Scientific discovery often has been, and continues to be, made by examination of natural history artifacts. Materials essential to such discoveries are deposited in natural history collections, where they in turn form the basis for new discovery. Such collections are an exceptionally rich resource for small class, seminar-style learning. The Natural History Collections of the Peabody Museum is a freshman seminar exploring selected scientific problems through the use of the biological and geological collections of the Peabody Museum.   A central feature of the course will be the opportunity to directly manipulate museum specimens under the mentorship of collection managers of the Peabody Museum. For each Division, students will be presented with a variety of scientific problems for which the collections are famous along with relevant readings designed to provide an introduction at suitable level. The 20 topics offered in Fall 2005 are introduced below.   The course will be organized around oral presentations by students following an introductory sequence of meetings and requisite work in the collections themselves. The course is divided into two sessions, one before and one after mid-term, during each of which each student works on a single topic. Students will be invited to submit their top three choices of topics and will be assigned topics for the first session on that basis during the second week of class. For each topic, students will be expected to produce a 10-15 page paper that treats in detail the scientific questions posed, their histories, and the manner in which the collection and study of artifacts shaped the resolution of the problem. Readings of approximately 50 pages/week are expected of all students. Grading is based upon oral presentations, papers, participation in seminar discussions, and evaluations of collection managers.

The seminar meets MW 1-2:15 in ESC 110.

The course is not 'shopable'; enrollment is pre-arranged by Yale College. Questions regarding this policy should be directed to peter.quimby@yale.edu

Division of Botany

Invasive plant species

Alien plants, also known as exotic, non-native, or nonindigenous plants, are species intentionally or accidentally introduced by human activity into a region in which they did not evolve. Many alien species are well known and economically important in agriculture and horticulture, such as wheat, soybeans, and tulips. Alien species, often do not become established outside of cultivation and, if they do, they usually have few impacts on natural communities. Invasive alien plants, however, escape cultivation and become agricultural pests, infest lawns as weeds, displace native plant species, reduce wildlife habitat, and alter ecosystem processes. Across the country and around the world, invasive aliens have become one of the most serious threats to native species, natural communities, and ecosystem processes. Of the approximately 4,000 alien plant species introduced to the United States that have escaped cultivation, approximately 400 are serious invaders. Half this total was introduced for horticultural uses, others arrived accidentally in seed mixes, packaging materials, ships ballast, and by other means. Invasive plants now infest more than 100 million acres.  

This topic provides the opportunity to retrace the history of introduction and spread of invasive plant species by examining plant specimens collected in the late 19th- early 20th century and the data associated with them.

Vitousek, P, D’Antonip, C.M., Loope L.L., and Westbrooks, R. 1996. Biological Invasions as global environmental change. American Scientist 84: 468-478.

Andrews, E.F. 1919. The Japanese Honeysuckle in the Eastern United States. Torreya 19 (3): 37-43.

Saltonstall, K.. 2002. Cryptic invasion by a non-native genotype of the common reed, Phragmites australis, into North America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 99 (4): 2445-2449.

Brown, B.J., Mitchell, R. and Graham, S.A. 2002. Competition for Pollination Between an Invasive Species (Purple Loosestrife) and a Native Congener. Ecology 83 (8): 2328-36

Division of Vertebrate Zoology

Early New England hosts of the parasitic cowbird

Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) is an obligate brood parasite with over 150 species recorded as hosts.  Prior to the colonization of America by Europeans, Brown-headed Cowbirds were confined to the prairie region and associated with bison herds.  Following the European settlement and the introduction of livestock, the cowbirds invaded the east and developed foraging associations with cattle and horses.  This eastward expansion exposed them to a range of novel hosts with no evolved defenses against nest parasitism.  Peabody Museum egg collection provides an opportunity to study cowbird host preferences in New England region during 1870-1930.

Whitehead, M. A., S. H. Schweitzer, and W. Post.  2002.  Cowbird/host interactions in a southeastern old-field: a recent contact area? Journal of Field Ornithology 73 (4): 379-386.

 

 

Scansorial adaptations in Ivory-billed Woodpecker

 

Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) was thought to be extinct since 1960s.  Its rediscovery last year received a lot of publicity and coincided with the publication of a new book by Jerome Jackson devoted to this species.  The book includes interesting new findings based on museum specimens.  Among others, Jackson notes for the first time that the tail of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker is strongly curved and may function as an uncoiling spring that yields extra thrust to tapping, drumming, and climbing.  This interesting possibility needs to be explored in more detail by a comparative study of tail curvature and resistance to dorsoventral deflection in other woodpeckers.  Peabody Museum collection includes specimens of all 12 species of the genus Campephilus and allows to test the tail spring hypothesis.

Tubaro, P. L., D. A. Lijtmaer, M. G. Palacios, and C. Kopuchian.  2002. Adaptive modification of tail structure in relation to body mass and buckling in woodcreepers. Condor 104 (2): 281-296.

 

 

 

 

Tiger Salamander

The Eastern Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) is known from much of the eastern U.S.  In the northeast most populations are considered endangered due largely to habitat loss.  Officially, the species is not known from New England.  However, the Yale Peabody Museum has a specimen collected from Connecticut in 1938.  The currently accepted view is that this specimen was either incorrectly assigned to a Connecticut locality, or it was a released animal.  Clarification of this situation is important because not only would it present an interesting story about the biogeography of the species, but would also have conservation ramifications.  If the species occurred in CT before, does it still occur here in some small population?  If it does, then it is surely endangered.  Or, did it used to occur here and is already extinct in CT?  The student who tackles this topic will deal with specimen records, collection data and archives as well as topographic maps and other documentation in an effort to determine the origin of specimen YPM 20.

Klemens, M.  1992.  Amphibians and reptiles of Connecticut and adjacent regions.  State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut:  Bulletin 112.

Petranka, J. W.  1998.  Salamanders of the United States and Canada.  Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington.  pp. 108-121.

Gehlbach, F. R.  1967.  Ambystoma tigrinum (Green), Tiger Salamander.  Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 52: 1-4.

A new species?

In the early 1970's a Yale undergrad, not un-like those in this course, visited the nation of Cameroon in west Africa.  There he collected many amazing specimens and donated them to the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.  Some 30 years later the museum staff is still unraveling some of the mysteries of this collection.  Among the 3000+ specimens of preserved amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals are a few small rodents with large flaps of skin and interesting rigid projections from the forelimb.  These are pygmy flying squirrels.  The museum staff suspects that these specimens are a new, and as yet undescribed species of pygmy flying squirrel.  A student who works on this project will examine the literature and the specimens to determine if these are in fact a new species.  The student will write a new species description as the writing component of this project.

Verheyen, W. N. 1963. Contribution a la syst matique du genre Idiurus (Rodentia-Anomaluridae). Revue de Zoologie et de Botanique Africaines, 68:157-197.

Hayman, R. W. 1946. Systematic notes on the genus Idiurus (Anomaluridae). Annals and Magazine of Natural History, ser. 11, 13:208-212.

Julliot, C., S. Cajani, and A. Gautier-Hion, 1998. Anomalures (Rodentia, Anomaluridae) in Central Gabon: Species composition, population densities and ecology. Mammalia 62(1): 9-21.

Rahm, U. 1969. On the Anomalurus and Iriurdus species of the East Congo. Zeitschrift-fuer-Saeugetierkunde. 34(2): 75-84

Division of Invertebrate Zoology

The form and function of sea shells

If you walking down a seashore with someone special but feel at a loss for words, sea shells are a fine option. Pick one up and tell your companion about the life of that animal. After pursuing this topic, it will be possible to look at a shell and understand why the shell is shaped as it is. Snails face enemies and the shells act as defenses against them. The enemies gain access to the shell by very specific devices designed to drill, peel, and crush. Snails have evolved by modifying features of the shell like its bulk, the width of the opening, the presence of spines or ridges, and the like. By coming to understand these threats by examining the wealth of sea shells and sea shell predators in the collections of the Peabody Museum, you are likely not to find yourself without words when the proper occasion for their use arise.

Vermeij, G. J. 1993. The Natural History of Shells. Princeton University Press. Chapters 2, 5, 9.

Raup, D. M. and S. M. Stanley. 1971. Principles of Paleontology. W. H. Freeman. Pages 155-166.

Raup, D. M. 1966. Geometic analysis of shell coiling: general problems. Journal of Paleontology 15: 147-164.

Vermeij, G. J. 1987. Evolution and Escalation: An Ecological History of Life. Princeton University Press.

The Vampire Squid

First described in 1903, the deepwater vampire squid Vampyroteuthis infernalis defied proper classification for more than twenty five years. German teuthologist Carl Chun originally believed these stange cephalopods with their black bodies and 8 crimson-tipped arms to be a type of octopus. Later, another worker felt that Chun’s placement of this species into an existing group of octopods was incorrect, and instead a new family level group (Vampyroteuthidae) was warranted to include a sole member, V. infernalis.

In the 1930’s however, the existence of more and better preserved specimens promped Yale cephalopod specialist Grace E. Pickford to resolve questions about V. infernalis morphology, biology, and classification. Dr. Pickford ultimately wrote what is still today recognized as some of the most significant work on vampire squids, correctly recognizing that they were neither squid, nor octopus, but the sole member of a an entirely separate order, the Vampyromorpha.

For this topic the student will get to see Dr. Pickford’s actual specimens, now deposited in the Peabody Museum, and also examine recently obtained vampire squid collected in the vicinity of the New England Seamounts. To acquire a broader understanding of Pickford’s contributions, the student will also be able to browse cephalopod material she acquired from around the world, including specimens of the giant octopus which she wrote about in the 1960’s.

Pickford, G.E. 1939. The Vampyromorpha. Unpublished manuscript, pages 1-3.

Pickford, G.E. 1940. The Vampyromorpha, living-fossil Cephalopoda. Trans. New York Acad. Sci. 2(7):169-181.

Pickford, G.E. 1949. Vampyroteuthis infernalis Chun, an archaic dibranchiate Cephalopod. I. Natural History and Distribution. Dana Report No. 29.

Roper, C.F.E. 2000. "Vampyromorpha", in AccessScience@McGraw-Hill, http://www.accessscience.com, DOI 10.1036/1097-8542.726900, last modified: April 10, 2000.

Young, R.E. 1998. “Vampyromorpha” in Tree of Life Web Project. (http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Vampyroteuthis_infernalis&contgroup=Octopodiformes)

Hutchinsoniella macracantha

According to one recent classification, there are currently five accepted classes of crustaceans, comprising approximately 30,000 described species.  Whereas finding new species is a relatively easy thing to do, discovering a higher category beyond family is a truly rare event.  Imagine then, the excitement felt when in 1953 Yale graduate student Howard Sanders discovered a truly novel crustacean inhabiting the soft sediments of Long Island Sound!  Recognizing its morphology as unique, he quickly published a description of a new subclass (=class), the Cephalocarida.  Sanders named his new species Hutchinsoniella macracantha, in honor of his adviser, Yale Professor G. Evelyn Hutchinson..  Eventually, Sanders published a major monograph on H. macracantha, in part to rebut those who felt the new class unjustified and that the cephalocarids could be placed into an existing group.

Examine Sander’s original specimens and additional material deposited in the Peabody Museum collection.  The primitive anatomy can be compared with specimens of all other classes of Crustacea, including examples of rare forms available in only a few museums around the world.

Brusca, R.C. and G.J. Brusca.  1990.  Invertebrates.  Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc.  Pg. 602-603.

Sanders, H.L. 1955.  The Cephalocarida, a new subclass of Crustacea from Long Island Sound.  Proceedings  of the National Academy of Science 41(1):61-66.

Sanders, H.L. 1963.  The Cephalocarida.  Memoirs of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences 15:1-80, and 16:1-85.

Schmitt, W.L. 1965.  Crustaceans.  Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.  Pg. 41-42.

Schram, F. R. 1986.  Crustacea.  New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Pg. 344-355.

Division of Entomology

Deception and Display

Entomologists have been fascinated for centuries with the differing wing patterns of butterflies and moths (the Order Lepidoptera). The diversity of lepidopteran wing colors, shapes, and sizes is as broad as the corresponding functions that have been proposed for them, although avoiding and/or deterring predators is certainly a primary reason for the observed variation in wing pattern. For example, drab and mottled wings render many night-flying moths cryptic and difficult to detect as they rest during the daytime on tree trunks and branches. At the other extreme, certain butterflies flaunt their presence with gaudy orange/red and black colors, usually because they are unpalatable - or sport embellished structures such as long tails, see-through wings, and eye spots. If they can avoid being captured and eaten during their short adult lives, butterflies and moths often sustain wing damage as a result of close encounters with predators. Is it possible to infer what happened from what's left of the wings? Is the damage consistent and predictable, are their differing types?

This topic provides the opportunity to examine the unique collection of damaged butterflies and moths at Peabody, to compare these specimens to their undamaged kin, and to form hypotheses about the nature and significance of lepidopteran wing patterns.

Nijhout, H. F. 2001. Elements of butterfly wing patterns. Journal of Experimental Zoology (Molec. Evol. and Devel.) 291: 213-225.

Boppre, M. 1994. Sex, drugs and butterflies. Natural History 103:27-32.

Marden, J. H. 1992. Newton's 2nd Law of Butterflies. Natural History 102: 54-60.

Robbins, R. K. 1980. The lycaenid "false head" hypothesis: historical review and quantitative analysis. Journal of The Lepidopterists' Society 34: 194-208.

Sargent, T. D. 1973. Studies on the Catocala (Noctuidae) of southern New England. IV. A preliminary analysis of beak-damaged specimens, with discussion of anomaly as a potential anti-predator function of hindwing diversity. Journal of The Lepidopterists' Society 27: 175-192.

Carpenter, G. D. H. 1942. The relative frequency of beak-marks on butterflies of different edibility to birds. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London A 111: 223-231.

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot…

In order to fly, butterflies must maintain body temperatures at levels (80-100 degrees F) characteristic of homeothermic animals such as humans and birds. This is no small challenge for a tiny invertebrate entirely lacking a sophisticated metabolic/circulatory system like our own. Butterflies solve this problem by absorbing heat from the sun and other elements of their environment. To do so, butterflies exhibit a wide range of basking and perching behaviors when they need to warm up (or cool down, if need be). Basking behavior is also often linked with certain colors and morphologies in the quest to maintain proper temperature. For example, some butterfly species that are active throughout spring, summer, and fall have different seasonal color forms tailored for different thermal milieus. Other butterfly species have melanized regions on their wings that can be used as solar heat concentrators. How widely distributed are such phenomona? Would the flight environment of an arctic species dictate a different morphological approach than that of a tropical species?

This topic provides the opportunity to examine the butterfly collections at the Peabody from the perspective of a biophysicist, and to correlate ideas about wing patterns with geographical and ecological data on the specimen data labels.

Douglas, M. M. 1979. Hot butterflies. Natural History 88: 56-65.

Heinrich, B. 1995. Insect thermoregulation. Endeavour 19: 28-33.

Kingsolver, J. G. 1987. Predation, thermoregulation and wing color in pierid butterflies. Oecologia 73: 301-306.

Scoble, M. J. 1992. The Lepidoptera: form, function and diversity. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 404 pp.

Watt, W. B. 1967. Adaptive significance of pigment polymorphisms in Colias butterflies. I. Variation of melanin pigment in relation to thermoregulation. Evolution 22: 437-458.

Division of Paleobotany

Catastrophe and Extinction

Around 65 million years ago the dinosaurs took their last breaths, but did plant life change as well? If so, does this suggest that some types of causes for dinosaur extinction are more likely than others? This topic provides the opportunity to compare two fossil floras, one from a time immediately before, and the second from a time right after the dinosaurs disappear. Students will learn a unique system of classification that groups fossil plant remains into like categories based on features such as leaf shape and types of venation. This permits us to estimate the biological diversity of a flora even without knowing the true relationships of its species.

Powell, J.L. 1998. Night comes to the Cretaceous. W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, p. IX-21.

Alvarez, W. 1986. Toward a theory of impact crises. Eos 67(35): 649, 653-655, 658.

Alvarez, W., Alvarez L.W., Asaro F. and Michel, H.V. 1980. Extraterrestrial causes for the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction. Science 208: 1095-1108.

Gould, S.J. 1993. The Book of Life. W.W. Norton, New York, P. 163-171.

Johnson, K.R. 1992. Leaf-fossil evidence for extensive floral extinction at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. U.S.A. Cretaceous Research 13: 19-117.

Johnson, K.R. and Hickey, L.J. 1990. Megafloral change across the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary in the northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, U.S.A., in Sharpton, V.L. and Ward, P.E.. (eds.), America Special Paper 247: 433-444.

Compendium Index Manual. Unpublished.

Reconstructing an Extinct Plant

Medium sized trees of the genus Calamites were common along stream banks in the lush coal forests of the Carboniferous Period, 280-320 million years ago. They are now extinct but have a single living relative--the horsetail, Equisetum, an herb, which can be found today growing along streams and rivers in Connecticut. The leaves, wood, seeds, pollen, and reproductive structures of fossil plants almost always occur separately form one another, making the task of reconstructing the whole plant a bit like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, some of whose pieces have gotten lost. This topic provides an opportunity to reconstruct and architecturally analyze this ancient coal-forest tree using fossil specimens, specimens of living horsetails and computer models.

Janssen, R.E., 1942. Fossil forests of the great coal age. The Scientific Monthly 55(3): 195-208.

Daviero, V., Meyer-Berthaud, B. and Lecoustre, R. 2000. Computer simulation of sphenopsid architecture. I. Principles and methodology. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 109: 121-134.

Daviero, V. and Lecoustre, R. 2000. Computer simulation of sphenopsid architecture. Part II. Calamites multiramis Weiss, as an example of Late Paleozoic arborescent Sphenopsids. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 109: 135-148.

Eggret, D.A., 1962. The ontogeny of Carboniferous aborescent Sphenopsida. Palaeontographica 110B: 99-127.

Janssen, R.E., 1957. Leaves and stems from fossil forests. Popular Science Series 1: 9-189.

Niklas, K.J., 1996. How to build a tree. Natural History, pp. 47-50.

Niklas, K.J. and Kerchner, V., 1984. Mechanical and photosynthetic constraints on the evolution of plant shape. Paleobiology 10(1): 79-101.

Raven, P.H., Evert, R.F. and Eichorn, S.E. 1999. eds. Biology of Plants. W.H. Freeman and Company/Worth Publishers, New York, pp. 445-451.

Scott, A.C. and Calder, J.H. 1994. Carboniferous fossil forests. Geology Today 10(6): 213-214.

Trivett, M.L., 1993. An architectural analysis of Archaeopteris—a fossil tree with pseudomonopodial and opportunistic adventitious growth. Bot J. Linn. Soc. (111): 301-329.

Division of Vertebrate Paleontology

The Antlers of the Extinct Irish Elk

The Irish elk was actually a large deer that was abundant until the end of the last major glacial period throughout Eurasia. Among fossil vertebrates, this species has received a disproportionate amount of attention from paleontologists and evolutionary biologists, because the males possess enormous antlers that appear to be impractical and disproportionately large for their body size. Numerous evolutionary scenarios have been formulated as to how these majestic animals could survive and why they became instinct. For this project, however, you will receive the opportunity to learn about various hypotheses that attempt to explain why the Irish Elk developed such large antlers in the first place. The Yale Peabody Museum possesses large collections of fossil and living deer, including a wonderful mount of an Irish elk, to which you will receive access for this course.

Darwin, C. 1871. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. J. Murray, London.

Huxley, J. S. 1932. Problems of Relative Growth. Dial Press, New York.

Gould, S. J. 1973. The misnamed, mistreated, and misunderstood Irish elk. Natural History 82(3):10-19.

Gould, S. J. 1974. The origin and function of "bizarre" structures: Antler size and skull size in the "Irish Elk", Megalocerus giganteus. Evolution 28:191-220.

Geist, V. 1986. The paradox of the great Irish stags. Natural History 95(3):54-65.

The arrangement, orientation, and function of Stegosaurus plates

Paleontologists are fascinated with bizarre anatomical structures. Among the most bizarre structures that vertebrate paleontologists have ever tried to explain are the large, triangular-shaped bony plates on the back of the dinosaur Stegosaurus. Over the years many different suggestions have been made regarding the arrangement, orientation, and function of these plates. Unfortunately, as is generally the case in vertebrate paleontology, most of these suggestions are not testable hypotheses. One exception to this general rule is the so-called thermoregulatory function hypothesis of Stegosaurus plates. This fossil- and engineering-based hypothesis, which was formulated and first tested here at Yale in the mid 1970s, proposes that the arrangement, orientation, and construction of the plates in Stegosaurus enabled the animal to dissipate body heat through forced air convection as a means of regulating its body temperature. Although ignored by some researchers and disputed by others, the fact remains that this hypothesis is one of the few readily testable hypotheses yet developed by vertebrate paleontologists.

This topic provides the opportunity to view firsthand some of the specimens used to formulate and test this ingenious hypothesis and will demonstrate the wide-range of materials and methods used to study dinosaurs.

Norman, D. 1985. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs, Crescent Books, New York, pp. 155-157 only.

Farlow, J. O., Thompson, C. V., and Rosner, D. E. 1976. Plates of the dinosaur Stegosaurus: forced convection heat loss fins? Science 192: 1123-1125.

Dodd, J. R. and Stanton, R. J. 1981. Paleoecology, Concepts and Applications, John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp. 222-258 only.

Bakker, R. T. 1986. The Dinosaur Heresies: New Theories Unlocking the Mystery of the Dinosaurs and Their Extinction, William Morrow and Company, New York, pp. 194-234 only.

de Buffrenil, V., Farlow, J. O., and de Ricqles, A. 1986. Growth and function of Stegosaurus plates: evidence from bone histology. Paleobiology 12(4): 459-473.

Czerkas, S. A. 1987. A reevaluation of the plate arrangement on Stegosaurus stenops, pp. 83-99 in S. J. Czerkas and E. C. Olson (eds), Dinosaurs Past and Present Volume II. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Carpenter, K. 1998. Armor of Stegosaurus stenops, and the taphonomic history of a new specimen from Garden Park, Colorado. Modern Geology 23: 127-144.

Division of Invertebrate Paleontology

Functional morphology of marine organisms

Biologists have the advantage of observing organisms in their natural environment.  By observation, they can determine the function of anatomical features, the behavior of the organism, and how an organism interacts with other organisms and the environment.  A modern estuarine crab may search for food, bury itself in a thin veneer of sediment to avoid predators, or crush prey with large claws.   For the paleobiologist, a fossil organism may be far removed from its original environment and certainly direct observation is out of the question.

Functional morphology of fossil organisms can be examined by three ways; by comparison with related modern organisms (homology), by comparison with modern traits (analogy, for example, streamlined shapes), and by looking at features in a engineering sense (paradigm, for example, does the shape create beneficial water flow around an organism).  The Invertebrate Paleontology collections have numerous examples of fossils (and fossil body parts) for which the function is unknown.   As you learn the framework of functional morphology, you can begin to make and test interpretations on some of these unknowns.

Alexander, R. R.  2001.  Functional morphology and biomechanics of articulate brachiopod shells, p. 145-169. In: White, R. D. and Allmon, W. D. (eds.), Brachiopods Ancient and Modern.

Dodd, J. R. and Stanton, R. J., Jr.  1981.  Adaptive Functional Morphology, p. 222-261. In: Paleoecology, Concepts and Applications, Wiley-Interscience.

Fortey, R. A.  2004.  The lifestyles of the trilobites.  American Scientist, vol. 92, issue 5, p. 446-453.

Savazzi, E.  1999.  Functional Morphology of the Invertebrate Skeleton.  Wiley and Sons, New York, 706 pp.  (selected text)

Seilacher, A. and Hauff, R.  2004.  Constructional morphology of pelagic crinoids.  Palaios, vol. 19, p. 3–16.

Skelton, P.W.  2001.  Bringing fossil organisms to life, p. 367-375.  In: D.E.G. Briggs and P.R. Crowther (eds.), Palaeobiology II.  Blackwell Science.

Reefs through geologic time

Reefs, bioherms, and other carbonate buildups are diverse marine communities which form by interplay of chemistry, biology, and physical processes in the warm clear waters thirty degrees north and south of the Equator.  Reefs are frequently exploited because of their potential as petroleum producers and reservoirs.  Modern reefs are in crisis and paleobiologists are looking to the fossil reef record for answers to today’s problems.

Of reefs, one could say “the players have changed, but the game remains the same”.  Over millions of years of geologic time, reefs have been similar in their form and structure, but the organisms which construct the reef have changed.  Like forests, they go through a predictable biological succession of stabilization, to colonization, diversification, and domination.  The faunal composition of a reef is controlled by factors such as global climate and ocean chemistry, evolutionary patterns, sea level changes, topography of the ocean floor, and differences in the energy of water (crashing waves or quiet lagoons). 

Using the collections of the Division of Invertebrate Paleontology, you will explore the change in reef inhabitants through time, trophic structure in reefs during different geologic time periods, and variation in skeletal forms of organisms in different energy regimes and stages of growth of the reef.

Erwin, D. H., 1996.  The mother of mass extinctions, Scientific American, vol. 275, issue 1 p. 72-78.

Johnson, C.  2002.  The Rise and Fall of Rudist Reefs.  American Scientist, vol. 90, p. 148-153.

Roy, K and Pandolfi, J.M. 2005. Responses of marine species and ecosystems to past climate change. In: Lovejoy, T.E. and L. Hannah (eds.), Climate change and biodiversity. Yale University Press.

Wood, R. 1999. Reef Evolution. Oxford University Press. New York.

How many species?

The Late Cretaceous Fox Hills Formation of South Dakota contains an abundance of beautifully preserved ammonites (relatives of the modern chambered Nautilus). The shells are so well preserved that they retain their original mother-of-pearl luster. Museum specimens will illustrate the similarities and differences between ammonites and nautiloids.

Species may be defined as “A group of organisms, either plant or animal, that may interbreed and produce fertile offspring, and which have similar structures, habits, and functions.” Using this as your guide, you are presented with selection of ammonites from the Fox Hills Formation. Without any more information than has already been provided, your job is to sort carefully through the specimens and divide them up into species groups, recording the Museum number for all members of each group. After doing this we will present you with more detailed literature on the subject, whereupon you will get to do it all again and compare results. What starts out as a simple project may end up being a worthwhile challenge.

Doyle, P. 1996. Understanding Fossils.  John Wiley & Sons. Chapter 9, Cephalopods, p.159-179.

Larson, N.L., 1999. Discovering the Mysterious Ammonites. Geofin s.r.l. Publishing House, 126 p.

Lehmann, U. 1981. The Ammonites, Their Life and Their World. Cambridge University Press (English edition), 246 p.

Larson, N.L., S.D. Jorgenson, R.A. Farrar, and P.L. Larson, 1997, Ammonites and the Other Orders of Cephalopods of the Pierre Seaway, Identification Guide: Geoscience Press, Inc., Tuscon, AZ, 148 p.

Division of Mineralogy

Garnet

Known to the world as a gemstone since ancient times, garnet also is important as an abrasive. Garnets are more accurately described as a group of similar minerals of different chemical composition with the same atomic structure. Learn about the relationships between the minerals in the group, the importance of their properties, the range of colors, and the many geological environments in which they are found worldwide, and more specifically in Connecticut. Study specimens of garnet in the Peabody Museum collection that have been described by mineralogists including James Dwight Dana in his famous System of Mineralogy.

This topic provides the opportunity to study the garnet group of minerals in general, and to investigate the several garnet species that occur in Connecticut. There are many “facets” to the study of garnet.

Dana, Edward Salisbury, 1892. The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana, 6^th edition, John Wiley & Sons, New York.

Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr and Switzer, George S., 1979. Gemology. John Wiley & Sons, New York.

Sinkankas, John, 1964. Mineralogy for Amateurs, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey.

Rouse, John D., 1986. Garnet. Butterworths, London.

Sohon, Julian A., 1951. Connecticut Minerals, Their Properties and Occurrence. State of Connecticut State Geological and Natural History Survey, Bulletin No. 77, Hartford.

Iron Minerals and Mining in Connecticut

Although Connecticut is a small state, it has a long history of providing natural resources for the United States. Iron was one of the first and most important mineral resources to be found in the state, and to be mined with some success in colonial days. The minerals, the mines, and the industry that developed around them have played an important role in the history of the state. What iron minerals were found, how did their properties relate to their industrial use, what other natural resources were involved? How did the industry affect the environment of Connecticut?

The topic offers the opportunity to learn about the minerals that were the basis of the iron mining industry in Connecticut and their geological environment, and to relate the specimens in the Museum’s mineral collection to the industrial archaeology of the furnaces found in the northwestern part of the state.

Gordon, Robert B., 2001. A landscape transformed: the ironmaking district of Salisbury, Connecticut. Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York.

Gordon, Robert B. 2000. Industrial heritage in northwest Connecticut: a guide to history and archaeology. Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, New Haven.

Harte, Charles Rufus, 1944. Connecticut’s Iron and Copper. Annual Meeting of the Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers, Inc. Hartford, CT.

Sohon, Julian A., 1951. Connecticut Minerals, Their Properties and Occurrence. State of Connecticut State Geological and Natural History Survey, Bulletin No. 77, Hartford.

Division of Historical Scientific Instruments

Benjamin Franklin in the Age of Science Illiteracy

Since the 1980s, science museums have become more common and increasingly popular. Despite this positive trend, science literacy levels in most western and some eastern countries have significantly decreased and continue to do so. In finding ways to overcome science illiteracy, attention has been directed towards historical approaches to science education. Considering 2006 is the tercentenary of Benjamin Franklin’s birth, the project will center on writing an exhibition proposal to celebrate this milestone. Alongside a demonstrated understanding of Franklin’s science and his role in the history of science, the proposal shall also include an exploration and understanding of deeper museological issues regarding science communication and science illiteracy. The collection has a moderate number of reference materials which the student is free to consult. The collection catalogue is available at http://george.peabody.yale.edu/hsi, some objects are difficult to access so the student is highly encouraged to select instruments of interest early. The student’s exhibit may be selected for future display inside the Curator’s Choice exhibit case located in the foyer of the Peabody Museum.

Bennett, J, “Can Science Museums Take History Seriously?” in McDonald, S (1998) The Politics of Display, p 173.

Cohen, I.B. (1990) Benjamin Franklin’s Science, Cambridge, Harvard University Press.

Crump, T (2001) A Brief History of Science: As seen through the development of scientific instruments, London, Constable.

Medved, M. & Oatley, K. (2000) Memories and Scientific Literacy, International Journal of Science Education, 2000, Vol 22, no. 10, 1117-1132.

Prochaska, D. (2000) Exhibiting the Museum, Journal of Historical Sociology. 13(4): 392-438.