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| In order to study bony animals properly, scientists need to examine carefully the skeletal structure of their specimens. But how do you get all the meat off all the bone? The answer, believe it or not, is beetles. Deep in the laboratories of the Museum, bone-cleaning or "sarcophagus" beetles (family Dermestidae) work nonstop, day and night, cleaning bones for the Museum's scientific departments - Mammalogy, Ornithology, and Ichthyology, for example - that use skeletons in their research. |
 Specimens soak in alcohol before they are transferred to the beetle room photo credit: Allison Alltucker ©AMNH |
| The process has several steps. First, a specimen, perhaps a rare fish from the Amazon Basin or a penguin recently brought back from Antarctica, is brought to the lab. Scientists remove its organs and skin and set them aside to be preserved in alcohol for other research. Next, the bones are dried overnight under a fan until the flesh is the consistency of beef jerky. Then the skeleton is transferred to the beetle room, a windowless room filled with large rectangular boxes in which the beetles are raised and earn their keep. Beetles in all stages, from larvae to adults, crawl around their wooden-box homes until the next job, or meal, appears. "The little ones are good at cleaning small, tight areas," points out Tiffany Stahl-Dafis of the Department of Mammalogy. Because teeth and ear bones are the diagnostic skeletal features for all mammals, bone studies are extremely important for distinguishing species. |
 Dermestidae beetles work on a bird carcass photo credit: Allison Alltucker ©AMNH |
| Stahl-Dafis lifted the lid to check on the beetles and spritzed them with water. "They prefer a warm, humid environment. We spritz the beetles with water to keep the humidity level high and to keep the muscle fiber palatable." Keep in mind that the stench of this process is pretty pungent, so only brave souls venture to visit the beetles on the job. |
 Tiffany Stahl-Dafis tends to the bug colony photo credit: Allison Alltucker ©AMNH |
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Scientists can clean bones by hand, but, as Radford Arrindell, senior
scientific assistant of the Department of Ichthyology, explains, "The
beetles are able to leave many fine bones attached which would probably
be lost or hidden with hand preps. They're also more productive than
humans. The number of specimens produced is also higher per week with
the colonies."
Is there ever a dearth of specimens to clean? Occasionally, in which case the beetles are fed pigs' feet. Excerpt from Rotunda, November 1999 |
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©2000 American Museum of Natural History