Member Magazine Spring 2018 Vol. 43 No. 2

Explore Unseen Oceans

Scouting Mineral Specimens 2 News at the Museum 3

From the More than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface to floor and to reveal the wondrous diversity Leeches’ Blood Meals Can Be Used is covered by oceans. Yet for so long, much of of invertebrates, mammals, fishes, microbes, Members See Unseen Oceans Free President the oceans have been too dark, too forbidding, and much more that call them home. to Track Regional Biodiversity too remote for scientific exploration. Home to The Museum’s spring exhibition Unseen Haven’t seen Unseen Oceans yet? Members Ellen V. Futter myriad unknown species, complex ecosystems, Oceans tells the stories of these pioneering ocean receive free admission every day! and hidden clues to the story of life on Earth, the scientists, the amazing technologies and tools Encounter the giants of the sea in a 180- oceans are considered Earth’s greatest uncharted they are developing and using, and the important degree, immersive experience featuring life- frontier by scientists. discoveries they are making, all at a time when sized animations of blue whales, giant squid, Today, astonishing advances in technology their work is more important than ever. In fact, and manta rays. Marvel at the diversity of and engineering such as submersibles, robotics, scientists are racing to explore and understand biofluorescent species in a large-scale floating satellite monitoring, miniaturization, and these mysterious ecosystems while the escalating display. And don’t forget to pose for a picture high-definition imaging are enabling a new effects of climate change and environmental in a submersible! generation of scientists, including those at our destruction threaten ocean habitats that are Museum, to explore the oceans as never before. essential to all life on Earth. Lead funding for Unseen Oceans and its These powerful tools, combined with creative, What secrets do the oceans hold about educational resources is provided by OceanX, cross-disciplinary approaches and a spirit of the advent of life on Earth? What can they tell an initiative of the Dalio Foundation. ingenuity and adventure, are enabling scientists us about our future? Come to Unseen Oceans in the field to explore the oceans from surface and see for yourself! The American Museum of Natural History gratefully acknowledges the Richard and Karen LeFrak Exhibition and Education Fund.

Researchers have identified DNA in Haemadipsa leeches from a variety of mammals, such as muntjacs, Unseen Oceans is generously supported by Table of Contents macaque monkeys, and rodents, among others. Chase Private Client. Close-Up 4 When it comes to tracking mammals in a particular area, including for conservation work, it turns out that humans have a tiny, blood-sipping spy Specimen Stories 6 on their side. New research led by Museum scientists confirms that examining 4 12 DNA found in leeches’ blood meals can be used as a powerful tool to provide Charting the Great Unknown 8 information about a forest’s inhabitants. The study, which was published in February in the journal Systematics and Descend to the Deep 12 Biodiversity, analyzed close to 750 terrestrial leeches in the genus Haemadipsa collected from forests in Bangladesh, China, as well as in Cambodia during the 2015 Next 14 Constantine S. Niarchos expedition, supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. In their samples, researchers identified DNA from a wide variety of mammals, BYO Specimen 20 including muntjacs, macaque monkeys, wildcats, porcupines, rats, and gaur, or Indian bison. They also found DNA from three types of ground-dwelling birds Beyond Today 22 and one species of bat, marking the first time this method has been used to successfully identify these species. 20 22 “Our recent work has demonstrated that we can determine what mammals are in a protected area without hunting, without trapping, without the use of scat or hair samples, and especially without camera traps—all of which are problematic methods for one reason or another,” said Mark Siddall, a curator in the Museum’s Division of Invertebrate Zoology and an author on the study. “Instead, by sequencing the host DNA that remains inside of terrestrial jungle leeches for months after feeding, we can outperform all other methods of biodiversity monitoring in terms of accuracy, completeness, speed, and cost.” Siddall and lead author Michael Tessler, a postdoctoral fellow in the Museum’s American Museum of Natural History ISSN 0194-6110 Chairman Lewis W. Bernard USPS Permit #472-650 Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, compared sampling invertebrate- Rotunda Returns This Fall President Ellen V. Futter Vol. 43, No. 2, Spring 2018 parasite-derived DNA, or iDNA, with camera trapping in another recently Vice President of Development and Membership Laura Lacchia Rose Rotunda is published by the Membership Office of the American published study. They found that pairing camera trapping with the iDNA method Rotunda is taking a short break this summer, Director of Membership Louise Adler Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY allowed for quicker and more complete survey results. returning in Fall 2018! In the meantime, visit 10024-5192. Phone: 212-769-5606. Website: amnh.org. Museum membership “This work is turning out to be an extremely useful tool for conservation amnh.org for updates about summer programs, Magazine of $75 per year and higher includes a subscription to Rotunda. © 2018 purposes,” said Dr. Tessler. “A snapshot of the vertebrates in an area can be taken and don’t forget to follow the Museum on: Editorial Director Eugenia Levenson American Museum of Natural History. Periodical postage paid at New York, NY with just one day’s worth of sampling. The current standard for surveys, camera Editor Alanna Ruse and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: please send address changes Contributors Joan Kelly Bernard, Jill Hamilton, to Rotunda, Membership Office, AMNH, at the above address. traps, takes months or longer.” Twitter @amnh Eliza McCarthy, Karen Miller, Elena Sansalone In their work, Siddall, Tessler, and colleagues also explored genetic Facebook @naturalhistory Design Hinterland, www.hinterlandstudio.com Please send questions, ideas, and feedback to [email protected]. diversity among Haemadipsa leeches, and suspect there are likely many new Instagram @amnh

Portrait © AMNH/D. Finnin / Page 4: © iStock/amwu / Page 12: ©AMNH/5W Infographics / Page 20: © AMNH/ M. Shanley / Page 22: © AMNH Leech: © AMNH/M. Siddall, Divers: © Neil van Niekerk species to be described. YouTube at youtube/amnh.org

Rotunda / Spring 2018 / AMNH.org 4 Close-Up at the Museum 5

Tiny Dancers A Rose by Any Other Color While the human eye has photoreceptors to Relying on sight, scent, and touch, honey bees navigate the world—and even detect blue, green, and red, honey bees see in dance to it. shades of ultraviolet, blue, and green. A red rose Their antennae are highly sensitive to vibrations. They also have numerous won’t appear as such to a honey bee, but the Lampropeltis polyzona receptors that respond to odors and other stimuli. Together, these keen senses insect’s ability to see ultraviolet allows it to see may explain how worker bees are able to pick up and interpret the so-called patterns humans can’t. These markings act like “waggle dance,” which they use to share the location of food with fellow worker a bullseye, drawing bees toward life-sustaining bees of the colony. nectar and pollen. While the process is not completely understood, it goes a little something like this: a successful forager uses an elaborate dance pattern to indicate both the Familiar Figure direction of food in relation to the Sun and its distance from the hive. The dancer Of the approximately 20,000 described bee adjusts the direction over time to account for the movement of the Sun, as do the species, perhaps the best known is the European foragers in the field. honey bee (Apis mellifera), valued by amateur The worker bees don’t actually see the waggle dance within the pitch-black beekeepers and commercial honey producers hive, perhaps giving new meaning to the phrase “dancing in the dark.” Instead, alike. The honey bee is essential to agricultural the bees sense air vibrations through their antennae, which are held close pollination in the U.S., as is another nonnative to the dancing, waggling bee. “What they sense is the motion that’s created,” species called Megachile rotundata, the alfalfa says Jerome G. Rozen, Jr., curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, who leafcutter bee. oversees one of the world’s largest collections of bee eggs, larvae, and pupae at the Museum. “They feel it.” Bee Breakdown The dance is accompanied by an olfactory message, too: pollen brought back Social bees, like honey bees and bumble bees, by the returning dancing bee or regurgitated nectar conveys the scent of the food make up about 10 percent of species. Solitary at the forage site. Finally, the richness of the nectar source is indicated by the bees comprise 80 percent. They only produce What’s in a Name? Blending into the Background duration of the dance. The bees don’t exactly measure the length of the dance, but enough honey to feed their offspring but An old folk tale inspired the once-popular belief the longer the bee dances, the more foragers are recruited—essentially matching are prized as pollinators. The other 10 percent that milksnakes would sneak into barns late at So, you think that because you’ve seen one milksnake you’ve seen them all? the workforce to the harvest at hand. are cleptoparasitic bees that steal pollen night to suck the milk from cows’ udders. In reality, Think again. and nectar from other species and lay eggs milksnakes were probably there to hunt mice. Recent research has identified up to seven distinct species within the Learn more about the senses of honey bees and other insects in the special exhibition in solitary bee nests. It would likely be impossible for them to milk genus Lampropeltis. Some milksnakes have tri-color patterns similar to those Our Senses: An Immersive Experience, which is free for Members. a cow since they cannot make suction with their of venomous coral snakes. Researchers suspect it’s a way to ward off predators Bees and the City lips nor can they digest lactose. by advertising toxic species’ warning signals, a phenomenon known as Bee raising has been allowed in New York City Batesian mimicry. Apis mellifera since 2010, and honey bee hives have proliferated. Mnemonic Mimicry But since milksnakes—which inhabit a large geographic region that includes Last summer, Madison Square Park installed five You may have heard the rhyme, “Red touches northeast Canada, the United States, Central America, and even parts of Ecuador, upright boxes to attract leafcutter and mason yellow, kills a fellow. Red touches black, friend Colombia, and Venezuela—have also been found in areas where coral snakes do bees, solitary bees that build their nests in open of Jack.” The colorful patterns of some milksnakes not occur, researchers have a second hypothesis for their coloring: flicker-fusion. crevices rather than social hives. are so close to those found in venomous coral Brightly banded in reds, blacks, and yellows, these snakes’ distinctive patterns snakes that this popular verse has long are hard to miss when the animal is motionless. But once it begins to swiftly Summer Session been used to help hikers tell the difference. slither, its bands blend together. The movement creates an optical illusion making Every August, Curator Jerome Rozen offers an But beware—the song isn’t always correct. the snake hard to spot against the background of its usual natural environment intensive nine-day course on bees at the Museum’s In the tropics, some coral snakes can be found in tall grasses or the forest floor. And when it freezes, for just a moment, it seems Southwest Research Station in Portal, Arizona. with adjacent black and red bands. to disappear almost completely. The workshop is open to conservation biologists, “This theoretically confuses the predators as they lose sight of the position of graduate students, state and federal agency staff, Milksnake No More the snake,” says Frank Burbrink, associate curator in the Museum’s Department and other professionals. Participants come from Lampropeltis elapsoides (scarlet kingsnake) was of Herpetology. “This may play in tandem with the Batesian mimicry of the two dozen countries and as far away as Australia. once classified as a subspecies of milksnake venomous snake when the jig is up.” but has recently been reclassified as a distinct It’s an adaptation that might even be more efficient than mimicking a more species. These relatively small snakes, which grow dangerous animal. After all, predators can’t eat you if they can’t see you. at most to 2 feet long, are admired for their bright red, black, and yellow banding.

High Altitude Colors Not all milksnakes keep their bright hues for life. Those found in Costa Rica’s high elevations are red, black, white, and yellow when young but turn black as adults. Their darker color is thought

to allow better absorption of the Sun’s warm rays. © iStock/amwu © iStock/DanielPrudek

Rotunda / Spring 2018 / AMNH.org 6 7

From New Jersey to Uruguay, Sprung from the Seafloor specimens for the new Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls Miners began extracting zinc from the Franklin-Ogdensburg area of New Jersey in 1739, but it wasn’t until the development of Gems and Minerals are being fluorescent zinc-ore of electric power 190 years later that the ore’s brilliant “hidden” sourced from near and far. stripes of calcite and willemite, which fluoresce reddish-orange and greenish-yellow, were discovered. The surprising bursts of color will be highlighted in the Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals, where the Museum plans to install a massive panel of ore from Sterling Hill Mine in Ogdensburg. Ogdensburg’s zinc deposits are a “virtually unique deposit on the planet,” says George Harlow, curator in the Museum’s Division of Physical Sciences, who is overseeing the new halls. They’re part of a 1.3 billion-year-old geological feature called the Franklin Marble, which stretches just beyond the New Jersey border. This ore first formed when metalliferous brines erupted on the bottom of what was then a shallow sea basin, crystallizing and accumulating as thick layers of calcite and metal-infused mud on the seafloor. A collision of two tectonic plates buried, new jersey heated, and metamorphosed the deposits, forming the vast specimenFranklin Marble array of minerals found today.

Born in Basalt

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” says Dr.Harlow of the Museum’s new 12-foot-tall, 9,000-pound amethyst geode, which went on temporary display in the Grand Gallery last fall. “It’s the largest stories and most beautiful I have ever seen.” The gigantic specimen comes all the way from Uruguay’s Bolsa Mine, which sits within the Paraná Basin, an area After 40 years under gallery lights, thousands of gems and roughly 1.2 million square kilometers in size. The Paraná Basin minerals from the Museum’s collection are undergoing is a large sedimentary depression in South America—among cleaning and processing after the closure of the historic halls the world’s largest—which was partially filled with basalt lava last fall for a major renovation. when the African and South American continents separated But that’s just part of the behind-the-scenes work taking 135 millions years ago. place in preparation for the new Allison and Roberto Mignone It’s also known for some of the largest preserved gas Halls of Gems and Minerals, which are set to open in 2019. Paraná Basalts: Flickr/G. Rocha © AMNH/R. Mickens/© AMNH/D. Finnin bubbles in the world. The so-named amygdules were produced The Museum is adding a set of spectacular large-scale specimens, when molten magma rich in dissolved H2O flowed between as well as bringing back old favorites, to tell the story of why layers of magma, cooled, and released giant steam bubbles. our planet is home to an astonishing diversity of minerals—some Over a period of many millions of years, the quartz crystals of which grew next door in New Jersey while others are coming uruguay transformed into deep purple amethyst. As water seeped Paraná Basalts from farther afield. amethyst geode through the “frozen” bubbles, it created minerals—specifically, crystallized chalcedony and quartz crystals. The Museum gratefully acknowledges Allison and Roberto Mignone for their leadership support of the redesigned Halls of Gems and Minerals.

Generous support has been provided by the Arthur Ross Foundation.

Rotunda / Spring 2018 / AMNH.org 8 unseen oceans now open members see it free! 0 m 0 ft

900 ft 274 m Shining a Light in the Dark

Charting the million square miles 140 of seafloor

Great Unknown feet between best multi-beam scans to date 30

3,600 ft There’s a whole world Bathymetry, the measure of the depth and shapes of 1,097 m beneath the oceans’ underwater terrain, has come a long way since the days of sailors dropping weighted ropes from the side of ships. Radar pulses surface. Scientists from orbiting satellites, laser beams sent by piloted planes, are exploring more unmanned drones, and sonar or sound waves emitted from ships epipelagic zone and submersibles are allowing researchers to see the seafloor of it than ever before. 0 to 656 feet (0 to 200 meters): clearer than ever before. Still, despite the advances in technology, Sunlit coral reefs support levels of resolution are, well, all over the map. For the moment, an abundance of biodiversity. the most effective tool is sonar, since sound waves travel faster Did you know the ocean off New York City hides a gorge that rivals the Grand and farther under water than on land. Even so, the most efficient Canyon? Or that a partially submerged volcano in Hawai’i is a mile higher than mesopelagic zone use of sonar—called multi-beaming or “mowing the lawn”—is Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak? Or how about the fact that two dozen 656 to 3,300 feet very slow and painstaking. Empire State Buildings, stacked one on top of the other, can fit inside the Pacific (200 to 1,000 meters): The most ambitious international effort to date—to map Ocean’s Mariana Trench? Glowing lanternfishes and all 140 million square miles of seafloor by 2030—was Space has been called the final frontier. And yet, here on Earth there is a dragonfishes abound. announced in 2017, but until now mapping has largely been vast unknown realm that’s ripe for discovery: the bottom of the oceans. To this the result of a patchwork of efforts: commercial searches day, very little of the seafloor—only about 15 percent—has been mapped with bathypelagic zone for oil and other natural resources, scientific studies, and even reasonable accuracy by direct measurement. 3,300 to 13,000 feet (1,000 search and recovery, such as the 2014 investigation of missing “We have more detailed maps of the surface of Mars than we do the ocean to 4,000 meters): Numerous Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. floor,” says John Sparks, curator in the Department of Ichthyology and curator species of bioluminescent That said, there has been steady progress. For example, of the special exhibition Unseen Oceans. anglerfishes are found here. in August 2015, an international expedition to the Galápagos New technology and recent exploration, however, are helping today’s Islands refined the resolution of deep-sea depth readings by researchers find answers to big questions, such as how life can flourish in the benthopelagic zone 100 times. By simultaneously using multi-beam sonar from most extreme environments or what terrain under the water can help us learn Below 13,000 feet (4,000 a ship and side-scan sonar in an autonomous underwater about the rest of our planet—and even about distant worlds. meters): Xenophyophores vehicle (AUV), researchers were able to reduce the distance are among the deepest between scans from over 3,000 feet to 30 feet. of deep-sea organisms known to science.

13,500 ft 4,115 m

Rotunda / Spring 2018 / AMNH.org 10 unseen oceans now open members see it free! 31,500 ft 9,601 m

mount everest Dynamic Landscapes Diversity of the Deep

percent endemic coral 2014 21 reef fishes in hawai’i miles deepest deep-sea 18,000 ft new island emerges critters found 5,486 m 6.6

Below-surface versions of above-water geological Just as above-ground landscapes from the tropical rain forests formations— mountain ranges, valleys, volcanoes—are to the alpine tundra support a variety of life forms, landforms often much bigger and more impressive in scale. They also beneath the sea provide an array of rich marine ecosystems. provide clues to geoformations on Earth and possibly even mount everest And scientists are only just beginning to uncover the diversity other planets. For instance, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the 29,029 feet (8,848 meters) of life in the deep ocean. Eurasian and North Atlantic plates meet at the bottom of the tall: Mount Everest is “Once we started looking at the genetics of deep-sea Atlantic Ocean, is the largest mountain range on Earth. The Earth’s highest mountain fishes, we found that they’re far more diverse than people underwater volcano Tamu Massif, located in the Pacific Ocean, above ground. once thought,” says Dr. Sparks. “We also discovered that has recently been identified as the planet’s largest volcano. bioluminescence has evolved many more times than we ever mauna kea And with only a fraction of its towering peak seen above the mauna kea imagined in marine fishes.” water, Hawai’i’s now-inactive submerged volcano Mauna Kea 33,474 feet (10,203 meters) In July 2011, an expedition by the Scripps Institution of is 33,474 feet tall—nearly a mile higher than Mount Everest. tall: From its underwater Oceanography in La Jolla, California, dropped untethered 0 ft 0 m And the formation of new land is happening all the time, base to its sunlit peak, digital video cameras developed by the National Geographic both above and below water. New islands created by volcanic the dormant Hawaiian Society into the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, the eruption—for example Surtsey, which emerged off Iceland in Island volcano Mauna Kea deepest-known spot on Earth. (If Mount Everest were located 1963—offer researchers unique opportunities to learn not only is nearly a mile higher than in the trench, there would still be around 6,864 feet of water more about the evolution of volcanoes but how pristine areas Mount Everest. between its peak and the surface!) become populated. Consider the Hawaiian Islands, empty of Near the bottom, at about 6.6 miles, the cameras captured terrestrial life as a newly formed volcanic chain millions of hudson canyon images of 4-inch ameboid animals called xenophyophores— years ago with the nearest continent 2,500 miles away. Today, About 4,000 feet among the largest-known single-celled organisms—as well as Hawai’i is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, with (1,200 meters): The canyon deep-sea jellyfish. And during the 2015 Galápagos expedition many species that are endemic—that is, found nowhere else. is a biodiversity hotspot. that refined deep-sea depth reading, a new species of catshark The 2014 emergence of a volcanic island in the South was discovered. Meanwhile, the Hudson Canyon in the Atlantic Pacific has even opened a window into the geological history mariana trench Ocean, carved by the ancient Hudson River tens of thousands of other planets. A comparison of features on this new island Approx. 6.9 miles of years ago is a biodiversity hotspot that supports numerous in the Kingdom of Tonga showed similar structures to those (11 kilometers): Depth of the fishes, including bottom-dwelling tilefish, deep-sea corals and found on Mars, which appear to indicate that billions of years Mariana Trench, the deepest sponges, and microbes that aggressively oxidize methane ago the Red Planet had water, as well as an abundance known spot on Earth. seeping up from the seafloor. of volcanic activity. If some of these so-called extremophiles can survive in places previously thought uninhabitable, perhaps there are lifeforms 22,500 ft 6,858 m waiting to be discovered somewhere even more remote and seemingly inhospitable, like in Europa’s frozen oceans.

Dig trenches and create islands on an interactive sand table in mariana trench the special exhibition Unseen Oceans, which is free for Members.

31,500 ft 9,601 m

Rotunda / Spring 2018 / AMNH.org 12 navigation and hatch unseen oceans now open communication There’s one way to get into this sub: members see it free! system by lowering yourself into a narrow The surface crew stays opening at the top of the acrylic sphere Descend to the Deep in touch with the sub and dropping down. Scientists can observe deep-sea species and tracks its position acrylic sphere with sonar. on dives in a submersible Researchers get a 360-degree view from the transparent “windshield,” allowing them When you study fishes, you want to be where they are. In the to observe passing species from all angles. past five years, John Sparks, curator in the Museum’s Department of Ichthyology, has descended on numerous submersible dives to study bioluminescence and bioflourescence in marine fishes and invertebrates. Sparks, who oversaw the special exhibition Unseen Oceans, recently shared what it takes to go deep.

dress to dive • In the tropics, it’s shorts and a T-shirt. “At the lights and cameras surface, it’s hot because you’re inside an acrylic ball in the Sun. To capture fluorescence, Sparks and colleagues It’s like being under a magnifying glass,” says Sparks. use specialized lights and cameras. Blue lights mimic the ocean’s blue environment, while pop, pop • Much like take-off and landing in an airplane, your cameras outfitted with color filters capture the ears pop when the hatch is sealed and the sub is pressurized. lower-energy wavelengths emitted by biofluorescent animals. mid-sea critters • On the way down, sights include schools of anchovies, jellyfish, ctenophores, and squid, which “welcome” the sub by covering the windows with ink: “It’s amazing how much ink they produce.”

lights out • As the submersible descends, light appears as a small circle—an optical phenomenon known as “Snell’s window.” At 300 to 450 meters below the surface in clear ocean water, there is very little remaining light, if any, from the surface.

night vision • “When you get down several hundred meters, the current diminshes, and it’s frequently crystal clear,” explains Sparks. “You can see a variety of bizarre deep-sea fishes close up and sit on the bottom with lights out and observe.”

tight fit • Legroom in the rounded sub cabin is tighter than on your typical airline flight, so a 6- to 8-hour dive can feel cramped.

no leaks • Feel a drop of water? Don’t panic. That’s just condensation from passengers’ breath, which collects on the dome ceiling.

thrusters These help the pilot maneuver. During descent, the sub can drift by fantastic voyage several miles if the currents are robotic arm and Experience a vertical adventure through marine strong. Thrusters also help push past “squishy fingers” environments at different depths in a special “ceilings” and “floors” of salinity Researchers at the Harvard presentation in Unseen Oceans, featuring BBC footage gradients, layers of varying salt Microrobotics Laboratory, captured during filming of the popular nature series concentrations in the water column. along with CUNY scientists, BBC AMERICA’s Planet Earth: Blue Planet II and the have developed a special giant-screen film Oceans: Our Blue Planet, co-produced ballast chambers attachment for the robotic by BBC Earth and OceanX Media. Cylindrical tubes underneath arm, allowing scientists A partial replica of a Triton submersible is also on the sub control ascent and to collect fragile organisms view, so don’t forget to pose for a picture! descent as air is vented such as sea cucumbers, out and water is pumped in. nudibranches, and soft corals.

©AMNH/5W Infographics, “Squishy Fingers”: Loan courtesy of Prof. Robert Wood, Harvard Microrobotics Laboratory/ Pull-Out Poster Rotunda / Spring 2018 / AMNH.org Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Prof. David Gruber, City University of New York 14 Next at the Museum 15

April Programs and Exhibits SciCafe: Hall Tour: Planet of the Apes Scales of the Universe EarthFest Evening Access: Unseen Oceans Lunchtime Bird Walks Seeing Is Believing Saturday, April 7 Saturday, April 21 Sunday, April 22 Thursday, April 26 For more programs and in Central Park Wednesday, April 4 10:30 am 10:30 am All Day 6–8 pm to purchase tickets, Four Tuesdays, April 3–24 7 pm Free 12:30 pm Free Free visit amnh.org/calendar. Noon–1:30 pm Free with cash bar Registration required; Free From 7 am yoga to a Registration required; For updates and reminders, $50 21+ with ID call 212-769-5200 Registration required; performance of John Luther call 212-769-5606 sign up for monthly Calendar Join ornithologist Paul Sweet How does our brain allow Visit the Spitzer Hall of Human email [email protected] Adams’ Become Ocean by Our new exhibition Unseen Highlights for Members by for walks through Central Park us to focus on specific objects Origins and the Hall of This tour for the blind Chelsea Symphony Orchestra, Oceans explores a marvelous, sending your membership to observe birds migrating or locations while blocking Primates to examine our or partially sighted and visitors will be immersed in alien world hidden beneath number and request to subscribe north this spring. Learn how to out others? Neuroscientist closest evolutionary relatives. subsequent American Sign art, science, and culture at this the sunlit surface. Travel to [email protected]. The identify bird species using field Marisa Carrasco explores how Trace primates’ 65-million- Language-interpreted tour festival honoring Earth Day. to new depths in a virtual Museum does not trade, rent, marks, behavior, and song. our minds process sensory year evolution to learn more Animal Encounter: Wild Babies invite visitors to explore submersible, see elusive giants or sell this information. inputs to make sense of the about the traits that make Saturday, April 14 the scales of the cosmos of the deep, and learn how world around us and shape these mammals unique. 11 am (recommended for and investigate what lies Astronomy Live: Exoplanets scientists are using technology Tickets what we see. families with younger children), beyond in the Rose Center Tuesday, April 24 to make new discoveries. 1 pm, 3 pm for Earth and Space. 7 pm Tickets are available by phone Frontiers Lecture: Visualizing $15 $12 May at 212-769-5200, Monday–Friday, Discovery Squad Planets with Radio Telescopes Spring is the season for new Jackie Faherty will take you on a 9 am–5 pm, or by visiting amnh.org. Saturday, April 7 Monday, April 9 discovery, and the beginning virtual tour of our local galactic Please have your membership 9 am 7:30 pm of new life for creatures neighborhood and explore Lunchtime Bird Walks in number ready. Free $12 around the world. Meet some the diversity of potential Central Park Availability may be limited. Registration required; Astrophysicist Meredith Hughes of nature’s cutest youngsters, living conditions on newly Four Tuesdays, May 1–22 Please purchase tickets in advance. call 212-769-5200 introduces the weird and and learn how they adapt discovered extrasolar planets. Noon–1:30 pm Please be aware that ticket Families affected by autism wonderful young systems that to their unique habitats. $50 sales are final for all Member spectrum disorders are invited we can see with extremely Grant Kemmerer, wildlife Join ornithologist Paul Sweet programs. All programs go Morning Bird Walks to take a 40-minute tour led powerful radio telescopes and expert and animal caretaker for walks through Central Park ahead rain or shine. There are in Central Park by specially trained tour provides a window into our from the Wild World of to observe birds migrating no refunds unless the program Tuesday–Friday, April 3–May 25 guides, then spend some time own place in the universe. Animals, will introduce you north this spring. Learn how to is canceled by the Museum. 7 am (T, Th) and 9 am (W, F) exploring the Discovery Room to a diverse group of babies, identify bird species using field Please check amnh.org for $85 before the Museum opens to A book signing follows. large and small, from across marks, behavior, and song. Member ticket prices for live Ornithologists Paul Sweet the public. the Animal Kingdom. animal exhibits and giant-screen (T, F) and Joseph DiCostanzo 2D and 3D films. (W, Th) lead this walking Information about programs tour to observe the spring is current as of March 8, 2018. migration of birds in Central Please check amnh.org/calendar Park. Identify birds such as for updates. warblers, thrushes, tanagers, and orioles as they pass through New York City en route to their summer homes.

Exhibitions Our Senses: An Immersive The Butterfly Conservatory Opulent Oceans Admission is by timed entry only. Experience Free for Members at the closes may 28 Free closes june 30 Free $115 level and above Inspired by the book Opulent Unseen Oceans Explore 11 funhouse-like spaces This popular live-animal exhibition Oceans: Extraordinary Rare Book Free that dare you to trust your features up to 500 free-flying Selections from the American Meet the elusive giants of the sea, senses—and show you how or tropical butterflies from the Museum of Natural History, including whales, sharks, and giant why what we perceive is not Americas, Africa, and Asia. Housed this exhibition includes 46 squid; sink beneath the waves in always as it seems. See a garden in a vivarium with flowering exquisite reproductions from a virtual submersible theater; and through the eyes of a bee plants, iridescent blue morphos, 33 rare and beautifully illustrated marvel at the vivid fluorescence or butterfly, test your skills at striking scarlet swallowtails, and scientific works. displayed by marine creatures but tracking sounds, try to unpack more flutter about. invisible to us … until now. a scent, and much more.

Rotunda / Spring 2018 / AMNH.org 16 Next at the Museum 17

SciCafe: Ocean Locomotion: Frontiers Lecture: Discovery Squad Nature in Native American Astronomy Live: SciCafe Bioinspiration from the Sea Planetary Origin Stories Saturday, May 19 Myths and Legends Multiwavelength Universe Wednesday, June 6 Wednesday, May 2 with Alycia Weinberger 9 am Wednesday, May 23 Tuesday, May 29 7 pm 7 pm Monday, May 14 Free 2:30 pm 7 pm Free with cash bar Free with cash bar 7:30 pm Registration required; Free $12 21+ with ID 21+ with ID $12 call 212-769-5200 Registration required; Astronomers use telescopes to Please check amnh.org for How can studying sea life help It would take 100 million Families affected by autism email [email protected] identify the many wavelengths details about the last SciCafe us to create more efficient years to see a planet fully spectrum disorders are invited space objects emit. Join Brian of the season. technologies? Marine biologist form, but luckily there are to attend a 40-minute tour Visitors who are blind or Levine, Emily Rice, and Jana Frank Fish researches the plenty of planetary systems led by specially trained tour partially sighted are invited Grcevich to explore the universe Identification Day unique ways marine animals in development for us to guides, then spend some to learn about the myths and through a different lens. Frontiers Lecture: Saturday, June 16 move underwater and uses observe. Alycia Weinberger uses time exploring the Discovery legends of Native American Mercury Rising Noon–4 pm this knowledge to inspire new “snapshots” of nearby stars to Room before the Museum cultures in the Bernard Family Monday, June 11 Free engineering approaches. take us on a journey back in opens to the public. Hall of North American World Science Festival: 7:30 pm The Museum celebrates time to the origins of planets. Mammals, Northwest Coast Oceans Trivia Night $12 natural history collections by Hall, and Hall of North Reconstructing Human Thursday, May 31 Our solar system’s innermost inviting visitors to bring in Hall Tour: Foods of the World A World of Fossils American Forests through Evolution: From Fossils to 7 pm planet has enough activity in their own specimens for our Saturday, May 5 Saturday, May 19 verbal descriptions and Faces $45 its interior to generate a small annual Identification Day. Get 1:30 pm 10:30 am touchable objects. Six Wednesdays, May 23–June 27 Mingle under the blue whale magnetic field. Join guides an up-close look at specimens Free Free 7–9:30 pm with a drink in hand, and show Denton Ebel and Carter Emmart from the Museum’s rarely seen Registration required; Registration required; $195 off your smarts in a pub-style for an up-close examination collections while scientists call 212-769-5200 email [email protected] 18+ quiz hosted by comedian and of Mercury, thanks to NASA’s attempt to identify your Explore the Hall of Mexico Discover how scientists and journalist Faith Salie. completed MESSENGER discoveries. and Central America, the Hall Visitors who are blind or artists use fossil evidence probe mission. of African Peoples, and the partially sighted are invited to reconstruct our human June Stout Hall of Asian Peoples to trace the branches of the relatives by building your Science Throw Down: with a tour guide to learn Field Trip to the Moon tree of life in the Museum’s own life-sized hominin head. Hall Tour: Sea vs. Land more about the origins and Thursday, May 17 amazing fossil collections Examine skull variations, The Art of Natural History Tuesday, June 19 evolution of some of your 6–6:30 pm, 6:45–7:15 pm and explore the exhibits learn how to create facial Saturday, June 2 7 pm favorite foods, including $8 for children; $12.50 for adults through verbal descriptions musculature, and take home 10:30 am, 1:30 pm $20 chocolate, potatoes, and corn. Join us for a virtual trip and touchable objects. your very own sculpted Free On the ground or into to the Moon in the immersive reconstruction from the past! Registration required; the deep—which is more Hayden Planetarium. Feel call 212-769-5200 compelling, intriguing, and the ground shake beneath Join a tour guide to examine inspiring? Join comedian and you as you experience the Museum’s spectacular art. journalist Faith Salie for a lively a thrilling NASA rocket launch. Gain a better understanding discussion about the pros and Take a guided tour of the of how imagery can be used cons of sea or land across a cosmos and orbit the Earth as a vehicle for disseminating range of categories. to get an astronaut’s view scientific knowledge. of a sunrise in space!

Amazon Adventure Dark Universe Exhibition Credits Our Senses is generously supported Dark Universe was created by the Dark Universe was developed by Members enjoy special benefits 2d and 3d Narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, space show by Dana and Virginia Randt American Museum of Natural the American Museum of Natural This giant-screen film explores Frederick P. Rose Director of Lead funding for Unseen Oceans History, the Frederick Phineas History, New York (www.amnh. the extraordinary journey the Hayden Planetarium, this and its educational resources is Generous support for The and Sandra Priest Rose Center for org) in collaboration with the of 19th-century naturalist Space Show celebrates pivotal provided by OceanX, an initiative Butterfly Conservatory has been Earth and Space, and the Hayden California Academy of Sciences, and explorer Henry Walter discoveries and the cosmic of the Dalio Foundation. provided by the Eileen P. Bernard Planetarium. San Francisco, and GOTO INC, Bates. Audiences enter a wild mysteries that remain. Gaze up Exhibition Fund. Tokyo, Japan. world of breathtaking beauty at the Milky Way from Mt. Wilson The American Museum The Museum also gratefully and captivating animals, Observatory in California, plunge of Natural History gratefully The presentation of Opulent acknowledges major funding from including an array of nature’s into Jupiter’s atmosphere with acknowledges the Oceans: Extraordinary Rare Book the Charles Hayden Foundation. masters of mimicry. a NASA probe, and find out what Richard and Karen LeFrak Selections from the American scientists are learning about dark Exhibition and Education Fund. Museum of Natural History Presented with special thanks to Captioning devices are available. matter and dark energy. is made possible through the NASA and the National Science Unseen Oceans is generously generosity of the Arthur Ross Foundation. Captioning devices are available. supported by Chase Private Client. Foundation.

Rotunda / Spring 2018 / AMNH.org 18 Next at the Museum 19

april Program Credits: Astronomy Live: Summer Skies Museum Highlights 3 7 14 24 Tuesday, June 26 Saturday, June 30 The SciCafe series is proudly tuesday saturday saturday tuesday 7 pm 12:30 pm sponsored by Judy and Josh Weston. Lunchtime Bird Walks Discovery Squad Animal Encounter: Wild Babies Exoplanets $12 Free in Central Park Accessible Tour Member Program Astronomy Live Nature Walks begin Joe Rao and Ted Williams Registration required; SciCafe: Ocean Locomotion: Hall Tour: Planet of the Apes highlight the spectacular sights Bioinspiration from the Sea and email [email protected] Morning Bird Walks Member Program 21 26 of the summer sky, including related activities are generously in Central Park saturday thursday Mars’ close approach in July From dinosaurs to meteors, supported by the Science Nature Walks begin Scales of the Universe Evening Access: Unseen Oceans and the Perseids Meteor this American Sign Language- Education Partnership Award 9 Member Program Accessible Tours Shower on August 12. interpreted tour will explore (SEPA) program of the National monday 4 Visualizing Planets various popular exhibits in Institutes of Health (NIH). wednesday with Radio Telescopes the Museum. Seeing is Believing Frontiers Lecture 22 Discovery Squad Unseen Oceans programs are SciCafe sunday Saturday, June 30 made possible by OceanX, an EarthFest Special Program 9 am Summer Programs initiative of the Dalio Foundation, Free as part of its generous support Registration required; Please check amnh.org for of the special exhibition Unseen call 212-769-5200 dates, times, and details. Oceans and its related educational Families affected by autism activities and public programs. spectrum disorders are invited Fun with Fossils to attend a 40-minute tour $95 per person The Museum gratefully led by specially trained tour This June and July, pack your acknowledges The Mortimer D. may guides, then spend some time collecting bag, old sneakers, Sackler Foundation, Inc. for its exploring the Discovery and lunch, and travel back in support to establish the Sackler 1 14 19 29 tuesday monday saturday tuesday Room before the Museum time with fossil experts Carl Brain Bench, part of the Museum’s Lunchtime Bird Walks Planetary Origin Stories Discovery Squad Multiwavelength Universe opens to the public. or Sackler Educational Laboratory Mehling Paul Nascimbene in Central Park with Alycia Weinberger Accessible Tour Astronomy Live for an expedition to Big Brook for Comparative Genomics and Nature Walks begin Frontiers Lecture in Monmouth County, New Human Origins, in the Spitzer A World of Fossils Jersey. This program includes Hall of Human Origins, offering 31 Accessible Tour thursday about 45 minutes of walking. ongoing programs and resources 2 17 wednesday thursday World Science Festival: for adults, teachers, and students Ocean Locomotion: Field Trip to the Moon Oceans Trivia Night Feel free to bring your own to illuminate the extraordinary Bioinspiration from the Sea Member Program 23 Special Program equipment; transportation workings of the human brain. SciCafe wednesday provided. Children must be Nature in Native American Myths and Legends accompanied by an adult. Support for Hayden Planetarium 5 Programs is provided by the saturday Accessible Tour Summer Star Sail Horace W. Goldsmith Endowment Hall Tour: Foods of the World $95 per person Fund. Member Program Reconstructing Human Evolution: From Fossils to Faces Meteorites Set sail on the Hudson River Adult Course begins Saturday, June 30 with a Museum scientist Support for accessibility initiatives 10:30 am and watch the Sun set while at the American Museum of Free learning the science and Natural History has been provided Registration required; star lore that surround the by the Filomen M. D’Agostino email [email protected] summer sky. Foundation. june Visitors who are blind or Appropriate for children ages partially sighted are invited 10 and above. Children must be 2 11 19 30 to discover the origin of accompanied by an adult. saturday monday tuesday saturday the universe and our solar Hall Tour: The Art Mercury Rising Science Throw Down: Discovery Squad system in the Ross Hall of Natural History Frontiers Lecture Sea vs. Land Accessible Tour of Meteorites through Member Program Special Program Meteorites verbal descriptions and 16 touchable objects. 6 saturday 26 Accessible Tour wednesday Identification Day tuesday SciCafe Special Program Summer Skies Museum Highlights Astronomy Live Accessible Tour Page 14–15: © AMNH/R. Mickens, © AMNH/C. Chesek, © AMNH, © AMNH/D. Finnin, © AMNH/R.Page 16–17: Mickens, © Neil van© AMNH/M.Niekerk Shanley, © AMNH/D. Finnin, © AMNH/M. Shanley, © AMNH, SK Films Page 18: © AMNH/D. Finnin

Rotunda / Spring 2018 / AMNH.org 20 Explore at the Museum 21

Division of Paleontology— Invertebrates Favorite Find: “A keychain vial of foraminifera Division of Paleontology— (unicellular amoeba-like organisms with hard BYO Specimen Vertebrates and Plants shells) from Okinawa, Japan, that I have read Most Popular Collection Item: Coprolite, or fossil feces, always gets about but never seen in person,” says Mariah See rare items from our a big reaction. “Kids squeal and cringe when I tell them what it is and Slovacek, a Museum specialist in the Department remind them that they touched it,” says Carl Mehling, senior Museum of Paleontology. collections and have a Museum specialist in the Department of Paleontology. “Afterwards, when they Top Tip: “If the specimen isn’t delicate, brushing think no one is looking, a few will sniff it.” scientist identify yours. off loose dirt and sand or washing the specimen Favorite Finds: “The most amazing thing was from 2001, a partial gently with water helps make it more visible for Pleistocene walrus skull from a beach in Virginia,” says Mehling. examination,” says Slovacek. It’s almost that time again! On June 16, the “And in 2016, a Member named Sean Tobin, brought in a Late Museum opens its doors for Identification Day, Cretaceous plesiosaur vertebra he found in a brook in New Jersey!” when Museum researchers and collections managers are on hand to identify your finds. Popular since the first program made The New Yorker magazine’s Talk of the Town in 1979, the annual event brings in between 2,500 and 3,500 visitors each year, carrying items found on beaches and in backyards. Department of Ornithology

Favorite Find: “A staff member brought in a bird As you start thinking about what you’ll skeleton her landlord had in a shoebox in his bring this year, here are a few basic rules for garage,” says Paul Sweet, collections manager in the specimens at Identification Day: Department of Ornithology. “It was a Fairy Penguin • No animals, please. Bring in a photo (Eudyptula minor) native to Australia, and the of your specimen instead. mount was of a type that hasn’t been manufactured • With plants, be sure you have permission for about 100 years.” to collect your sample. • Fresh is best with fruits, flowers, or both. Top Tips: Be gentle handling specimens that will be Also, put plants in zip-lock bags to keep them out for the day. Even big bones can break if grabbed moist and—just as important—to foil pests. too roughly. And prepare to be surprised. Sweet likes • Remember, you don’t have to bring in to set out a large and a small bone and ask children anything at all to enjoy Identification Day. which is heavier. “They instinctively pick the large Museum scientists and collections managers bone of the Andean Condor over the smaller bone of will be showing some of their favorite items an Emperor Penguin,” says Sweet. But when they hold to show you from behind the scenes. the bones, “They say, ‘That’s weird!’” He explains how the condor has light hollow bones for flying, while So, come join the chorus of previous penguin bones are dense and heavy for swimming. participants who have called the event “awesome,” “really cool,” and a “wonderful experience” as you discover and celebrate the lifeblood of the Museum’s research—its world- class collections—and share your own.

Department of Herpetology What You’ll See: “Cool specimens with extreme senses,” says Senior Museum Specialist Lauren Vonnahme from the Department of Division Of Anthropology Herpetology about what she will be showing at her table this year, with a nod to the current special exhibition Our Senses: An Immersive Favorite Find: “Two years ago, a woman brought in an Acheulean Experience. “Tuataras have a third eye, chameleons have a tongue handaxe that her husband found while oil prospecting in Libya in the twice the length of their body, crocodile skin is more sensitive than 1950s,” says Adam Watson, a researcher in the Division of Anthropology. our fingertips, and boas can ‘see’ heat. I’ll bring our live boa.” “This is a tool type manufactured solely by our hominin ancestors, Top Tip: “Please bring us stuff to identify—we really like to Homo erectus, 500,000 to a million years ago.” do it!” says Vonnahme. “And complete specimens are better than Top Tip: “The more information—geographic context, documentation, incomplete ones. It’s hard to tell what species it is from family lore—the better,” says Watson. a 0.25-inch splinter of bone.” © AMNH/M. Shanley, © AMNH/R. Mickens

Rotunda / Spring 2018 / AMNH.org 22 Members at the Museum 23

Ways to Join There are many ways to join the Jesup Legacy Circle. A gift in Beyond Today a will—known as a bequest—is the most popular. This can be a dollar amount, specific assets, or a portion of what remains Make a Commitment to Discovery after providing for others. Gifts from IRA or 401K accounts only require completing a beneficiary form and help keep assets outside of probate. If properly planned, gifts for the Museum’s future can be arranged using life insurance, real estate, business interests, or even an existing donor-advised fund or trust. Life-income gifts, such as charitable gift annuities, are also very popular. A gift annuity provides fixed-rate payments for life, paid to the donor and/or another person they chose. Because the remainder will go to the Museum after their lifetime, there are It all started more than a century ago. Maria DeWitt also significant income tax benefits for the donors. Charitable Jesup, devoted naturalist and wife of former Museum remainder trusts can provide similar income and tax benefits. President Morris Jesup, knew that the Museum she Other trusts, called charitable lead trusts, can pass assets on to loved would continue to shape future generations. So she children or grandchildren in tax-advantaged ways. arranged a generous gift in her will, inspiring other friends to step forward with their own gifts. This group became the Museum’s Jesup Legacy Circle.

Looking to the Future For nearly 150 years, the Museum has expanded our scientific horizons. The Jesup Legacy Circle’s goal is to make certain that will continue for 150 more. There is no minimum dollar requirement to join the Jesup Legacy Circle. Members receive special invitations to events and the knowledge that they will have a lasting effect on everyone who enters the Museum’s doors—that their gift will help spark curiosity and inspire wonder for generations to come.

“Science is important to us… to our lives and existence. This bequest is an investment in our country’s future.” —Linda and Chester Widomski jesup members since 2014

Members of the Jesup Legacy Circle are focused on the future of science and education. Their support will help the Museum to keep up with changing technologies, building new experiences for visitors both on-site and online. It will help to prepare teachers If you think you might be interested in the benefits of a planned and scientists to solve tomorrow’s biggest challenges. And, of gift, or want to find out more about the Jesup Legacy Circle, course, their lasting legacy will extend learning opportunities for contact our Planned Giving Office by emailing plannedgiving@ generations of children and families regardless of background—as amnh.org or by calling 212-769-5119. the Museum has done since its founding.

Your Planned Gift for Tomorrow Can Also Provide Support Today

In celebration of the Museum’s upcoming 150th Anniversary, an anonymous donor has set a challenge for our loyal friends. For any legacy gift that you arrange in your will or estate plan, the Museum receives $1,000—for a total of up to $150,000. Planning a gift for the future of the Museum has always been a great way to extend your legacy beyond today and support the next generation of scientists. Now, as part of this challenge, you can help us to secure immediate funding as well—supporting vital current work in science and education.

Your planned gift will make you the newest member of the Museum’s Jesup Legacy Circle. We’ll invite you

© Chang W. Lee/The New York Times/Redux © AMNH/D. Finnin, © AMNH to special events and send this exclusive collapsible tote bag to thank you for your commitment.

Rotunda / Spring 2018 / AMNH.org Central Park West at 79th Street New York, New York 10024-5192 amnh.org

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; and Café on 4 offer Members enter from West 81st Street. Members can park a 15-percent discount. Hours are for a flat fee of $10 if entering after 4 pm. 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, Accessibility Planetarium Shop, Cosmic Shop, Submersibles have opened up an era of pioneering deep-sea Senses Shop, Unseen Oceans Shop, exploration. Find out what it’s like to dive deep on p.12. and Online Shop (shop.amnh.org) For information on accessibility, offer Members a 10-percent discount. email [email protected] or call 212-313-7565.