HON BIO Exam #1

Name of protagonist and author of book

Edwin Rist, Kirk Wallace Johnson

What instrument did Rist study and where

flute at London’s Royal Academy of Music

What biodata was tied to the legs of the bird skins he stole?

“faded, handwritten records of the date, altitude, latitude, and longitude of their capture, along with other vital details.”

The author (Kirk Wallace Johnson) runs a nonprofit called The List Project. What does it do?

Help thousands of Iraqis who have helped the U.S. get visas to have safety in USA away from the violence

Which rainforest did Alfred Russel Wallace visit and collect specimens from on his first expedition (the one that ended in the ship being destroyed by fire)?

Amazonian rain forest

When and in what country was Wallace born?

Llanbadoc in Wales (in UK), born in 1823

Wallace began dreaming of taking an expedition of his own after reading “The Voyage of the Beagle” by whom?

Charles Darwin (interested in how species died off or were created)

For Wallace’s second expedition, where did he go and why

Malay Archipelago; had never been explored by a natural historian before.

Describe the “scavengers” that threatened to destroy Wallace’s collections.

Other animals would ruin or steal his collections // I.e. black ants carrying off insects, bluebottle flies deposit eggs in skins to feast on them; dogs outside who would steal birds

After having malaria, Wallace sketched out the Theory of

Natural selection

(Looked at malthusian checks = disease, famine, enemies)

(Fittest would survive)

(Wrote letter to darwin who kept the terms wallace coined)

What happened to Natural History Museums during WWI and WWII?

British Museum was hit 28 times by bombs, departments were destroyed and walls blown

Moved bird skins to manors and mansions in countryside = safe houses

Where was Lord Walter Rothchild’s home and museum located?

Tiny town of Tring / Tring Park

What is millinery and what does it have to do with exotic endangered birds?

Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear

They adorned hats with bird feathers, purchased by weight/bulk

More birds had to be killed/plucked to achieve a kilo to meet the weight request

Describe a flock of passenger pigeons in North America in 1813.

Audubon said a single flock was so large that it took 3 days for all of them to pass him

Describe the status of the passenger pigeons in 1914.

Billions were hunted, last one died in the cincinnati zoo

What society was formed in Massachusetts in 1896 to protect the slaughter of water birds in the U.S.? (It still exists today)

Audubon Society

What does the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 Outlaw? (This law act still exists today)

The hunting of any migratory bird in North America

What is CITES?

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

Protects 35k species of plants and animals, 1500 birds inc.

What is a fishing fly? What is it mimicking?

Mimics aquatic insects, used as a hook/lure to catch salmon/trout

How do freshwater trout flies and salmon flies differ?

Freshwater trout required realistic flies, matching the color, size, life cycles, behavior of real insects

Salmon fly does not resemble anything but provokes; salmon attack it to protect their eggs

What is special about Victorian salmon flies?

They were bright colors, turquoise, emerald, crimson, and gold

Salmon flies were huge, would demand 10 hrs or more

At the Tring Museum the bird skins were stored in steel cabinets and ____ were used to protect them against insect damage. The windows were narrow to shield the bird skins from damage from ____

mothballs ; ultraviolet rays

Among the different species of birds that Edwin stole were King Birds of Paradise, 5 of which had been collected by

Alfred Russel Wallace

How long did it take the Tring Museum to discover the break-in?

The security guard suggests a twelve hour period in which the break in may have happened (discovered in the same night) BUT the theft of birds took 1 mnth to discover

Did they report anything missing? Why or why not?

Did not report anything because they only really checked the main treasures of Darwin and Audubon and the most precious specimens, then checked the offices for missing laptops or electronics, did not do a systemic audit bc a complete audit could take weeks

How many bird skins and how many species were taken from Tring by Edwin?

299 birds from 16 different species

In the previous thefts of bird eggs by Mervyn Shorthouse and bird skins by Richard Meinertzhagen, why were the recovered eggs and skins not useful anymore to scientists?

Their identifying markings were taken off, need their information to make discoveries/inferences

Their labels were altered to Meinertzhagen could take credit for discovery

When Edwin sold feathers, what cover stories did he use?

He was selling his private collection to pay for a new flute

He was helping other private collectors sell their collections, doing it to fund his studies

Claimed some had been discovered in overlooked corners of antique shops, others at estate sales, others from a trade with a friend in papua new guinea

How many days passed between the crime and the arrest?

507

How many intact bird skins were recovered from Edwin’s apartment? How many of those retained their labels?

174 recovered, 102 skins with labels

What was the diagnosis of Edwin Rist at the psychological evaluation?

Asperger’s syndrome

Why are the labels on the bird specimens important to science?

-in order for them to make comparisons and inferences.

-use dates and locations to examine changes in species

-learn more about how long they lived for,

-why they became extinct

-what other species they are related to.

-Technology is always improving, so having older specimens preserved would let biologists make new discoveries with the evolving technology.

-numerous dates enable observations abt evolution and the adaptations of species.

How would you determine the monetary worth of the stolen bird skins?

Would consider primarily how much they could be sold for as it is the most concrete; but would consider the value they have to science as well

Who are the victims of this crime?

Scientists, the original collectors, the museum, society as a whole, future generations, new discoveries

What are rhinoceros horns made of? (It is the same material as in human fingernails and horse hooves)

Keratin (protein)

Why do people steal the rhino horns?

• Sell on black market for thousands

• High demand by Chinese for an erectile dysfunction “cure” and Vietnamese for party drug

• seen as medicinal

What is the study of ornithology?

scientific study of birds

Scientists used bird eggshells from museum collections to study how the introduction of _______ caused the eggshells to become thinner over time.

DDT pesticides

Scientists used bird feathers from museum collections to document how ______ levels were rising in the oceans

mercury

How long does it take to tie the typical fishing fly?

10 hours

How could they tell that Edwin’s specimens that he posted on his website were stolen from a museum?

Although the tags were hidden, the birds displayed the telltale cotton eyes and unique preparation of museum specimens

Skins prepared for research have the wings and legs drawn close to the body, unlike birds that have been mounted on hats with outstretched wings.

Why did Edwin think that museum specimens were not useful after 100 years? (Which by the way, is not true)

He thought all the scientifcic data that can be extracted from them has been extracted from them

Could no longer use the DNA bc the purpose of prolong and help living birds hasnt been going well/not effective

As you read this chapter, think about whether you believe that Long was used by Rist or if he was a partner in the crime.

Long did not live like a millionare lowkey rough living conditions

Seemed very upset about edwin blaming him/ being responsible for getting him caught

Distraught about hwo to be ethical and animal welfare, lonely

Finally gave up and showed him some of the feathers

He was def used by Rist

Two years after Edwin was sentenced, what did the American Psychiatric Association do to the diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome?

expunged it from the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders

What does the author mean by “the war between knowledge and greed”?

He means the fight between valuing knowledge to help generations or new scientific progress through the preservation and safety of skins/species or greed of stealing and selling these skins for cash

Importance of Mastodon

lived during ice age; extinction from overhunting by humans, excavator of harvard killed his friend over debts; browser(not grazer)

Importance of Hawaii Mamo

disc in 1779, 11 discovered, bright yellow feathers, plucked for cloaks, extinct pre 19th century, Harvard has last specimen = irreplaceable

Importance of eastern wolf

1775, Canada=Algonquin Provincial Park, sim to gray wolf, sitll studying differs, wolves = extinct in New Eng, Harvard 2 skeletons of Newfoundland wolf, threatened/endangered species due to habitat loss/human hunting

Importance of Xerces blue

small bright blue butterfly species (males); 1st american extinction of butterfly bc of humans; California; known 1852-1941; popul dec b4 humans, lived in sand dunes

Importance of Tuatara

name means spiny back, living fossils - lived alongside dinos; New Zealand native, bask in sun during day/hunt at night, modern research=discover and study new virus, long time til they finish grow/reproduce,

Importance of steller sea cow

disc 1741 - 1768 extinct, Massive 25 ft, in herds-very relational, extinction from overherding=sailors drink milk, hide for clothing, blubber for oil, feed lots, they lost lots of food sources, Harvard museum composite skelton - bones from 1882

Importance of mountain gorilla

endangered species, largest living primate, colder climates= central Africa, high altitudes, endangered in 1900s, popul of 250, herbivores = foliage, habitat loss/destruction and disease and infections made them endangered; can see early alzheimer’s in them

important of trilobite

extinct marine arthropods; bodies=threefold division, 512 mil yrs ago = lived for 300 mil, found in americas and africa (thx pangea), first with better vision, molted = post fossils are shells, help date rock layers

Importance of Elephant bird

lived in madagascar, died around 1200-1600, egg=size of 7 ostrich eggs, 10ft tall bird, extinct due to human hunting/egg harvesting//habitat destruction/climate change, Harvard significance - rare preserved egg = key museum specimen, helps study extinction, 6 total species of them; aware of fragile island ecosystems + push for conservation efforts

Importance of Carolina parakeet

16th century, popul quickly dwindling - last bird die 1918; foudn from Fl to NY - forests, only parrot species native to eastern US, extinction from deforestation, human activity, and desire for feathers (green, yellow, orange), likely toxic by eating poisonous foods

Importance of the Dodo

found in 1598 on island mauritius, died in 1662, giant flightless bird with dark feathers and strong beak, no defense against humans, found by Dutch, Harvard has composite bones and plaster skeleton

What does Dr Clevinger do

Plant taxonomy/systematics

What is Taxonomy

the study of identification, naming and lcassification of organism

What is Systematics

the study of the evolutionary history of organisms ( includes taxonomy)

Who were the first two people to begin naming stuff/plants?

Theofrastes & Adam in Genesis

How did classifications change overtime?

Originally ppl used artificial classification systems based on 1 or a few characters without taking evolution into acct, but now natural classification systems by evolution and dna families = birds and reptiles are close

Memorize hierarchy of classification

Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species, Variety or subspecies (Memorize = Did King Phillip Come Over For Good Spaghetti (not including variety))

Why binomial nomenclature in latin? Why no common names?

Latin is universal, will be the same everywhere

Who is Carl Linnaeus?

Plant love, holds plant which is named after him, Swedish, 18th century

What books did Carl Linnaeus write and their effects?

Species Plantarum = all about the kinds of plants, beginning of all scientific plant names / Systema naturae, beginning of all scientific animal names

Describe binomial nomenclature

2 names - Genus is first name, species is both names, specific epithet is the 2nd name, possible 3rd word - name of person who published the new name (called the authority)

What are the rules of naming?

New names must be published, earliest published name gets picked, all names must have a description in latin, type specimen must be designated

What is a herbarium?

Where specimens of plants are kept

Methods for collecting plants/animals include:

dried plant press, alcohol/preservatives, liquid nitrogen or silica gel (super cold to prevent DNA from degrading) ; killing jar for insects

What has to be included of specimen labels? (short answer)

scientific name, location-very specific including GPS, associated species + habitat, big organism - height, color (in case of fading), date (helps for migration), collector name and number

What book did Charles Darwin publish and its effect?

The Origin of Species 1859, focused biologists attention on the great diversity of organisms = new era in biology

Describe Darwin’s early career/interest

throughout life, Darwin had interest in nature, studied medicine then switched to theo, took unpaid job as naturalist on Beagle

Describe Darwin family

born in Shrewsbury Eng, father =doctor, mother’s family famous for wedgwood china, one of 9 kids (2 sons), loved botany class and beetle collecting

What were some of Darwin’s observations during the Voyage of the Beagle?

Collected South american plants/animals, fossils resembled living species from same region, living species resembled other species from nearby region, exper an earthquak in Chile and observed the uplift of rocks

Describe Darwin’s experiments with plants

Messed with cabbage= Got brussel sprouts, cauliflower, etc

When did Darwin write the Origin of Species and why was it not publish?

1844; Scared of backlash from theology ppl bc he would be directly opposing “faith”; Includes natural selection - individuals w/ favorable inherited traits are more likely to survive and reproduce

Why did Darwin publish his Origin of Species?

Alfred Russel Wallace wrote similar bk in 1858; darwins friend encouraged him to publish to get the credit

Definition of Population

Individuals of the same species that live together in the same place and time

Definition of Fitness

Ability of an organism to survive and reproduce; The number of offspring they produce; How many of their genes make it into the next generation

Definition of Microevolution

Change in the percentage of a heritable trait in a population over time (heart of lecture on darwin); Causes: mutation, migration, random chance due to small populations, natural selection

What did Darwin observe in artificial selection?

Darwin notes human deliberately selecting and breeding individuals, domesticated animals and crops, ie: wild mustard gives cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, cauliflower

Darwin’s evaluation of natural selection is

variation in traits naturally (mutation), some will be better and produce more successful offspring, favorable traits will accumulate, not just survival but reproduction of fittest, populations evolve (not indiv)

What is the study of fossils?

Paleontology

What are fossils?

Preserved remains or traces of ancient organism (bone, impression, pollen, grain, shell)

Why is it difficult to find/study baby dinosaurs?

Scientists have egos, like to name new things instead of linking to other dinos, priority on large dino bones, tie birds to dinosaurs, dinosaurs change a lot through adolescence like birds