Short-tailed Albatross (Diomedea albatrus) from Torishima Island (H. Hasegawa)...  Full image

Storrs Olson of the National Museum of Natural History and Paul Hearty have unearthed a fossilized breeding colony of albatrosses in Bermuda, the first to be found anywhere. The researchers determined that about 400,000 years ago, a massive storm-entombed the adults, chicks, and eggs under several feet of sand washed landward by intense storm waves.

The fossilized eggs and bones belonged to the Short-tailed Albatross (Phoebastria albatrus), a critically endangered species found today on only a few islands off Japan. The storm deposit with the albatross colony is near sea-level. After the fossils were laid down, sea level rose to more than 70 feet above present level with the melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which may have reduced Bermuda's land area to about 20-30 percent of present leaving no suitable nesting sites for albatrosses. No albatrosses of any species occur in the North Atlantic today. Olson warns that future rises in sea level, perhaps due to global warming, could take a similarly heavy toll on birds and other shore dwellers. The researchers' findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.  

Intense herbivory by insects on tropical plants have resulted in the evolution of chemical...  Full image

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) research associates Phyllis Coley, Todd Capson, and Thomas Kursar and their colleagues have published a report presenting the first evidence that ecological rules of thumb derived from plant defense research can aid the search for pharmaceuticals in nature.

The researchers found that chemicals extracted from young leaves-a part of the plant that is usually overlooked-are much more potent than mature leaves in tests against human diseases, such as cancer, HIV, malaria, leishmaniasis, and trypanosomiasis. Young leaves rely more heavily on chemical defenses than mature leaves because they are growing and cannot be protected physically by toughness. The research also supports another long-standing ecological theory suggesting that extracts from slowgrowing species are significantly more active against disease targets than extracts from fast-growing species.

The report also presents a novel approach for linking drug discovery to conservation. Most drug discovery programs collect samples in nations of biodiverse, but conduct all the research in the developed world. Thus, royalties from successful drugs-which are rare-are the sole source of benefits to developing nations. In contrast, all of the collaborators in this research were based at institutions in Panama, STRI, the University of Panama, and the Institute of Advanced Scientific Investigations and High Technology. By conducting all of the research in Panama with local scientists, the researchers have shown that a significant portion of the $40-$50 billion spent annually on drug discovery research funding could successfully be reallocated to conduct research in developing nations.

Research based in the source country provides education, research opportunities and pride in discoveries about the value of their biodiversity. In fact, this sustainable use of biodiversity may simulate biodiversity- rich countries to initiate their own conservation measures.

Photo of a wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) from the Indian subcontinent.  Full image

Jesus E. Maldonado and Robert C. Fleischer of the National Museum of Natural History’s Genetics Program, and colleagues from the Wildlife Institute of India, have discovered what may be two new species of wolves.

The team’s DNA research shows that wolves in peninsular India and the Himalayan region differ substantially in mitochondrial DNA sequences both from each other and from all other wolves and dogs sequenced to date. Based on their degrees of genetic divergence, the Indian wolf may have separated from other wolves more than 400,000 years ago and the Himalayan wolf more than 800,000 years ago. The two novel and ancient lineages differ genetically, morphologically, and in life history traits to an extent that each could represent a distinct species.

“Our study has exposed something that has been hidden in plain sight for years. The results are particularly exciting because they confirm the findings in the 1800s of great naturalists who originally described the two wolf lineages as being different species,” said Fleischer. The two lineages were later categorized as a single species.

One of the largest questions raised by the new data is how conservation efforts for these endangered animals will proceed. According to Maldonado, “there are only between 1,000 and 2,000 individual Indian wolves left in the wild, and very little is known about the status of Himalayan wolves. Since we have discovered their phylogenetic distinctiveness, it is imperative that we preserve them.” The findings from the four-year study appears in an edition of the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Biology Letters.

Coral species have been mined from reefs by the Kuna people of Panama. They use coral to build...  Full image

Not very long ago, coral reefs were considered to be relatively stable and healthy in Kuna-Yala, Caribbean Panama. Between 1970 and 2001, however, the reefs declined by 79 percent, while the indigenous population increased by 62 percent. Coral mining, mismanagement of other natural resources, and landfilling practices to accommodate population growth have significantly compromised the reef ecosystem and will have serious long-term consequences. Natural disturbances have also accelerated the demise of the reefs, with coastal erosion increasing as a result of the lack of a protective natural barrier and a 2.0 centimeter/year local rise in sea level.

STRI staff scientist Héctor Guzmán and colleagues have proposed eight priority conservation areas within the Kuna reserve. The Kuna people and their leaders are considering a cultural change, which may include a gradual and organized migration to the mainland, and have optimistically accepted these scientists’ proposal. A recent article about the scientists’ work appeared in Conservation Biology.

A small piece of tordonshell (approx. 4 x 6) manufactured to mimic the scute of a hawksbill sea...  Full image

In the past, tortoiseshell was used to make or decorate combs and fashion accessories, as veneer on the surface of furniture, and for a variety of objects d’art. As a result of the widespread use of tortoiseshell, the tortoise is now an endangered species, and the taking of its shell is no longer legal. Whether for fabricating new artwork or restoring old, synthetic “tortoiseshell” plastics must be substituted.

As part of the Museum Support Center’s Seminar Series, Don Williams, senior furniture conservator at the Smithsonian Center Materials Research and Education, gave a talk on “Tortoiseshell and Imitation Tortoiseshell” for some 35 colleagues from within and outside the Smithsonian. Williams presented the materials and craft techniques associated with traditional tortoiseshell work and currently available plastic substitutes. Williams also demonstrated the manufacture of a tortoiseshell substitute that he calls “tordonshell,” for which he has a patent pending.

Coley, Phyllis D.; Kusar, Thomas A.; Capson, Todd L.; et al. 2003. “Use of ecological criteria in designing plant collection strategies for drug discovery,” Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, October 2003.

Guzmán, Héctor; Guevara, Carlos; and Castillo, Arcadio. 2003. “Natural disturbances and mining of Panamanian coral reefs by indigenous people,” Conservation Biology 17: 1396–1401.

Olson, Storrs L.; and Hearty, Paul J. 2003. “Probable extirpation of a breeding colony of Shorttailed Albatross (Phoebastria Albatrus) on Bermuda by Pleistocene sea-level rise,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, no. 4576.

Sharma, D., Maldonado, E. Jhala, Y.; Fleischer, R. 2003. “Ancient Wolf Lineages in India,” Proceedings of the Royal Society, Biology Letters, September 8.