The Twelve Parasites of Christmas

Wednesday, December 22 12:00 pm

Mistletoe, figgy pudding, reindeer, and even turtle doves: who would pair any of these with parasites?  Parasitologists, of course. The Twelve Parasites of Christmas heralds the end of Parasite of the Day, a blog created in 2010 to celebrate the overlooked freeloaders of biodiversity during the International Year of Biodiversity.

“This blog started in January when I read a manuscript in which a colleague lamented the lack of flagship parasites,” says Susan Perkins, a curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History who shepherded the blog all year.

Check out the Twelve Parasites of Christmas:

1. Viscum album, European mistletoe, a parasite of more than 200 different trees and shrubs

2. Haemoproteus turtur, a blood parasite of turtle doves

3. Sparassis crispa, a fungus that parasitizes roots of common Christmas tree species

4. Philotrypesis caricae, a fig wasp

5. Nuytsia floribunda, Australian parasitic plant that blooms at Christmas time

6. Hypoderma tarandi, a bot fly with larvae that worm into caribou

7. Elaphostrongylus rangiferi, a worm that infects reindeer

8. Cepheneymia trompe, a bot fly that grows in the noses of reindeer

9. Trypanosoma lewisi, a protozoan that led to the rapid extinction of Christmas Island’s native rats

10. Plasmodium vivax, a mosquito-borne disease that may have motivated the magi to bring frankincense

11. Macrophomina phaseolina, a fungus found in soil that can rot the tree that we get frankincense from

12. Hyalomma dromedarii, a tick found on camels

For more parasites—all 365 of them!—visit http://dailyparasite.blogspot.com/

New Window Into Tropical Eocene: 50 Million Year Old Amber From India

Monday, October 25 12:57 pm

This Psocoptera (Family Lepidopsocidae) from western India is in amber that hardened from Dipterocarpaceae resin (a group of trees that still dominate tropical broadleaf forests). David Grimaldi/AMNH

At least 100 bees, termites, spiders, and flies — all 50-52 million years old — are challenging the assumption that India was an isolated island-continent in the Early Eocene. The Cambay amber contains arthropods that not unique — as would be expected on an island — but rather have close evolutionary relationships with fossils from Europe, the Americas, and Asia.

“We know India was isolated, but…the biological evidence in the amber deposit shows that there was some biotic connection,” says David Grimaldi, curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the Museum. “The Cambay Formation spans a period of great warmth which led to a profusion of tropical groups spread around the world.”

The amber is the oldest evidence of a tropical broadleaf rainforest in Asia. The newly-excavated amber has been chemically linked to a family of hardwood trees that currently makes up 80 percent of the forest canopy in Southeast Asia.  Fossilized wood from this family was found as well, showing that this family is nearly twice as old as was commonly believed.

“The Cambay amber’s chemistry is quite distinct from that of resins produced by conifers and by recent to modern flowering plants that are found in places like the Dominican Republic and Mexico,” says Paul Nascimbene of the Fossil Insect Lab at the Museum.

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Museum’s REU Symposium Spotlights Student Summer Biology Research

Monday, August 16 9:02 am

Nearly 80% of interns from the first 10 years of the Museum’s REU program in biology have gone on to graduate school. Of those, 31% are now working in academia, and 25% hold non-faculty research positions. © AMNH/D. Finnin

The gene flow patterns of Amazonian birds, the diversity of bat teeth, mislabeled species at the local market: these were just a few of the topics presented at the 22nd Annual Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) biological sciences symposium held in the Museum’s Linder Theater earlier this month.

The symposium marked the conclusion of the 2010 REU program, a National Science Foundation-funded internship that offers college students the opportunity to work side by side with Museum scientists on research projects in the biological or physical sciences. Nearly 80% of interns from the first 10 years of the REU program in biology have gone on to graduate school and, within this group, 31% are now working in academia and 25% hold non-faculty research positions.

“This program is very important, not only because these undergraduates are generating cutting-edge research, but also for me, because it’s how I got started as a professor,” said Museum Curator Mark Siddall of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, who has overseen the REU biology program since 2001, during opening remarks at the symposium.

This summer’s eight REU projects in biology spanned species, continents, and methodologies.

Isabella Akker, a student at Stanford University who worked with Joel Cracraft, curator-in-charge of the Museum’s Department of Ornithology, spent the summer sequencing and analyzing the DNA of the Blue-Crowned Manakin—a species of bird found in the Amazonian rainforest—that had been sampled from different geographic locations in South America.

Another REU intern, Berenice Villegas of Columbia University, looked into a phenomenon closer to home. Villegas worked with George Amato, director of the Sackler Institute of Comparative Genomics, to conduct a study that examined the mislabeling of endangered species—including turtle, alligator, and fish meat—sold illegally in New York City markets. Using a tool known as DNA barcoding—or analyzing a fragment of a gene to identify a particular species—Villegas found many cases of mislabeling as well as instances of threatened or near-threatened species for sale.

Villegas, an environmental biology major, said that conducting research with Museum scientists was an invaluable experience. “It was one of the best summers I’ve ever had,” she said of participating in the REU program.

Museum scientists were equally enthusiastic about working with young researchers. John Flynn, dean of the Richard Gilder Graduate School at the American Museum of Natural History, emphasized the value of the REU program in unscheduled remarks at the symposium’s conclusion.

“I was incredibly struck by the tenor of conversation and questioning—a testament to your excellent work as an integral part of creating a new generation of scientists,” said Flynn.

For more information about Research Experiences for Undergraduates at the Museum, please visit the Fellowships and Opportunities section on the Richard Gilder Graduate Schoolwebsite.

A Bug’s Life: Lethocerus cordofanus Mayr

Tuesday, July 13 8:36 am

© AMNH/D. Finnin

Anyone who has encountered a member of the giant water bug family Belostomatidae, perhaps while trying to enjoy a nice summer dip in a pool, will remember why these aquatic insects are commonly called toe-biters: they’re not shy about hunting prey, even the human kind.

The biggest insects of the order Hemiptera, a broad group that includes true bugs, cicadas, and hoppers, these aquatic predators are found in shallow streams or ponds across the world. When there’s no tasty-looking toe nearby, they generally feed on snails, tadpoles, frogs, small fish, and even small birds, but they don’t actually bite: like all true bugs, they lack chewing mouthparts. Instead, their method of dining involves grabbing prey with their forelimbs, or raptorial forelegs, and injecting it with a powerful proteolytic enzyme, which liquefies tissue by breaking down proteins. Once the prey turns to mush, water bugs feed by sucking the liquefied remains through a proboscis. If that sounds agonizing, it is. Water bug “bites” inflict pain on a par with the top-ranked insects on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, a four-point scale created by entomologist Justin O. Schmidt to compare the stings of the order Hymenoptera, which includes bees, wasps, and ants. But though fairly painful, this sting is not actually dangerous to humans.

The water bugs’ other nickname—electric light bugs—comes from their attraction to light. Though they are clumsy fliers, water bugs do take to the air when seeking out new streams and rely on surface light bouncing off water to find their way. When humans bring electric lights to new areas that include water bug habitats, the two species inevitably collide.

Species of Belostomatidae occur worldwide but this particular specimen from the Museum’s Department of Entomology, a male Lethocerus cordofanus Mayr, was collected in 1911 in Morogoro, Tanzania. Though nearly a century old, like most insects, its hard body preserves well without any special treatment. It’s one of approximately 24 million specimens housed in the Museum’s Division of Invertebrate Zoology.

A version of this story originally appeared in the Summer issue of Rotunda, the magazine for Museum Members.

Museum Honors 2010 Young Naturalist Awards Winners

Friday, June 04 10:34 am

Thirteen students, ages 13 to 18, will be treated to exclusive behind-the-scenes tours of the American Museum of Natural History’s paleontology and invertebrate collections today — part of the prize for winners of the 13th Annual Young Naturalist Awards, a nationwide science-based research contest presented by the American Museum of Natural History and supported by Alcoa Foundation.

“The Young Naturalist Awards program is a superb example of students engaging creatively and enthusiastically with the scientific process,” said Ellen V. Futter, President of the AmericanMuseum of Natural History. “We are proud to help foster a love of science and nature in all the participants and especially the terrific winners, whom we congratulate for their exceptional and inspiring work.”

These aspiring scientists, all students in grades 7 through 12, carried out scientific investigations of the natural world and presented their research, methods, observations, and analyses. A panel of judges from the Museum’s scientific, educational, and editorial staff evaluated the entries on originality, ability to gather data, analysis and interpretation, and creativity and clarity of presentation. This year’s projects included a study of the breakdown of wastewater pharmaceuticals and an investigation of snapping turtles.

The winners, who hail from as near as the Bronx and as far as Hilo, Hawaii, traveled to the Museum today to receive their prize, which includes cash awards ranging from $500 to $2,500, meetings with Museum scientists, behind-the-scenes tours, and recognition at an awards ceremony. The winning entries will also be published on the Museum’s website.

The Young Naturalist Awards is a program of the National Center for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology (NCSLET), part of the Museum’s Department of Education.