Blogs from our Scientific Researchers

Carnegie Museum of Natural History is home to active research and vast scientific collections. Our scientific researchers regularly contribute to the blog at the museum.

June 15, 2023 by Erin Southerland

Wolverine: Status Check For a Tournament Champion

by Pat McShea

*A wolverine taxidermy mount is a popular display in Discovery Basecamp.*

Technology has revolutionized the work of wildlife biologists, but among those who study wolverines, long waits for field-collected information about these large members of the weasel family still occur. Because wolverines are known to patrol enormous home ranges, Cory Mosby, Furbearer Staff Biologist with Idaho’s Department of Fish and Game, relies upon strategically placed camera traps as effective monitoring tools. As he explained in a recent Zoom interview from his office in Boise, deep snow at high elevations can delay the retrieval of video and photographic evidence for months. “There’s a few places we placed cameras for over-the-winter wolverine studies where we weren’t able to retrieve the devices until July.”

Our discussion of wolverine research occurred just after the species received accolades as the 2023 champion of March Mammal Madness (MMM), the wide-reaching, ten-year-old educational project that masquerades as a tournament mimicking competition, but is in no way affiliated with, the NCAA college basketball tournament. The online event, founded and directed by Professor Katie Hinde of Arizona State University, challenges participants to predict outcomes for a widely branched bracket’s worth of hypothetical combative wildlife encounters. Reference material links on the MMM website encourage fans to make informed decisions, and as the tournament’s hypothetical encounters unfold, additional information about the combatants is shared via timely narrative reports.

This year, any MMM fan who tracked the wolverine’s six victory championship campaign undoubtedly learned lots of information about this carnivore with solitary ways, a bone-crushing bite, and a fierceness sufficient to intimidate even bears and wolves.

On Zoom, much of Mosby’s information sharing focused on historic wolverine distribution. He explained how, by the 1930s, a species once found across much of the American West and even in sections of several Great Lakes states, was largely extirpated in the lower 48 states by predator control programs, landscape alteration, and unregulated hunting and trapping. However, during the nearly eight decades since, changes in public policies and attitudes eventually created conditions that enabled animals from western Canada to naturally re-colonize portions of four states – north-central Washington, northern and central Idaho, western Montana, and northwestern Wyoming.

In 2010, a proposed listing of these animals under the Federal Endangered Species Act prompted the establishment of the Western States Wolverine Conservation Project, a multi-year investigation in which essential early work, beginning in 2016, involved establishing baseline information about the numbers and movements of the animals under study.

*Cory Mosby placing a camera trap as part of wolverine monitoring effort in Idaho’s Centennial Mountains.*

When presented with the question, “What do you wish the public knew about wolverines?” Mosby had a ready answer. “This might not align with popular opinion, but I wish more people realized that, as a species, at the moment, wolverines are quite secure. In Idaho today, wolverines occupy all available habitat. The population in the western U.S., the animals I’ve helped study, are on this continent, a southerly extension of a species found around the globe at northerly latitudes in suitable habitat. ‘Holarctic’ is the term that summarizes this enormous distribution.”

Mosby cites a warming climate as a big concern for wolverine populations in southernly latitudes, explaining how the same deep snow deposits that delay camera retrieval in project studies also allow female wolverines to catch sufficient kills as food for kits too young to forage on their own.

The wildlife biologist’s overall advice is to pay attention to both the local situation and the big picture. His career track, he relates, was influenced by the sudden realization of how small forces influence big systems. “I was a pre-med major at the University of Missouri taking lots of biology classes, and in one of them a visiting lecturer gave a presentation about how northern flying squirrels influence the health of entire forests by distributing spores as they feed on fungi. I realized then I wanted to work studying wildlife.”

Patrick McShea is an Educator at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Collected On This Day: White Trillium from May 28, 1993

by Mason Heberling

Spring flowers fade, but some leaves hang on

This specimen of white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) was collected by Fred Utech in Loyalhanna Township, Pennsylvania on May 28, 1993. Fred Utech was Curator of Botany at Carnegie Museum of Natural History from 1976-1999. You can find this specimen here and search for many more trillium at midatlanticherbaria.org.

Trillium grandiflorum (white large-flowered trillium) is perhaps the most common trillium species in western Pennsylvania, along with Trillium erectum (red trillium, though petals can be white, red/purple, or occasionally yellow; the ovary is deep red, unlike white trillium). Peak blooms of this species can be breathtaking when covering hillsides. Deer also enjoy trillium, and herbarium specimens have been used to understand their impact.

numerous white trillium flowers growing in a forest

As the heat of summer is upon us, these spring blooming species begin to fade. Or at least their flowers do. Some trillium keep their leaves into the deep shade of summer. Though light levels are low due to the shade of overstory trees, early summer is an important time for many spring blooming species to develop their fruits. A local study from our group found more than 20% of photosynthetic energy gains in Trillium grandiflorum after overstory trees produced leaves.

White trillium leaves do die back in mid-summer, however. We often think of leaf coloration in the fall, but some trillium curiously have leaves that turn a deep red as they fade in mid-summer. We are currently working up an undergraduate students-led project on this intriguing natural history phenomenon. Only about 10% of plants turn red (but highly variable), and first results suggest there doesn’t seem to be a method to the madness that explains why. More soon! For now, enjoy the “fall” foliage of summer below.

red leaved white trillium growing in the woods

Mason Heberling is Assistant Curator of Botany at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Bringing A Little O-Gah-Pah to Pittsburgh

by Amy L. Covell-Murthy

It is important for Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH) to maintain relationships with the diverse Indigenous communities whose stories we hope to share with the Greater Pittsburgh Area. This ensures that we are centering Indigenous knowledge in how we collect, display, care for, and interpret cultural material. A very important part of this work is to continuously consult with tribal representatives and Indigenous advisors. This is most evident in the process of repatriation, which is governed in the United States by a federal law called the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which was signed in 1991.

In November 2022, as the concluding action of nearly ten years of consultation, I travelled 962 miles West to complete a NAGPRA transfer with a representative of the Quapaw Nation. I met Carrie Wilson, Quapaw NAGPRA Director, at the Arkansas Archaeological Survey at the University of Arkansas, where we rejoined human remains from Poinsette County with other Quapaw people to await a proper and private reinternment in the future. Afterward, by volunteering at the O-Gah-Pah “Quapaw” Fall Gathering in Northeastern Oklahoma at the Downstream Resort and Casino, I had the pleasure of a brief immersion in some aspects of Quapaw Culture.

*Quapaw Dice Game, photo by Amy Covell-Murthy*

*Stomp Dance Participants, photo by Amy Covell-Murthy*

Carrie and I had our work cut out for us preparing for the Fall Gathering. We got to know one another better over lunch and then drove to Quapaw, Oklahoma to get ready. On the day of the event, I rolled up my sleeves and helped sell 50/50 raffle tickets, organize games for kids, keep track of auction items, and set up for the Stomp Dance. I learned how to play Quapaw Dice and cheered everyone on in the foot races. I met so many wonderful people and was humbled by the welcome I received. I ate my share of fry bread and chili and paused to be thankful for the opportunity to forge such meaningful relationships.

*Dog Effigy and Quapaw Pot by Betty Gaedtke, photo by Betty Gaedtke*

While volunteering I was able to meet Betty Gaedtke or Te-mi-zhi-ka (little buffalo woman). Betty is an accomplished Quapaw artist who specializes in authentic Quapaw and Mississippian Pottery. While Betty’s pieces are authentic, they are not archaeological and provide a window into Quapaw style and technique. Her work can be seen in fifteen different venues, including the Crystal Bridges Museum, the Museum of The Ghost Ranch, and the Gilcrease Museum. Thanks to a generous endowment, CMNH was able to purchase two pieces from Betty in 2023 to add to our collection and help us bring the story of the Quapaw to Pittsburgh. These pieces are a great reminder that the Quapaw Nation is alive and well.

*O-Gah-Pah logo at the Downstream Casino, Photo by Amy Covell-Murthy*

So many things in Pittsburgh are inspired by the confluence of our three rivers. Things are named after them, transported on them, and festivals are held on and around them. Like the important role the three rivers play in our local culture, the Mississippi River is very significant to the Quapaw Nation and instrumental in how their name formed. According to the Quapaw Nation website: “The Quapaw were a division of a larger group known as the Dhegiha Sioux many years ago. The Dhegiha split into the tribes known today as the Quapaw, Osage, Ponca, Kansa, and Omaha when they left the Ohio Valley. The Quapaw moved down the Mississippi River into Arkansas, this is the origin of the word Ogaxpa, which can be translated as “downstream people.” You can learn more by visiting QuapawTribe.com.

Caring for culturally significant collections takes empathy and the willingness to accept Indigenous ways of knowing when making decisions on behalf of the material. We are working hard to bring authentic and diverse voices into the narratives that CMNH shares. So, join me in learning more about the O-Gah-Pah and remember to stop relegating Indigenous people and communities to the past when they are thriving across our country.

Amy L. Covell-Murthy is Archaeological Collection Manager at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Can’t Choose Just One: Asking an Entomologist to Name Their Favorite Native Species

by Bob Androw

I was recently asked what my favorite native species of beetle is. A seemingly simple question, but one with no simple answer. I thought first of my primary group of study, the Cerambycidae – the long-horned beetles. But with nearly 1,300 species in North America – which one? Then I pondered the scarab beetles, which I call my “mistress” group – the one I mess around with when the cerambycids aren’t looking. The week before I was asked this question, I was in southern Georgia looking for specimens of an undescribed (new to science) species of scarab beetle in the genus Serica – but while a current priority, I can’t call that my “favorite”.

Then, I remembered the species of long-horned beetle that I looked for in Georgia but did not see. Along a sandy county road, I noticed a lush stand of common elderberry, Sambucus canadensis L. that was in the early stages of blooming. I stopped to check those blooms for any flower-visiting cerambycids and was dismayed to find no insect activity – probably a result of the unusually cool and windy weather.

As I was examining the elderberry plants, visions of one of the eastern United States’ more aesthetic species of Cerambycidae flashed into my head – that of Desmocerus palliatus (Forster), or as it’s known by its common name, the elderberry borer. The larvae of the beetle bore in the living pith at the base of the stems. The adults are a beautiful metallic blue with the basal half of their elytra vivid orange. The beetle can be found on elderberry plants, either walking on the stems or clinging to the underside of the leaves. On hot days from May to early July, they can sometimes be found flying around the plants in search of mates.

But, despite a thorough search by squatting low under the plants and looking upward for hiding beetles, none were seen. My timing may have been off for their flight period in that area, the unseasonably cool weather may have delayed their emergence, or there just may not be a population in that particular stand of elderberry.

*Female* Desmocerus palliatus, on elderberry leaf in Lancaster County, PA.
*Image from BugGuide, credit: Chris Rorabaugh, Florida.*

*Mating pair of* Desmocerus palliatus, on elderberry in Franklin County, Missouri.
Image from BugGuide, credit: James Trager, Missouri

I think that most could agree that Desmocerus palliatus is one of the finest U.S. cerambycids and while not necessarily uncommon, it is just elusive enough to make every encounter a pleasant experience. And I guess that’s reason enough to consider it my favorite – at that moment, in that place…

Bob Androw is Collection Manager of Invertebrate Zoology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

New Vision of Old Rock Art

by Georgia Feild

Carnegie Museum of Natural History has always been a prized resource of knowledge, inspiration, and support for me. From visiting at age six to gaze at dinosaurs while holding my father’s hand, to sketching dinosaurs and mammals as part of Carnegie Mellon University art courses, and researching anthropological collections for college assignments and volunteer historical work, I have always found a home at this museum. When traveling and working around the globe, I realized the only places I wished to relax my mind and body were at Carnegie Museum of Natural History or in the woods.

Retiring at age 55 from a systems design engineering career left me with the time and opportunity to pursue my passions. I started birdwatching after a thirty-year hiatus, and as a result of that activity, 12 years ago I converted my mother’s yard into a five-star Audubon Bird Habitat. While involved with those activities, nature reminded me of the most basic mechanical rule: when a part is missing or broken the entire mechanism will stop working efficiently. Seeking more information about missing “parts” of our ecosystem brought me to employment and volunteer work at the museum.

While performing educational work at the museum, I realized how instilling knowledge and developing respect for all organisms is vital for our planet’s welfare. Through millennia, Indigenous People’s relationships with the places they lived have improved, conserved, and respected the natural world. For thousands of years people have understood how their existence depends on the environment. Because I wanted to learn more about traditional cultural conservation of ecosystems, about eight years ago I began volunteering at the Edward O’Neal Research Center (Annex) for the Anthropology and Archaeology Department.

My volunteer work introduced me to cultures and traditions I never imagined. This growing awareness led to concentration on human relationships with animals, specifically birds. I was thrilled to discover how deeply people of Paleo (20,000 to 9,000 years ago) and Archaic (8,500 to 1,000 years ago) periods appreciated birds. Across many cultures, artifacts within the museum’ Anthropology and Archaeology collection feature depictions of birds.

*Petroglyph rubbing from Millsboro, Washington County PA. Image credit: Jim Burke, CMNH Research Associate, Anthropology*

As a volunteer, my most fascinating learning experience involves the massive Carnegie Museum collection of Western Pennsylvania petroglyph research documents. Digging through numerous file cabinets at the Annex containing petroglyph research from 1950 to 1979, I uncovered depictions of bird species that may still be found in the same areas today. Having traversed many a creek and stream bed attempting to take the “perfect” photo of egrets, herons, warblers, ravens, and ducks, I realized people in the past also wished to capture images of birds! Many petroglyph images carved into stone thousands of years ago resemble bird species currently found in the southwestern corner of the state.

Petroglyph research started in the upper Ohio River Valley in 1900. At the turn of the 20^th Century photography was incapable of accurately capturing rock carvings, leading early petroglyph researchers to chalk outlines of petroglyphs. Today chalk is no longer used because it is thought to be detrimental to the preservation of these important artifacts. Fortunately, photographic technology has progressed over 123 years so these artifacts may be recorded in a less invasive manner.

*James Swauger chalking. Credit: Anthropology Collection of Carnegie Museum of Natural History.*

Between 1950 and 1979, over one hundred Paleo and Archaic sites in Western Pennsylvania were researched by 26 Carnegie Museum Archaeologists and Anthropologists. Petroglyphs were discovered at several sites, unfortunately some were later lost to dam, road, and channel construction. For example, a site known as the Midland Petroglyph was destroyed in 1910 when Ohio River channels were cleared and deepened for navigation and flood control. The Midland petroglyph was discovered in 1908-9 and thought to represent “power symbols” of the Midewiwin. Unfortunately, we cannot assess that petroglyph now to re-examine the ancient work with modern research technology and re-interpret its symbols in light of current archaeological research data. At other sites, Pennsylvania petroglyphs are being eroded by natural elements, making it important to revisit rock art sites before they are lost forever.

The Society of Pennsylvania Archaeology has currently taken an interest in revisiting some of the still accessible petroglyph sites. Using James L. Swauger’s research on the upper Ohio River watershed, (with records located at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and referenced in “Rock Art of the Upper Ohio Valley,” a 1974 publication), archaeologists are planning to revisit petroglyphs and update Swauger’s documentation of each site.

*Dunn Farm, Fayette County. Credit: James L. Swauger, Carnegie Museum of Natural History Anthropology Collection.*

*Dunn petroglyph. Credit: James L. Swauger, Carnegie Museum of Natural History Anthropology Collection.*

The Western Pennsylvania Native American Rock Art Survey, which was launched in November 2022, will record new documentation in Pennsylvania State Museum site database. The project is directed by Carnegie Museum Research Associates Ken Burkett and Brian Fritz, who will develop standards for eligibility of rock art sites for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

It will be exciting to learn what scientists discover when revisiting these petroglyph sites. Questions, including when were these petroglyphs carved, why, and by whom all yearn for more informed answers. The locations of petroglyphs, their designs, and patterns within designs may lead to a better understanding of cultures that lived in Pennsylvania a very long time ago. Cultures survive by utilizing their distinct habitats. Although bird and animal representations may never fully explain the significance of a species to a culture, such images do tell us what animals were present throughout history.

Georgia Feild is a museum educator, Natural History Interpreter, and volunteer for the Archaeology/Anthropology Collections at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

March Mammal Madness 2023: Learn and Win

by Patrick McShea

What chance does a giant water bug have in a battle with a wolverine? During the next few days participants in the online tournament known as March Mammal Madness will attempt to predict the outcome for this theoretical encounter plus 31 others. “Play” in this single elimination series of antagonistic animal matches begins with a wild card qualifying battle on March 13, and concludes, four well-spaced rounds of competition later, with a championship match on April 5. This now decade-old annual activity, which was created and continues to be directed by Professor Katie Hinde, of Arizona State University, has a well-earned reputation as a fun interactive educational event.

The website for March Mammal Madness (MMM) describes the proceedings as “inspired by (but in no way affiliated with or representing) the NCAA College Basketball March Madness Championship Tournament.” Like the basketball tournament, MMM relies upon a branching four-division bracket listing qualifying competitors and their ranking number to both record predictions and track the tournament’s progress. There are, of course, significant bracket differences. In place of the small print note where some sport tournament brackets announce the chart’s purpose as “For Amusement Only,” the MMM document bears the disclaimer, “MMM includes many non-mammal species.” Also, in the front and center position, where an NCAA, media sponsor, or gaming corporation’s logo would normally appear, is instead the MMM guiding motto: “If you’re learning, you’re winning!”

The clearest explanation of how the competition unfolds, and how willingness to learn is a condition of fandom, is on the MMM website:

The organizers take information about each combatant’s weaponry, armor, fight style, temperament/motivation, and any special skills/consideration and estimate a probability of the outcome and then use a random number generator to determine the outcome. This is why there are upsets in the tournament.

Another thing that can happen is if a species has to battle in an ecology that is really bad for it – for example, if a cold adapted species is battling in a tropical forest, it can dangerously overheat- changing the outcome probabilities. Sometimes an animal gets injured or snaps a canine in a previous round that carries over into the next round- just like an injury of a star player totally changes a basketball team’s outcome. Also hiding or running away counts as a forfeit.

In the early rounds the battle location is in the preferred habitat of the better-ranked combatant in the battle, and ecology can play a huge role in what happens.

I kept all of this in mind as I considered the first-round water bug versus wolverine battle. On the museum’s second floor, a giant water bug is an invertebrate detail in the Hall of Botany’s bog diorama. On the first floor, an encased wolverine taxidermy mount flanks the interactive space Discovery Basecamp. If both creatures mysteriously came to life and met on a back stairway landing, the insect would certainly be flattened or swallowed whole. Like a sports bettor double-checking a basketball team’s bench depth, foul-shooting percentage, or dependable three-point shooters, I conducted a brief internet search for wolverine vulnerabilities.

Details in a summary of the Western States Wolverine Conservation Project revealed this large member of the weasel family as a species highly sensitive to climate change. The long-clawed and densely furred carnivore, whose common name has been used by various corporations to create brands for action heroes, rugged footwear, and all-terrain vehicles, requires large territories with persistent spring snow cover. In the four U.S. states where resident populations of wolverines are known to occur (Washington, Montana, Idaho, and Montana), locations with heavy spring snow cover provide ample “refrigerated” space for the catching of prey, as well as safe denning sites for pregnant females.

I still picked the wolverine to beat the giant water bug, but I won’t be surprised if it doesn’t happen. Highways were mentioned in some research summaries as barriers to wolverine movements, raising the possibility of a forfeited match. Despite a reputation for ferocity, a no-show wolverine could send a giant water bug to the MMM second round.

Patrick McShea is an Educator at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Wolverine: Status Check For a Tournament Champion

by Pat McShea

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Collected On This Day: White Trillium from May 28, 1993

by Mason Heberling

Spring flowers fade, but some leaves hang on

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Bringing A Little O-Gah-Pah to Pittsburgh

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Can’t Choose Just One: Asking an Entomologist to Name Their Favorite Native Species

by Bob Androw

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New Vision of Old Rock Art

by Georgia Feild

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March Mammal Madness 2023: Learn and Win

by Patrick McShea

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