The Way We See It: evolution

Showing posts with label evolution. Show all posts

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Costa Rica 2013 : Oophaga pumilio

I'll Take a Half Cup - Selva Verde, Costa Rica
Canon 5D Mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + Canon 2x Mark iii Converter

What’s in a name?

Known as the “strawberry, blue jeans, blastimentos, or la gruta” poison arrow frog, Oophaga pumilio is a frog with many names. Diminutive at about 20mm, Oophaga pumilio appear in 15-30 color morphs that vary according to their geographic distribution. Once considered members of the larger Dendrobates genus, the strawberry poison dart frog is classified in a single clade, Oophaga, whose evolution coincides with the formation of the Panamanian land bridge.

Found from Nicaragua to Panama, each subpopulation is morphologically distinct. Some groups are bright red (strawberry) while others are yellow with black spots (la gruta). The frog pictured here is the “blue jeans” morph, and they are found throughout the Caribbean slope near the La Selva Biological Reserve in Costa Rica.

The name “poison arrow” or “poison dart” is a generic reference to the poisonous neurotoxins that are secreted dorsally. Historically, pre-Columbian aboriginal populations used the secretions from living and dead frogs to produce poison darts that could be used to hunt monkeys and birds living throughout the forest canopy. In general, poison arrow frogs are unaggressive yet fearless. Dressed in neon and Day-Glo, this genus is famous for its aposomatic or “warning color” patterns. While there are a few bird species that can tolerate the toxins or modify frogs by scraping the glands on rocky surfaces, most birds use the outrageous colors as a way to recognize these frogs as non-food items. Observed in everything from insects to snakes, there is strong selective pressure for aposomatic warning patterns throughout tropical communities. So prevalent is this strategy, some non-poisonous species will mimic toxic ones by evolving aposomatic-like color patterns.

The genus Oophaga is fitting, as the prefix “Oo,” egg, and suffix “phaga,” to eat, aptly describes the nutrition of the developing frog larvae. Female frogs carry eggs into the canopy and deposit them near a watery vessel. Often laid on the leaves of bromeliads, male frogs will make multiple visits to water the eggs and prevent desiccation. Once the tadpoles emerge, females will retrieve the larvae and carry the embryonic frogs to pools formed at the base of epiphytic bromeliads or tree cavity. Here, the larvae will grow until they develop legs and can leave their aquatic homes. The maternal ecological investment is high because the strawberry tadpole is a finicky eater. Beginning with the deposition of one to two larvae and every three days until final development, the adult female will return to the aquatic nest to lay unfertilized eggs. These eggs represent the entire diet of the Oophaga larvae until they can leave their watery home. The diversity and range of this species seems all the more incredible when you consider that less than 12% of all fertilized eggs the survive through metamorphosis.

Monday, June 10, 2013

In The Right Light

In the Right Light - Glencoe, MN
Canon 5D Mark iii & Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

A dark roast is the only thing that looks good at 3:30 a.m.; so when I left my home for Schaefer Prairie twenty-minutes later, a strong cup of joe was my most valued traveling companion. On this Saturday morning, I was breaking with tradition. It was “the day after,” but I wasn’t sleeping in. The academic year ended on Friday, and the day after is reserved for mindlessness. Foolishly, I accepted an assignment to photograph the “Birds and Blooms” event at Schaefer Prairie Preserve, and I wasn’t about to let mental fatigue stand in the way. I pointed the Cooper due west and drove one hundred and twenty miles in a sleepless stupor.

I committed to the project because I love a prairie sunrise. The sea of grass reminds me of safaris in Africa and feeds my imagined conception of pre-settlement North America. The American prairie is one of many threatened ecosystems. Fragmented by farms and urban development, less than three percent of indigenous grasslands remain. On this morning I chose to document a restored habitat instead of sleep. So, it is with great irony that I post this image of Taraxacum, the dandelion.

Pest to lawn-lovers across United States, the dandelion is a perfect model of evolutionary success. Adapted to disturbed habitats, the forb blooms fast, and can produce from 54 to 172 seeds per flower head. One estimate suggests that as many as 240,000,000 seeds are produced per acre of dandelion (http://fyi.uwex.edu/weedsci/2002/11/12/dandelion/). It was during the final stretch of my drive to Schaefer Prairie that I began to feel the photographer’s panic. The light was brilliant and I wasn’t on site. I was listening to the pings of gravel striking the undercarriage of the Mini, when I decided to slam on the breaks. This wasn’t the prairie, but the light was too good to pass up... I ran with the lens mounted to the tripod, lied prone on the edge of a farm field and shot into the dawn’s haze. In the end I seemed to have confirmed an oft uttered statement in photography, “almost anything looks good in the right light.”

Sunday, December 23, 2012

The Day After

Stacked Rocks - Lake Superior, MN
Canon 5D mark ii + Canon 24mm f3.5L TSE

In the words of Edie Brickell “Drop me in the shallow water before I get too deep.” It’s another 5 degree morning, I’m buried knee deep in snow and the Mayan apocalypse was yesterday. Funny... I’m still here. As usual, the collective herd was wrong and I’m left with an empty feeling.

Damn Trail - Redwood National Park
Canon 20D + Canon 15mm Fisheye Lens

I’m not sure what I was expecting. I’m not the apocalyptic type and tend to be a skeptic when it comes to anything fanciful. Yet, I couldn’t help imagine what it might be like if an apocalyptic event selectively eliminated this human virus. Hey, I’m grateful for the life that evolution has managed to send my way, but let’s face it... we are a paradoxical species that is wreaking havoc on the planet. Beings crafted from nature, we are one with the world, but our love affair with the planet’s bounty will likely be the source our demise. We kill just to watch it die, level mountains in search of shiny baubles and interfere with nearly every biogeochemical cycle. We are a wart that keeps getting bigger, and I fear that all that will remain of life’s diversity will be one giant wart!

Well, it’s December 22nd... and “it’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.”

... I think.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Tip #99: Make the Connection

Jasper National Park - Canada
Canon 5D mkII + Canon 50mm f1.4

There are fleeting moments where time stops and the essence that is the photographer becomes one with the subject. These are ephemeral experiences, intense bursts of focus that I can only describe as Zen. It might seem a contradiction for this empiricist to describe an experience in nature that is something less than science, yet I find that Zen philosophy can inform my mind without imbuing a religious conviction.

Eddy - Canada
Canon 5D mkII + Canon 24mm TSE f3.5L

Slot - Canada
Canon 5D mkII + Canon 50mm f1.4

Id, the scientist... “life is a continuum that began with a single cell competing for limited resources, motivated by the programmed need to replicate. Competition inspired organic innovation that led to a branching tree of life that extends into every ecological niche. Selection is the mechanism, and chance events in the environment separate the winners from the losers. The evidence of this rich evolutionary history is written in molecules and preserved in stone.”

Nanny and Kidd (Oreamnos americanus) - Canada
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + 1.4x converter

Leading Lines (Oreamnos americanus) - Canada
Canon 40D + Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS

Zen, the artist... “Reality seems sterile and non-emotive. Art is a human pursuit, a mode of self-expression, and Zen helps me to explore my place in nature. I am the ripple in a pond, a wave in the ocean, a drop of rain cycling through the atmosphere; I am one, a part of the continuum.”

Reflecting Jasper - Canada
Canon 5D mkII + Canon 50mm f1.4

We are the Rock (Oreamnos americanus) - Canada
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + 1.4x converter

Schizophrenic in the literal sense, photography is a split of the mind; it is art and it is science. White light emanates from solar fusion, reflects off an earthly mass and photons are captured by a Silica wafer. Transformed into a binary code, this is the picture. In contrast, a careful search for leading lines, colored abstractions and tonal gradients shape our art. Lost in the moment, the photographer is one with the place and sees what others will not. Whatever your mind, accept that you are a part of the nature that you seek to capture, and you will make art from the science that is our reality.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Tip #71: The Purposeful Photographer

Wizened (Loxodonta africana) - Tanzania, Africa
Canon 1D Mark II + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

I photograph wildlife, ecosystems and natural subjects because I am drawn to evolution’s “imagination.” Elegance in this life with its fantastic adaptions inspires my obsessions. Far from simple, the elegance I see suggests a deep complexity of process and time that has produced life’s infinite variety. The ultimate cause of this rich diversity is rooted in the most primordial and universal purpose ...self-propagation. It is the need to perpetuate the self, the vessel for a genetic code, that drives life’s creativity and the endless diversity I seek to capture.

Peaceful Pause (Loxodonta africana) - Tanzania, Africa
Canon 1D Mark II + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

I've Got Grass (Loxodonta africana) - Tanzania, Africa
Canon 1D Mark II + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

Red Clay (Loxodonta africana) - Tanzania, Africa
Canon 1D Mark II + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

Be a purposeful photographer, find your theme and embrace the obsession.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Tip #56: Same Subject Different Light

Saguaro During Sunset - Saguaro National Park, AZ
Canon 5D Mark II + Canon 17-40L @ 17mm

The pleated green trunk, patterned spines and enormous columnar body define the iconic tree for which Saguaro National Park is named. Ubiquitous across southern Arizona, the saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) is a keystone species in this borderland region of the Sonoran Desert. Sinks for drenching rains, the pleated bodies expand as roots absorb ephemeral bursts of water. Gila woodpeckers (Melanerpes uropygialis) and gilded flickers (Colaptes chrysoides) peck at the soft flesh excavating nesting cavities that serve as a refuge to numerous birds and small mammals. Fragrant hints of ripe melon lure bats to white nocturnal blooms, while bees pollenate saguaros throughout the morning hours. Damaged flesh becomes a meal to collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu) and a source of water to any that chews the soft “meat.”

Midday Sonoran Desert - Saguaro National Park, AZ
Canon 5D Mark II + Zeiss ZE 35mm f2.0 1 @ f/11
Three shot-HDR stack processed to capture detail in both the highlight and shadow

A model for a lesson in community ecology, botanical inhabitants of the Sonoran clearly illustrate the way plants compete for limited resources while restricting the impact of invertebrate and vertebrate herbivores. Saguaros grow in the shade of old acacia and mesquite trees, while shading the growth of Opuntia, ocotillos and smaller plant species. Vestigial leaves form sharp spines that protect the tree from herbivory, however once penetrated, a wounded cactus will seal the damaged flesh with a tough tissue called a callus.

Saguaro Night - Hacienda del Desierto, AZ
Canon 5D Mark II + Canon 17-40L @ 20mm
240 second exposure @ iso 400

For this tip, I suggest that you look to photograph iconic subjects in different light, times and locations. The saguaro is synonymous with Tucson, Arizona. Like white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus), it is an over-photographed subject in nature photography. Rather than despair about what has been done in the past, seek to define the icon for yourself. Search for angle and composition that pleases eye, and don’t fear the work that precedes you. It may be a familiar subject, but if you have not done a careful study, it remains to be novel and open to your unique vision. On these occasions, it is important to state the obvious...

Light makes the photograph and the photographer captures the light.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Tip #40: Simplicity

The Simple Life - Kelly Farm, Minnesota
Canon 50D + Canon 17-40L

The following photo-tip builds on a prior discussion about photography and the art of extraction.

Our capacity to experience the essence of a place, stretch the landscape, or focus on subtle details can be attributed to the computational complexities of the human brain. Well adapted to a world of bright lights and deep shadows, our visual cortex is the largest system within the cerebral hemisphere. Like our ancestral primates, whose evolution relied on careful navigation throughout the narrow branches of a tropical canopy, visual acuity is the difference maker. A misperception of distance or branch location is the difference between finding food or being food. We, the giant and most populous primate on earth, are sensory mongers. Like the iconic astronomical arrays that dot the New Mexican landscape, we are satellites for auditory, visual and olfactory inputs. Collectors and interpreters of stimuli, the brain is our filter.

Morning Layers - Tamarack Nature Center, Minnesota
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8IS L

You, the photographer, must learn to be a filter. With inputs emanating from all directions, the photographic artist needs to decide what to exclude. A cluttered image littered with too many subjects or random movements will distract your viewer from the intent of your vision. Photography is a deliberate process in which the image maker contrives the intent by defining what to subtract from the observer’s field of view. Here in lies the art of photography ...we seek to simplify the infinite complexities in the visual landscape.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Tip #23: Include the "Hand of Man"

Black and White Colobus Monkey - Kenya
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8IS L

Include the "hand of man" when it contributes to the story you want to tell. Not all nature images need to be void of humanity. Like the flora and fauna that populate the planet, we too are the product of biological evolution, subject to ecological processes, and impact environmental stability.

Keepers of the Crater - Masai walking the Rift Valley, Tanzania
Canon 5D + Canon 17-40L @ 20mm and f11

Saturday, August 13, 2011

A Life Cycle in the Rainforest

Dendrobates auratus - Canon 5D markII + 180 f3.5L

Organisms adapt to the environment as a result of selective pressures. Here the phrase, selective pressure, refers to the sum of ecological factors that influence the survival of an individual. These individuals exist within a finite niche. Ecologically, a niche includes an organism’s conspecifics (members of the same species), competitors, predators, mates, food, space, and so on. These factors define the “n-dimensional space (niche)” of the organism and influences the way a population adapts and evolves through time.

Green and Black Poison Dart Frog - Canon 5D markII + 180 f3.5L

The green and black poison dart frog, Dendrobates auratus, is uniquely adapted to its rainforest habitat. Skin secretions contain a potent venom, pumiliotoxin-C, which cause unsuspecting predators to regurgitate the distasteful meal. Rather than wearing a cryptic camouflage, this frog announces its presence with bodacious color. Like the monarch butterfly whose bright orange and black patterns are impossible to ignore, the neon green frog with black stripes hops unencumbered throughout the forest understory. Ubiquitous within the leaf litter, once you find your first green and black frog, you begin to see them everywhere.

How can this be?

Montane Forest - Canon 40D + 300 f2.8IS

Unlike most frog species, this frog is diurnal. Ever present during the daylight hours, the bright colors are a key adaptation. Known in evolutionary biology as aposematic coloration, high visibility acts as a warning. The neon green yells, “Don’t mess with me ...I’m poisonous!” Yet, the eggs and tadpoles of this species are quite tasty. Given the opportunity, fish, turtles, snakes and birds will snack on the protein-rich larvae and thus reduce the overall fitness of egg-laying adults. Unlike their parents, the pre-frog progeny lack the poisonous trademark of mom and dad. In biology, Biological success is defined by fertility, and those who have babies that have babies are considered to be evolutionarily fit.

What is the poison dart frog to do about its tasty eggs?

Flowering Bromeliad - Canon 7D + 300 f2.8IS

In a world where role-reversal is rare, the male poison dart frog bucks the trend. Male frogs call out to females and induce the ladies to lay a tiny clutch of eggs in an ephemeral pool of water. With each new day, there is a new female and new eggs. The male tends to each clutch waiting for the tadpoles to emerge. As eggs hatch, the tadpoles climb onto the back of their father where they will hitch a ride. One by one the male ascends a tree and transports the froglets to a place where no fish, turtle, or bird will hunt. He seeks a pool of water within the leaves of a bromeliad. These epiphytic relatives of the pineapple attach to branches of trees and are repositories of the daily precipitation. It is here that the tadpoles emerge and feed, hidden from the eyes of hungry predators.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

The One-Eyed Monkey

What does a one-eyed monkey and broken jaw have to do with natural selection? While I’m not sure I know the answer, I will venture the following hypothesis. However, before I explain, I feel the need to begin with the back-story…

So I’m thoroughly focused on a butterfly larva that looks like a snake’s head. The larva was perched on a large leaf displaying a scale-like pattern and false eyes. More bark than bite, its appearance is intended to be a threat that invokes fear. Since I’m no bird, I recognized the bluff to be an example of mimicry and proceeded to photograph the “sheep in wolf’s clothes.” With about thirty images in the tank, I began to hear the approach of howler monkeys crossing the river valley. The Sarapiquí River divides a patch of rainforest and acts as a natural barrier between two competing troops of monkeys. Hoots and howls from one side of the river inspire a nearby troop to respond. This type of vocalization is a declaration of territory and is a howler monkey’s way of saying… “don’t cross the line.”

Species Profile: Megalopygidae

Biodiversity is the scientific way of describing variety; it is a measure of the total number of distinct species in a defined area. Some biologists assess biodiversity by examining genes within a population, while others invoke the classical “species concept” as a way of defining the richness of life in an ecosystem. Regardless of the measurement tool, high biodiversity is a good thing and is cited as a positive indicator for environmental health.

Costa Rica and its tropical forests are known for its high species richness and biodiversity. Some regard the entire country as an ecological hotspot. With the Atlantic Ocean to the east and Pacific to the west, two distinct weather systems collide where the mountains bisect the country. Traveling east to west, the elevation increases along the Caribbean slope. The cumulative affect of oceanic air and elevation changes result in the formation of distinct microclimates that define multiple ecosystems within small patches of land. Like the Caribbean, the Pacific Slope is geologically diverse. As the mountains sink towards the ocean, the structure and diversity of the forests change. Geographic diversity and climate stability contribute to the staggering biological variety found across the country.

On the Fringe

Joshua Tree National Park has been an inspiration to me in more ways than I can articulate. Shortly before my 13th birthday I moved to 29 Palms California, and I... a New York City kid, had to learn to love a place that was foreign. The Mojave was relentless. It was a dry sparsely populated fragment of rock, dirt, and tumbleweed. I hated my new world. I craved the odors of Manhattan, street vendors, and sewers... I just wanted to go home.

Like any lost kid, I adapted. I looked for anything to help me waste away the endless hours of boredom. I took long hikes into the desert, investigated abandoned shacks, and fished for lizards (yes... we use to call it fishing!). By the time I left JTree in 1979, I'd fallen for its charm. In this seemingly simplistic world, I discovered complexities.

My studies in college led me back to the Mojave... This barren landscape that was the place of my youth was also where I found my wife. While I no longer call the desert home, I am a frequent visitor. I have camped, hiked and photographed this harsh landscape for more than two decades, and have spent hours searching for elusive creatures. During a recent outing to Joshua Tree National Park I had a brief encounter with the herd pictured throughout this essay. While I've seen Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis) across montane regions of the U.S., I had never observed them here. The herd traversed rocky outcrops as they ushered their lambs up and over the mountain pass. Their cryptic form allowed even the largest rams to disappear into the mountainscape like a desert mirage on a sunny day. I am forever amazed by the complexity of life and its capacity to evolve and adapt to marginal habitats across our planet. The desert is a beacon for the evolutionary process... competition for limited resources drives change and allows only the most fit to thrive, reproduce and contribute genes into the next generation. If you want to see evolution, look to the fringe... in the desert, the footprint of biology is too large to be ignored.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Spring is in the Air

What's this naturalist, photographer, and biologist to do when he's not hiking a trail or chasing the light? The answer I'm about to offer is likely to surprise you all... he's planning the high school prom. The life I live is a veritable hall of mirrors defined by both paradox and coincidence. I happen to be a one-time field ecologist who now finds both security and passion in educating future doctors, researchers, environmental activists, and citizens. The work that fulfills me each day, is fraught with a strange irony. I loathe opulence, and am likely to be one of the few who has ignored the royal display of wealth plaguing the media landscape throughout the week. Yet, here I am the co-coordinator of the most opulent event sponsored by my employer each year. Call me the prom guy, charged with organizing a self-indulgent event for the massess.

Species Profile: Yucca brevifolia

When Mormon settlers crossed the Mojave in the mid-19th century they "saw" the hands of Joshua reaching towards the heavens... so goes the origin of this tree's colloquial name.

Grasping with Hands

Binocular vision - Upright posture - Generalized skeleton - Facial mobility - Grasping hands - Large brains

Sound familiar?

Inspiration #5: Natural Selection

Life is a paradox. The multi-celled organism is a singularity, an entity unto itself. Yet, this "singularity" may be composed of one-hundred trillion cells, each of which is also a living entity unto itself. The body of this multicellular organism is a coop; a community of single cells each collaborating to enable the larger "ONE" an opportunity to thrive. Interestingly, the "ONE" is only a single individual among "MANY" that compose a larger population. Natural selection acts on the "ONE" and influences the evolution of the "MANY."

Kenya 2010: And They Descended from Dinosaurs

Now that summer has come and gone, I find that I spend the majority of my "free time" preparing lessons for my Advanced Placement Biology courses. You'd think that a guy with a B.S. in Ecology and Evolution, a Masters in Biology, and eighteen years of teaching experience would breeze through his lessons each day... nothing could be further from the truth. The A.P. Bio curriculum is so comprehensive, that I need to spend many hours a week studying, preparing and rewriting lessons. Sure I've taught this class for more than a decade, but look how much biology has changed in that time.

Our knowledge of genes and genetics have been transformed as we've learned more about the genetic code. When I began my formal studies of biology in the 1980's, we described genes as discrete units that coded for specific proteins. We believed that humans were so complex, we assumed that our genome would be twice as large as a mouse. While we didn't know much about the mouse genome, scientists' believed that humans must have at least one-hundred thousand genes... this seemed like a big enough number. Biologist understood that genes had to be regulated... turned on and turned off, be we were clueless about the mechanism.

Fast-forward thirty years... today we discuss the key regulatory sites on what were once called non-coding sequences of DNA, we've learned that epigenetics can result in short term inheritance of characteristics, and we now know that humans probably have fewer than thirty-thousand genes.

So what does all of this have to do with Kenya, Birds, and dinosaurs? Well having spent this weekend with my nose in books, thinking about metabolism, enzymes, and DNA, I couldn't help but recall a college lecture delivered by a stodgy old professor. We were studying patterns in evolution and comparative physiology when this prof said, "and you know, the dinosaurs didn't go extinct... today, we call them birds." This was the first time I heard the hypothesis and saw the anatomical evidence that changed the way I understood the connectedness between all living organisms on this planet. So, as I think about teaching my students about our current understanding of DNA and how it demonstrates the way life is intimately linked through billions of years of evolution, I offer you the opportunity to think about prehistoric times and the dinosaurs of our day.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Kenya 2010: 21,000 and Falling!

RhinoScape
Lake Nakuru, Kenya
Canon 7D & 300 f2.8IS

At about 8:30 this evening I was editing some work from our recent trip to Kenya and plotting a pathway into today's blog. My first inclination was to discuss photography with a focus on animal landscapes. We had spent a day touring Lake Nakuru National Park and were fortunate to see a herd of five white rhinoceros in some really sweet light... this unique encounter was going to be the seed for my discussion.

Shortly after processing the lead image (see top), I was rudely interrupted by a solicitor.... I knew it was a solicitor because my caller ID said, Pittsburgh and..., I don't know anyone from Pittsburgh. Anyway I decided to answer the phone figuring that I'd just hang up when I got that pregnant pause... you all know the pause, it's the moment between the pick up and the butchering of my name. Well, you can imagine my surprise when the young lady who called my home said, "Hello, I'm calling from the World Wildlife Fund, and I want you to know that Rhinoceros populations are on a steep decline."

A steep decline!...
Not only do I know about this crisis, I teach it. I try to help my students understand the problems associated with extinction and loss of biodiversity every year.
In my classes, I often discuss how species become threatened or endangered, due to the unending human expansion and perpetuation of irrational behaviors in the name of tradition and ideology. Needless to say, I was quite receptive to my solicitor. I shared that she could not have picked a better moment to call my home, and that I would gladly donate to a program that was funding the transfer of black and white rhinos to Ol Pejeta Conservancy... it was a very weak and humbling moment for me.

So, rather than discussing the photographic process, I thought that I would share some general information about this very unique and ancient group of mammals.

- Rhinoceros belong to the order perissodactyla, the group known as odd toed ungulates. Perrisodactyla also includes the equines (horse, zebra, donkey), and tapirs.

- Rhinoceros-like mammals have been roaming the planet for over 30 million years and their ancestral forms had a larger range than all of the species currently here today. The distribution of prehistoric rhinos once included Europe, large areas of Asia and North America.

- There are only five living species of rhinoceros today, all of which are threatened by poaching and considered to be endangered. In general, rhinoceros numbers are so low that they can only be found in national parks, conservancies, and protected forests.

- There are less than 21,000 individual rhinoceros living in parks and reserves, and their numbers are falling.

- According to the World Wildlife Fund, there are fewer than 25 individual Sumatran Rhinoceros.

- The Javan Rhinoceros survives in isolated pockets of Indonesia and Vietnam. Poaching and deforestation are decimating their population. The current census predicts that there are fewer than 75 Javan Rhinos left in the wild.

- The Indian Rhinoceros is also known as the "Great One Horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis)." While its range once included Pakistan, Burma, and China, it is now restricted to the mountain slopes of Nepal and protected regions of India.

- The Black Rhinoceros is a solitary and often cantankerous browser. They have a semi-prehensile lip that is used to gently pluck leaves from bushes and shrubs. This is one of two species of rhinoceros that can be found in Africa. The image pictured above and below are the same individual. He is a blind rhino that lives in Ol Pejeta Conservancy, and part of their public outreach program.

- The white rhinoceros is subdivided into two sub-species. The southern white rhino is on a road to recovery with a population that exceeds 14,000 individuals. The largest population can be found in South Africa. In contrast, there are as few as eight northern white rhinoceros on the planet today. The largest sub-population lived in a zoo in the Czech Republic. In 2009 the four Czech white rhinos were translocated to Ol Pejeta, where they hope to rebuild the population. Unlike the black rhinoceros, white rhinoceros are gregarious grazers. They use their wide lip to mow down the savanna grasses.

What Can You Do?

1. Tell the people you know that rhinoceros populations on this planet are threatened with extinction.
2. Write your government and tell them that you care and that you want them to support the rules and treaties defined by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species).

3. Make a donation to the World Wildlife Fund... we did!

4. Make a donation to Ol Pejeta Conservancy... we did! Ol Pejeta is home to 86 black rhinoceros, 10 southern white rhinoceros, and 4 (of 8 on the planet!) northern white rhinoceros. These animals roam throughout the 90,000 acres of protected Kenyan forests, mountains, and grasslands.

5. Fight for biodiversity! Every species is the product of evolution by natural selection and every species on this planet contributes to the complexity of the world in which YOU live!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Kenya 2010: We are the Ape Family

The physical similarities are unmistakeable. If you accept the premise that lions and tigers are cats or wolves and foxes are dogs, then it is no leap of faith to claim that chimpanzees and humans are apes... we just happen to be more naked than them.

While our posture, mode of communication, and diet may differ, our physical anatomy and biochemistry are remarkably similar. A comparison of genetic similarities between our two species suggest that there is no living organism more like a human than a chimpanzee or bonobo. In fact, our genetic code, which consists of over 3.2 billion base pairs (3,200,000,000 bp), has a 98.6% overlap with that of the chimpanzee. On average, 3,155,200,000 bp of our DNA is the same as the DNA found in the common chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes. Either we are both apes or we are both humans... I’ll let you decide where you’d like to draw the line.

I begin here with a biology lesson to underscore the purpose of today’s thoughts. Chimpanzees are routinely hunted for bush meat, medical experiments, circuses, and pets. This cousin of ours is often extracted from the environment in which it evolved and is forced to live under inhumane conditions across the planet. Native to rainforests and savannas of East and West Central Africa, this closest living connection to our own evolutionary heritage lives under the threat of an ever-expanding human population.

In 1993 the Kenya Wildife Service (KWS) and the Jane Goodall Institute negotiated an agreement with the Ol Pejeta Conservancy to establish a 250 acre chimpanzee sanctuary for orphaned and abused chimpanzees. The sanctuary was first established to provide a protectorate for animals trapped within the civil conflict that was occurring in Bujumburu, Burundi.

Today, the conservancy is home to two groups of chimpanzees separated by the Ewaso Nyiro River. These rehabilitated chimps live much like wild troops in their own native habitat. Unlike truly wild groups, Sweetwater’s chimps are offered food provisions, vaccines and routine medical care. To control the inevitable population growth, females are fed contraceptives to reduce fertility. While it is possible to see the chimpanzees during brief periods of the day, they spend most of their time in the woods and tree canopy. Living as far from human eyes as possible, these chimpanzees appear to view us with suspicion. They are rescued apes, they wear the scars of their captivity, and they appear to see their captors when they look at us.

It costs between $4000 and $6000 to support a chimpanzee in Sweetwater for one year. This conservancy survives as a result of government aid, the Jane Goodall Institute, and other non-profits. You can help support a chimpanzee at Sweetwater by “adopting a cousin”... we did. The Chimpanzee pictured on the right is Naika. Naika was abandoned by a circus, but now lives as the 3rd ranking female in her group.

The Way We See It