Weekly Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 27 • November 7, 2003 the same areas. In calyptraeids the most closely re- lated species often co-occur in the same habitats, suggesting that new species in this group formed without geographic barriers physically separating different populations. This geographic pattern is very different from the pattern that has been demonstrated far more often—a pattern that requires geographic separation. Calyptraeids attached to a variety of hard sub- strates, hermit crab shells, rocks and even the glass of aquaria. Sedentary Snails Are Dynamic Globe Trotters An article by Smithsonian Tropical Research Insti- tute marine biologist Rachel Collin was featured on the cover of the October issue of Systematic Biology. Collin used DNA sequences to examine the relation- ships among 94 species of limpets in the Calyptraeid gastropod family. An ultraviolet image (rendered in green) of the Sun taken during the extreme solar activity on October 30, 2003. The dramatic, erupting region is clearly The shells are commonly found on beaches, however seen in the lower center of the Sun’s disk. the sedentary snails live in shallow marine environ- ments in all the oceans, except the Arctic and Ant- Diagnosing the Sun's Active Corona arctic. Collin’s family tree shows that these animals have actually moved around the globe and have The solar corona is the very hot (over a million de- crossed oceanic barriers numerous times. Although grees Celsius), extended, gaseous, outer atmosphere close relatives usually occur along the same coast- of the Sun. The corona can have active regions line, Collin’s results show that species of ca- (spots with intense magnetic fields) that erupt, hurl- lyptraeids have moved between the Atlantic and Pa- ing energetic, charged particles towards the Earth as cific oceans at least 12 times and between the north- a part of a solar wind. These particles can damage ern and southern hemispheres at least 15 times. satellites by building up charge in their electronic components and computer memory, thereby disrupt- These results indicate (1) that species ranges of ing communications. Scientists do not understand many marine invertebrates may be more dynamic exactly what causes these eruptions, but they do over evolutionary time than previously assumed, and know being able to predict this kind of solar storm is (2) that close relatives do not always live in geo- very important - the eruption last week made head- graphically proximate regions, but many do occur in lines around the world, and prompted the New York Times (October 29) to comment that the eruption could "even hamper fire fighting efforts in California [by interrupting communications]." The Smithsonian Institution has been a pioneer in the study of the Sun since the time of Samuel Pier- pont Langley, the third Secretary of the Institution, a solar astronomer himself, and the founder of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. SAO as- tronomers today watch the Sun closely using the So- lar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite and their onboard instrument, the Ultraviolet Coro- One of over 100 black-footed ferret kits produced by nagraph Spectrometer (UVCS). SAO's UVCS is the artificial insemination at the National Zoo’s Conser- only instrument able to measure the speeds and tem- vation and Research Front Royal, VA. When more peratures of electrically charged particles from cer- mature, most of these ferrets are reintroduced to the wild as part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s tain portions of the extended solar corona. Scientists Black-Footed Recovery Program. think that an understanding of the physical processes of the solar wind is essential to the development of a Black-Footed Ferrets—Once Lost, Now long-range space weather prediction capability. Found Writing in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, North America's only native ferret once inhabited SAO astronomers John Raymond, John Kohl, Yuan- the Great Plains from Canada into northern Mexico, Kuen Ko, Michael Uzzo, and Chi-Rai Wu, along preying almost exclusively on prairie dogs. When with a colleague, report a major improvement with prairie dogs were declared a pest species because respect to previous studies in understanding the con- they competed with livestock for forage, an effective ditions of the very hot coronal gas located between extermination campaign decimated them and their about one and one-half to two solar radii from the principal predator—the black-footed ferret. Sun. They combined results from the UVCS instru- ment with radio wavelength observations to analyze During the 1980s, the Wyoming Fish and Game De- the gas from thirty-seven solar bursts. Previous at- partment (WFGD) sent some newly discovered tempts to analyze this hot material assumed a ge- black-footed ferrets to selected breeding facilities, neric, average density for the gas, but the SAO team including the National Zoo's Conservation and Re- used UVCS to obtain precise density information for search Center (CRC), whose staff had developed and each region immediately prior to its eruption. The mastered artificial insemination techniques that astronomers found that the assumption of a single could increase ferret populations and maintain vital density was completely erroneous: there could be as genetic diversity. Their breeding successes led to the much as a factor of ten variation in the coronal gas release of 49 ferrets into Wyoming’s Shirley Basin density across a single outburst region, and between in October 1991, that were believed to have been different outbursts. Their results in turn enabled wiped out by sylvatic plague three years later. De- them to set limits to the shocked gas velocities in spite this setback, over the next twelve years, more those regions, providing data to help astronomers than 1,600 black-footed ferrets were released onto prepare more accurate models for solar flares. seven sites in the Great Plains, with 90 of the ani-mals released provided by CRC. In August 2003, a WFGD biologist found a surviv-ing group of about 40 ferrets some distance from the original 1991 release site. DNA analysis found that the population was inbred, confirming assumptions that the original population in Wyoming was drasti- Page 2 • Spotlight on Science at the Smithsonian • November 7, 2003 cally reduced by plague and remained at low num- with a cylindrical body and tubular feeding tentacles bers for many generations. CRC scientists were ex- embedded in the muddy bottom—without a doubt, tremely gratified that not only has their hard work the same new species that was captured near Barba- paid off with the success of more recent reintroduc- dos. The small whitish spots on its body are hun- tions, but that all along, the initial release in 1991 dreds of microscopic bones in the form of perfect had actually been a twelve-year success. This dis- little wheels. Unfortunately, the submersible was not covery bodes well for the future of the tough little equipped to collect the animal. black-footed ferret on the Great Plains. So, now that the scientists have a specimen from Barbados and a stunning photo of the species from Grand Cayman, they can proceed with the scientific description. This development led Pawson to suggest a new aphorism: “What’s worth doing is sometimes better done after a little procrastination”. New sea cucumber feeding at a depth of 1,200 feet, Grand Cayman. Photo: Gary Montemayor. Procrastination Has Its Virtues In 1989, National Museum of Natural History scien- tist Dave Pawson and colleagues were diving in a research submersible near Barbados, reaching depths of about half of a mile. Most of the animals being African Elephant. studied were large enough to be seen with the naked Understanding Is Key to Elephants’ eye, and could be photographed and videotaped live Survival on the seafloor. Sometimes the scientists used a suc- tion device to slurp up some mud or sand in hopes of The Endocrine Research Laboratory (ERL) at the finding small species or young stages of the larger National Zoo’s Conservation and Research Center animals. (CRC) is the only laboratory dedicated to evaluating hormone activity in elephants. Because the ERL In one of these slurped samples from a depth of works with more than four dozen zoos and routinely about 1,400 feet was a small transparent sea cucum- evaluates many elephants, it has been able to identify ber less than two inches long. Its bizarre shape and several reproductive problems that most would other characteristics led Pawson to conclude that it likely have gone unnoticed. represented a new family, genus, and species. For the past 14 years, Pawson delayed publishing a sci- One of these problems is that the captive African entific description of this very rare specimen, in the elephant population in North America is not self- hope that he might return to the area, find more sustaining. Based on a hormone evaluation, the ERL specimens, and make a more comprehensive study. recently found that nearly 25 percent of captive Afri- can female elephants are not exhibiting normal re- Recently, Chris Pomory, a colleague in Florida, sent productive cycles and, thus, cannot be bred. ERL Pawson a photograph taken at a depth of around researchers suspect this problem is the result of how 1,200 feet on the “wall” at Grand Cayman by sub- these elephants have learned to adapt to the artificial mersible operator Gary Montemayor. The photo social and environmental aspects of captivity. shows a beautiful, almost-transparent sea cucumber, Page 3 • Spotlight on Science at the Smithsonian • November 7, 2003 African elephants in the wild live in complex hierar- Recent Publications chical groups of related females. Their social struc- Bernardi, G.; Bucciarelli, G.; Costagliola, D.; ture differs from that of captive elephants in three Robertson, D.; Ross, D. Heiser, J.B. 2003. ways: (1) captive groups are biased toward fe- “Evolution of coral reef fish Thalassoma spp. males—few facilities maintain bulls; (2) captive (Labridae).1. Molecular phylogeny and biogeogra- “herds” are not multigenerational, and calves are phy,” Marine Biology Online. rare; and (3) the groups are small, with 75 percent of facilities maintaining three or fewer elephants. While Collin, R. 2003. “Phylogenetic relationships among captive groups differ from wild herds, dominance calyptraeid gastropods and their implications for the status may still be important for maintaining social biogeography of marine speciation,” Systematic Bi- harmony, even if there is no true matriarch. ology, 52: 613-640. Thus, understanding how behavioral and environ- Mancuso, S.; Raymond, J.; Kohl, J.; Ko, Y.; Uzzo, mental factors influence reproductive fitness in vari- M.; Wu, R.; 2003. “Plasma properties above coronal ous elephant populations, including those in captiv- active regions inferred from SOHO/UVCS and radio ity, is important. ERL researchers will examine spectrograph observations,” Astronomy and Astro- whether these factors influence the reproductive hor- physics, 400:347. mone activity of captive elephants by comparing the environmental and social composition of each cap- Penfold, L.M.; Jost, L.; Evenson, D.P.; Wildt, D.E.; tive herd and studying how the temperaments of cy- 2003. “Normospermic versus teratospermic domestic cling and noncycling elephants differ. cat sperm integrity evaluated by flow cytometry and intracytoplasmic sperm injection,” Biology of Repro- duction, 69:1730-1735. Spotlight on Science at the Smithsonian is a weekly electronic newsletter about Science at the Smith- sonian. It is produced for the Smithsonian community by the Office of the Under Secretary for Science. To contact the editor, e-mail mellendickt@si.edu. David L. Evans……Under Secretary for Science Theresa L. Mellendick………......………….Editor www.si.edu/research/spotlight Page 4 • Spotlight on Science at the Smithsonian • November 7, 2003