In the field : the bulletin of the Field Museum of Natural History

lletin of th d Museum of Natural History

THE
BIGGEST
DINOSAUR
IS COMING
TO TOWN

NATURE AS
ENGINEER

BABBITT’S
PLAN FOR A
SPECIES
SURVEY

MEMBERS’
NIGHT —
MAY 7

o9g0z 9G ‘uo VBULYseEAm

N SAY UOLAZNAILASUOD BF “AS YAOT
aBueyoxg seLpseuqiy

SUI USLUOSYUZLUS

The Bulletin of the Field Museum of Natural History

May/June 1993

4

They were just
another Museum
tour group — but
became the Friends
of Ruatepupuke.

3

Members’ Night
once again takes
you backstage at
the Museum to
see how it’s done.

CAT-SCANS REVEAL
SECRETS OF LADY UDJA

A medical-
lowa has discovered some surprising new

6-3

Program highlights
for May and June,
plus your chance to
“own a bone” of the
Brachiosaurus.

fe

“Masters of the
Arctic” features
works by indigenous
artists of the U.S.,
Canada, and Russia.

informatio

Dynasty mummy in the Field Musum col-
lection. And it wasn’t her impacted molars.

imaging team at the University of

n about Lady Udja, a 26th

Story, Page 3

SSS
(

GY ak sil,
GEST DINO:
+. =

DGGE IN JULY

O. July 3 the Museum’s newest per-
manent exhibit debuts with the formal
unveiling of a full-scale Brachiosaurus
in Stanley Field Hall. Bones of the enor-
mous beast were discovered by Field
Museum scientists in 1900, and remain

the “holotype” used for identifying it.
(Continued on page 11)

NATURE’S ENGINEERING

By Mark Westneat
Assistant Curator, Zoology

iving creatures have an astonishing

diversity of body plans that work

in different ways. How can a fish

swim so fast just by wiggling its

body? How do birds fly and pro-
duce beautiful songs? And why don’t the legs
of elephants and the branches of trees break
more often under the tremendous weight they
carry? These are general questions about func-
tion in living things that might come to mind as
you walk through the woods or visit the zoo.
Yet simple questions like these are the heart of
an approach to biology called biomechanics —
the study of the ways that living things are
designed to function in response to the physical
forces of their environments.

Animals and plants have no choice but to
deal with the laws of physics. Those laws spec-
ify that an unsupported object falls down, blood
is thicker than water which is thicker than air,
bones resist bending, and muscles contract.
Although the principles of gravity, viscosity,
elasticity, and contractility are not things that
we think about on a daily basis, our bodies and
those of every other living thing are wonderful-
ly designed to handle a myriad of physical
forces encountered in diverse environments.
Evolution is a brilliant mechanical engineer in
the sense that each species is uniquely engi-
neered to deal with its physical and ecological
requirements. Biomechanics research can
reveal the many inventions that nature has pro-
duced for dealing with physical phenomena,
and these findings are being used in biology,
engineering, and medicine.

At the Field Museum, my research is
revealing some of the engineering designs that
are used by animals to capture their food, move
their limbs, produce sounds for communication,
and swim against a current. To do this, my co-

workers and I are learning how animals
are built, how they move, and what
the bones and muscles are doing
when important behaviors are
being performed. We now
have a facility equipped
with the latest in tech-
nology for the study
of biomechanics.
This laboratory
includes video equip-
ment for recording animal
movements, computer-aided analy-
sis of video images, and a system
for recording the activity of muscles
when they contract. We can analyze the ~
movements of animals like a swimming
tuna or a singing bird, or record the behavior of
tiny shrimps or tadpoles swimming in a dish
under the microscope. Although the equipment
might be described as “high-tech,” it is used to
answer some very basic questions about the
mechanics of animal movement.

Two recent studies involved the biome-
chanics of fish feeding and bird singing. We
studied a very unusual fish called the “sling-
jaw,” which was first observed slinging its jaw
on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia (see
photo). To understand how it performs this
extraordinary feeding behavior, we studied the
connections of bones and muscles in the head,
used a high-speed camera to film the fish feed-
ing, and measured the movements of individual
bones and the electrical activity in the muscles
that were driving the behavior. By combining
these methods, we discovered that although this
fish has drastically reorganized the bones and
tendons in its head, it uses the same muscles
and sequence of muscle contractions that most
other fish use for feeding. Essentially, evolu-
tion has changed the hardware in the head of

=

U.S, Fish & Wildlife Servic

(Continued on page 9)

CONSERVATION

A day-long public sym-
posium on how conser-
vationists and museum
scientists can work
together more effective-
ly will be held May 8.
See story, page 10.

BABBITT PLAN

By Bruce D. Patterson
Curator of Mammals

nterior Secretary Bruce Babbitt
recently announced a plan to create a
national survey to map the nation’s
ecosystems and biological diversity.
If implemented, this survey will give
us the ability to take proactive, rather
than reactive, measures to conserve our natu-
ral inheritance. The plan embodies a new
environmental strategy that is strongly sup-
ported by the scientific community.

Many feel that existing laws, particularly
the Endangered Species Act, already afford
all the protection needed to sustain rare and
endangered populations of plants and ani-
mals. Yet that legislation’s focus on endan-
gered species, rather than the ecosystems they
inhabit and the interrelationships that sustain
them, limits its usefulness. Furthermore, pro-
tracted, costly, and bitter battles between
environmentalists and
developers often result
from enforcement of the
law, as is currently the
case with northern spotted
owls.

BIOLOGY

Another case, less
familiar because its eco-
nomic ramifications pale
beside those of the strug-
gle over the Pacific North-
west, clearly illustrates the
=| limitations of species-
4 based conservation efforts.

(Continued on page 10)

§ The Mt. Graham red squirrel

COLLECTIONS

AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH

By Willard L. Boyd
President, Field Museum of Natural History

s | have reported here previously,

our staff and trustees have been

engaged for many months in

strategic planning to launch the

Museum into its second century.
The plan’s major focus has been on our institu-
tional subject matter and how we approach it
through collections, research, and public learn-
ing. Just as the biological and cultural commu-
nities we study change over time, so must our
approach to them change.

Like the great universities that grew up in
the same period, the hallmark of the Museum’s
first hundred years was a division of our activi-
ties among specialized disciplines. But as we
enter our second century we are seeking broad-

RESEARCH |

Coordinating Council

PUBLIC
LEARNING

Coordinating Council |

ANTHROPOLOGY

EVOLUTIONARY AND ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY

Coordinating Council

BOTANY GEOLOGY

CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING AND CHANGE

DEVELOPMENT &
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

GN86720.19

May/June 1993

FINANCE

18TH-CENTURY BOTANIST IS
LIBRARY FRIENDS’ SUBJECT

The Friends of Field Museum Library hosted a
reception and program April 6 with Charles
Jarvis of the Natural History Museum (London).
Jarvis provided the Friends with a scholarly
look at early botanical explorations of America
by John Clayton (1683-1773). The group also
heard from Thomas G. Lammers, assistant cura-
tor of vascular plants. Above, with volumes
from the Mary W. Runnells Rare Book Room,
are Museum Vice President Peter Crane; Dr.
Jarvis; Worthington Smith, chair of the Friends
of Field Museum Library; and Special Collec-
tions Librarian Ben Williams.

ZOOLOGY

OPERATIONS

er explanations of the extent and character of
biological and cultural diversity, similarities,
and interdependency. We are looking at nature
as a whole because all living things interact
with all others both directly, and indirectly
through the effects of their biological activity
on the physical environment. Similarly, we are
seeking to understand the principles of cultural
change and the relationships among cultures in
the past and present. This is a major intellectual
watershed in the life of the Field Museum.

Working from our vast collections of
objects and specimens, we hope to understand
better the past, present, and future of biological
and cultural change. No longer can we be satis-
fied with just knowing about a particular biota
or culture in isolation. The world is smaller
than we believed in 1893 and human actions
have a more profound effect on that world than
ever before. So it is
that in our new cen-
tury we must cast a
wider net in order to
find specific answers.
There are also new
means to knowledge,
and so, for example,
we now utilize com-
puters extensively,
and collect frozen tis-
sue for biochemical
analysis such as
DNA sequencing.
These and other new
techniques help us
understand the evolu-
tion and interrela-
tionships of life on
Earth.

May/June 1993
Vol. 64, No.3

Editor:
Ron Dorfman

Art Director:
Shi Yung

Editorial Assistant:
Jessica Clark

In the Field (ISSN #1051-4546) is published bimonthly by Field Museum of Natural History, Roosevelt Road at Lake
Shore Drive, Chicago IL 60605-2496. Copyright © 1993 Field Museum of Natural History. Subscriptions $6.00 annu-
ally, $3.00 for schools. Museum membership includes /n the Field subscription. Opinions expressed by authors are
their own and do not necessarily reflect policy of Field Museum. Museum phone (312) 922-9410. Notification of
address change should include address label and should be sent to Membership Department. Y

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to In the Field, Field Museum of Natural History. Second class postage paid

at Chicago, Illinois.

COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE
HOSTS ASIAN ART DONORS

In the Field

Just as systematic biology has changed, so
also have anthropology and archaeology. Cul-
tural anthropologists are trying to understand
why people of earlier cultures thought and
acted the way they did, and are also concerned
with the contemporary descendants of those
cultures. Archaeologists seek to determine cul-
tural principles that have relevance for contem-
porary and future societies, such as the
relationship between people and their environ-
ment, the nature of ingtergroup hostility, and
the persistence of cultural patterns through the
millenia.

In order to continue its leadership role in
the next century, the Museum will look more
holistically at the problems of nature and cul-
ture. Because of interconnectedness within
nature and across cultures, we will operate hor-
izontally across traditional departmental
boundaries while maintaining strengths in our
areas of specialty. Instead of limiting our cul-
tural understanding to particular cultures we
will look across cultures. In pursuing evolu-
tionary biology we will adopt a comparative
approach, recognizing that each species exists
in a larger evolutionary and ecological context.

To foster this interdisciplinary approach,
we have organized two centers — the Center
for Evolutionary and Environmental Biology,
and the Center for Cultural Understanding and
Change. These centers will be the vehicle for a
Museum-wide approach to basic environmental
and cultural issues that confront both our local
and worldwide communities now and in the
years to come. The Field Museum can play a
major role in enhancing public understanding
about the living Earth and how we can live in
balance with the Earth and with each other.

Chart illustrates how the themes of environmental and evolutionary biolo-
gy and of cultural understanding and change will inform all Museum work,

A Collections Com-
mittee luncheon on
February 18 honored
Dr. and Mrs. Hyman
I. Kaplan for their
gift of Chinese and
Vietnamese lacquer-
ware to the Anthro-
pology Collection.
The collection,
which includes
several finely carved
cinnabar lacquer-
ware pieces from the
17th through the
19th centuries, is on
display in the North
Lounge.

GN86708.

PINE WINS WESTINGHOUSE AWARD

ELIzABETH PINE, a Field Museum intern, won
the first-place $40,000 college scholarship in
the annual Westinghouse Science Talent
Search. A student at the Illinois Mathematics
and Science Academy in Aurora, Pine worked
last summer with Field Museum’s GrecG
MUELLER, associate curator in botany, and plans
to accompany Mueller to Costa Rica this sum-
mer on a collecting trip.

For her winning project, Pine assisted
Mueller by testing DNA sequences to resolve a
current controversy about two major groups of
fungi — mushrooms and false truffles. Because
these two fungi are quite different in appear-
ance, scientists have typically classified them in
different orders. However, Pine’s research
revealed that some groups of the false truffles
share microscopic similarities with mushrooms,
and are therefore quite closely related.

“What’s really impressed me about Eliza-
beth is that she’ll be asking questions about C
and D while I’m still explaining A and B —
she’s so quick. In comparison to other students
I’ve worked with, she has, by far, the best
potential for making a major impact in biology
as a research scientist,” said Mueller.

Pine was chosen from among 1,662 seniors
who entered Westinghouse’s 52nd annual Tal-
ent Search, co-sponsored by Science Service, a
Washington-based non-profit corporation that
furthers the public understanding of science.
The Talent Search is the nation’s oldest high-
school science competition and offers the
largest unrestricted scholarships.

Pine has accumulated a series of awards
and honors in science and research as well as in
mathematics, literature, and French. Last year,
she was awarded the Chicagoland Outstanding
Young Scientist Award, sponsored by the
Nobel Foundation and the Museum of Science
and Industry. She and her school each received
$600 and a plaque, and in December she trav-
eled to Stockholm to attend the Nobel Prize
ceremonies. She has already received early
acceptance to Harvard, and plans to go on to
get a Ph.D. in biology and to work as a research
scientist in a museum or university.

iu

HAROLD Voris, curator of amphibians and rep-
tiles, received a supplement of $21,058 to his
National Science Foundation collections sup-
port grant to fund an educational project for
high school students. This supplement will sup-
port a high school teacher, Joun Murpuy, and
three students for the summer months. Murphy
and the students will work on collection pro-
jects in herpetology. Voris received a similar
supplement last year and the program was a
great success.

ce

Av Newton and Marcaret THAYER of the
Department of Zoology returned recently from
a two-month field trip to Australia, They
brought back thousands of specimens of rove
beetles (Staphylinidae) and related groups, as
well as numerous other insects and arthropods.
This collecting is part of their continuing work
on the Australian beetles, focused on putting
the Australian Staphylinidae into a modern
phylogenetic context; currently, the beetles are
known primarily through outdated texts that are
scattered throughout the literature. The two also
discovered adults and larvae of a previously
unknown genus of “minute moss beetles”
(Hydraenidae) while collecting at two Tasma-
nian coastal sites.

7
CESAR PAREDES Canto, President (Rector) of the

Universidad Nacional de Cajamarca in Peru
visited the Field Museum March 13 to meet

Dr. César Paredes Canto

with MicHaeL DILLon of the Department of
Botany. Dr. Paredes is currently president of
the National Assemby of Rectors for northern
Peru and southern Ecuador, an organization
representing some 52 universities and nearly
450,000 alumni. His visit was part of a month-
long trip to the United States supported by the
International Visitors Program of the U.S.
Information Agency and includes stops in the
following US cities: Miami, Washington D.C.,
New York, Boston, Chicago, Madison, Los
Angeles, Austin, and New Orleans. Dillon and
Paredes discussed the potential for new cooper-
ative educational efforts between Field Muse-
um and institutions of higher learning in
northern Peru and southern Ecuador.

Und Anrual
Members’ Night

May 7,1993 "5 p.m. - lO pm

Visit with the Museum's curators, exhibit
developers and preparators, researchers,
and educators and learn how their work
becomes a Museum exhibit or scientific
discovery. Find out what goes on behind
the scenes in laboratories, collections
areas, and design shops that the public
rarely sees.

Present your Members’ Night invitation or
membership card at any entrance. Mem-
bers may bring their families and two
guests. McDonald's and Picnic in the Field
will be open until 9:30 p.m. and cocktails
and soft drinks will be available for pur-
chase at a cash bar.

Parking is free in the Museum lots and in
the Soldier Field lot. Free Willet bus ser-
vice will be available at 20-minute inter-
vals from the Canal Street entrances of
Union and Northwestern stations, and at
State and Washington, Michigan and
Washington, Michigan and Adams, and
Balbo and Michigan.

NEW TECHNOLOGIES
REVEAL ‘LADY’ UDJA‘S SECRETS

By Jessica Clark

ady Udja, a 26th Dynasty mummy

(663-525 B.C.), is on loan from the

Field Museum to the University of

Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Medical
Museum for display in a new exhibit, “The
Trail of the Invisible Light: A Century of Medi-
cal Imaging.” Derek Notman, M.D., an expert
on the use of radiological techniques in
mummy research, performed X-rays and CT
scans and constructed three-dimensional
images of the mummy, providing previously
undiscovered information about the ancient
Egyptian.

Most strikingly, Dr. Notman discovered
that Lady Udja was, in fact, a Lord. The papers
that accompanied the mummy when Edward
Ayer, the first director of the Field Museum,
purchased it in 1894, identified it as female.
However, during the medical imaging process-
es, a penis was detected, confirming Udja’s
gender.

The radiological examinations also
revealed that Udja had impacted molars and
some arthritis in the big toes, as well as worn-
down dental enamel caused by gravel left in
flour or meal during the grain-milling process
— a trait shared by many ancient Egyptian
corpses. Udja’s nasal septum was fractured,
perhaps when his brain was removed through
his nose during the embalming process.

Dr. Notman speculates that the mummy
was of royal descent because of the great quan-
tity of linen used and the care with which he
was wrapped. Embedded in the layers of linen
are a few unidentified tiny circular objects; the
scans also reveal a linen bundle between the
legs which may be a scroll.

The processes used
to examine Udja included
conventional X-rays to
examine his bone struc-
ture, and CT (or CAT—
Computed Axial Tomog-
raphy) scans to create
more complex images of
the mummy’s bandaging,
soft tissues, and internal
condition. CT involves
inserting the body into an
X-ray tube, allowing for
multiple exposures from
different angles. The
images collected by the
scanner are sent to a
computer, which process-
es and assembles the
information and con-
structs a cross-sectional
image of the scanned
area. Plain film X-ray
depends on a single exposure to produce a two-
dimensional image that might exhibit between
20 and 30 shades of gray; Computed Tomogra-
phy provides a much more detailed three-
dimensional image, which can recognize and
register up to 200 shades of gray.

The mummy, and the images that reveal its
imner secrets, have fascinated visitors to the
Medical Museum. “The Trail of the Invisible
Light: A Century of Medical Imaging” will be
on display in the Iowa museum, in Iowa City,
through January 1994.

3

Courtesy University Relations, University of lowa

John Weinstein / GN86701.14C

Top right, Maori
hosts and Field
Museum tour group
prepare to sleep in
the successor meet-
ing house to
Ruatepupuke at
Tokomaru Bay,
1986. Below right,
the Maori delegation
makes its grand
entrance to Stanley
Field Hall at the
Dawn Ceremony
rededicating
Ruatepupuke II,
March 9, 1993.
Below, Gabriel
Stowe Terrell com-
munes with the
ancestors after the
opening ceremonies.

Ps TAI RS, DOWNSTAIRS |

RUATEPUPUKE

‘A SENSE OF SACRED SPACE’

By Ron Dorfman
Editor, In the Field

ith the reopening and rededi-

cation of Ruatepupuke II, the

19th-century Maori meeting

house in the Field Museum,
the Friends of Ruatepupuke have achieved the
goal they set for themselves seven years ago.
Starting out as an ordinary Museum tour group
planning a visit to New Zealand, they have
become the elders of Ruatepupuke’s American
family and have laid a foundation for new
forms of cooperation between museums and
the peoples whose cultural treasures they hold
in safekeeping.

When the members of the tour group were
first introduced to the unreconstructed
Ruatepupuke by curator John Terrell in
November 1985, about five months before their
trip, they experienced “a sense of sacred
space,” according to Friends member Barbara
Ballard. Terrell, who would lead the tour, had
made the group’s approach to and viewing of
the house especially dramatic because he had
an agenda, which was to transform the tour into
a diplomatic mission. The group met once a
month after that and, by the time the twenty
tourists left for New Zealand in March, Ballard
says, “we felt we were
ready.”

Donald Cameron,
the group’s chair, recalls
that at their first meeting
with the Maori community
at Tokomaru Bay where
the house once stood, there
were two Maori factions,
one that wanted to demand
the return of Ruatepupuke
to its native soil, and
another that wanted to con-
sider ways of maintaining
the house as an outpost of
Maori culture in America.
The latter group included
elders who had been invit-
ed to visit the house during
the Field Museum’s instal-
lation of the touring “Te
Maori” art exhibit early in
1986. “We were there,”
Cameron says, “to repre-

Don't forget to enter
FielA Museuw’s
Ceuteunial Raffle!

Your participation in the Centennial Raffle
will help to underwrite the cost of the Muse-
um’s Centennial celebration, a thank-you to

its members and the public for 100 years of support. The Raffle —
members should have received brochures and entry forms by mail
— is a wonderful way to travel, study, and learn about the world
and its peoples. You can win one of 18 exciting prizes by entering
the Raffle for as little as $10 or multiple entries for a larger dona-
tion (15 entries for $100). Don’t forget, all entrries must be received
by June 25, 1993. For a Raffle brochure and entry form, contact the
Women’s Board at (312) 322-9970.

-~May/June 1993 4

Barbara Ballard

John Weinstein / GN86695.26C

sent to the Maori that Ruatepupuke II had a
good home and would have a good home back
in Chicago.”

In the end, the Maori decided to help
restore the house in Chicago. But upon their
return the members of the tour group found the
Museum gearing up for a major overhaul of its
exhibits — a complex, multi-million-dollar
program that did not include restoration of
Ruatepupuke — and simultaneously undergo-
ing a serious intellectu-
al dispute among

bureaucracy, but Dorothy
Roder [the Museum
tours director] was a
brick through all this, the
center,” she adds.

“Tt was an almost
magical fusion of peo-
ple,” Cameron says.
“You have to realize that
we were a totally typical
traveling group. Normal-
ly when a group gets
together on a planned
tour they become friends
but go their separate
ways afterwards. With us
the situation became rad-
ically different.” They became a kind of family,
having been welcomed as a group into the
extended family of Ruatepupuke (the legendary
ancestor of the Ngati Porou tribe) at Tokomaru
Bay. And they had learned from the Maori,
Cameron says, to hear each other out, respect
differences of opinion, come to consensus, and
persevere.

And persevere they did. By 1991, they had
the Museum back on board, and funding
secured by. the Museum from the Ameritech
Foundation for an unprecedented collaboration
between American and Maori scholars and arti-
sans to make a living Maori marae in the heart
of Chicago.

Its major work done, the group hopes to
stay together and will meet.soon to discuss its
relationship to the functioning house of
Ruatepupuke. “It’s gratifying,” says Ballard,
“to see so many people being trained as inter-
preters — like going back to an old house and
seeing new people beginning to love it.”

curators and exhibit
developers about the
direction of the Muse-
um’s public programs.
So they constituted
themselves the Friends
of Ruatepupuke “to
keep the issue alive
without bugging peo-
ple,” Ballard says. “It
was difficult making
our way through the

It’s never too late
to give for a lifetime
... or two.

For more information about how you can benefit from
joining the Museum’s Pooled Income Fund, please call
or write for your complimentary copy of
“How the Pooled Income Fund
Works for You, and Us. . .”

Contact Melinda Pruett-Jones
‘Field Museum of Natural History
Development Office
Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496
(312) 332-8868

John Weinstein / GN86226

MASTERS OF THE ARCTIC

n Saturday, June 5, World

Environment Day, the Field

Museum presents the inter-

national art exhibition,
“Masters of the Arctic — Art in the
Service of the Earth.” The exhibit
brings together contemporary stone
sculptures, tapestries, clothing, bas- [
ketry, bone carvings, drawings, and {
silkscreen prints to honor the indige-
nous peoples who make their
homes in the Arctic regions of Canada,
Greenland, Northwest Alaska, and the
Russian Republics of Chukotka and
Sakha.

“Masters of the Arctic” will be on
display in the Special Exhibit
Gallery from June 5 through
August 15, 1993. It features
150 contemporary masterworks
contributed by 112 artists work-
ing in 83 Arctic communities,
and is being displayed in recognition of the
United Nations-designated “Year of Indigenous
Peoples.”

The works are arranged by location and
represent a rich artistic tradition, primarily of
carved sculptures. Contemporary Inuit sculp-

y

LAST DAYS TO SEE

‘TE WAKA TOI’

e Waka Toi: Contemporary Maori Art
From New Zealand,” on display in the
Museum’s Special Exhibition Gallery,
closes May 9.

“Te Waka Toi” (The Carrier of Excel-
lence) has been presented as a complement to
the opening of “Ruatepupke: A Maori Meeting
House,” and features the works of 22 contem-
porary Maori artists recognized as leaders in
their various artistic fields. Many of these
works revolve around a relationship to the arts
associated with the building of marae, or gath-
ering places; they speak to the need to pass on
traditional forms, or to discover new ways to
express the values central to the Maori people.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

tures and prints grow out of

an artmaking tradition
that is both ancient and
modern. In one sense,
the works reflect thou-

shared beliefs and cus-
toms, yet they are the
product of only four
decades of development.
Modern Inuit art in
Canada can be traced to 1948,
when the Canadian government
and the Hudson Bay Company
instituted artmaking activities to
help meet the economic needs of the
Inuit. Inuit works
today are created on
the cusp of cultural
change, by artists old
enough to have
retained a strong link to
their past as hunters but who live in
a world of snowmobiles, satellite
dishes, and video games. Artworks
like those on display in the museum
may mark the final authentic expres-
sion of traditional Inuit themes.

Certain themes, such as the
portrayal of animals, are common
to all settlements. Many carved
stone sculptures describe a hunt,
the animal hunted, and the spiri-
tual identification of an Inuit with
other living creatures. The moye-
ments of bear, seal, walrus, musk
ox, owl, or caribou are presented
as in a family portrait. Other
carvings depict Inuit myths,
transformations of humans to ani-
mals and vice versa. Affectionate
and protective bonds between mother and child,
man and wife are portrayed.

“Masters of the Arctic” was first shown on
World Environment Day, June 5, 1989, at the
United Nations headquarters, where it received
full support from the Canadian, U.S., and Sovi-
et missions. While on display in the National
Historical Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro,

sands of years of

the exhibit served as a cultur-
al centerpiece for the 1992
U.N. Conference on Environ-
ment and Development.

The exhibit is accompa-
nied by a detailed catalogue,
a video demonstrating a day
in the life of an artist and her
family in the Northwest Ter-
ritories, a panel of pho-
tographs of artists, a
computerized program of
artists’ biographies and their
art, general photographs
depicting Arctic scenes, and
educational text panels including a map intro-
ducing the circumpolar area. A
variety of educational programs
will be offered in conjunction with
the exhibition; see the “Get Smart”
page for more details.

“Masters of the Arctic” is
sponsored by Amway Environ-
mental Foundation under the aus-
pices of the Government of the
Northwest Territories; the United
Nations Environment Programme;
the Greenland Home Rule Govern-

HELD MUSEUM

THE SMART WAY TO HAVE FUN.

ment; the Inuit Circumpolar Conference; North-
west Alaskan Native Association (NANA)
Regional Corporation; NANA Museum of Arc-
tic: and the Russian Chukotka Republic.

At a special Members’ Preview Sweep-
stakes on June 2, Air Canada and Tourism
Canada are offering a round-trip vacation for
two to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

CHINA BETWEEN REVOLUTIONS

hina Between Revolutions:
Photographs by Sidney D.
Gamble 1917-1927” will be
on display in the South Exhibit
Gallery through June 20.

The exhibit comprises 81
black and white prints from an archive of pho-
tographs by Sidney D. Gamble (1890-1968),
the first Western sociologist to fully document
Chinese urban and rural life between the fall
of the Manchu Dynasty in 1911 and the Com-
munist revolution of 1949. The exhibition
materials were drawn from almost 4,000 nega-
tives, 600 hand-colored slides, and 30 reels of
film discovered in the early 1980s by Gam-
ble’s daughter in his Riverdale, N.Y. home.

A yideo of historical footage, shot by
Gamble on 16mm film in the 1920s, accompa-
nies the exhibit and is itself an important visu-
al record of one of the most turbulent periods
in Chinese history, an exploration of a culture
few Westerners ever personally experienced.

The exhibit was organized by the China
Institue of America, the Sidney D. Gamble
Foundation for China Studies, under the direc-
tion of Gamble’s daughter, Catherine G. Cur-
ran, with the collaboration of the Smithsonian
Institution Traveling Exhibition Services
(SITES). Major funding was provided by the
Henry Luce Foundation.

May/June 1993

5 2 Sunday

Chicago Day

The Field Museum joins fifteen other muse-
ums and cultural institutions to kick off the
city’s salute to the World’s Columbian
Exposition of 1893, from which so much
bounty still flows a century later. Free
admission, free shuttle bus service to the
participating institutions, and special pro-
grams highlight the day. WBBM Newsradio
78, a sponsor along with AT&T and Kraft
General Foods, will broadcast live from the
Chicago Cultural Center. For a free
brochure, call (312) 230-4884.

5/3 sini

Mycology Meeting

This month’s meeting of the Illinois Myco-
logical Association will feature “Illinois
Mushrooms and Other Fungi” by Dr. Andre
Methven, Eastern Illinois University,
Charleston. Anyone interested in mush-
rooms at any level is welcome. Lecture
Hall 2 at 7:30 p.m.; park in the West Lot.

5/4 si

Collections Committee

Join Chris Del Re, Associate Conservator,
for a presentation on home conservation of
ethnographic organic materials. Members
are encouraged to bring objects from their
personal collections for the Q&A period.
Reception at 5:30 p.m.; program begins at
6:00 p.m. This program is for Collections
Committee members only. For information
on how to join the Collections Committee
call Julie Sass at 322-8874.

ole fami

‘ind the Sten of

‘up to two g est:

5110 san

Camera Club

“Close-ups in Nature” by Tom Holms.
Learn more about this important technique
in nature photography. Everyone is wel-
come. 7:30 p.m. in Lecture Hall 2; park in
the West Lot.

May/une 1393

5/14 & 15

Friday & Saturday
Margaret Mead Fest

For the first time, selections from the
renowned Margaret Mead Film and Video
Festival sponsored by the American Muse-
um of Natural History in New York are
touring nationally. The festival celebrates
cultural differences by presenting works
from around the world with similar themes:
art and society, children and the future,
community portraits, sports and culture,
and women's stories. 5:30-10:30 p.m Fri-
day. 9 a.m.— 4 p.m Saturday. $9 per partici-
pant ($8 members) for Friday or Saturday;
$15 ($13 members) for both days. Call
(312) 322-8854 for more information.

Sty eal

Neighbors Night

The Community Outreach Program hosts its
5th annual Neighbors Night celebrating the
ethnic diversity of the people of Chicago.
Tour the world with our special Passport
Program. And hear “Pop” Staples perform
his Grammy-nominated LP Peace to the
Neighborhoods. Pam Morris of V-103 FM
emcees. 5 p.m.—9 p.m.

5/23 uae

Members’ Lecture
‘At the Field’

Dr. William Burger will present “Why do
the Tropics Have So Many Kinds of
Plants?” 1:30 p.m., Simpson Theatre; $3 for
members, $5 guests.

6/5 sary

Exhibit Opening

“Masters of the Arctic — Art in the Service
of the Earth” brings together contemporary
stone sculptures, tapestries, clothing, bas-
ketry, bone carvings, drawings, and
silkscreen prints to honor the indigenous
peoples who make their homes in the Arctic
regions of Canada, Greenland, Northwest
Alaska, and the Russian Republics of
Chukotka and Sakha. Through August 15 in
the Special Exhibit Gallery, ground floor.

6/14 sini

Camera Club

Wildflowers are the subject of the bimonth-
ly slide competition. The mini-program is
“Helicopter-hiking in the Canadian Rock-
ies” by Beverly Rodgers. Everyone is wel-
come. 7:30 p.m. in Lecture Hall 2; park in
the West Lot.

6/18 sca.

Members’ Lecture
‘At the Field’

Dr. Janet Voight presents “Octopuses and
Squids: Beastly Predators of the Seas.” 1:30
p.m., Simpson Theatre; $3 for members, $5
guests.

6/26 ssn

Canoeing & Collecting

Join the Education Department's geology
specialist as you canoe 15 miles on the
upper stretch of Sugar Creek in Craw-
fordsville, Indiana. Pass through narrow
channels, around large rocks, and past his-
toric landmarks as you learn more about
this area’s geological history and search for
fossils. Participants must have previous
canoeing experience.

6 a.m.—7 p.m. $60 per participant ($50
members). Call (312) 322-8854.

6/14,16,18

Adult / Toddler Camp

Be a part of our world clubhouse by getting
to know animal friends from our own back-
yards and faraway places. Learn what
children from other countries do for fun
and what we can do to make our world a
better place. Each day concludes with a
snack and storytelling time! 9:30-10:30
a.m. or 11 a.m.—noon. $30 ($25 members)
for 1 adult and 1 child.

Call (312) 322-8854.

bbeses ese sees ss ss 055)
June—August

Field Guide

New field trips, featured programs with the
exhibit “Masters of the Arctic,” a summer
camp for adults and toddlers, and a family
overnight are just a few of the programs
featured in the June-August 1993 Field
Guide — Programs for Adults & Children. \f
you do not receive a copy by mid-May,

call the Museum’s Education Department
at (312) 322-8854. Non-members may also
sign up for these programs.

‘MASTERS OF THE ARCTIC’ EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Musical Performance
Thursday, June 3 at 1 p.m.

Rosemary Immingaik of the Canadian North-
west Terriories, an Inuit singer, will share this
unique traditional art form. Gabriel Nirlun-
gayuk will also display his mastery of the Inuit
drum dance. Free with museum admission.

Alaskan Family Program
Saturday & Sunday, June 5 & 6
Wednesday & Thursday, June 9 & 10

Theodore and Phyllis Booth, elders of the
Alaskan Inupiaq people and their grandchil-
dren, Eli and Phyllis, will share their rich tradi-
tions and culture through craft demonstrations,
story telling, and song and dance. Craft demon-
strations are from 10 a.m.—12:30 p.m.; dance
and song performances, 2-3 p.m. Free with
Museum admission

Contemporary North: People & Events
Tuesday & Wednesday, June 8 & 9
7-9 p.m.

Join “Masters of the Arctic” exhibit curator
Christopher Stephens, associate curator Martha
Whiting and the Booth family, Inupiaq from
Kotzebue, Alaska for a special evening pro-
gram on Arctic lifestyles, focusing on Alaska
and the Canadian Northwest Territories. Learn
about contemporary lives and issues of north-
ern peoples. A guided tour of the exhibit fol-
lows. $12 ($10 Museum members).

Circumpolar Craft: Inuit Artmaking
Saturday & Sunday, July 10 & 11

Join well-known Canadian Baffin Inuit artist
Germaine Arnaktauyok and “Masters of the
Arctic” associate curator Helen Webster for
demonstrations that explore Inuit print and
graphic making tradition, and a guided tour of
the exhibition. Free with Museum admission.

Symposium: The Living Arctic
Saturday, July 17 from 9 a.m.—4 p.m.

The significant contributions made by the Inuit
of the Arctic to environmental conservation
and sustainable development have been recog-
nized internationally. Mary Simon, Ph.D., Spe-
cial Envoy with the Inuit Circumpolar
Conference (ICC), will present a one-day sym-
posium with four indigenous circumpolar lead-
ers and authorities on the future of the Arctic
and its environment. Exhibit curator Christo-
pher Stephens will welcome and introduce our
speakers from Alaska, Russia, Canada, Green-
land and Finland. Topics discussed include the
environment, human rights, development
issues and the wise use of nature. The sympo-
sium is hosted with the cooperation of the Inuit
Circumpolar Conference and United Nations
Environment Programme, and funded by the
Amway Environmental Foundation, the Goy-
ernment of Northwest Territories, the Govern-
ment of Canada, and American Airlines /
Canadian Airlines International. $20 ($10 for
students/seniors). For registration information,
call (312) 322-8854.

aN ae Shull $1,000 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Neck Vertebrae-$400

Back Vertebrae-$250

: oe Hand or —
cage Foot-$10

OWN A
BONE

_ (NO DIGGING
REQUIRED!)

Large Tail Vertebrae-$25

Small Tail Vertebrae-$5

Tibi
| ee A
$200

Phe, F255 re

By “buying a bone,” YOU can be a part of Field Museum's
mounting of the awesome Brachiosaurus.

_ Amaze your friends and family as you point out the bone that your contribution helped put
_ into place. Choose from a scapula, a femur, a tail vertebrae, or even the skull, which housed a
brain smaller than a human fist. Donate a bone in someone else’s name — a great gift for dinosaur
enthusiasts that will last for generations to come! And come to the festive “Hard Hat Party” the
night of July 2 to watch the beast being built — an exclusive treat for “Own a Bone” participants.

For more information, call the Field Museum Development Office at (312) 922-9410, ext. 639.
CUP AND SEND

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All contributions < are as deductible. Mail to: Development Office, The Field Museum of Natural History
Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605

City State Zip

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BECOME A MEMBER
of the Field Museum of Natural

History and receive these benefits:

Free admission

Free coat checking and strollers
Invitation to Members’ Night

Priority invitations to special exhibits
Free subscription to In the Field
13-month wall calendar featuring exhibit
photographs

Reduced subscription prices on selected
magazines

Opportunity to receive the Museum’s
annual report

10% discount at all Museum stores
Use of our 250,000-volume

natural history library

Discount on classes, field trips, and seminars
for adults and children

Members-only tour program
Opportunity to attend the annual
children’s Holiday Tea

Privileges at Chicago’s largest furniture
wholesaler

Children’s “dinosaur” birthday card

YOY Bee YW ONE YD YS Vay Yee

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
New Members only. This is not a renewal form.

Please enroll me as a Member of the
Field Museum of Natural History

Name
Address

City

State —_ Zip
Home phone

Business phone

GIFT APPLICATION FOR
Name

Address

City

State___ Zip

Home phone

Business phone

GIFT FROM
Name
Address

City

State __Zip
Home phone

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MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES

wy Individual — one year $35 / two years $65
Family — one year $45 / two years $85
(Includes two adults, children and grand-
children 18 and under.)
Student/Senior — one year $25
(Individual only. Copy of I.D. required.)

C) Field Contributor — $100 - $249

C) Field Adventurer — $250 - $499

C) Field Naturalist — $500 - $999

(_) Field Explorer — $1,000 - $1,499

All benefits of a family membership

— and more
a Founders’ Council — $1,500

Send form to:
Field Museum of Natural History, Roosevelt Rd.
at Lake Shore Dr., Chicago, IL 60605

7 May/June 1993

VISITOR PROGRAMS

Chicago Historical Society

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MONSTER GONGERT- GRA
vs NGEOVS DISP

JO Rae a

Saturday, May 1

11am—4pm Specimen Preparation
Watch as museum scientists pre-
pare animal specimens for the
research collection.

12 noon - 2:00pm Egyptian Hiero-
glyphs Have your name written in
this ancient alphabet.

1pm World Music presents Poet
Paul Mabon. Treat yourself to poet-
ry from this spark of light in the
inner city.

2pm World Music with Musa
Mosely Join Musa as he demon-
strates the use and history of drum-
ming originating from various
African regions.

Sunday, May 2 Chicago Day |
Sixteen museums and ether. cultural
institutions kick off the city’s salute
to the WSorld’s Columbian Exposi-
tion of 1893 with free admission,
bus service, and special programs.
Sponsored by AT&T, Kraft General
Foods, and WBBM Newsradio 78.
10am - 4:30pm Scavenger Hunt!
Like solving mysteries? Take an
adventure through the halls and
finding answers to clues. Prizes for
those who can!

10am - 4:30pm Ruatepupuke: A
Maori Meeting House Visit a tradi-
tional meeting house of the Maori
of New Zealand through on-going
half hour programs.

10pm - 3pm Dino Wagon Join in
ona wagon full of dinosaur and
prehistoric life activities.

10pm - 3pm Horns and Antlers
What's the difference between
horns and antlers? Examine a vari-
ety of horns and antlers and discov-
er their form and function.

11am, 12 noon, and 1pm Messages
from the Wilderness Tour Travel
through game parks and wildlife
areas of distant lands through this
highlight tour.

11am—4pm Specimen Preparation
See how giraffe and zebra skins
gathered in the 1920's are prepared
for the research collection.
12:30pm Museum Safari Trek
through the four corners of the
museum on a highlight tour of
exhibits that will take you across
the world.

1pm World Music with Musa
Mosely Join Musa as he demon-
strate the use and history of drum-
ming originating from various
African regions.

3pm World Music with Balkanske
Igre Experience the rich and diverse
folk traditions of the Balkans and
Eastern Europe through dance,
songs and music.

Fway/ine 1993

Thursday, May 6

10am -1pm Weaving Demonstra-
tion by the North Shore Weaver's
Guild.

Saturday, May 8

1:30pm Tibet Today and a Faith in
Exile A slide presentation which
takes you to Lhasa and other places
now open to tourists in Tibet.

2pm - 4pm Egyptian Hieroglyphs
Have your name written in this
ancient alphabet.

Sunday, May 9

11am - 3pm Specimen Preparation
Watch as museum scientists pre-
pare animal specimens for the
reseach collection.

Thursday, May 13

10am -1pm Weaving Demonstra-
tion by the North Shore Weaver's
Guild.

Saturday, May 15 Asian Heritage
Festival

10am -4pm Celebrate Asian Her-
itage Month with Field Museum
during Asian Heritage Festival, a
free one day event celebrating
Asian American commu-
nities. Traditional cere-
monies include a Thai
wedding and Chinese tea
ceremony, martial arts,
dance, and music perfor-
mances, a bonsai display | &
and demonstration, and
highlights of Field Muse- |
um's collections from
Asia.

2pm - 4pm Egyptian
Hieroglyphs Have your
name written in this ancient alpha-
bet.

Thursday, May 20

10am -1pm Weaving Demonsira-
tion by the North Shore Weaver's
Guild.

Saturday, May 22
lam—4pm Weaving Demonstration
by the North Shore Weaver's Guild.

Sunday, May 23

11am - 3pm Specimen Preparation
Watch as museum scientists pre-
pare animal specimens for the
reseach collection.

14pm Weaving Demonstration by
the North Shore Weaver's Guild.

Saturday, May 29

12 noon - 2pm Egyptian Hiero-
glyphs Have your name written in
this ancient alphabet.

Thursday, June 3

1pm Drum Dancer & Singer Dis-
cover the distinctive Inuit traditions
of singing and drum dancing in this
performance.

Saturday, June 5

10am-12:30pm Alaskan Family
Craft Demonstration Three genera-
tions of this Inuit family demon-
strate traditional crafts such as
making fish nets, grass baskets,
sewing skin, and creating hair pins
and necklaces.

2pm Alaskan Family Performance
masked dance and singing.

Sunday, June 6

10am-12:30pm

Alaskan Family Craft Demonstra-
tion Three generations of this Inuit
family demonstrate traditional crafts
such as making fish nets, grass bas-
kets, sewing skin, and creating hair
pins and necklaces.

2pm Alaskan Family Performance
masked dance and singing.

Wednesday, June 9

10am-1 2:30pm

Alaskan Family Craft Demonstra-
tion. Three generations of this Inuit
family demonstrate traditional crafts
such as making fish nets, grass bas-
kets, sewing skin, and creating hair
pins and necklaces.

2pm Alaskan Family Performance
masked dance and singing.

Thursday, June 10

10am -1pm Weaving Demonstra-
tion by the North Shore Weaver's
Guild.

10am-12:30pm Alaskan Family
Craft Demonstration. Three gener-
ations of this Inuit family demon-
strate traditional crafts such as
making fish nets, grass baskets,
sewing skin, and creating hair pins
and necklaces.

2pm Alaskan Family Performance
masked dance and singing.

Saturday, June 12

1pm World Music presents
Tanglaw Dance Troupe in an excit-
ing display of dance, music and tra-
ditional clothing representing the

richness and diversity of Philippine
culture.

Thursday, June 17

10am -1pm Weaving Demonstra-
tion by the North Shore Weaver's
Guild.

Saturday, June 19

lam—4pm Weaving Demonstration
by the North Shore Weaver's Guild.
1pm World Music with Rita War-
ford presents a program that high-
lights the traditions of jazz.

Monday — Friday, June 21-25
11am-—2pm

Free Highlight Tours. Topics and
times vary daily.

Thursday, June 24

10am -1pm Weaving Demonstra-
tion by the North Shore Weaver's
Guild.

Saturday, June 26 :
1am—4pm Weaving Demonstration
by the North Shore Weaver's Guild.

Saturday, June 27
1am—4pm Weaving Demonstration
by the North Shore Weaver's Guild.

Monday-Friday, June 28-July 2
llam—2pm

Free Highlight Tours. Topics and
times vary daily.

Daniel F. & Ada L. Rice Wildlife
Research Station

Resources for further study of zool-
ogy, ecology and conservation
through videotapes, computer pro-
grams, educator resources, books
and activity boxes are available.
Daily 9am-5pm

Webber Resource Center
Native Cultures of the Americas
Books, videotapes, educator
resources, tribal newspapers and
activity boxes about native peoples
of the Americas are available.
Daily 10am—4:30pm

Harris Educational Loan Center
Chicago area educators may bor-
row activity boxes and small diora-
mas from Harris Center. For more
information call: (312) 322-8853.
Open House Hours:

Tuesdays 2:30-7pm

Thursdays 2:30-5pm

Saturdays 9am—5pm

Place For Wonder

A special room of touchable objects
where you can discover daily life in
Mexico, in addition to an array of
fossils, shells, rocks, plants and live
insects.

Weekdays: 12:30-4:30pm
Weekends: 10am—4:30pm

Pawnee Earth Lodge

Walk into a traditional home of the
Pawnee Indians of the Great Plains
and learn about their daily life dur-
ing the mid-19th century. Free pro-
gram tickets are available from the
Information Desk in Stanley Field
Hall.

Weekdays: 1pm program
Saturdays: 10am—4:30pm; Free tick-
eted programs at 11, 12, 2 & 3.
Sundays: 10am—4:30pm

Ruatepupuke: A Maori Meeting
House

Discover the world of current Maori
people of New Zealand at the trea-
sured and sacred Maori Meeting
House.

Open daily 9am-5pm

Balkanske Igre Dance Ensemble
appears on Chicago Day, Sunday,
May 2, at 3 p.m.

ENGINEERING...

(Continued from page 1)

this fish to produce a previously unknown
design of the jaws — but the system is con-
trolled using the old version of the software.
The control of movement by muscles and
nerves (the software) is a central subject in
biomechanics, behavioral studies, and in areas
of medical research as well.

In a second project, observations of
singing birds led us to wonder if head and beak
movements helped to produce sounds during
song. We know that birds use a unique organ in
the windpipe called the syrinx to produce
vibrations, similar to the way our vocal cords
produce vibrations during speech. But we won-
dered: Are the vocal tracts of birds like a musi-
cal instrument, such as a trombone, that
produces changes in pitch by altering its length
and volume? To test this idea, we recorded the
head movements of white-throated sparrows
and swamp sparrows (see photo below). At the
same time, we recorded the acoustic content of
their songs. The video and audio were synchro-
nized by computer and the results were clear
— the birds flared the beak to produce high-
pitched notes, and closed the beak during low
notes. This supports the idea that the windpipe
and mouth cavity of birds act as a resonance
chamber for sound. We can now begin to dig
deeper into the question of how the lungs,
syrinx, wind-pipe, and beak are controlled by
muscles to produce songs. Through study of
the biomechanics of song production in birds,
we may learn principles of sound production in
all animals.

Biomechanics is not so much a sub-disci-
pline of biology as it is an attitude, an approach
to biology that cuts across all biological fields.
Principles of physics and engineering affect the
way molecules of DNA are shaped, the way
cells divide in a freshly fertilized egg, and the
ability of a fish to swim against a racing moun-
tain stream. Thus, biomechanical studies have
important applications in many areas of biolo-
gy as well as some surprising applied uses in
the area of human engineering.

For example, let’s look at a fish swimming
up a stream to see how much useful informa-
tion there might be in knowing how it works.
What a gold mine! We can study the structure
and function of that individual fish to deter-
mine how the design of fishes in general allow
them to generate forward propulsion. How
much force do muscles exert to bend the back-
bone? How do tendons transmit motion to the
skeleton? Fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds
and mammals often
have the same kind of
muscle and bone con- A
nections. Therefore,
answers to these kinds
of questions can help us
to better understand the
engineering design fea-
tures of all vertebrate
animals, including
humans.

Biomechanics is
far-reaching, and it
impacts the ecology of
every habitat. The abili-
ty of fishes to swim
against current is an
integral part of their
ecology. Swimming
mechanics will dictate
many facets of their
life, from catching food
to finding mates.
Biomechanics also

Frequency (KHz)

Figure 3

operates on a broader evolutionary time scale.
A large part of evolution for a particular way of
life is driven by the fact that animals adapt to
the physical forces of the environment. At the
Field Museum we are combining our knowlege
of the evolutionary tree of fishes with the study
of the biomechanics of swimming to draw con-
clusions about the different ways that evolution
has shaped the bodies of fishes for moving
through the water.

How else can we use biomechanics? There
are lots of practical uses for biomechanical
information, many of which appear in our lives
every day. It is no accident that the hulls of
ships have a streamlined shape much like that
of a swimming fish, or that the wings of air-
planes are shaped like those of a soaring bird.
The tires on your car are made of synthetic rub-
ber, a substance originally engineered by nature
in rubber trees and now copied by humans.
Fiberglass, plastic, and graphite composites
that are in construction materials, golf clubs,
and fishing poles are often modeled after mate-
tials such as bone and wood that have shown
engineers how to design stronger materials.
Research on human
biomechanics has pro-
duced artificial organs
and prosthetic limbs. A
new field of engineering,
called bio-mimetics, is
revolutionizing the
design of synthetic mate-
rials by mimicking the
properties of biological
tissues like bone, wood,
muscle, skin, and mucus.

Every living thing is
an example of the engi-
neering genius of the
process of evolution, and
there are many interest-
ing biomechanical ques-
tions to ask in the years
ahead. How does a fish fin work? Why can
water striders walk on water? How has evolu-
tion shaped fish heads for feeding on different
things?

Although the questions are relatively sim-
ple, obtaining complete answers requires the
study of many aspects of biomechanics. They
are nonetheless questions well worth posing.

Figure 2

Note 2 Upsweep/Note 3

Figure 1. Frames 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 from a high speed film (200
frames/sec.) of the feeding strike of the sling-jaw, Epibulus insidiator.
The feeding event is fast, occuring in 0.04 seconds. Successive frames
are 0.005 sec apart. See Figures 2 and 3 for the anatomy and mechani-
cal design of the jaws.

Figure 2. Mechanical design of the head of the sling-jaw fish, Epibulus
insidiator. Bones and ligaments of the head are shown when the jaws
are (A) slightly protruded, and (B) almost fully protruded. Many of
these bones are very different from those of all other fishes. The
mechanical diagrams to the left show the motions of thc bones duling
feeding. Heavy arrows in (A) indicate the pull of muscles on the neu-
rocranium (NCR) of the skull and on the opercle (OP) of the gill cover.
Lighter arrows indicate the forward motion and rotation of the jaws
and the bones supporting the jaws. Abbreviations for bones and liga-
ments of the head: ART, articular; DT, dentary; HM, hyomandibula;
HY, hyoid; IOP, interopercle; IOP-M lig., interoperculo-mandibular
ligament; MX, maxilla; NCR, neurocranium; OP, opercle; PAL, pala-
tine; PMX, premaxilla; PMX-MxX lig., premaxillary-maxilla ligament;
QU, quadrate; SOP, subopercle; VO, vomer; VO-IOP lig., vomero-
interopercular ligament. Scale bar = 1 cm.

Figure 3. Sonagram and associated video images of a white-throated
sparrow song. The sonagram (A) shows the changes in frequency over
time of the pure-tonal notes of the song. The first image (B) shows the
partially closed beak associated with note 1, sung at a low frequency.
The second image (C) illustrates the more flared beak position associ-
ated with note 2 which is sung at a higher frequency. The third image
(D) corresponds to the lowest frequency at the beginning of the
upsweep portion of note 3. The arrows in A mark the points in time
from which the video fields in B, C, and D were taken.

May/June 1993

BABBITT PLAN...

(Continued from page 1)

In October 1989, the University of Arizona
and the Smithsonian Institution convened a
symposium on the biology of Mt. Graham, This
“sky island” of coniferous forest in a “sea” of
desert had become an environmental battle-
ground because plans to install an astronomical
observatory on the summit imperiled popula-
tions of an endemic red squitrel, Tamiasciurus
hudsonicus grahamensis. Found nowhere else
on Earth, the squirrels live in the highest-eleva-
tion forests favored by astronomers for clear,
unobstructed visibility.

I had studied these and other montane pop-
ulations of mammals during graduate school,
focusing on their evolutionary origins. Over-
whelming evidence suggests that montane
mammals colonized isolated mountain ranges
of the Southwest during the Pleistocene Epoch,
12,000 — 2 millon years ago. Advancing conti-
nental ice sheets brought cool, moist climates
to this region, permitting coniferous forests to
become established at low elevations. Montane
mammals used these low-lying forests as corri-
dors to reach what are currently isolated peaks.
With the retreat of continental glaciers and the
return of hot, dry climates at lower elevations,
the intervening forests disappeared. Now iso-
lated from all other populations, montane mam-
mals (and other organisms in their habitats)
diverged from each other, in some cases differ-
entiating as new species or subspecies.

Two mammals living on Mt. Graham had
attained such evolutionary distinction, the red
squirrel and a long-tailed vole or meadow
mouse. Both were named as endemic sub-
species of wider-ranging forms, the squirrel
being restricted to high-elevation forests and
the vole to high-elevation meadows. Given
their restricted distributions and small initial
population sizes, it was perhaps inevitable that
20th-century developments would imperil both
creatures. In the early 1980s, both were placed
“Under Notice of Review” by the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service, empowering that agency to
collect information necessary to determine their
status and, if necessary, to list them as endan-
gered or threatened. Sufficient evidence for
listing was obtained only for the red squirrel.

At the symposium, I learned the true limi-
tations of the Endangered Species Act, with its
restrictive focus on mitigating impacts on listed
species. Roads to the observatory, and con-
struction at the site, were to minimize impact
on the forest habitat. This was achieved, of
course, by maximizing use of the open mead-
ows. This development is certain to have
adverse effects on vole populations, as both
federal and state wildlife officials acknowl-
edge. However, only when vole populations
reach a critical stage of vulnerability recog-
nized officially will they be entitled to protec-
tion under the Endangered Species Act.

The Babbitt initiative would seek to antici-
pate such problems by developing baseline
information on all of the nation’s biotic diversi-
ty. Faced with proposals for land development
on Mt. Graham, the Interior Department could
consult map libraries of red squirrels, long-
tailed voles, and dozens of other species of
plants and animals restricted there, assessing
vulnerabilities of populations to development.
With a national database at hand, conceivable
outcomes of the observatory proposal might
include either development plans that distribut-
ed risk among Mt. Graham’s endemic species
or the identification of alternate sites within the
region whose development would not be so
costly biologically.

Babbitt’s plan to initiate a national biologi-
cal survey reflects prevailing scientific opinion
concerning environmental needs. By mapping
species and their habitats, and combining these
data with patterns of human use and develop-

Se 10

Systematics and
Conservation:
Forging a Partnership

Field Museum of Natural History’s
lath Annual Spring Systematics Symposium

ment, our government will be able to anticipate
environmental problems and work towards
coordinated solutions to them. The goal of the
program will be an up-to-date, evolving picture
of the nation’s diversity and the ecological and
land-use changes that affect it.

A national biological survey will extend
and coordinate a process now being carried out
piecemeal by diverse state and local govern-
ment agencies and private organizations. Usu-
ally such surveys are initiated by governments
or foundations, but are executed in association
with museums and universities. Collections of
natural history museums often contain the most
comprehensive records available on plant and
animal distributions. Assembled over decades
or even centuries, such collections afford
unique insights into historical range changes as
a result of modern development. This crucial
role for collections is even more pronounced
outside the U.S. For many areas of the tropics
— home to more than half the world’s plant
and animal species — museum collections pro-
vide the only distribution records now ayvail-
able. Babbitt’s plan for a national survey may
even help to fuel much-needed coordination
efforts at an international scale. As environ-
mental conditions in eastern Europe grimly
attest, environmental problems do not recog-
nize national boundaries, and coordinated inter-
national solutions are needed to resolve them.

U.S. Lags in Inventory Effort

Until the Babbitt initiative, the U.S. has
lagged behind other developed and developing
nations in efforts to inventory its natural
resources. During the 1980s, federal funding
for such efforts (mainly grants from the Nation-
al Science Foundation) was so limited that only
one percent of the world’s diversity was under
active systematic study. Relatively huge out-
lays of funds were focused on a handful of
highly vulnerable species requiring “emergen-
cy room care,” and not all of the programs
proved successful. Babbitt’s plan to reallocate
$12 million from within the Interior Depart-
ment’s diffuse research budget reflects consid-
ered scientific opinion that “an ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Thomas Lovejoy of the Smithsonian Insti-
tution and Peter Raven of the Missouri Botani-
cal Gardens are scientific advisors for the

undreds of scientists and conser-

vationists — two groups that have

frequently been at odds despite a
commonality of interest in the Earth’s bio-
sphere — will meet in a day-long public
symposium at the Field Museum on May
8. Hailing from major museums, universi-
ties, and conservation organizations, par-
ticipants will explore the potential for
establishing collaborative relationships to
formulate practical and effective means of
addressing pressing environmental con-
cerns.

The event is the Museum’s 16th annu-
al Spring Systematics Symposium, and the
topic this year is “Systematics and Conser-
vation: Forging a Partnership.”

Scientists who practice systematic
biology — the science of biological diver-
sity — agree with conservationists that
environmental health can be sustained only
by protecting the biological diversity the
Earth’s various ecosystems support. They
also recognize that they should assume
more responsibility for using systematic
information in the context of protecting
biodiversity. Traditionally, however, this
responsibility has been shouldered by con-
servationists, who must deal with environ-
mental issues in the real world of political
pressures and shifting governmental priori-
ties. As a result, the two groups have
sometimes been in conflict, with systema-
tists criticizing the conservationists for
making decisions that are unduly influ-
enced by political expediency, and the
conservationists reproaching the systema-
tists for their failure to be more responsive
to societal needs.

Finding common ground between sys-
tematists and conservationists is a primary
objective of the symposium, which is
expected to act as a catalyst for speeding
the dissemination of baseline information,
and thus enhance cooperation on all perti-
nent matters.

The symposium will be held in Simp-
son Theater from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and
will be followed by a reception in the
Webber Resource Center. Registration (at
the West Door) is $20 for students and $35
for others.

Babbitt initiative. Raven cites this as “truly a
historic moment,” similar to the founding of
the U.S. Geological Survey in 1879. The
U.S.G.S. is now one of the nation’s premier
research organizations. One can only hope that
the biological survey achieves a similar level of
funding and success.

BRACHIOSAURUS...

(Continued from page 1)

In its prehistoric heyday, the Field Muse-
um Brachiosaurus was a terrestrial animal
measuring 75 feet from head to tail, with a
head-height of 40 feet. By contrast,
Apatosaurus — commonly known as Bron-
tosaurus — weighed 35 tons and stood 15 to 20
feet tall. A member of the plant-eating sauro-
pod family of dinosaurs, Brachiosaurus was
shaped something like a giant giraffe, with a
long neck, small head, long forelimbs and rela-
tively short hind limbs, and a brain no bigger
than a man’s fist. It lived during the Jurassic
Period, becoming extinct sometime before that
geological period ended 140 million years ago.

The Field Museum's Brachiosaurus was
excayated in 1900 by paleontologist Elmer
Riggs, who discovered the fossilized remains in
a hill just outside Grand Junction, Colorado.
Among the bones that Riggs found were a rib
nearly ten feet long and a six-foot, eight-
inch—long femur that weighed 600 pounds.
Judging by the size and shape of these and
other bones, Riggs determined that not only
had he found a dinosaur of monstrous propor-

tions, but one whose very existence had been
previously unsuspected. His Brachiosaurus
became the “holotype,” the reference specimen
first scientifically described and identified as a
new dinosaur species.

The original bones are too fragile to be
mounted and in any case must be kept available
for research, but they will be placed on public
display along with the reconstructed skeleton,
Only one other Brachiosaurus has been mount-
ed, in Germany, and the Field Museum mount
will be the largest
dinosaur ever displayed in
the Western Hemisphere.

that will appear in the exhibit “Life Over
Time,” scheduled to open in June 1994.

Mounting of the Brachiosaurus is being
made possible in part by the Museum’s “Own a
Bone” campaign (see coupon, page 7), through
which individuals or groups can sponsor a spe-
cific bone — as little as $5 for a tooth or small
tail vertebrae and as much as $1,000 for the
skull or foreleg. Contributors will be recog-
nized with a certificate and on a plaque in Stan-
ley Field Hall.

Curator of Geology Elmer Riggs, below, lies

The fiberglass casting
and reconstruction of the
Brachiosaurus was done
by Field Museum prepara-
tors and specialists at
PAST, Inc. (Prehistoric
Animal Structures, of
Alberta, Canada). PAST
has been working with
Museum staff for a year
and a half on the installa-
tion of seven dinosaurs

humerus.

TALKIN’ ABOUT T. REX

Saturday, May 22, 10 a.m.
James Simpson Theatre
$7 ($5 members)

John Horner, Ph.D., Curator of Paleontology at the Museum of the
Rockies, discusses the excavation of the nearly complete specimen
of Tyrannosaurus rex he found three years ago in the hills of east-
em Montana. Very few complete Tyrannosaurus skeletons have
been found — its mystique making it one of the most popular and
least studied of the dinosaurs, He recently co-authored a new book
with Don Lessem entitled The Complete T. rex. He will discuss
their latest findings including Tyrannosaurus rex’s morphology as
well as the possibility that it could have been the largest scavenger
that ever lived Dr. Horner will explain the problems with consider-
ing 7. rex an active hunter and killer, as well as other interesting
features of this fascinating animal. Copies of his new book will be
available for purchase and signing after the lecture. Call (312) 322-
8854 for ticket information.

11

next fo a Brachiosaurus femur on site in Col-
orado, 1900. At left is his assistant, preparator
H.W. Menke, standing next to the animal’s.

Richard Rush

May/June 1993

Experience
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areas.

Visit the
spectacular
Victoria Falls, first
revealed to the
Western world by
Dr. David
Livingstone.
Witness the
miracle of a
desert in bloom,
lush with
exotic and
colorful flora.

312/322-8862

Zimbabwe,
Zambia,
and Botswana

Don’t pass up this rare opportunity!
$7,150.00

Colorado River Rafting Adventure

May 27-June 5, 1993

Float, swim, fish, and hike, while you enjoy the
breathtaking geologic formations of the Grand Canyon!
$2,175.00

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See hippos,
crocodiles, lechwe,
elephants, buffalo,

tsessebe, and
perhaps the rare
sitatunga in the

course of this
fabulous 14-day
journey to Africa.

Travelers will

also have
a chance to spot
hundreds of
species of birds,
stay in traditional
thatched tree
houses, and watch
and speak with
local craftspeople
and performers.

Sept. 16-
Oct. 3