BIOLOGY 2900 EVOLUTION AND SYSTEMATICS

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BIOLOGY 2900EVOLUTION AND SYSTEMATICS

• Miller Lecture 1 Introduction
• Natural-history collections

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• Nothing makes sense except
• in light of evolution
• Central role of evolution in explaining
• Characteristics of life
• -- subcellular to societies
• -- ecological relationships to ecosystems
• Diversity of life
• -- number of kinds of organisms
• -- morphological diversity
• -- functional diversity
• Distributions of life forms
• -- Time
• -- Space

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CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE FORMS Why are so many
plants green?
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CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE FORMS Why are some
species highly ornamented?
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CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE FORMS Why are some
species armed?
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CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE ORGANIZATION How do
complex societies evolve?
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CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE ORGANIZATION How do
complex interspecific relationships evolve?
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Diversity Why is life so diverse?
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Diversity Why are some groups highly
diverse? (Coleoptera)
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Diversity Why are some groups not
diverse? (gingko)
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Diversity Why are some related species so
similar?
Downy woodpecker (male)
Hairy woodpecker (male)
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... and others so different?
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Diversity Why is there high diversity within
species?
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Distribution Why are some taxa widely
distributed? (orca)
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Distribution Why are some taxa narrowly
distributed? (Pontoporia)
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Distribution Why do some groups have split
distributions?
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Distribution in time Why did some successful
groups become extinct?
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Distribution in time Why do patterns of
extinction and diversification differ across
lineages?
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A phylogenetic relict (coelacanth, Latimeria)
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CENTRAL ROLE OF EVOLUTION

• direct role in many life-sciences disciplines
• indirect role in others
• theoretical basis for all

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NATURAL-HISTORY COLLECTIONS IMPORTANT HISTORICAL
AND CURRENT ROLES IN EVOLUTIONARY RESEARCH

• Study relationships, diversity, distributions
• describe different forms, determine relationships
• document biodiversity, past and present
• document distribution, past and present
• evolutionary patterns, trends...

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COLLECTIONS AND EXPLORATION

• Curios and specimens from
• Colonial powers activities
• Commercial activities
• Scientific explorations
• Chance finds (esp. fossils)
• Important collecting by
• Military officers, clergymen missionaries,
  medical doctors, artists

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• Colonial activities reflected in labels
• Belgian Congo, Italian Somaliland, British
  Somaliland, Portuguese Guinea, French Equatorial
  Africa
• Commercial activities of
• Hudsons Bay Company, British East India Company,
  Dutch East India Company

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BIRD COLLECTORS

• Army Meinertzhagen, Bendire, Przewalski
• Medical Mearns, Wilson, Lesson
• Clergy Tristram, Slater, Jourdain
• Artists Gould, Fuertes, Lodge
• Businessmen Vieillot, Bullock, Dresser
• Professional collectors Wallace, Dixon, Beck

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In late 1800s, Colonel Nikolai Przewalski
brought skull and hide of wild horse from SW
Mongolia named Equus przewalskii
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Pomarine Jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus) by Louis
Agassiz Fuertes, 1899 (Harriman Alaska Expedition)
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White-winged Sandpiper (Prosobonia leucoptera)
Tuamotu Sandpiper (Prosobonia cancellata)
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EARLY SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITIONS

• Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913)
• Field naturalist for 4 years in Brazil, 8 years
  (1854-) in Malay Archipelago (Indonesia)
• In latter travelled 25 000 km by foot and
  native canoe, collected gt125 000 specimens

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• Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882)
• Field naturalist for 5 years (1831-36) on HMS
  Beagle
• Collections important but modest in size
• Important voyage for Darwins ideas
• When on board H.M.S. Beagle as naturalist, I
  was much struck with certain facts in the
  distribution of the organic beings inhabiting
  South America and in the geological relations of
  the present to the past inhabitants of that
  continent.
• (First sentence in The Origin of Species)

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A popular book on research on Darwins finches
of Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
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INDIVIDUAL COLLECTORS IMPORTANT

• Some collected, others purchased
• Lord Rothschild (1868-1937) amassed
• --2,250,000 Lepidoptera
• -- 280,000 bird skins
• -- 200,000 bird eggs
• -- 300,000 beetles
• 1889 birthday present museum building
• 1892 opened as Tring Museum

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NATURAL-HISTORY COLLECTIONS

• Early private collections of curiosities
• 1683 Oxford
• 1753 British Museum
• 1793 Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle

Dodo head (Oxford)
First British Museum
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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

• 1826 Will of British scientist James Smithson
  nephew as beneficiary but if nephew died without
  heirs the estate should go
• to the United States of America, to found at
  Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian
  Institution, an establishment for the increase
  and diffusion of knowledge among men
• 1846 Act of Congress established Smithsonian
  Institution as trust

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Independence Ave.
Sackler Gallery Freer galleries of Asian art
African Art Museum
Smithsonian Institutions The Castle (1855)
SI National Zoo plus museums of art,
anthropology, history, aerospace, and National
Museum of Natural History
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AMERICAN MUSEUMOF NATURAL HISTORY

• 1869 Albert Bickmore (former student of Harvard
  zoologist Agassiz) successfully proposed natural
  history museum for New York City Governor of New
  York signed bill, officially creating the
  American Museum of Natural History
• 1877 Moved into new building

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FIELD MUSEUM

• 1893 Columbian Museum of Chicago incorporated
• founded to house collections of World Exposition
• Purpose "accumulation and dissemination of
  knowledge preservation and exhibition of objects
  illustrating art, archaeology, science and
  history
• 1905 Name changed to Field Museum of Natural
  History to honor Marshall Field (benefactor) and
  better reflect focus in natural sciences

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LATER SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITIONSe.g., AMNH Congo
Expedition (1909-15)
1909 22 June to 3/4 August (left New York 8 May)
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UCMP Saurian Expedition (1905)

• Benefactor Annie Alexander financed expedition
• Triassic limestones of West Humboldt Range (NV)
• 25 ichthyosaurs collected

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EXPEDITIONS SCIENTISTS

• AMNH more than 1000 expeditions across the
  seven continents NGS site Lewis Clark
  expedn
• Many museum expeditions involved famous
  systematists and evolutionists
• Ernst Mayr (South Pacific)
• George Gaylord Simpson (Patagonia)

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Institution/collection Study skins Skeletons
1. British Museum (Natural History) 1 000 000 1 000 000
2. American Museum of Natural History 800 000 60 000
3. National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution) 450 000 12 400
4. Field Museum 425 000 ???
5. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard U. 320 000 10 200
6. Museum of Zoology, U. Michigan 180 000 29 000
7-12. Russia (1), U.S.A. (3), Belgium (1), Germany (1) 955 000 study skins (135 000 170 000) 955 000 study skins (135 000 170 000)
13. Royal Ontario Museum 135 000 59 000
18. Canadian Museum of Nature 120 000 400
Skeletons specimens in fluid sets of eggs
nests Largest in world
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Roxie Laybourne, NMNH
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MUSEUMS ANDEVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY

• Scientists often expedition participants,
  collectors
• Collections rich in size, taxonomic breadth,
  geographic breadth
• Collections provoked scientific research
• Museums provided research environment

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NATURAL-HISTORY MUSEUMSAS ENVIRONMENTS FOR
RESEARCH

• Many famous evolutionary biologists in museums
• MNHN Geoffroy Saint Hilaire (father and son),
  Milne-Edwards (father and son), Trouessart
• AMNH Ernst Mayr, George Gaylord Simpson
• MCZ Edward O. Wilson, Stephen Jay Gould

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TRADITIONS NATURE OF SPECIMENS

• Dictated by
• Nature of material
• Traditions in discipline
• Distinguish
• Specimen
• Data accompanying specimen

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Complete skull (tusks removed, stored separately)
of African elephant (Loxodonta) (NMNH)
Partial Camptosaurus specimen
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(Note For any group there are other preparations
too fluid-preserved, skull only, skeleton, pelt,
antlers)
Emma Pagel (1983), with Robin she donated to
Milwaukee Public Museum in 1905
Skulls traditionally accompany round skins of
small mammals but are retained within traditional
round skins of birds
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NATURE OF SPECIMENSADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

• Standards essential for comparability
• Specimen preparation
• Documentation

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Above notes on label data for mammals (Anderson
1965) Relevant data depend on kind of organism,
habitat, and ecological setting (including
scale).
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INFORMATION SPECIMEN-IN,SPECIMEN-OUT

• Collections form basis for knowledge about
  biological diversity
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• When? and where? answered by data associated
  with specimen

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Distributions can be characterized on multiple
spatial scales I The hepatic Mastigophora
villosus
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Distributions can be characterized on multiple
spatial scales II Three taxa of robber fly
(Rhadiurgus)
?
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HOW MANY SPECIMENS ARE NECESSARY?
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WHY SO MANY SPECIMENS?

• High biological diversity
• Long fossil record
• Intraspecific variation
• 1) Sexes
• 2) Social castes
• 3) Polymorphism
• 4) Life stages growth
• 5) Pathology
• 6) Geographic variation
• 7) General within-population variation

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1) Sexual variation Eclectus parrots (female L,
male R)
1) Sexual variation Williamsons Sapsucker
(Melanerpes thyroideus) (male L, female R)
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2) Social castes
3) Polymorphic variation Locusta migratoria
(L) and Locusta danica (R) (density-dependent
phase polymorphism)
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3) Polymorphic variation Strawberry dart-poison
frog (Dendrobates pumilio), Bocas del Toro
archipelago, Panama. Summers, K. et al. (1997)
J. Heredity 888-13
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4) Developmental variatioI Sheep (Ovis aries)
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4) Developmental variation Ocean sunfish (Mola
mola)
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4) Developmental variation Holometabolous insect
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5) Teratological variation abnormal claws of
American lobster (Homarus americanus) from
polluted site in Newfoundland (photo by Dr. Ian
L. Jones)
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7) General individual variation femoral
arteries of Macaca (L) hindlimb skeleton of
sperm whale (Pyseter catodon) (R)
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7) General individual variation ventral plumage
of Least Auklet (Aethia pusilla) (photo by Dr.
Ian L. Jones)
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How many specimens are enough? Spring
specimens of male Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides
villosus) in museum collections
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T. Gilbert Pearson and feral cats that he killed
(a founder of conservation movement In U.S.
founder and president of National Association of
Audubon Societies )
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Golden toad (Bufo periglenes)
Harlequin frog (Atelopus sp.) (undescribed
species)
Both species mountainous Monteverde region of
Costa Rica not seen since late 1980s
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• Standardized specimen preparation and
  documentation
• Constrain questions
• Limit future, unimagined investigations
• Need to complement emerging concepts, questions,
  technigues

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SOME RECENT TRENDS INMUSEUM COLLECTIONS

• Diversification and more comprehensive
  preparation of specimens
• Spread wings
• Skeletons
• Schmoos

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TRENDS BEHAVIOURAL SPECIMENS

• Acoustic signals
• species-specific songs of birds (e.g.
  Phylloscopus)
• mammals
• insects
• fish

Important collections Macaulay Library (Cornell
U.) Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics (Ohio
State U.), British Library National Sound Archive
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TRENDS TISSUES (GENETICS)

• Varied uses in systematics, evolution, fisheries
  and wildlife management, conservation biology
• low- to high-level differentiation/relationships
• population and species distinctiveness
• population structure (e.g., stocks)
• ancient DNA (to millions of years ago)

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• Advantages
• Multiple uses (rich in information)
• Not necessary to kill organism
• Compact storage
• Disadvantage
• Consumptive use (irreplaceability)

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• Many collections within museums others not
• Numerous museums link from AMNH Ambrose Monell
  Cryo Collection (information below)
• Management e.g., Alaska Department of Fish
  Game, Gene Conservation Laboratory (commercial
  fisheries)
• Zoos

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West Indian (Caribbean) monk seal (Monachus
tropicalis) (extinct old NMNH mount)
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TRENDS DIGITIZATION AND DATA ACCESS

• Increasingly available
• Digital images of expeditions, specimens, labels,
  field notebooks
• Searchable databases, maps, collections-related
  publications

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AMNH palaeontological expedition to a Jurassic
site (Wyoming 1899)
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Some field notes of G. G. Simpson
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Distribution of Campanula uniflora (Arctic
bellflower) in Utah
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NATURAL-HISTORY COLLECTIONS SUMMARY

• Collections invaluable, irreplaceable
• Thousands of person-years in procurement,
  preparation, documentation, consolidation,
  maintenance
• Specimens collected over large scales of space
  and time

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• Physically diverse, rich in data
• Physical documentation of now-gone habitats and
  places
• Unique physical remains of extinct species
• Reference material for described life
• Source for future, unimagined studies

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Skull of adult female hooded seal (Cystophora
cristata) (NMNH mammal 188963)
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Bits of tsetse fly (Glossina morsitans) from Dr.
Livingstone, I presume? (AMNH)
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Skulls of harp seal (Pagophilus
groenlandicus) collected in the 1880s in
Newfoundland Labrador, now in the Smithsonian
Institution (NMNH)
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• Vital for documenting and understanding
  biological diversity
• -- extent, distribution, fossil history, etc.
• Essential for early studies of taxonomy,
  biogeography, palaeontology...
• Essential for similar recent and future studies,
  plus ecology, anatomy, genetics, phylogeny
• Many specimens problems for small collections
• Collections are diversifying
• Electronic DBM is revolutionizing collections
  information, education, etc.

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• SUGGESTION
• Explore online databases of collections, for
  example
• http//www.ent.iastate.edu/list/directory/155/vid/
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• http//www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/collections/other.htm
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• http//www.nbii.gov/datainfo/syscollect/collection
  s.html
• http//www.spri.cam.ac.uk/resources/museums/