Free museum admission tomorrow evening

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Take a picture with this handsome fellow! (Ursus americanus)

Take a picture with this handsome fellow! (Ursus americanus)

To celebrate Fairfield County Giving Day, we are holding the museum's first After Hours event Thursday night. Weather permitting, there will be free gallery tours, family activities, and more! We'll also be debuting our black bear at a selfie station. In the wild, they should only be observed from a distance, but during After Hours you can get up close and even take a photo!

Did you know that not all black bears have black fur? Some bears may be brown or cinnamon-colored. The rarest kind of black bear is known as a spirit or Kermode bear, which has cream-colored fur. 

We hope to see you there! And remember, rain or shine (or snow) (or sleet) you can donate here anytime on March 5th. 

Fossil Calibrations Database

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Graphic courtesy RObin M. Jones.

Graphic courtesy RObin M. Jones.

Have you ever wondered exactly when a certain group of plants or animals first evolved? This morning an international team led by Bruce Museum Curator Daniel Ksepka and John D. Cooper Archaeological and Paleontological Center Curator James Parham launched the Fossil Calibration Database. A free, open-access resource that stores carefully vetted fossil data, this project is the result of years of work supported by the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent).

Fossils provide the critical age data we need to unlock the timing of major evolutionary events. This new resource will provide the crucial fossil data needed to calibrate 'molecular clocks' which can reveal the ages of plant and animal groups that lack good fossil records. When did groups like songbirds, flowering plants, or sea turtles evolve? What natural events were occurring that may have had an impact? Precisely tuning the molecular clock with fossils is the best way we have to tell evolutionary time.

More than twenty paleontologists, molecular biologists, and computer programmers from five different countries contributed to the design and implementation of this new database. Coinciding with the launch of the database is the publication of five peer-reviewed papers and an editorial in the scientific journal Palaeontologia Electronica, describing the endeavor. These papers represent the first generation of the Fossil Calibrations Series, which will allow paleontologists to submit peer-reviewed papers outlining new fossil calibrations for publication and inclusion in the database. 

Imps of Darkness

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“The black Lava rocks on the beach are frequented by large (2-3 ft.) most disgusting, clumsy Lizards. They are as black as the porous rocks over which they crawl & seek their prey from the Sea. Somebody calls them “imps of darkness.” They assuredly well become the land they inhabit.”
— September 17th, 1835. From the diary of Charles Darwin

Today is the birthday of Charles Darwin. He is of course famous for his science and history changing opus magnus, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. He is also known for his interest in finches, giant tortoises, barnacles, and insectivorus plants. It is not widely known though his revulsion for one animal seen in the Galapagos Islands during his visit on the Beagle.

The "imps of darkness" he refers to are the species of marine iguana seen during his travels.

Marine iguanas. Photo by Max Ruckman

Marine iguanas. Photo by Max Ruckman

Although Darwin himself did not coin the term, he saw it fitting for such a bizarre animal. Others have been fascinated by them as well. Herman Melville, in his novella, Las Encantadas writes:

“Another feature in these isles is their emphatic uninhabitableness. It is deemed a fit type of all-forsaken overthrow that the jackal should den in the wastes of weedy Babylon, but the Encantadas refuse to harbor even the outcasts of the beasts. Man and wolf alike disown them. Little but reptile life is here found: tortoises, lizards, immense spiders, snakes, and that strangest anomaly of outlandish nature, the iguana. No voice, no low, no howl is heard; the chief sound of life here is a hiss.”

Happy birthday Mr. Darwin. Thank you for your contributions to the understanding of life on this planet.

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

Carte de visite by Elliott & Fry. Cleanup and colorizing by Mads Madsen.

Carte de visite by Elliott & Fry. Cleanup and colorizing by Mads Madsen.

Blast from the Past Volume 1: The Bruce Zoo

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Most visitors know the Bruce Museum for its unique combination of art and science exhibitions, but were you aware that the museum once had its own zoo? For over 50 years, an assortment of monkeys, parrots, snakes, and other creatures dwelt within the museum.  One popular resident was Mrs. Dale, an African Green Monkey show in the photo below with her son Bruceter, named as part of a Mother's Day write-in contest. Within our archives lie the particulars of each creature including index cards with records of vet check-ups, the menu of the day (milk-soaked bread, a half of a potato, and a small portion of raisins for breakfast), and various notices of animals that were recognized as longevity record-holders in their day.

 

With the changing of the times, zoos have shifted from merely displaying animals (often in sparse cages) to become more conservation-themed organization with improved enclosures that closely mimic the natural habitats of the resident animals. The zoo was wound down by 1980, as the animals were transferred to larger organizations that could provide better environments. Nonetheless, visitors can still enjoy live animals at our Marine Tank which houses a happy collection of horseshoe crabs, spider crabs, oyster toadfish, sea stars, and Lucky the lobster. Live feedings take place every Tuesday and Friday afternoon.

 

 

Penguin Prototype Completed

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This afternoon we welcomed the 3D printed prototype of our penguin to meet the original. In the photo, you'll notice a few differences. The colors of our old reliable penguin have faded a bit over the last half century, which is natural in older museum specimens. I still think he/she (we don't know the sex for this specimen) has charm. The spot and collar patterns were carefully done but are not 100% accurate because the current scanning technology detects the surface of the scanned object, but not the color. Overall it is really nice to have not only a light weight printed replica of our penguin, but a virtual copy that can be viewed instantly on a computer.

You can meet them both next Tuesday (January 20th) at the Bruce Museum Penguin Awareness Day event. Doors open at 6:30pm for refreshments, and the talk and demonstration starts at 7:00pm.

Now On Display

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On Monday, we flooded Greenwich's Town Hall with some marine biology. There are a mix of animals from diverse ocean habitats: tropical corals and sea fans, a subarctic harbor porpoise skeleton, and two big fish. But while the queen triggerfish (center) is an adult, the strange-looking Mola mola (left) can grow to be more than 10 feet tall, and weigh over two thousand pounds!

The specimens will be on exhibit for the rest of the month—check it out! 

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