Archive: Around Town

The Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) and its Museum of the Earth unveil their latest exhibit -- One Fish, Two Fish, Old Fish, New Fish*: Exploring the Evolution of Biodiversity which details how new species arise through a process called speciation. This exhibit was designed and developed in cooperation with Dr. Richard Harrison, chair and professor in the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, and is the continuation of a nearly $700K grant that was awarded Harrison from the National Science Foundation.

Earth is home to nearly 2-million species, that we know of, and countless more await discovery!  Many scientists think that the actual number might be over 10-million, and if you add extinct species to the equation that number reaches into the 100's of millions!  Species are the raw materials for biodiversity— the variety of life, both past and present. This includes humans, along with plants, animals, fungi, and microbes ­— from bacteria to grass, insects to cats, and dogs to dinosaurs. 

As we look at all the diversity of life around us we are constantly reminded —speciation happens! This new and exciting exhibit at the Museum of the Earth explains what a species is and how new species evolve—it looks at what creates barriers to gene flow—at the ways species diverge or change enough to become new species—and at how new species endure.  What would an exhibit about new life be without live specimens— chirping crickets, cichlids, and lizards help us tell the tale.  Cases of taxidermied specimens (spiders, scorpions, and finchs), along with fabulous fossils from PRI's world-class collection (snails, trilobites, eurypterids, and bivalves) help pull the story through time.

"It's been fantastic working with Dr. Harrison and his team at Cornell," stated Dr. Sarah Chicone, director of exhibits at PRI.  "We are in a really unique position because we get such high quality scientific content from our relationship with researchers at Cornell University which then gives us the opportunity to make that same high quality content accessible to the public in a way that is understandable for people on all levels.  For this exhibit we were able to work with other departments and researchers at Cornell through relationships with Dr. Kerry Shaw from Neurobiology and Behavior, and Dr. Linda Rayor from Entomology, along with Dr. Richard Glor a Cornell alum and now in the Biology department at the University of Rochester.  Their help and guidance aided us in making this exhibit fun and exciting."

This exhibit celebrates the International Year of Biodiversity.  2010 has been declared by the United Nations as the International Year of Biodiversity. It is a celebration of life on Earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives. The major goal of the year is to encourage everyone to become educated and take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth, what is commonly called “biodiversity”. To that end, PRI has committed its 2010 programming, its research, and its temporary exhibits to this theme.

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