Member Magazine Winter 2016 Vol. 41 No. 1

dinosaurs among us opens march 21

The titanosaur arrives this month 2 News at the Museum 3

From the Last November, I was pleased to announce that growing audience. We are building the new the Museum’s Trustees had approved an exciting Gilder Center because our times demand it and Conceptual Design for President conceptual architectural design for our new Gilder technology makes possible new ways of seeing Center for Science, Education, and Innovation by and exploring the Museum, both onsite and Gilder Center Announced Ellen V. Futter MacArthur Fellow Jeanne Gang. The new facility online. At a time when science literacy and In November, the Museum’s Board of Trustees endorsed will open in 2020 and be located on the Columbus science education are critical to our nation’s the conceptual design for the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Avenue side of the Museum campus. future, the new Gilder Center will allow us Education, and Innovation, a new building that will invite visitors Many of you who visit the Museum frequently to create new kinds of learning spaces and to to experience the Museum not only as a place of public exhibitions or volunteer here know that we are bursting employ new exhibition techniques to present but as an active scientific and educational institution. at the seams—last year, we welcomed a record science’s 21st-century frontiers—on the “The Gilder Center embraces the Museum’s integrated five million visitors, and we are on pace to match microscopic level, at the ocean’s depths, or inside mission and growing role in scientific research and education or exceed that number this year. The new Gilder the human body. And it will highlight and make and its enhanced capacity to make its extensive resources Center will help us accommodate and serve accessible the Museum’s research and collections— even more fully accessible to the public,” said Museum that growing audience, and its location will allow all to improve students’ and the public’s President Ellen V. Futter. us to create new linkages with existing halls understanding of the world in which we live. The conceptual design for the Gilder Center links 10 Museum that currently terminate in dead ends. This will We are extremely excited to be moving forward buildings through 30 connections, linking galleries and other create more satisfying, effective, and intellectually with development of the innovative and important spaces to vastly improve visitor circulation. cogent journeys of discovery through the Museum. Gilder Center, and I look forward to keeping you But it is not just about accommodating a updated in the months and years ahead. For additional information about the Gilder Center, visit amnh.org/GilderCenter. The proposed façade of the Gilder Center from 79th Street and Columbus Avenue .

Table of Contents Coming Soon: The Titanosaur News 3 Researchers have inferred that this dinosaur, a giant Close-Up 4 herbivore that belongs to a group known as titanosaurs, 4 6 weighed in at around 70 tons. The gigantic animal lived Big Brains 6 in Patagonia between 100 and 95 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period, when the region was mostly forest. Teaching from the Heart 10 “Titanosaur fossils have been unearthed on every continent, and an abundance of discoveries in recent years has helped Next 14 us appreciate the deep diversity of this group,” says Michael Novacek, the Museum’s provost for science and curator in MicroRangers to the Rescue 20 the Division of Paleontology. The January unveiling of the Museum’s new dinosaur is Members 22 part of a special year of events, exhibitions, and digital offerings that highlight the dramatic developments in paleontology 10 20 over the past few decades. “Paleontology has become less geological and more biological A team member is dwarfed by a bone of the gigantic dinosaur excavated in Patagonia. in the last 20 years or so,” says Mark Norell, Macaulay Curator and Chair of the Division of Paleontology, as well as the curator Something really, really big is coming to the Museum this month. of the upcoming exhibition Dinosaurs Among Us. “Our access Starting January 15, a cast of a 122-foot-long dinosaur—one to advanced and extremely precise scientific tools like CT of the largest ever discovered—will become the new centerpiece scanners and other x-ray imaging techniques lets us ask questions of the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Orientation Center on the fourth beyond ‘what species is this, and when did it die?’ Now we can floor. The new addition will graze the gallery’s approximately look at complex topics like the evolution of dinosaur brains and American Museum of Natural History ISSN 0194-6110 Chairman Lewis W. Bernard USPS Permit #472-650 19-foot-high ceilings and will be just a bit too long to fit completely the presence and color of dinosaur feathers.” President Ellen V. Futter Volume 41, No. 1, Winter 2016 into the space. Instead, its neck and head will extend out toward In preparation for adding this colossal new exhibit, in Vice President of Development and Membership Laura Lacchia Rose Rotunda is published quarterly by the Membership Office of the American the elevator banks, welcoming visitors to the “fossil floor.” September the Museum removed a life-sized—but, by comparison, Director of Membership Louise Adler Museum of Natural History, 15 West 77th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192. The cast is based on a species of dinosaur so new that it has not diminutive—model of a juvenile Barosaurus that had been on Phone: 212-769-5606. Website: amnh.org. Museum membership of $75 yet been formally named by the paleontologists who discovered display since June 1996. Magazine per year and higher includes a subscription to Rotunda. © 2016 American it in Argentina’s Patagonia region in 2014. The remains were Editor Eugenia V. Levenson Museum of Natural History. Periodical postage paid at New York, NY and excavated in the desert near La Flecha—135 miles west of Trelew, Contributors Joan Kelly Bernard, Ian Chant, Jill Hamilton, at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: please send address changes to The Titanosaur exhibit is free for Members or with Museum admission. Eliza McCarthy, Karen Miller, Elena Sansalone Rotunda, Membership Office, AMNH, at the above address. Patagonia—by a team from the Museum of Paleontology Egidio Design Hinterland, www.hinterlandstudio.com Feruglio led by José Luis Carballido and Diego Pol, who received Generous support for the Titanosaur exhibit has been provided by Please send questions, ideas, and feedback to [email protected]. his Ph.D. degree here at the Museum. the Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Foundation. 4 © AMNH/H. Davies, 6 © Z.Chuang/Peking Natural Science Organization, 10 © AMNH/R. Mickens, 20 © AMNH Photo: Dr. Alejandro Otero; Gilder Center rendering courtesy of Studio Gang Architects

Rotunda / Winter 2016 / AMNH.org 4 Close-Up at the Museum 5

Attractive Qualities The paper kite has characteristics that make A Perennial Favorite Cast of AMNH FARB 7224 it an especially popular choice for live butterfly exhibits. Its slow, lumbering flight makes it easy In The Butterfly Conservatory, it’s easy to pick out the paper kites (Idea leuconoe) to study up close and to photograph. It’s also with their striking—dare we say sophisticated?—color pattern of black and white. “friendly”—tending to land on visitors and return The species, also known as the large tree nymph and the rice paper butterfly, to them again and again. is a perennial at the popular seasonal live-animal exhibition, which is overseen by David Grimaldi, curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology. Rare Photo Op Denizens of dense forests and coastal mangrove swamps, paper kites range When Carol Butler first began volunteering from Thailand to Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Borneo. Their large in The Butterfly Conservatory, she took a stunning wings—spanning up to 4.5 inches—allow them to glide, even sail through their photo of two paper kites in the vivarium. habitat. While the wings are somewhat yellowish toward the body, the highly “Because they’re toxic, those particular butterflies recognizable black and white markings may serve a protective purpose: warning are apparently fearless,” she says. “They will climb off predators familiar with the species’ unpleasant taste, caused by a toxin called onto your finger like a pet parakeet.” The photo, danaidone that is passed by the male to the female during mating. unusual because it shows the pair mating, ran “It is very likely that they do advertise themselves,” says Dr. Grimaldi, noting, on the cover of the Journal of the Lepidopterists’ however, that more typically animals that are warningly colored (aposematic) Society in December 2005. tend to have red, yellow, and black in a banded pattern, as seen in various insects, frogs, snakes, and butterflies. Hot Job Listing The paper kite was first described in 1834 by German entomologist Wilhelm Butler is a co-author with Hazel Davies, Ferdinand Erichson (1809–1848) from a specimen found on what was then State Pride director of living exhibits, of Do Butterflies Bite? the Philippine island of Luçon, today known as Luzon. Erichson was a physician The discovery of Coelophysis bauri was one She has worked for more than 10 years as who became enthralled with entomology during his university years, publishing of the most notable in the history of New Mexico, a butterfly volunteer. Hers is the only volunteer his first entomological papers while still studying medicine. Although he died Subway Coelophysis and so far, examples of the species have only opportunity at the Museum that mentions just short of turning 40, his career in entomology was exceptional, especially been found within the state. Because of this tolerating two hours of 80° F heat and 80 percent his role in the study of rove beetles, compiling the first complete worldwide In 1947, Museum paleontologist Edwin H. Colbert and his team came upon connection, it was named the official state fossil humidity. Or, as Davies puts it, “where it’s classification of the family Staphylinidae. a veritable graveyard of the carnivorous dinosaur Coelophysis bauri at the of New Mexico in 1981. summer all winter long!” “There’s no doubt in my mind that Erichson was a genius and one of the most New Mexico fossil site known as Ghost Ranch. important, if not the most important, entomologists of all time,” wrote Museum These early dinosaurs were small, fast, bipedal predators that likely chased Painter’s Paradise Storied Name Curator Emeritus Lee Herman in the July 18, 2001, Bulletin of the American down prey. In life, this Coelophysis probably looked much like a tiny Tyrannosaurus Famed painter Georgia O’Keeffe also spent Idea is pretty straightforward: Latin for idea, Museum of Natural History, comparing Erichson’s effect on the field to Mozart’s with long arms and a pointed face. The specimens Colbert found were remarkably many years at Ghost Ranch, and purchased archetype, even “ideal specimen.” The specific in music. “They both made an enormous impact in their respective fields, well preserved, complete, and in many cases articulated. a house there in 1940. In 2006, Nesbitt and name, leuconoe, has mythic connotations. but they both died very young. We are left to guess what would have happened Coelophysis is also among the bronze fossil casts you can see and touch in the 81st Mark Norell, Macaulay Curator of Paleontology In Greek mythology, Ovid used that name had they both had longer lives.” Street subway station, one of several created by the Metropolitan Transportation and Chair of the Division of Paleontology, for one of three sisters turned into bats Authority Arts for Transit program as part of the station’s renovation in 2000. That named a species of archosaur found in the for refusing to worship the Greek god Dionysus. The Butterfly Conservatory: Tropical Butterflies Alive in Winteris open through May 29. very cast, in fact, helped Museum researchers dispel a longstanding hypothesis quarries there Effigia okeeffeae in her honor. And Horace addressed an ode to Leuconoe Members enjoy special benefits. about the species decades after its initial discovery. about embracing the present. For a long while, Coelophysis was thought to be a cannibal. This was due to Then and Now the presence of tiny Coelophysis bones in the belly of one of the larger Coelophysis Ghost Ranch is in a beautiful desert region that Dozens in a Drawer specimens turned up by Colbert and his team. But one night, while waiting for a train has been used as a setting in several Westerns. One glass-topped shelf in the Museum’s on the way to dinner, Sterling Nesbitt, then a Ph.D. student at the Museum, noticed But when Coelophysis roamed the area, it was Entomology Department is filled with something off about the cast when he glanced at some of the remains in the stomach. a much different place—a lush, wet river delta, beautifully preserved paper kites. There are “I just went over to look, and that’s when I could see the head of the thigh dotted with lakes and replete with plant life. 38 in all, from various venues in Southeast bone,” says Dr. Nesbitt, now a Museum research associate and professor at Asia and with labels that list some of the most Virginia Tech. “And it looked like it wasn’t a dinosaur.” Fossil Forge prominent 20th-century butterfly collectors, Nesbitt’s examinations of the subway cast prompted him and Macaulay The four quarries at Ghost Ranch and other sites including Otto Buchholz, A.C. Frederick, Curator of Paleontology Mark Norell to take a closer look at the Coelophysis are rich in fossils of dinosaurs and their crocodylian and longtime Museum Curator Fred Rindge. fossils in the Museum’s collections, which forced them to rethink Colbert’s relatives, often dating from the same time period. initial hypothesis. Their conclusion: the bones in the stomach belonged to one This suggests that this area was teeming with life of the many creatures in the same area more closely related to crocodiles, for millions of years. such as Hesperosuchus agilis. “Coelophysis was just hungry,” Dr. Nesbitt says. “It was eating another animal Start Small that lived at the same time, and it wasn’t a cannibal.” While we tend to think of dinosaurs as giants, So next time you’re in the subway, remember to take a good look at the casts they started small like Coelophysis, with enormous adorning the walls. There’s no telling what you might spot. examples evolving later on. “This was one of the first dinosaurs, or at least it represents an early For more dinosaur discoveries, visit Dinosaurs Among Us, opening March 21. dinosaur body plan,” says Nesbitt. “And this

Idea leuconoe Previous page © AMNH/H. Davies; this page © AMNH/M. Shanley Members enjoy special benefits. is probably what all early dinosaurs looked like.”

Rotunda / Winter 2016 / AMNH.org 6 dinosaurs among us 7 opens march 21 Dino

new research is blurring Brainsthe line between dinosaurs and modern birds.

Rotunda / Winter 2016 / AMNH.org 8 dinosaurs among us 9 opens march 21

of dinosaur brains—and how both changed over time—by examining their skulls using computed tomography (CT) scanners. Dinosaurs with particularly large New Special Exhibition brains left imprints on the inside of their skulls. CT scans allow scientists to create digital endocranial casts—detailed, 3D reconstructions of the interiors of fossilized Dinosaurs Among Us will examine how skulls—for the first time, a thrilling feat that sheds new light on the evolutionary one group of dinosaurs evolved into road from dinosaur brains to those of modern birds. the fascinating living creatures we call “Recent advances in medical imaging allow us to see what resided in birds. From flight to feathers, nests the skull of an array of extinct animals,” says Balanoff. “What is even more to wishbones, and brains to lungs, the exciting is that once we know what the brain looked like, we can begin to make exhibition will highlight the continuities at least some broad inferences about their behavior.” between living dinosaurs—birds—and Using these brain imprints, Balanoff and colleagues can explore the external their extinct ancestors. morphology—the outer shape—of the brain in greater detail than ever, gleaning Curated by Mark Norell, Macaulay Curator intriguing new information about the volume and shape of different regions. and Chair of the Division of Paleontology, this For example, CT scanning has offered paleontologists a detailed view of the exhibition will feature ancient, rarely seen dinosaur cerebrum, a center for cognition and coordination in the brain. As it turns fossils, and lifelike models, including a 23-foot- An Archaeopteryx fossil that will be out, this region tends to be very large in dinosaurs that are closely related to birds. long feathered tyrannosaur (Yutryannus on display in Dinosaurs Among Us, In fact, Balanoff’s research strongly suggests that these ancient avian relatives huali), a small four-winged dromeosaur set next to an illustration of the developed big brains long before flying was in the picture, laying the cerebral (Anchiornis huxleyi), and an extinct-dinosaur dinosaur in life. foundation that made the eventual development of powered flight possible. nest containing remains of the adult that This means that, similar to the way bigger brains in primates served as a precursor guarded the hatchlings. to walking on two legs, bigger brains in dinosaurs primed them for flight. In non-avian dinosaurs that are thought to mark the transition from The Museum gratefully acknowledges the dinosaur to bird, such as Archaeopteryx, the cerebrum is huge compared Richard and Karen LeFrak Exhibition and to the rest of the brain, a trend we see continued in modern birds whose Education Fund. The extinction of non-avian dinosaurs holds a stubborn place in our imagination, brains are 40 to 60 percent cerebrum, compared to about 25 percent in but in reality dinosaurs never vanished from the Earth. Many died out, certainly, tyrannosaurs. And the distinction between flight-ready animals like Dinosaurs Among Us is proudly supported but their evolutionary legacy lives on all around us in birds. Whether it’s the pigeon Velociraptor and a flying Archaeopteryx seems to be shrinking. by Chase Private Client. on your windowsill or the chicken on your dinner plate, chances are you don’t “For a long time, Archaeopteryx was considered the first bird, but all of go a day without encountering dinosaurs. those bird-like features appeared slowly, over the course of millions of years,” This spring, the Museum will present Dinosaurs Among Us, a new Balanoff says, though pointing out that there is no longer a meaningful line Introducing exhibition detailing the unbroken line between ancient beasts and modern demarcating where dinosaurs end and birds begin. “That’s how evolution works. Member Preview Days birds that is marked by features from feathers to fused clavicles. (That’s right, It can be a slow and messy process, but eventually we end up with the amazing turns out that, like the turkey, Tyrannosaurus rex had a wishbone—though diversity of things flying around us today.” Friday, March 18, turkey or t. rex? we wouldn’t recommend tugging on it.) And much of the work behind Balanoff hopes that future research in this field could shed light not only Saturday, March 19, identifying and understanding these shared characteristics is being done on the shape and size of dinosaur brains, but on how they influenced dinosaur and Sunday, March 20 feathers by scientists trained or working at the Museum. behavior. Paleontologists already know that these prehistoric titans shared some 10:30 am to 4:30 pm Paleontologists believe that feathers initially One area of focus? Flight. The occasional feathered-but-flightless specimen behaviors with modern birds, such as brooding their eggs. Additional research may aside, the defining characteristic of birds is their ability to take to the skies. only make these ancient animals seem more familiar. Just picture a Velociraptor, for members at the $105 level developed as a means of keeping dinosaurs warm, and above. admission by timed but quickly developed into a tool for demonstrating Flying, though, is tricky business. It demands synchronized activity in different dotted with feathers, sitting on a nest, its brain, if not its body, ready for takeoff. entry only. tickets available starting suitability as a mate, a role they play in many bird areas of the brain, and that, in turn, means it requires a lot of, well, brains. march 1 by calling 212-769-5200. species to this day. “Birds are doing a lot of different things with their brains during flight. Dinosaurs Among Us opens to the public on March 21 and is free for Members For example, they have big optic lobes to help coordinate the visual information at the $105 level and above. Be among the first to explore the connection eggs tthat they are collecting with the movements of their wings,” says Dr. Amy Balanoff, between ancient dinosaurs and modern birds The dinosaur birthing process probably looked a Museum research associate who studied with Mark Norell, Macaulay Curator at the new special exhibition Dinosaurs much like that of modern birds. Fossil evidence and Chair of the Division of Paleontology, and is now a research instructor at Stony Among Us before it opens to the public. such as the Oviraptor nest on display in Brook University. “It’s not surprising that they have really big brains.” Join us for a weekend of exclusive Dinosaurs Among Us shows that some dinosaurs While many of us grew up learning that dinosaurs were physical giants Member Preview Days in the LeFrak Family laid eggs in a nest and incubated them to keep with puny brains, that’s actually not the case, says Balanoff, especially Gallery beginning Friday, March 18. their young safe until hatching. for the animals that turn out to be most closely related to birds, such as tyrannosaurs and velociraptors. For the past eight years, Balanoff’s wishbone work has focused on mapping the big brains of long-dead dinosaurs A fused clavicle bone is called a furcula, but you to find connections to modern birds. “once we know what the brain may know it better as that Thanksgiving staple, Looking at dinosaur brains and comparing them to modern bird brains the wishbone. This bone is a key to flight in would be the ideal way to learn how the former evolved into the latter. CT scan images can help looked like, we can begin to make birds, and also occurs in dinosaur species Unfortunately, dinosaur brains were just as soft and mushy as our own, researchers visualize the including Velociraptor. and thus not great candidates for preservation in the fossil record. brains of dinosaurs like at least some broad inferences What did get preserved, though, were dinosaur bones. While they’re not Archaeopteryx. about their behavior.” perfect, Balanoff and her colleagues can learn a lot about the volume and shape Photos © AMNH/C. Chesek, AMNH/A. Balanoff Illustrations by Zhao Chuang; courtesy of Peking Natural Science Organization

Rotunda / Fall 2015 / AMNH.org 10 11

Science teacher Christina Lee shows student Daisha Rivas how to find her pulse. teaching

from the heart

A recent Museum graduate brings science to her middle school students.

Okay, we know learning can be fun, but this much fun? Christina Lee’s general science class at Girls Prep Bronx Middle School is a riot of giggles as two dozen seventh graders run, jump, and dance in place. The goal: to get their hearts pumping. A buzzer sounds and the girls return to their seats. Suddenly, there is total silence—you could hear the proverbial pin drop—as they press a finger to their necks or hold a hand over their hearts to count their heartbeats for 30 seconds. Lee urges them on with a hint of humor: “You’re all alive. You all have a pulse.” They will repeat the pattern several times. And what they are getting, aside from some unexpected exercise, is an object lesson in the scientific method: State a hypothesis— the longer you exercise, the faster your heart beats—gather data, evaluate it, and draw a conclusion as to whether the hypothesis is true or not. Today, Lee is teaching students how to record and analyze results, a follow-up to a lesson about experimental variables. Over the next few months, she will be applying all of these fundamental principles to topics in chemistry, physics, and astronomy. “Christina is incredibly creative,” says Martha Zornow, principal of the new Bronx charter school, which is in its second year. “She does a very good job of designing experiments.” Two years ago, Lee, 26, was a member of the first group to graduate with the Museum’s Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree in Earth and space science. The innovative program, launched to address a shortfall of science teachers for grades 7–12 in underserved schools, began as a pilot in 2012 under the New York State Board of Regents. The only such program to be based at a museum, MAT offers participants a unique experience: a fully funded 15-month urban residency program co-designed by education specialists and scientists, with experience in the classroom and an intensive science course led by Museum researchers. Lee, for example, spent seven weeks during her second summer as a Kathryn W. Davis Graduate Teaching Fellow working with Curator James Webster and Dr. Patricia Nadeau, geologists in the Museum’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and MAT faculty members, researching the role different pressures and temperatures play in the behavior of crystallizing magma before a volcanic eruption.

Rotunda / Winter 2016 / AMNH.org 12 13

“Our MAT graduates are teaching in high-need Support Systems A key component of the Museum’s MAT schools and in many cases program is training teachers through real classroom experience—and with are offering Earth science plenty of support along the way. Studies show that between 40 and 50 for the first time.” percent of new teachers quit the profession within five years. But the Museum’s MAT graduates get exceptional professional development for two years with a system called “induction,” in which they are supported by staff from the Museum’s Gottesman Center for Science Teaching and Learning. Staff visit the new teachers at their schools, mentor them, “It’s incredibly important for MAT candidates to be able to take part in After measuring their pulses, and help them determine the best ways the behind-the-scenes process of science,” says Nadeau, who is a Kathryn students record the results, to achieve specific objectives. W. Davis Postdoctoral Scholar. “Everything that’s in the textbooks they use including at the front table, “The goal is to help them to be effective to teach their students is the result of someone’s hard work in a lab or out in clockwise from left, Keanna faster,” explains Cristina Trowbridge, one the field, so it’s great that they get a chance to be directly involved in that Villega, Kathryn Akurut, and of the induction specialists. “Teaching is process before heading off to their classrooms.” GeriLynn Felicia-Norton. a career, and nobody gets it right the first The value of this approach is proven in practice. “The principals are very time out. But when you have support—and excited about the passion for science and depth of knowledge our graduates Dancing helps students the research shows this—you make bigger are bringing into their classrooms,” says Dr. Rosamond J. Kinzler, co-director Vanessa Lois, Daisha Rivas, leaps. You grow so much faster.” of the MAT program and senior director for science education at the Museum. and Jade Aguasanta pump up “It makes it a lot easier than if you’re When the current crop of 16 teachers-in-training graduate from MAT this their heart rates. on your own,” agrees Lee. year, they’ll join the ranks of 50 MAT graduates already teaching in New York state schools. While it is still too soon to appraise the full impact of the program, preliminary results are promising. Not only has the number of science teachers increased in target schools, the number of students in those schools taking the “Christina is really aligned with our goals,” says Zornow. “We want Know an Aspiring Earth Science Regents exam has more than doubled—an indication that MAT girls to experience science, to be hands-on in science, to do science. To learn Science Teacher? teachers are having a positive effect on science literacy where it is most needed. to formulate a question and test it.” “Our MAT graduates are teaching in high-need schools and in many cases Back in the classroom, exactly to that end, the girls calculate their results Spread the word: applications for the MAT are offering Earth science for the first time,” says Dr. Kinzler. “They are teaching after measuring beats per minute following 10, 20, and 30 seconds of exercise. program’s Class of 2017 are due January 31. students who are disproportionately poor, under-represented in the sciences, Lee writes the numbers on a graph projected on a white board. Averaging The 15-month MAT program includes and in limited English proficiency programs or special education programs. to account for errors, the heartbeats per minute for 10 seconds of moving average two summer residencies at the Museum: Given that Earth science can be a gateway to the more advanced courses 95. After 20 seconds, 114 beats per minute. After 30 seconds, 149. Clearly, a summer assistant-teaching with instructors students need for today’s careers in science and technology, it is essential that the trend is moving in the direction of proving the hypothesis. But they still need in the Museum’s Youth Initiatives programs all students have the opportunity to take it.” to collect more data, so the conclusion will wait for another day. The girls gather and a seven-week science practicum with Lee herself is especially interested in motivating girls to pursue science. their work sheets, stow them for further research, and move on to their next class. Museum curators and postdoctoral fellows. While girls appear to be catching up with boys in math and science through Behind them on the classroom wall is a poster with a quote from someone During the academic year, while completing high school, statistics show that gender differences emerge at the college else who knew something about women and striving to make the most of oneself, more coursework, MAT candidates co-teach four and postgraduate levels, with far fewer women than men attaining degrees Eleanor Roosevelt. “The future,” she said, “belongs to those who believe in days per week in partner schools, mentored in engineering, computer science, math, and the physical sciences. The numbers the beauty of their dreams.” by an experienced classroom teacher. They are even more pronounced among black and Hispanic women. Lee, who taught are also supported by a faculty member and Earth science in her previous job at Sunset Park High School in Brooklyn and With deepest appreciation, the Museum acknowledges Kathryn W. Davis receive additional support throughout their is now covering general science, chemistry, physics, and astronomy, hopes for her generous founding support of the Master of Arts in Science Teaching first two years of independent teaching Student Gabriela Encalada takes to help bridge the gap. (MAT) Program. (see Support Systems sidebar). notes as Christina Lee leads her class “This being an all-girls’ school was a deciding factor in my coming here,” Tuition for the 15-month MAT program at Girls Prep Bronx Middle School. says Lee, who earned her undergraduate degree in geology at Bryn Mawr, Leadership support for the MAT program is provided by is free and candidates receive a stipend. Graduates a women’s college where the geology department was founded by Florence The Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund. must commit to four years of teaching in Bascom, the first woman to earn a Ph.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University. underserved schools in New York State. “The women-only education at Bryn Mawr really shaped me,” says Lee. The MAT program is supported in part by the New York State Education Visit amnh.org/learn-teach/mat for “In most universities, science is driven by male students, but when you erase that Department, the National Science Foundation under Grant Numbers DRL- more information. it’s more comfortable. I definitely see that with these girls. They are normally so 1119444 and DUE-1340006, and the U.S. Department of Education under

self-conscious but because there are no boys, they aren’t afraid to take chances.” Photos © AMNH/R. Mickens Grant Number U336S140026. 14 Next at the Museum 15

January Programs and Events Family Astronomy SeismoDome: Sights and Our Earth’s Future: February Frontiers Lecture: New SciCafe: Amazing Anemones Thursday, January 7 Sounds of Earthquakes and Understanding Climate Horizons: The Pluto Encounter For more programs and Wednesday, January 6 6:30 pm Global Seismology Science and Sea Level Rise Winter Lunchtime Bird Walks Monday, February 8 to purchase tickets, 7 pm $10 Thursday, January 14 Saturday, January 30 in Central Park 7:30 pm visit amnh.org/calendar. Free for 21+ with ID Join us in the Hayden 7 pm 9 am–4 pm Four Tuesdays, February 2–23 $12 Join Associate Curator Planetarium as we teach Free; registration required; $85 Noon-1:30 pm This summer, NASA’s New For updates and reminders Estefanía Rodríguez for an our youngest astronomers call 212-769-5200 Dr. Debra Tillinger will $50 Horizons spacecraft captured via email, sign up for monthly exciting underwater journey about the methods and tools Experience immersive displays compare human-induced Observe owls, hawks, incredibly detailed images Calendar Highlights for Members to meet sea anemones and used to observe the night sky, of earthquakes and seismic sea level rise, a consequence and woodpeckers in the woods, of Pluto, revealing a planet by sending your membership learn how much there is still followed by a viewing through waves from the last decade, of global warming, with finches and sparrows in the alive with geological activity! number and request to subscribe to be discovered about these telescopes on the Arthur Ross viewed both from space and the natural variability in sea fields, and ducks and gulls Join New Horizons’ Deputy to [email protected]. The animals that live in every Terrace, weather permitting. deep inside the globe in the Journey Around the Sun level height caused by El in the lakes as ornithologist Project Scientist Cathy Olkin Museum does not trade, rent, known marine environment. Hayden Planetarium. Tuesday, January 26 Niño and other phenomena. Paul Sweet guides you through and the Museum’s Director or sell this information. 7 pm Participants will come away Central Park to observe of Astrovisualization Carter Frontiers Lecture: Searching $12 from this day-long seminar the varied bird species that Emmart as they share the latest Tickets for the Oldest Stars Ted Williams will guide you fluent in the science of make New York City their scientific findings and high- Monday, January 11 on the Earth’s 586-million- climate change. winter home. resolution images from the Tickets are available by phone at 7:30 pm mile voyage around the edge of our solar system. 212-769-5200, Monday-Friday, $12 Sun and prepare you for 9 am–5 pm, or by visiting amnh.org. MIT astronomer Anna Frebel the astronomical highlights SciCafe: Mending Please have your membership explains the ongoing search of the coming year in the a Broken Heart number ready. for rare and ancient “relic stars” Hayden Planetarium. Wednesday, February 3 and how this work reveals new 7 pm Availability may be limited. details about the early history Free for 21+ with ID Please purchase tickets in advance. of the universe. The Art of Diorama Stem cell researcher Jeffrey Six Thursdays, January 28–March 3 Karp explains how scientists Please be aware that ticket sales Walk on the Wild Side The Titanosaur 7–9:30 pm are drawing inspiration from are final for all Member programs. Eight Wednesdays, Sidney Horenstein Opens Friday, January 15 $195 Escape to Mexico and Central nature, building on the biology All programs go ahead rain January 6–February 24 Tours North America Free for all Members Discover how dioramas are America Tour and chemistry of gecko or shine. There are no refunds 8–9:30 am Tuesday, January 12 Another must-see exhibit made from start to finish, and Saturday, January 30 feet, spider webs, porcupine unless the program is cancelled Free for Adventurer-level and 6–7:30 pm is coming to the Museum’s hear behind-the-scenes stories 2–3:30 pm quills, and more. Learn how by the Museum. above; registration required; $25 world-famous Fossil Halls. about how they came together, Free; registration required; biologically inspired glue can call 212-769-5606 Geologist Sidney Horenstein See a cast of a 122-foot-long as Museum exhibition call 212-769-5200 connect devices in a beating Information about programs Join a fitness experience takes visitors on a tour of the dinosaur, a species so new specialist Tom Doncourt leads Escape the winter cold on human heart. is current as of December 1. like no other! After a brisk unique landscapes of North that it has not yet been formally an after-hours look at our a guided tour of the Hall of Please check amnh.org/calendar Wednesday morning walk America. Learn about volcanoes, named by the paleontologists legendary dioramas. Mexico and Central America, for updates. through the Museum’s halls, glaciers, canyons, and mountain who discovered it. where you’ll see the Aztec enjoy a light breakfast ranges in the magnificent Stone of the Sun and other in the Akeley Hall of Bernard Family Hall of North amazing artifacts from the African Mammals. American Mammals. Museum’s collections.

Exhibitions The Secret World Inside You: Opulent Oceans Countdown to Zero: Admission is by timed entry only. The Human Microbiome Free for all Members Defeating Disease Free for Members at the This exhibition features Free for all Members Dinosaurs Among Us $105 level and above illustrations of sea creatures by This exhibition, developed in Opens to the public March 21 New research shows that, rather generations of explorers, from rare collaboration with the Carter Free for Members at the than make us sick, many of the and beautiful scientific works in Center, highlights scientific $105 level and above bacteria living in and on our bodies the Museum Library’s collections. innovations that are ridding the Dinosaurs Among Us will feature are often key to our health. Come world of ancient afflictions– ancient fossils and lifelike explore the new world that’s being including the 30-year campaign models to show how one group discovered in human bodies. that may soon eradicate Guinea of dinosaurs evolved into the worm disease. fascinating creatures we call birds. Member Preview Days begin Friday, March 18.

Rotunda / Winter 2016 / AMNH.org 16 Next at the Museum 17

Romance Under the Stars Sackler Brain Course: The The Secret World Inside You: March Game Night Gone Wild Member Preview Days: Family Astronomy Sunday, February 14 Neurobiology of Attachment Master Class Tuesday, March 15 Dinosaurs Among Us Saturday, March 19 6 pm, 9:30 pm Saturday, February 20 Five Mondays, February 22-March 21 7-9:30 pm Friday, March 18 – 6:30 pm $125 (includes 90 minutes 9 am–4 pm 6:30–8:30 pm $35 (two drinks included) Sunday, March 20 $10 of open bar and hors d’oeuvres) $85 $240 21+ with ID 10:30 am–4:30 pm After Sun-Earth Day, join us Celebrate Valentine’s Day What happens in babies’ Get hands-on with the human Fire up your neurons with a Free for Members at the in the Hayden Planetarium with a unique night at the brains to facilitate attachment microbiome inside the cocktail in hand for an exciting $105 level and above. Reserve as we teach our youngest Hayden Planetarium, including to their caregivers? How do Museum’s fall exhibition, evening of digital and physical tickets by calling 212-769-5200 astronomers about the methods cocktail hour in the Hall of the these essential and emotional The Secret World Inside You, games that tease, challenge, starting March 1. and tools used to observe the Universe complete with open connections form? In this one- as you learn from leaders in and entertain your brain. Test Explore the newest exhibition, night sky, followed by a viewing bar, hors d’oeuvres, live music, day course, a group of experts the field about the present your cognitive skills while Dinosaurs Among Us, before through telescopes on the and some stellar romance will lead you through recent and future of microbiome SciCafe: Swarms scientists explain what games it opens to the public! Arthur Ross Terrace, stories from the ancient past. insights into the neurobiology research and conduct of Aerial Robots can teach us about our complex, weather permitting. and behavior of early experiments to discover Baby Animals Tour Wednesday, March 2 mysterious, magnificent brains. childhood attachment. your own microbial signature! Sunday, February 28 7 pm Sun-Earth Day Adult Digital Flight School 10:30 am–noon, 1:30–3 pm Free for 21+ with ID Saturday, March 19 Behind the Scenes: Wednesdays, February 17–March 30 Free; registration required; Join roboticist Vijay Kumar, 11 am–5 pm Paleontology 6–8 pm Spotlight Asia call 212-769-5200 UPS Foundation Professor at Free Wednesday, March 23 $395 Sunday, February 21 See how newborn birds, the University of Pennsylvania, Join us as we explore 6:30 pm, 7 pm, 7:30 pm Amaze your friends and family Noon and 3 pm gorillas, dinosaurs, and other as he describes the advantages the special relationship (Hour-long tours) by taking the controls of the Free for all Members baby animals learn to survive of using tiny, autonomous, between Earth and the Sun $30 Hayden Planetarium and lead Award-winning Nai-Ni Chen and thrive during this special aerial robots for search and and learn about the delicate Take part in this exclusive your own tour through the Dance Company rings in the tour of the Akeley Hall of rescue, first response, and balance that makes our planet opportunity to visit the cosmos. In this seven-week Year of the Monkey, a year A Brief History of the Universe African Mammals, with stops precision farming. the perfect place to call home. collections of the Museum’s course, Brian Abbott and Nathan characterized by cleverness, Tuesday, February 23 in the bird and dinosaur halls. Animal Drawing Talk with scientists, look Division of Paleontology. Bellomy train you to lead your curiosity, and playful mischief. 7 pm Eight Thursdays, March 17–May 5 through telescopes, and engage Museum staffers will own live presentation for The Museum’s Lunar New $12 The Cosmic Web: Mysterious 7-9 pm in hands-on activities at this demonstrate how fossils are invited guests in the Hayden Year festival celebrates Asian Emily Rice and Brian Levine will Architecture of the Universe $160 family-friendly event. preserved and maintained Planetarium dome. art and culture through break the laws of physics in the Monday, March 14 The celebrated dioramas, while guiding you through contemporary choreography, Hayden Planetarium, travelling 7:30 pm dinosaur exhibits, and halls the preparation lab and the traditional storytelling, and back in time to the Big Bang to $12 of the Museum serve as the collection storage spaces. See hands-on activities taught understand how it shaped the Distinguished astronomer settings for an intensive after- how scientists use 3D images by local artisans. universe, then return to Earth J. Richard Gott discusses how hours drawing course with to study paleoecological with a new comprehension of ambitious telescope surveys illustrator and naturalist environments. View how cosmological history has are transforming astronomy, Patricia Wynne. microfossils under a microscope led us to where we are now. and what the structure of the and learn their significance so-called “cosmic web” says All experience levels welcome, in environmental studies. about the origins—and fate—of materials included, class the universe. size limited. Attendees must be at least 10 years old.

Please check amnh.org for Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Hayden Planetarium Space Credits The Secret World Inside You Member ticket prices for live Secret Ocean Show: Dark Universe The American Museum of Natural is proudly supported by the Janssen animal exhibits and giant-screen Closes in February. Narrated by Neil de Grasse Tyson, History gratefully acknowledges Pharmaceutical Companies of 2D and 3D films. Check amnh.org for Spring film. the Space Show celebrates pivotal the Richard and Karen LeFrak Johnson & Johnson. Jean-Michel Cousteau’s discoveries and the cosmic Exhibition and Education Fund. The Butterfly Conservatory Secret Ocean introduces mysteries that remain. Gaze up The Secret World Inside You Housed in a vivarium that audiences to more than at the Milky Way from Mt. Wilson Dinosaurs Among Us is proudly is supported by the Science approximates their natural 30 marine species and behaviors Observatory in California, plunge supported by Chase Private Client. Education Partnership Award habitat with live flowering captured for the first time thanks into Jupiter’s atmosphere with a (SEPA) program of the National plants, butterfly species in this to groundbreaking advances in NASA probe, and more. Generous support for Institutes of Health (NIH). ever-popular exhibition include underwater filming. Narrated by The Secret World Inside You iridescent blue morpho butterflies, renowned oceanographer Sylvia and its educational resources Credits continue on page 18. striking scarlet swallowtails, and Earle, this 40-minute giant screen has been provided by the Paul large owl butterflies. film is showing in 2D and 3D. and Irma Milstein Foundation and the Milstein Family.

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January The Scoop on Poop Tour: The Universe in Time Credits Scatology for Adults Tuesday, March 29 6 11 15 28 Saturday, March 26 7 pm The SciCafe series is proudly wednesday monday friday thursday 10:30 am–noon $12 sponsored by Judy and Josh Weston. SciCafe: Amazing Anemones Searching for the Oldest Stars The Titanosaur on view The Art of Diorama Free; registration required; Throughout the vast and After-Hours Program Frontiers Lecture Adult Course Six Thursdays through March 3 call 212-769-5200 expanding universe, stars The Museum gratefully Walk on the Wild Side Everybody poops, and over revolve and evolve, galaxies acknowledges The Mortimer D. 20 Member Program 12 wednesday the years, people around collide and merge with one Sackler Foundation, Inc. for its Eight Wednesdays through February 24 Tuesday The Year in Review with 30 the world have exploited another. Join Brian Abbott and support to establish the Sackler Sidney Horenstein Tours North Neil deGrasse Tyson saturday excrement for many purposes, Brian Levine in the Hayden Brain Bench, part of the Museum’s America Hayden Planetarium Program Our Earth’s Future: Understanding Climate using it in agriculture, beauty Planetarium as they discuss Sackler Educational Laboratory 7 Member Program thursday Science and Sea Level Rise products, medicine, and even how stars, galaxies, and the for Comparative Genomics and Family Astronomy 26 Adult Course as food. Join a volunteer guide universe took shape, and how Human Origins in the Spitzer Hayden Planetarium Program 14 tuesday for a ‘not for children’ tour Spring Lunchtime Bird they evolve through time. Hall of Human Origins, offering thursday Journey Around the Sun Escape to Mexico and Central and discussion of excrement. Walks in Central Park ongoing programs and resources SeismoDome: Sights Hayden Planetarium Program America Tour and Sounds of Earthquakes Member Program Session 1: for adults, teachers, and students and Global Seismology to illuminate the extraordinary Four Tuesdays, March 29–April 19 Special Event

Morning Bird Walks Session 2: workings of the human brain. in Central Park Four Tuesdays, April 26–May 17 Eight-week series starting Noon-1:30 pm Support for Hayden Planetarium February Tuesday, March 29, $50 Programs is provided by the Wednesday, March 30, The early bird catches the Schaffner Family and the 2 8 20 23 Thursday, March 31, worm, but you don’t have Horace W. Goldsmith Fund. tuesday monday saturday tuesday or Friday, April 1 to miss spring migration if Winter Lunchtime Bird Walks New Horizons: The Pluto Sackler Brain Course: A Brief History of the Universe

(© The Carter Center/E. Staub) in Central Park Encounter The Neurobiology of Attachment Hayden Planetarium Program 7 am (Fridays start at 9 am) you can’t make the morning Field Trip to the Moon Nature Walk Frontiers Lecture Adult Course $85 walks. Join Paul Sweet for Thursday, March 31 Four Tuesdays through February 23 Observe the exciting spring lunchtime bird walks and 6–6:30 pm, 28 migration of birds in Central observe the vibrant colors 6:45–7:15 pm 21 sunday 14 Baby Animals Tour Park with ornithologists of warblers, tanagers, and adults, children sunday sunday $12.50 $8 Countdown to Zero, 3 wednesday Romance Under the Stars Spotlight Asia Member Program Paul Sweet (Tuesdays, 7 am, orioles among the many Power up your imagination SciCafe: Mending a Broken Heart Hayden Planetarium Program Cultural Program and Fridays, 9 am) and species that pass through and take a virtual trip to After-Hours Program Joseph DiCostanzo (Wednesdays Central Park. the Moon from the Hayden and Thursdays, 7 am). Learn Planetarium! A live presenter (AMNH/K.Platts) 17 22 how to use field marks, will guide you on your journey wednesday monday Adult Digital Flight School The Secret World Inside You: song, habitat, and behavior through space—like a real Adult Course Master Class to identify birds including astronaut. You’ll experience Seven Wednesdays through March 30 Adult Course warblers, thrushes, tanagers, a NASA rocket launch, view Five Mondays through March 21 and orioles as they pass Earth from space, and perhaps through Central Park en route make some starry discoveries to their summer homes. along the way. The Secret World Inside You, March 2 17 19 29 Countdown to Zero is presented Dark Universe was created by The Museum also gratefully wednesday thursday saturday tuesday by the American Museum of the American Museum of Natural acknowledges major funding from SciCafe: Swarms of Aerial Robots Animal Drawing Sun-Earth Day The Universe in Time Natural History in collaboration History, the Frederick Phineas the Charles Hayden Foundation. After-Hours Program Adult Course Hayden Planetarium Program Hayden Planetarium Program with The Carter Center. and Sandra Priest Rose Center for Eight Thursdays through May 5 Family Astronomy Morning Bird Walks Earth and Space, and the Hayden Presented with special thanks to 14 Family Program in Central Park Countdown to Zero is proudly Planetarium. NASA and the National Science monday 18 Nature Walk supported by Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The Cosmic Web: Mysterious friday Nature Walk Eight week series Foundation, Lions Clubs Made possible through the Architecture of the Universe Member Preview Begins: 23 Frontiers Lecture Dinosaurs Among Us wednesday Spring Lunchtime Bird Walks International Foundation, generous sponsorship of Accenture. Dark Universe was developed by Member Program Behind the Scenes: Paleontology in Central Park Mectizan Donation Program, the American Museum of Natural (© Z. Chuang/Peking Natural Science Organization) Journey Around the Sun, (NASA/SDO) and Pluto Encounter (NASA/JHUAPL) Member Program Nature Walk and Vestergaard. And proudly supported History, New York (www.amnh.org) 15 Four Tuesdays, March 29 through April 19 by Con Edison. in collaboration with the California tuesday This exhibition is made possible Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, Game Night Gone Wild 26 After-Hours Program saturday 31 by the generosity of the Arthur Ross and GOTO INC, Tokyo, Japan. The Scoop on Poop Tour: thursday Dinosaurs Among Us, Foundation. ©AMNH/C. Chesek, D. Finnin, R. Mickens, M. Shanley with the exception of Scatology for Adults Field Trip to the Moon Member Program Hayden Planetarium Program Rotunda / Winter 2016 / AMNH.org 20 Explore at the Museum 21

MicroRangers MORE GAMES FROM THE MUSEUM From CD-ROMs to space flight simulators to card games produced for special exhibitions, To The Rescue! the Museum has been developing engaging, educational interactive experiences for decades. MicroRangers is the latest, but here are a few other A new mobile app new games now out from the Museum: from the Museum brings The world’s most amazing ecosystems are in danger, and it’s up to you to save them! That’s the premise of MicroRangers, an invisible world to life a new mobile game for Android and iOS smartphones that uses Gutsy augmented reality to turn the Museum’s first floor into a series A card game developed as a companion to The Secret of animated adventures that highlight how microbial life can World Inside You, Gutsy lets you take lessons about impact the health and security of larger life forms like towering the microbiome home and share them with others. trees, charismatic animals, and, yes, humans. Learn more about the way that different microbes “Most biodiversity is too small to be seen without a interact in the human body and get an up-close and microscope. But those microbes are just as important as other In prototypes of MicroRangers, personal understanding of the many species that call forms of life in keeping ecosystems healthy,” says Susan Perkins, youth program participants you home. Developed by veteran game designers who advised on MicroRangers and is co-curator of The Secret and Museum staff stood in and Curator Susan Perkins, Gutsy is a fast-paced card World Inside You exhibition about the human microbiome. for characters in the game. game that combines education and entertainment. The game has been in development since 2014, as Museum Now available in Museum shops. educators have worked with high schoolers in Museum programs as well as with game designers at Playmatics and Geomedia game—it takes about 20 minutes, Joseph estimates—while others Pterosaurs: The Card Game to create a unique experience based on iconic exhibits and could play through to completion, exploring all three halls Developed alongside the 2014 special exhibition dioramas that many longtime Members know well—but, in depth over the course of several hours. And frequent visitors Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs, Pterosaurs: through MicroRangers, may rediscover in a new way. like Members can play over the course of multiple trips to the The Card Game challenges players to build “Well-designed games are powerful learning spaces, where Museum at any pace they choose. Whichever way visitors play, functioning food chains using a shared deck of 51 players can learn through experimentation and failure, which says Joseph, MicroRangers feels like a full game experience cards representing various ancient forms of life, is the nature of science as well,” says Barry Joseph, associate for both casual players and more dedicated gamers. including flowers, fish, and the flying phenoms director for digital learning at the Museum. “They also serve as Museum educators collaborated on MicroRangers of the title. The player with the most chains at the great tools for collaborative learning alongside friends and family.” with teenagers, the app’s natural audience, on everything end of the game wins! Visit bit.ly/PterosaurGame Game play begins in the Hall of Biodiversity, which serves from content and game design to early voice-overs for the to download the game for free. as a sort of home base. From there, players are dispatched to game’s characters—in large part, Joseph says, to show that solve science-based mysteries in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, the Museum is not just a place youth can come to learn, OLogy Hall of North American Forests, and the Bernard Family Hall but one where they can contribute. Digital learning has been an area of focus since of North American Mammals, with directions, clues, and “From the very start, we wanted young people to be not the launch of the Museum’s award-winning three-dimensional animations popping up on their phones. just participants in a focus group, but co-designers of their science website for kids, OLogy, where interactive Nine levels, each posing different challenges and introducing own science education,” says Joseph. lessons and web-based games have been available different lessons based in the Museum’s halls, create new and And while MicroRangers has already been a learning to anyone with an Internet connection since interesting connections that offer a different way to interact experience for the youth and staff who helped develop the game, 2000. Visit bit.ly/MicrobiOlogy to see Ology’s with even the most familiar exhibits. designers say the ways people play the game will provide design Microbiology section! One challenge in the Hall of North American Forests, lessons for the future. How users are playing the game and what for instance, pits players against the scourge of chestnut activities and interactions they embrace or ignore will help to blight. Using their phones, players eliminate the devastating shape the experiences offered by future Museum games. fungus from trees that spring to digital life all around the “The ideal Museum visit is also the ideal game,” says Joseph. hall. Augmented reality coins, available at the Membership “You connect with exhibits, connect with the people around desk in the Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda, help bring you, and learn something new.” characters in the game, like the animated scientists you meet on missions, to life. MicroRangers is free and available to download from the iOS App “The way we’re using augmented reality will mean the Store and Google Play. To learn more, visit amnh.org/MicroRangers, game is all around you,” says Hannah Jaris, a senior coordinator and visit the Membership desk in the Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda who helped lead the development of MicroRangers. to pick up augmented reality coins to play the game. (Limited With scientist characters guiding players through a diversity quantities, while supplies last.) of ecosystems, newly minted MicroRangers will also be able Teens in the Museum’s educational Download MicroRangers and to learn about the tools and techniques researchers use to study MicroRangers is generously supported by a grant from programs helped to develop and scan the image above to meet life in forests, on coral reefs, and everywhere in between. the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation. test MicroRangers.

a character from the game. Many players will play just the first level to get a taste of the Photos © AMNH/D. Finnin, M. Shanley

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Behind the Scenes: 3 handle with care 4 hit the books

Fossil Prep Fossil finds are packed in wooden and Before any work is done to remove In more than a century of fossil collecting, Museum metal crates and surrounded with another the fossil, Museum preparators hit Photo © K. Vande Plasse scientists have brought back hundreds of thousands layer of packing material—often the same the published literature to bone up on of specimens: dinosaurs, birds, fishes, mammals, newspaper that might protect your china the specimen they’re about to begin and more from throughout Earth’s history and from on the way to a new apartment—and extracting, or similar related creatures every corner of the globe. shipped back to the Museum. if an identification hasn’t been made. Just discovering a specimen, though, doesn’t make it useful to science. “One of the things people don’t understand about collecting fossils is that we Sculpting tools (inset) help fossil preparators go out on an expedition, and it’s hard work—but what like Ana Balcarcel (below) get fossils ready really takes the time is the preparation to expose for researchers. these things,” says Mark Norell, Macaulay Curator 5 split tools and Chair of the Division of Paleontology. Here’s how a specimen goes from being encased in stone to ready for the spotlight—or at least the microscope. Tools of the trade range from needle- like chisels to tiny jackhammers. For 5mm stable specimens, much of the extraction work is done using handheld pneumatic Carl Mehling takes a look at a fossil found by Museum Member jackhammers capable of pulverizing Braden Vande Plasse. 1 take note rock to chip away at the stone bit by bit, revealing the fossil. For more delicate work on unstable fossils, or finishing First things first: paleontologists touches made closer to the bone, record everything about the condition preparators use needles, brushes, An Enigmatic of a newly uncovered fossil. They record and sharp sculpting tools to remove for posterity where, when, and by whom the final vestiges of rock from a fossil. a fossil was excavated, indicate estimates Fossil Fragment of how many fossils are in a given block, Not all fossil discoveries take place at far-flung locations. and offer preliminary identification Last June, paleontologist Carl Mehling was leading a Member of the animal. trip to Big Brook, New Jersey’s famous Late Cretaceous site, when 13-year-old Braden Vande Plasse showed him a small piece he’d found. At first, says Mehling, he was ready to dismiss it as “just a rock,” but a closer look revealed “a very clear biological structure.” “My gut was leaning towards a bone or some other vertebrate 6 take a picture structure,” says Mehling, who’s been collecting fossils in the area (it’ll last longer) since 1988 but was still stumped as to what kind of animal this may have been. “I asked Braden if he would be willing to donate to the Museum—and thankfully, he was.” 2 protect While most of the work is still done with Back at the Museum, Mehling began his investigation. with plaster traditional tools, new technology is slowly Since fishes are the most common vertebrate fossils at Big Brook, beginning to change the field. Computed he first turned to Curator John Maisey, a fossil fishes expert. With tomography (CT) scans of fossils can 7 back up your work a quick look under a dissecting microscope, Dr. Maisey confirmed A fossil find usually needs to be encased provide scads of information about what’s the piece was a tooth or a tooth plate. A tip from Maisey’s Ph.D. in plaster to make the trip back to the contained inside. student Allison Bronson led Mehling to realize that the tooth Museum. “Plaster bandages are a good “Sometimes a scan can guide prep Once a fossil is extracted, or as exposed plate might belong to a Mesozoic lungfish—and after consulting choice because they dry faster than work, revealing the structure of the as it can safely be, preparators often back the Museum’s collection of fossil lungfish teeth, he decided there regular plaster,” says Senior Principal specimen within the matrix, making the up their hard work by making a silicon were some good matches to this new fossil. Preparator Ana Balcarcel. They are process a little easier,” says Ruth O’Leary, mold that can be used to create casts of the But several days later, a serendipitous email from a Texas wrapped around the specimen, serving director of collections, archives, and fossil. These casts, most often made from a researcher about a different fossil specimen that bore a strong the same purpose as around a broken preparation in the Division of Paleontology. polyester resin, are key to paleontological resemblance to the Big Brook find led Mehling to a different limb, immobilizing the specimen and research. They make it easier to study the conclusion: Vande Plasse’s fossil was likely a fragment of a tooth protecting it from harm. Museum paleontologist Carl specimen without handling it. plate from some as-yet unidentified, likely marine, Cretaceous fish Sorensen prepares a fossil block rather than a lungfish. Mehling is currently preparing a paper that for shipment back to the Museum.

may help him find other experts to identify the find. Archives AMNH AMNH, © Photo

Rotunda / Winter 2016 / AMNH.org Membership

Central Park West at 79th Street New York, New York 10024-5192 amnh.org Cover illustrations by Zhao Chuang, courtesy of Peking Natural Science Organization Science Natural Peking of courtesy Chuang, Zhao by illustrations Cover General Information

Hours Phone numbers Museum: Open daily, 10 am–5:45 pm; Central Reservations 212-769-5200 closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Membership Office 212-769-5606 Museum Information 212-769-5100 Entrances Development 212-769-5151 During Museum hours, Members may enter at Central Park West at 79th Street Transportation and parking (second floor), the Rose Center/81st Street, Subway: B (weekdays) or C to 81st Street; and through the subway (lower level). 1 to 79th Street, walk east to Museum Bus: M7, M10, M11, or M104 to 79th Street; Restaurants M79 to Central Park West Museum Food Court, Café on One, Parking Garage: Open daily, 8 am–11 pm; Starlight Café, and Café on 4 offer enter from West 81st Street. Members can park Members a 15-percent discount. for a flat fee of $10 if entering after 4 pm. Hours are subject to change. To receive this rate, show your membership card or event ticket when exiting the garage. Museum shops The Museum Shop, Dino Store, Shop for Earth and Space, Cosmic Shop, The Secret World The feathered dinosaur Khaan mckennai, discovered in the Mongolian desert by a team of paleontologists including Inside You Shop, and Online Shop Mark Norell, Macaulay Curator and Chair of the Division (amnhshop.com) offer Members of Paleontology, is one of the many intriguing species featured a 10-percent discount. in the upcoming exhibition Dinosaurs Among Us. Members at the $105 level and above are invited to view the exhibition before it opens to the public on March 21. See page 9 for details.