mammals

March 10, 2022 by Erin Southerland

March Mammal Madness and Middle School Science Class

by Patrick McShea

At one suburban Pittsburgh school, the tournament bracket sheets currently generating discussions have nothing to do with basketball. Since 2013, science teacher Christian Shane has strengthened science engagement among the seventh and eighth students he teaches at North Allegheny District’s Ingomar Middle School through participation in a group learning project designed by scientists and educators that borrows its organizational structure, timing, and alliterative name from the annual NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Tournament.

March Mammal Madness is clearly a take on the far better known, March Madness, the branding name for the weeks-long college tournament whose single game elimination schedule, when plotted as a chart in advance of the start date, invites fans to use their background knowledge to predict, frequently as a bet or wager, the outcome of every game.

Participants in March Mammal Madness are also asked to make far-seeing predictions, but on theoretical battle encounters involving mainly mammals rather that basketball games. The online event began in 2013 as the idea of Dr. Katie Hinde, a researcher and Associate Professor at Arizona State University. Since its early days, tournament organizers have made great efforts to raise bracket-filling decisions beyond the realm of guess work through the creation of an extensive and easy to use website that is part of the Arizona State University Library system.

Once the creatures selected for the annual competition are announced in late February, participants of all ages and academic backgrounds can visit the site to locate a range of accurate and up-to-date information about each species. At Ingomar Middle School, Christian’s students used the site as an aid in creating a series of Animal Research Trading Cards for all 65 of this year’s combatants. In seventh grade classes, online research of some combatants, including black bear, grizzly bear, coyote, mountain lion, and beaver, was bolstered by firsthand examination of mammal skulls borrowed from the CMNH Educator Loan Collection.

Playing card with the image of an orca and the following text: Orca Orcinus orca
Common Name: Orca Scientific Name: Orcinus orca MMM Division: Queens of The Sea & Sky
Diet:
Carnivore Eat about 500 pounds of food a day Large prey & medium prey: seals, smaller whales, smaller dolphins, sea lions, penguins, different fish, sharks, squid, octopi, sea birds, sea turtles, sea otters, river otters
Habitat/Biome:
Widely distributed Found in every ocean Common in colder areas: Pacific Northwest, along northern Norway's coast in the Atlantic, higher latitudes of Southern Ocean Infrequent in warmer areas: Florida, Hawaii, Australia, Galápagos Islands, Bahamas, Gulf of Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa Very rarely in freshwater rivers: Rhine, Thames, Elbe, one even traveled about 110 miles up the Columbia River for fish
Physical Descriptions/Adaptations:
Size: 23 to 32 feet Weight: up to 6 tons Dorsal most black except for a grey/white saddle behind dorsal fin Underside of body is white White eyespot behind each eye Streamlined bodies (swim better) Blow hole to breathe Thick layer of blubber (for warmth, shape)
Animalia, Chordata, Mammalia, Cetacea, Delphinidae
Habitat/Biome: Marine (ocean)
Threats to Ecosystem:
Pollution: chemical pollutants, plastic, oil spills Whaling Noise pollution: boat/vessel traffic Entanglement in fishing gear
Terrain:
Movement:
Swimming: at speeds up to 28 mph (only for a few seconds at a time), cruise at 8 mph, ride waves Diving: depth to at least 100m or more, duration about 2-3 minutes, conserve oxygen slower heart rate Rest: half of brain goes to sleep, may swim slowly, mothers and calves don't appear to sleep or rest during 1st month of calf's life
Climate: cold/arctic, cool/temperate, warm/temperate
Interesting Facts:
The average lifespan of a male orca is around 36 years, while the average lifespan of a female is around 63 years old. Newborn calves are able to swim and dive at birth — Orca Animal Research Trading Card

In summarizing his own recently completed bracket, Christian provides an example of an epic pinnacle encounter. “I went with the Alaska theme in picking Grizzly vs Orca, with Orca for the win! #TeamOrca.” Lest a battle example featuring two top-of-the-food-web predators gives a distorted view of the sound and fury of theoretical matches, this information from the “Frequently Asked Questions” section of the tournament website reminds participants that some matches wouldn’t make for good television:

The battles are NOT always “nature, red in tooth and claw.” Sometimes the winner “wins” by displacing the other at a feeding location, sometimes a powerful animal doesn’t attack because it is not motivated to.

Evidence that this year’s bracket has created middle school-level excitement among the scientists and educators at Carnegie Museum of Natural History arrived in a recent email reminder Curator of Mammals John Wible sent to colleagues participating in this year’s event:

Now in case you were befuddled by some of the common names used in the brackets (e.g., therapsid or pangolin) I have attached a listing of all the taxonomic names for the combatants. So for example, there are 8 species of pangolins and which one is the pangolin here . . . Smutsia gigantea, the giant pangolin from Africa.

In the first two rounds, I remind you that the location of the battle is in the home habitat of the higher seeded (with the lower number!) combatant. From round 3 on, there is one of four random environments for the battles announced before the battle.

Providing greater public insight into how scientists think about the world we all share is in fact one of the broader impacts of March Mammal Madness. Last year, in a research paper documenting the event’s development, reach, and benefits, the creative team responsible for March Mammal Madness offered this insight:

Scientists situate ourselves in the domain of data collection framed by hypotheses and predictions as we speculate about the world(s) around us. But fundamentally these are just grown-up words for ideas hewn from imagination and the creative combination of what is known to journey into the unknown. March Mammal Madness is collective, “performance science” – the stories of animals, told creatively with awe for the natural world. We celebrate species and the ecosystems they inhabit, the scientists who conduct studies, and the funders who make the research possible. (https://elifesciences.org/articles/65066#s7)

As the March Mammal Madness tournament progresses, you’ll be able to follow some commentary from CMNH scientists and educators on Twitter @CarnegieMNH.

Teachers who would like to follow the overall tournament may also want to use #2022MMMk12 with their students for a more student-friendly twitter feed.

Patrick McShea works in the Education and Visitor Experience department of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.

World Pangolin Day: February 19, 2022

by Dr. John Wible

The third Saturday in February is celebrated as World Pangolin Day, a day to raise awareness of this endangered mammal. Pangolins, scaly anteaters, are heavily illegally trafficked for the bogus medicinal powers given to their scales, which are made of keratin, the same material that makes our semi-rigid fingernails.

CT scan of a pangolin curled up in a ball. — From CT scan of *Phataginus tricuspis*, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History 014708; https://www.morphosource.org/concern/parent/000S26328/media/000091605

This image is from a CT scan of a preserved specimen from Cameroon in West Africa of the white-bellied pangolin, Phataginus tricuspis, from the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. There are eight species of pangolins, four in Africa and four in Asia. Some are dedicated tree dwellers, like the white-bellied pangolin; some are dedicated ground dwellers; and some are a mixture of the two. The existence of all eight species is threatened by some human actions.

The pose of this specimen is one that all living pangolins can readily replicate, rolling up into a ball as a defensive posture. The word pangolin itself is Malay for “roller.” With no teeth, the creature’s rolling posture and scales are its best defenses. Rolling is made possible in part by the aggregate mobility at the articulations between the individual bones of its backbone or vertebral column. And pangolins have a lot of these bones. The human body has 32 to 35 vertebrae, divided into regions: seven cervical, 12 thoracic, five lumbar, five sacral, and three to five tiny caudal vertebrae making the coccyx. And we know how mobile our bodies are! At 72 vertebrae, the white-bellied pangolin is double our count: seven cervical, 12 thoracic, eight lumbar, two sacral, and a whopping 43 caudal vertebrae. The black-bellied or long-tailed pangolin, Phataginus tetradactyla, has even more bones in its tail at 49!

For more about what you can do, visit WorldPangolinDay.org.

John Wible is the curator of the Section of Mammals at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.

Groundhog as Archaeologist

by Dr. John R. Wible

Groundhogs (Latin name: Marmota monax) are mostly solitary; they dig and spend a lot of time in elaborate burrows. There is usually a main burrow entrance, a foot across with a mound of excavated dirt marking it, and several auxiliary exits. The burrow is designed with twists and turns so that it will not flood. Side chambers serve as suitable places to hibernate and as latrine, which when “full” is sealed off. Because of their digging pastime and the holes they create, groundhogs are seen as pests by many homeowners, fearing property damage, and horse owners, fearing injury to their steeds.

illustration of a groundhog standing near the entrance to a groundhog burrow

Once a year, in early February, the pest label for groundhogs is ditched for that of a weather prognosticator, our own Punxsutawney Phil is the prime example. However, for Western Pennsylvanians, the so-called pest activity of one groundhog led to one of the most important scientific discoveries of our region: the renowned archaeological site of Meadowcroft Rock Shelter in Washington County. As a child growing up on the property, Albert Miller believed that Native Americans had been there. But proof did not come until 1955 when he was investigating an animal burrow and discovered stone and ceramic artifacts. The rest is local history so to speak!

Early on, the burrow was said to belong to a badger. But there is only a single record of a badger in Pennsylvania, believed to have been transported by train to Indiana County. Now, a groundhog is the suspected culprit responsible for the true discovery of artifacts at Meadowcroft. Perhaps Meadowcroft marmot would be an appropriate name!

John Wible, PhD, is the curator of the Section of Mammals at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.

A Deeper Look at Dioramas

by Suzanne McLaren

On the second floor at Carnegie Museum of Natural History a visitor can see dioramas showing wildlife found in both North America and Africa. Often a visitor is drawn close to an exhibit by the taxidermy mount of a large mammal that is the diorama’s most prominent feature. The animal is posed as it would appear in its natural surroundings. The art and science of world class taxidermy can lead a visitor to focus only on what appears to be the main subject of the diorama. However, that would be unfortunate. In nearly every example on the second floor, the staff has gone to great lengths to include so much more. The next time you visit, look at different types of plants, birds, reptiles, amphibians and even insects and mollusks that share the habitat.

Some of the earliest Carnegie Museum dioramas exhibits, crafted by taxidermist Frederic S. Webster, have depicted locations unfamiliar to the average visitor of his day. Webster was sent to locations around North America to observe, sketch, plan and collect for the construction of dioramas that could bring the essence of those environments home to Pittsburgh. Subsequent generations of Carnegie Museum exhibit and scientific staff have followed that same general process. In many cases, one can look at a diorama and realize that the scene represents an identifiable location. Whether that location is Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, or Powdermill Nature Reserve in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, the construction of a new diorama can take years of planning and months of construction to complete.

taxidermy caribou in a snowy museum display

If you can join us at Carnegie Museum of Natural History for Super Science Saturday on September 25th, Curator John Wible and Collection Manager Sue McLaren from the Section of Mammals will be on hand to talk about mammals and share stories about some of their favorite dioramas.

close up of an animal's face in a museum diorama

Suzanne McLaren is the Collection Manager in the Section of Mammals at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum employees are encouraged to share their unique experiences from working at the museum.

Bobcats

With winter approaching, visitors to Powdermill Nature Reserve can anticipate seeing the tracks in the snow of one of our most splendid residents, the bobcat! These wild felines do not hibernate, rather they remain very active in winter because of their high metabolism. Although they are commonly photographed on trail cameras at Powdermill Nature Reserve, bobcats have excellent vision and hearing and are unlikely to show themselves to people. The stealthy and efficient predators are found state-wide, and the range for the species known scientifically as Lynx rufus stretches across the North American continent from southern Canada to northern Mexico.

This adult female was photographed in late October, but photos do not really capture the full beauty of these animals. Image credit: John Wilkinson.

Bobcats are known to walk on top of fallen logs to move silently through the understory. Adults weigh up to 20 pounds, feed mostly on rodents and birds, but are capable of taking small fawns and perhaps even yearling deer. Bobcats are highly adaptable and do well even in close proximity to humans and coyotes. In our area, males wander over areas as large as 10 square miles, territories that span the smaller territories of several females. Bobcats are protected except for a brief trapping season in winter. Their coats are highly variable, and pelts are considered prime in winter, and more valuable when spotted. The highest quality, large pelts from the Rocky Mountains may sell for as much as $900. However, luckily for our cats, the market here is unlikely to provide $40 for a pelt, which will keep them safe from most trappers.

John Wenzel is the Director at Powdermill Nature Reserve, Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s environmental research center. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.

A Gorilla for Our Imagination

The lowland gorilla within the Hall of African Wildlife has a far different back-story than other large mammals in the exhibition’s dozen dioramas. All of the hall’s mammal taxidermy mounts are the preserved remains of creatures that once lived in the wilds of the African Continent. Most were collected between 1909 and 1912, during the course of two hunting safaris led by Childs Frick, son of Pittsburgh industrialist Henry Clay Frick. The gorilla was a far later addition to the stuffed menagerie, and its arrival occurred under entirely different circumstances.

The animal that grew to be a magnificent 350-pound silverback, was captured at a young age in Gabon, West Africa, sometime in the early 1960s. The gorilla lived in zoos afterward, initially in Copenhagen, Denmark, and later in Pittsburgh, where it died unexpectedly of natural causes in 1979.

Zoo staff offered the gorilla remains to museum curators, and through the efforts of a skilled team of taxidermists, an animal long known to zoo visitors as “George” came back into public view in an alert, but frozen stance.

Today it’s not unusual to occasionally hear museum visitors recalling the gorilla’s crowd-pleasing antics as a zoo attraction. The taxidermy mount’s far more important role, however, is as an educational tool capable of holding eye contact, and thereby encouraging contemplation. In staring contests that the glass-eyed mount never loses, the gorilla represents all of its wild living kind, the entire population of our planet’s largest primates, close relatives of modern humans, and a group whose continued existence is increasingly threatened by illegal hunting, habitat loss, and disease.

Scientists who study these great apes recognize two species of gorillas, each of which contain two sub-species, and all of which are considered critically endangered. The museum specimen, owing to its origin in Gabon, bears the echoing scientific name Gorilla gorilla gorilla to note its genus, species, and subspecies designation.

For anyone at a loss about what to contemplate while holding the gaze of this hall’s famous resident, consider some of what Terry Tempest Williams has to say in her 2019 work, Erosion: Essays of Undoing. The author begins an essay about a guided visit to observe mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) in the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda with an appeal to senses that don’t come into play in museum exhibit halls. “We smelled them before we heard them. We heard them before we saw them.”

Later, amidst information about how members of the observed gorilla clan were refugees from an adjacent national park in war-torn Congo, and how their continued sanctuary in Rwanda is tenuous due to that nation’s rapidly growing population, relatively small size, and the discovery of oil deposits in the Virunga Mountains, Williams offers this thought:

“I wish there was a gorilla in every corner of our imagination to remind us what we are choosing to harm and ignore. I wish we could smell them, hear them, see them for who they are in place, and know them by name: the most gentle of creatures, with strength and power.”

For more information about gorillas, please visit this Wildlife Conservation Society site.

March Mammal Madness and Middle School Science Class

by Patrick McShea

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