Palau Specimen News in PLoS ONE

Earlier this week I flubbed on reporting about a report from Science Daily that highlighted new research showing that an early island population of humans were not dwarfed, as was first thought, but were within the average size range for modern humans. I mistakenly indicated that the fossils in question were the Homo floresiensis specimens. Actually the study, published in PLoS ONE, was on the Palau specimens that were previously thought to represent a small-statured population of humans, a prime example of insular dwarfism.

The new paper strongly contradicts the original claims that the Palau people were significantly smaller in stature than average modern Homo sapiens. The original paper was also published in PLoS ONE earlier this year, this is a great example of how online, open access publishing allows quick turnaround and public dialog about issues like this. Fitzpatrick et al assert that the individuals were not below the normal height range for humans. They provide evidence of faulty assumptions and analyses in the original description of the specimens, and also present data from additional fossils is also consistent with the conclusion that the Palau fossils represent average-sized individuals. This is a major change from Berger et al's original claims that were trumpeted by the media, an issue that Fitzpatrick et al address bluntly:

"While some may see the Berger et al. paper as being so egregious that few will take it seriously (and as such, does not necessitate the lengthy response we have presented here), we feel that it is extremely important for the scientific community and laymen alike to be fully aware that the data described by Berger et al. is fundamentally flawed and does not mesh with the known biological and archaeological data from Palau. "

This is definitely a fascinating turn of events, it will be interesting to watch how it plays out in the future. This does not mean that insular dwarfism has never occurred in humans: despite bickering about their place in the hominid family tree, the small stature of H. floresiensis specimens is not in question (although it seems like everything else about them has been questioned!). The new study, however, does a pretty tidy take-down of the original claims about the Palau population. It will be interesting to follow the story and watch for future publications by the authors on both sides of this issue!

Berger LR, Churchill SE, De Klerk B, Quinn RL 2008 Small-Bodied Humans from Palau, Micronesia. PLoS ONE 3(3): e1780 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001780

Fitzpatrick SM, Nelson GC, Clark G 2008 Small Scattered Fragments Do Not a Dwarf Make: Biological and Archaeological Data Indicate that Prehistoric Inhabitants of Palau Were Normal Sized. PLoS ONE 3(8): e3015 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003015

Swim, swim, swim!

Praxis: The "Life in Academia" Blog Carnival

I just wanted to bring everyone's attention to a great new blog carnival that debuted this month: Praxis, a collection of posts covering a wide range of experience, viewpoints, and advice relating to life in academia. I'm kicking the grad school hunt into high gear this fall, so I am consuming as much information about academia as I can possibly take in, I was very excited to see this new carnival! Bora hosted the first edition, there is some great material there!

I was pleasantly surprised to see that one of my updates from Belize was included! I was glad I could contribute a "bugs and mud" fieldwork perspective, lots of people have the misconception that scientists just hang out in labs all day, wearing white coats and peering into microscopes. The Praxis carnival seems like a great way to learn about broad range of experiences and opportunities within the field of academic science.

Make sure to monitor the Praxis blog and check out the hosting schedule so you don't miss upcoming editions!

You knew it was coming...

As I've discussed before, I hope to pursue carnivore conservation and ecology in my grad studies/future career. Due to the field research opportunities I've had during my undergrad years, though, I have developed a strong love for bats. I think they are pretty damn cool, as a matter of fact. I don't think I will end up doing bat research "when I grow up," but they are a great hobby, truly incredible animals.

Of course, whenever I go anywhere I have to bring back pictures of the local bats; long-time readers should take that for granted by now. ;) I had high hopes for my batting prospects when I went to Belize--the name of the research station was Las Cuevas, "the caves." None of the research groups there at the time were studying bats, so I didn't get the chance to do any netting. The only thing I would change about the entire trip would be to have some mist nets (yes, I'd use my one wish to get some nets instead of erasing that nasty bacterial infection, that's how cool tropical bats are!). If wishes were horses . . . or horseshoe bats, for that matter . . .

The good news, though, is that I still managed to get some good chiropteran sightings. We did some exploring in the largest cave and discovered some roosting Hairy-legged myotis (Myotis keaysi). I don't think the bats were quite as thrilled as I was when we stumbled upon them, but they struck some good poses nonetheless (sorry for the picture quality, these were taken while balancing on slippery rocks in a pitch-black cave, but the nightshot did at least a decent job):


I will have more Belizean wildlife pictures periodically, but the bats had to be one of the first to be get the spotlight!

It's Been a While!

Well, I had planned to jump back into blogging full force after returning to the U.S., but I brought back one accidental souvenir from my big Belize adventure: a systemic bacterial infection. That tends to interfere with one's productivity. I am finally reaching the point of being reasonably functional, which is good, because this week will be a flurry of activity preparing for the start of classes.

I've got a lot on my plate this fall, a maxed out load of credit hours, working on expanding the scope of our chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology, co-teaching a freshman conservation biology class, plus, being a student recruiter for the honors college, etc etc, various other organizations...I'm going to stop listing before I scare myself into running away and joining the circus before the semester starts. ;)

It will be a heavy load, but I am really looking forward to the classes I'll be taking. I'll be a senior, which means I'm far enough along in my curriculum that pretty much everything I take is something very relevant to my interests/preferences. So, the lineup for Fall 2008:

Mammalogy
Herpetology
Entomology
Plant-Animal Interactions
Issues in Ecotourism (a directed readings Anthropology course)

That's quite a lot of lab time every week (11 hours of lab in addition to regular class periods), but it will be mostly field activities, which are usually great experiences.

So, that's what I'll be up to this fall. Since I usually try to incorporate topics I'm learning in class as material on Pondering Pikaia, there should be lots of interesting blog items in the near future. I feel like I've done a poor job of blogging over the past couple of months, things have just been extremely busy and hectic, but don't give up on me, Pondering Pikaia will be staging a comeback this fall. ;)

Just wanted to close with one of the coolest animals I saw in Belize: the Pale-Billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis). Not the same as the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, but probably the closest thing to it that I will ever see. I found a pair with nest cavity near the research station and made a point of walking out there every morning to see what they were up to. My pictures don't even begin to do justice to these magnificent birds, but they are extremely hard to photograph and I felt lucky just to get these shots:

Belize Update #3

Well, there are some huge gaps in my big Belize adventure that I will definitely fill in the near future, but I have time for just a quick update right now. My field work is done, I fly back to Alabama tomorrow morning. This has been an AMAZING experience, I've met some great people, seen tons of great wildlife, and had some very interesting experiences. We did a backpacking trip in the Cockscomb Jaguar Preserve, that was awesome, but most of my time was spent in the Chiquibul forest, which is a really amazing place also. Leaving is bittersweet: it's always nice to return to the comforts of home, but it's also a jolt to return to the rush and reality of everyday life after spending weeks living at a research station in a protected area.

I'll do some post-adventure posts soon. I get home late Saturday night, and first thing Monday morning I have to leave for Houston, I'm finishing up data collection for my honors thesis at the Houston Zoo in the 10 days before fall classes resume. There will be posting about that too, stay tuned!

To make this post at least somewhat worthwhile to read, I have time for one cool animal sighting story:

When we were hiking the Victoria Peak Trail in Cockscomb, we saw a huge, gorgeous black-tailed indigo snake (Drymarchon corais) sitting on a log. It was pretty annoyed with us and our scat dog, and promptly disappeared into the leaf litter. After it left, though, we saw some rustling on the log where it had been. Closer inspection revealed six tiny, hairless baby mammals (I couldn't identify them, just generic immature rodents), squirming and spilling out of the log. Apparently Mr. Snake had been in the process of raiding a nest when we rudely interrupted him. It was sad to see the blind, confused babies, but it was definitely awesome to get to witness the food chain in action.

That's all for now, I'll have more soon!