ing for the umpteenth time where best guesses to deci- Upcoming Science Explorations

the nearest bathroom is; or— in re- pher this mystery photo articles in Science World® and sponse to the second most common in a recent issue of SuperScience® will investigate question—the way out. Scholastic's Science flora and fauna deep in the Maria's duties also bring her into World® and Super- Vietnamese jungle, and—in a contact with politicians such as Pres- Science® magazines, feature complementing the ident George W. Bush, who appeared which featured an arti- Museum's big summer exhibi- at a reception at the Museum the day cle about American Mu- tion—unravel the science be-

he opened the United Nations in seum of Natural History hind mythic beasts like drag- September 2003—an event that in- scientist Julie Feinstein ons and unicorns. cluded Colin Powell and Pervez and her fascinating work

Musharraf. She is no stranger to as the Collections Man- Students, parents, and teach- movie stars either, recently working ager of the Museum's ers looking to dig deeper into security for filming Night at the frozen tissue lab. the coolest science topics can

Museum, a comedy with Ben Stiller visit wAvw.scholastic.com/ and Robin Williams. The article, which invites scienceexplorations for Having emigrated to the United readers to peer into cryovats multimedia activities,

States as a teenager, Maria still has preserving the DNA of a wide a virtual library, Web quests,

relatives in her native Italian province range of animal species, is part and more, all part of Caserta, including a cousin who of the second year of Science Explo- of Science Explorations.

works in the Royal Palace there, rations, an award-winning partner- famous more recently as an interior ship between the American Museum of Still wondering about the photo above?

location in several episodes of Natural History and Scholastic. The Go to http://ology.amnh.org/ Star Wars. His job? Security. partnership promotes science literacy mystery_photo/frozen to see if you

among students in grades 3 through 10 were right!

The contents of these paces are provided to Natuhal Hi^osr by the American Museum of Natural History. .

Museum Events American Museum 5 Natural History '^ www.amnh.org

Voicesfrom South ofthe Clouds of New York, the New York City Council, 21st-century Challenges in and the New York City Department of Cul- Through January 2, 20oy Mining Gold tural Affairs. Additional support has been China's Yunnan Province is re- provided by the May and Samuel Rudin Wednesday, 12/6, y:oo p.m. Family Foundation, Inc., theTolan Family, vealed through the photogra- Panel discussion moderated and thefamily of Frederick H. Leonhardt. phy of its indigenous people. by James D. Webster, AMNH.

This exhibition is made possible by a gener- LECTURES ous grant from Eastman Kodak Company. Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Newton's Alchemy The presentation of this exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History is Sharks and Other Thursday, 1/11, 7:00 p.m. made possible by the generosity of the Sea Monsters With science historian William Arthur Ross Foundation. Sunday, 12/^, 2:00 p.m. Newman. Keros cups from Peru Yellowstone to Yukon With pop-up creators Robert

EXHIBITIONS Through January 15, 2007 Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart. Adventures in the Global Gold Spectacular photographs Kitchen: Golden Sake

Through August ig, 200'] emphasize the diverse flora, Tuesday, 1/16, •j:oop.m.

This glittering exhibition ex- fauna, and geology of the Yel- Learn and taste with sake

plores the captivating story of lowstone to Yukon corri- experts. the world's most desired metal. dor—an area connecting Extraordinary geological speci- habitats so that wide-rang Volcanic Acti'vity and Forma-

mens, cultural objects, and in- ing animals can tion of Gold Deposits teractive exhibits explore and il- travel unimpeded Thursday, 1/18, 'j:oo p.m. luminate gold's timeless allure. by human struc- |g With economic geologist

Gold is organized by the American tures and devel- Jeffrey W Hedenquist. Museum of Natural History, New York opments. (www.amnli.org), in cooperation with The Houston Museum of Natural Science. This exhibition was developed by Encyclopedia Prehistorica: The Upside of Down

This exhibition is proudly supported by the American Museum of Natural Sharks and Other Sea Monsters. Thursday, 1/2^ 7:00 p.m. The Tiffany &. Co. Foundation, with History's Center for Biodiversity and Copyright ©2006 by Robert additional support from Conservation in concert with the With conservationist Thomas Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart. American Express' Cold Card. Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative Homer-Dixon. and the Wilburforce Foundation and is Reproduced by permission of made possible by their support. Additional the publisher, Candlewick Press, The ButteifiY Conservatory generous support provided by the Inc., Cambridge, MA Woodcock Foundation. Through May 28, looy

Visitors mingle with live, free- To the Ends of the Earth ?-j flying butterflies in a tropical GLOBAL WEEKENDS Tuesday, 12/y '/:00 p.m. Sta/vt environment. Kwanzaa Spirit 2006 With photographer and Saturday, 12/jo, 12:00 noon- explorer Gordon Wiltsie. NIGHTI ^^bri^^^^dH Lizards ei Snakes: Alive! y.oo p.m. IjMZZl^A Through January 7, zooy In an afternoon of song, dance, -^1/ Live lizards and snakes are the and spoken word, this festival center of attention in this en- salutes 40 years of Ngwzo Saba, Rose Center for Earth gaging exhibition. Fossil speci- Kwanzaa's seven principles. AND Space

mens, life-size models, and in- Sets at 6:00 and j:}0 p.m. teractive stations complement Living in America: Friday, December 1 the more than 60 live animals The Mure of Gold

representing 26 species. Three Sundays, 1/14, 21 s[ 28 Stefon Harris Presents

Lizards ci[ Snakes: Alive! is organized by i:oo-yoo p.m. "African Tarantella . . the American Museum of Natural History, Trace the enduring influence of Dances with Duke" New York (www.amnh.org), in collabo- The set will be broadcast live on ration with Fernbank Museum of Natural this glittering symbol of wealth, 7:30 WBCO)azz88.3FM History, Atlanta, and the San Diego power, and beauty with perfor- Natural History Museum, with apprecia- tion to Clyde Peeling's Reptiland. mances, discussions, and films Friday, January 5 Hanging camp at Great Sail Lizards d[ Snakes: Alive! is made for adults and families. Visitwww.amnh.org possible, in part, by grants from Peak, Baffin Island, Canada, The Dyson Foundation and the Global Weekends are made possible, in 1998, in To The Ends of for lineup. A,-ny and Larry Robbins Foundation. part, by The Coca-Cola Company, the City the Earth y

Aglow in the Dark: i:}o-]:oo p.m. (Ages G-y, HAYDEN PLANETARIUM Art/Science and each child with one adult) PROGRAMS Bioluminescence TUESDAYS IN THE DOME

Thursday, 1/2^, y:oop.m. COLD SUNDAYS Virtual Universe

Panel discussion with scien- Gold Myths Is it a Planet?

tists and artists. Sunday, 12/3, n:oo a.m.- Tuesday, 12/y 6:]o-y:]o p.m. 12:^0 p.m. (Ages 4-6, A New Year for the Milky Way

FAMILY AND each child with one adult) or Tuesday, 1/2, 6:]o-y:]o p.m. CHILDREN'S r.^o-y.oo p.m. (Ages y-g)

PROGRAMS This Just In... Wild, Wild World: Wolves Gilding with Gold Leaf December's Hot Topics The formation of our Moon Saturday, 12/g, 12:00 noon- Sunday, 12/10, 11:00 a.m.- Tuesday, 12/ig, 6:]o-y:]o p.m. in Cosmic Collisions 1:00p.m. and 2:oo-y.oop.m. 12:^0 p.m. (Ages 4-6, January's Hot Topics Live animal program. each child with one adult) or Tuesday, 1/16, 6:]o-y:^o p.m. night sky—to explore cosmic

Wild, Wild World is made possible, in i:^o-yoo p.m. (Ages y-g) collisions, hypersonic impacts part, Mortimer B. Zuckerman. by Celestial Highlights that drive the dynamic forma- All about Alchemy Wheels in Wheels tion of our universe. Narrated

NEW ASTRONOMY Sunday, 12/iy, 11:00 a.m.- Tuesday, 12/28, 6:]o-y:^o p.m. by Robert Redford.

PROGRAMS 12:^0 p.m. (Ages 4-6, Sparkling Winter Jewels Cosmic Collisions was developed in col- Twinkling Stars each child with one adult) or Tuesday, i/]o, 6:}o-y:}op.m. laboration with the Denver Museum of Natures. Science; GOTO, Inc., Tokyo, Tuesdays, Two 12/^ ^ 12, i:}o-y.oop.m. (Ages y-g) Japan; and the Shanghai Science and 4:oo-y.}o p.m. (Ages 4-6, LECTURES Technology Museum. Made possible through the generous support of CIT each child with one adult) The Cosmic Landscape Cosmic Collisions was created by the Monday, 12/11, 6:]o-y:^o p.m. American Museum of Natural History with the major support and partnership Elemental Universe With string theorist Leonard of the National Aeronautics and Space Saturday, 12/g, 11:00 a.m.- Susskind. Administration's Science Mission Directorate, Heliophysics Division. y.oop.m. (Ages 10 and up) Postcards from Mars Monday, i/2g, 6:}o-y:}o p.m. SonicVision

Frosty Adventures With Mars scientist Jim Bell. Fridays and Saturdays, Saturday, 1/20, 11:00 a.m.- y:^o and 8:}op.m. 12:^0 p.m. (Ages 4- Cold leaf suspended HAYDEN PLANETARIUM Hypnotic visuals and rhythms each child with one adult) or In a bottle SHOWS take viewers on a ride through Cosmic Collisions fantastical dreamspace. INFORMATION journey into deep space—well Presented in association with MTV2 and in collaboration with renowned beyond the calm face of the Call 212-769-5100 or visit www.amnh.org. artist Moby.

TICKETS AND REGISTRATION Call 212-769-5200, Monday- Friday, 9:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m., or visit wAww.amnh.org. A service charge may apply Gifts All programs are subject to change. These exquisite handmade art glass AMNH eNotes delivers the latest information on Museum paperweights programs and events to you monthly via email. Visit capture the spirit of WAWw.amnh.org to sign up today! our planets and other cosmic bodies.

Choose from Venus, Mars, Become a Member of the Jupiter, American Museum of Natural History Saturn, and more.

You'll enjoy many valuable benefits, including unlimited free Shop online at general admission, discounts on programs and in shops, www.amnh.org or call our Personal subscriptions to Natural History magazine and Shopper at our Members' newletter Rotunda, and much more! 1-800-671-7035.

THE MUSEUM For further information, call 212-769-5606 m SHOPS

The CONTENTS OF THESE PACES ARE PROVIDED TO NATURAL HfSTORr BY THE AMERICAN MuSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ENDPAPER

a warm afternoon in south- fore, defying common sense, a guard It's ern India, and the bus is hot and at a nearby tea estate approached a dusty. After six bumpy hours Fearful sleeping tiger and prodded it with a on rough mountain roads with nu- stick. The tiger, rudely roused from merous hairpin turns, my bones are slumber, promptly mauled the guard, weary. And frankly, I'm feeling sorry Symmetry killing him. A companion of the for myself. After years in the class- guard hved to tell the tale. Some vil-

room and the library, I was ready at lagers last saw the tiger entering this By Shaily Menon last to conduct my doctoral research forest fragment. on lion-tailed macaques, an endan- gered species. But my plans to spend study group, remain trapped in small ponder the tracker's story as we two years in a remote, pristine forest forest fragments. The loss of habitat I walk in silence toward the mon- were foiled. Forty-three of my study threatens them with extinction. My keys. From a tiger's point of Ndew, a subjects Uve in a pale ghost of the task is to document their behavior tea estate has litde to recommend

original forest, a small fragment sur- and how they manage to survive it as habitat. Nor has a frayed forest

rounded by plantations and degraded under such diminished conditions. fragment, where food is scarce and by logging. I began my work here The tracker and I walk along an territory cramped. What tiger would

three months ago, but I'm still feel- overgro\vn trail, craning our necks to linger here, when distant, ample for-

ests beckon? I shrug oif the possibility. Our footsteps slow^ as we arrive at the trees where the monkeys are behaving strangely. We move cautiously through the thick undergrowth, which ob- scures our vision and blocks our path.

Then we hear it. A low, quietly menacing growl emanates from a patch of vegetation, five feet to the right. Tensing, the tracker halts in his tracks and tightens his grip on his

rusted machete. Close on his heels, I freeze. We gHmpse streaks of orange burning through the green under- growth. In that moment of surg- ing adrenaline, silence borders on

Henri Rousseau, Tropical Thunderstorm with a Tiger (detail), 1891 cacophony and stillness on frenzied motion. Self-preservation, primal ing cheated. What can such marginal catch a teUtale movement or sound: and raw, urges flight: turn back, tear territory possibly offer by way of dis- the loud crash of branches as a mon- through the undergrowth. But an- covery or adventure? key jumps across a gap in the trees other impulse, intensely conflicting,

I hop off" the bus, returning to the or the soft call-and-response "coos" impels me to stay, to prolong the study site after a trip to the herbar- of monkeys keeping in touch. For an moment, to step forv^-ard and behold ium in the nearest city, Coimbatore. hour or more we hear only the insis- the tiger's fearful symmetrv'. My tracker, with his rough-hewn tent, chattery warning calls of Mala- The tracker senses my indecision. machete and keen forest instincts, bar giant squirrels. Finally, we notice He catches my eye and gesmres %\'ith awaits me at the bus stop. We head to a flurr)' of activity in a distant group his fingers to turn around and \\-alk the forest fragment, a 160-acre island of trees. We have found the mon- away quietly. Selt-preservarion prevails.

in a sea of tea and coffee plantations, keys—but something is amiss. I walk s\\'iftly and more deliberately to search tor the macaques. Several are barking and lunging than I ever have before, humbled and Lion-tailed macaques are black toward the undergrowth, their typi- awed. My research has begun in ear-

monkeys with distinctive shaggy, gray cal response to a predator. I wonder nest, and I have much to learn.

manes and tufted tails. They hve only aloud if a village dog has strayed into in rainforests in the southern part the forest. Few, if any, of the monkey's Shaily Mesox is an associate professor of

of the Western Ghats, the mountain natural predators survive here. The coiisert'alioii hiolcgy and cliair of the biology

ch.iin that parallels India's western tracker tells me about some buzz he depanmetn at Grand I alley State University coastline, and many of them, hke my heard at the bus stop. The week be- in Allendale, Micltigati.

72JNATU!-\L HISTORY December 2006/January 2007 •^^wl/j^ffm^mmm^^

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