tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460726716810510072024-02-07T16:09:02.594-08:00Tim's Fertile TurtlesScientists seek to answer questions that nobody knows the answer to. Often, science classrooms solely focus on the information scientists have previously obtained at the expense of teaching students how to use the scientific process. My goal is to introduce students to this process by sharing with them the challenges and rewards of my research. I hope these activities allow students to see science in a new way. Pictured here are some hatchling Red Eared Sliders produced by fertile turtles!.Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-50476067406276547312014-07-16T13:41:00.001-07:002014-07-16T13:41:09.501-07:00New WebsiteDear followers of Tim's Fertile Turtles. I have a new website and blog where future postings will go. Please visit my new website at <a href="http://timmitchellbiology.weebly.com/">http://timmitchellbiology.weebly.com</a>. Thank you!Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-75857446084141879332012-11-09T09:07:00.003-08:002012-11-09T09:07:59.381-08:00TREE students talk about their research!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The 2012 TREE program students give a brief explanation of their summer research. Here from all three teams:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RJ_yzSxAsew/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RJ_yzSxAsew?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RJ_yzSxAsew?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/dbrrWzjsADo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/k5P54xEeZRU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-25681777517232116802012-10-04T17:35:00.000-07:002012-10-04T17:36:01.742-07:00Anole eating anole!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3fVpZuWbd-7mZi-Qzkc_4A5TCVpNiheS05iEZlgR2uBmgx3pnbB0YoGHYHDCX6rGTNB0A4TJWVpXKgWKrRmroUpJRSpTdw_GJeVuH4AkhL90sqTlF6zEiRaLJO5hlKYVcxhfNRJnTUHMd/s1600/IMG_4159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3fVpZuWbd-7mZi-Qzkc_4A5TCVpNiheS05iEZlgR2uBmgx3pnbB0YoGHYHDCX6rGTNB0A4TJWVpXKgWKrRmroUpJRSpTdw_GJeVuH4AkhL90sqTlF6zEiRaLJO5hlKYVcxhfNRJnTUHMd/s400/IMG_4159.JPG" width="400" /></a>Today we had another first for the Lizard Project. While on island H capturing lizards, we found a green anole eating a brown anole. While other people had previously observed this happening, we had not seen this on our islands, until today. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/sVn-JWEcHAg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
As I was looking for lizards, some rustling on a nearby palm frond got my attention. Expecting it to be a lizard to noose, I crouched down ready to capture it. Thats when I found an adult green anole munching on a hatchling brown anole. The brown anole was still alive and struggling, but looked like the struggle was going to be futile. This was an exciting find for us.Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-79088349828333344082012-10-03T16:41:00.001-07:002012-10-03T16:42:02.310-07:00We found eggs!Earlier this week I wrote a post about a nest-site choice study that Aaron and Dan had done in the lab. However, anole nests are notoriously difficult to study in the field- very little is known about anole nesting. However today, we found two anole eggs on one of our islands, which was very exciting for us. <br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/WSxClakY7V4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Reptiles have varied reproductive strategies. Some give live birth, which is known as viviparity. Most reptiles, however, are oviparous, which means they lay eggs. And most of these oviparous reptiles lay many eggs in a single clutch. Anoles, however, lay a single egg at a time. We are not certain why anoles lay only one egg, but this is a question some evolutionary biologists have studied. One hypothesis is that the female can escape predators more easily by only carrying one egg at a time. There are many other intriguing hypotheses, however.<br />
<br />
Whatever the reason, we were excited to find two anole nests (which consisted of one egg each!). Check it outTim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-52359454705534508822012-10-03T04:53:00.001-07:002012-10-03T04:53:08.760-07:00Lots of Lizards, big and small
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>187</o:Words>
<o:Characters>1069</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Iowa State University</o:Company>
<o:Lines>8</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>2</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>1312</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
We have been catching lizards for
four days now, and we have nearly eclipsed the 500 lizard mark!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is a ton of lizards, even for
us!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are several reasons we
are having such lizard catching success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Overall, the populations have established very well and are
growing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But another important
factor is the time of year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1y1XA_Kcb30/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1y1XA_Kcb30?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1y1XA_Kcb30?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>Last time we came in April just
before the reproductive season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Many of the babies from the previous summer had died and the surviving
ones were relatively large.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
time, we are coming in October, at the end of the long reproductive
season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The eggs that were laid
between April and August have now hatched and there are baby lizards
everywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many lizards don’t
survive to adulthood, but by monitoring the lizards right after they hatch, we
are very likely to catch the babies. Thus, this time of year has more lizards
than any other time on the islands.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Another cool thing about our project is we are getting "recaptures". When we capture a lizard, we will mark its toes and release it back on the island. When we come back on a trip 6 months or a year later, we will be able to figure out if we had caught that lizard before and then learn about how much its grown and what traits may have helped it survive. On this trip, we have already recaptured two "Founders" or the original lizard we released in April 2011. They have been out on these islands for 1.5 years, which is very old for an Anole lizard in the wild. And very cool for us!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Anole lizards have no parental
care, so the baby lizards pop out of eggs as miniature versions of mom and
dad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are feeding on really
small insects and evading predators from day 1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They only thing that the youngsters aren’t worried about
that the adults are is mating, but that will wait for now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> These lizards grow very fast and as you can see in the video, a baby lizard might grow up to 70 times its size as a baby.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-26150486176417007182012-09-30T16:11:00.001-07:002012-09-30T16:11:08.384-07:00Day 1 & 2: LOTS OF LIZARDS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/dnhh9xx9aB0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
Dan Warner, David Delaney and I started catching lizards on our islands yesterday. On Day 1 we caught 151 lizards, which is a new record!! We think the lizard populations are probably doing very well! Today is Sunday, and we spent a half-day in the field catching lizards, and are now in to measure and mark all the lizards we have caught so far. It will be a long night with the lizards as we have to measure, weigh, mark, and take tissue samples from all of them!<br />
<br />
Check out this video demonstration on how we catch lizards.Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-669586236784698172012-09-30T16:03:00.002-07:002012-09-30T16:03:56.550-07:00Partnering with Youngzine again!Youngzine is a news website targeted towards young people, and they are highlighting our science research again! Check out the following article!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.youngzine.org/article/lizard-wizards-are-back">http://www.youngzine.org/article/lizard-wizards-are-back</a>Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-91758695021597643632012-09-30T15:52:00.001-07:002012-09-30T16:00:11.580-07:00Lizard Team uses labs and field work<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>464</o:Words>
<o:Characters>2646</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Iowa State University</o:Company>
<o:Lines>22</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>5</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>3249</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When asked
about where a scientist works, most people would probably think of the
laboratory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And while it is true
many scientists spend a lot of time working in labs, that is certainly not the
only place they work. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here I will
highlight a lab experiment performed by the Lizard Team, as well as the field
work.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Lab work: What are the advantages?</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Members of the Lizard Team have studied anoles in “the lab”
setting. While many wild animals are difficult to study in the lab, the brown
anole is not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anoles do great in
captivity. as they readily eat, mate and reproduce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Advantages of the lab are that conditions can be carefully
controlled, which allows the scientist to expose the many lizards to the same
conditions to see how they behave. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8LoDyB0hL-D9Zt2TR0SrnenWQShwZH0BOp7Xck_BnnoPfk5OhszFvbEfbXUFRVo_r8PJYjih_-9aAyuK7rx3nDHHOfyGXi_k00GTC0sq29V7eLWqpbyD0kT5k6YdEXJtMZMXGBcRwIXNz/s1600/3+lizards+cropped+very+tight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8LoDyB0hL-D9Zt2TR0SrnenWQShwZH0BOp7Xck_BnnoPfk5OhszFvbEfbXUFRVo_r8PJYjih_-9aAyuK7rx3nDHHOfyGXi_k00GTC0sq29V7eLWqpbyD0kT5k6YdEXJtMZMXGBcRwIXNz/s1600/3+lizards+cropped+very+tight.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lizards in the lab, with nesting containers at the bottom of the cage.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Aaron Reedy and Dan Warner recently published a paper on
some lab research.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the
lab was not at a traditional research institution, but was Aaron Reedy’s high
school classroom!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For this
experiment, the students helped Aaron and Dan answer an original research
question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where do mother anoles
like to lay their eggs?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And why
has this nesting behavior evolved?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To do this, they set up 20 cages with 3 female
lizards and one male lizard each.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
each cage they also placed 5 different containers with soil that lizards could
lay eggs in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each container had a
different amount of soil moisture- ranging from 0% to 75% moisture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each week students checked the
containers for eggs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It turned out
that mom’s really preferred to nest in the moistest nests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A subsequent incubation experiment
showed that eggs from these incubation conditions were more likely to hatch, and the hatchlings were larger, and survived better. Dan, David (a high schooler) and Aaron concluded that evolution has
favored moms that are more likely to lay eggs in these optimal nest conditions,
which is why they showed this behavior. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is an excellent example of how a lab experiment
helped them answer a research question. Don’t you wish your classroom had done
an experiment this cool!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Field Work: What are the advantages?</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While lab work is very useful, the natural world is far more
complex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So studying animals in
their natural environment might give us a better idea of what is really
happening in nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it
can be difficult to manipulate variables in the natural world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dan Warner, the Lizard Team leader
(also known as the Lizard King), has utilized islands to get the best of both
worlds.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnIWYbSKI7KanFyxGKcq-mtIHbSmsh5T_NuVyLj2_tLFBI_p7x6Ke87RdvRyi6ucmNtNzqw2AD92fbDoERVaOJIIdLvBu3k4CP7Hj578LfYF-A9qI7WrbNvFu_y2-3Yez0YfmNsLgiLHv9/s1600/IMG_7949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnIWYbSKI7KanFyxGKcq-mtIHbSmsh5T_NuVyLj2_tLFBI_p7x6Ke87RdvRyi6ucmNtNzqw2AD92fbDoERVaOJIIdLvBu3k4CP7Hj578LfYF-A9qI7WrbNvFu_y2-3Yez0YfmNsLgiLHv9/s1600/IMG_7949.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Lizards can't get on or off the island, so its perfect for experiments</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For these lizards an island has all the complexity of the
natural world except for one thing: being able to come and go as a lizard
pleases. The water separating the islands from each other and from the mainland
are impenetrable to these lizards. The only way a population increase or
decrease is births and deaths, not immigration and emigration. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">For the Lizard Project, this
feature is excellent. By using
islands, we have been able to manipulate the sex ratios of the lizards. On some
islands there are more boys than girls, other islands more girls than boys. Other than that, these lizards are
living their natural lives. We will be able to learn a lot about how a biased
sex ratio influences various aspects of lizard biology. More of that to come in future posts.</span><!--EndFragment-->Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-52883771348600041752012-09-28T14:46:00.003-07:002012-09-28T15:18:40.559-07:00Lizard Team is back at it!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJYPGLf-n3_uzAfHdAgI5DO6hyphenhyphenGMyiVNACUpNRjtIp63xygeLuqCO_uKJghPwJ0pUT3zejZ5oWavBEz2DaZagy7NE7L6KwQvqy6bJDWh27VVwgv_17l6opQFVqIzrTFT-W2f1d1B2tck4/s1600/IMG_0274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJYPGLf-n3_uzAfHdAgI5DO6hyphenhyphenGMyiVNACUpNRjtIp63xygeLuqCO_uKJghPwJ0pUT3zejZ5oWavBEz2DaZagy7NE7L6KwQvqy6bJDWh27VVwgv_17l6opQFVqIzrTFT-W2f1d1B2tck4/s320/IMG_0274.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Hi Everyone,<br />
<br />
This summer we had a record setting Turtle season and I have been very busy following up with this summer's experiments, analyzing data and writing papers, and sharing my research at the World Congress of Herpetology Conference in Vancouver. However, right now I am in Jacksonville, Florida for another round of lizard catching for the Lizard Project. I was in Florida back in March and April, and many students followed along my blog then. Now for the first time since the last trip, the Lizard Team is back in Florida. While the Lizard Team was briefly reunited at the 25th Turtle Camp Anniversary, we are now ready to chase the lizards! <br />
<br />
I will be tweeting from my @timsturtles account and the Youngzine (News website for children) will be following our progress again! (http://www.youngzine.org/) Check it out!Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-9996428413093944462012-06-14T07:43:00.002-07:002012-06-14T07:43:18.063-07:00Turtle Camp Research and Education in Ecology (TREE) Program starts!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>116</o:Words>
<o:Characters>665</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Iowa State University</o:Company>
<o:Lines>5</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>816</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For two weeks each year, 8 high school students join the
graduate and undergraduate students doing research at turtle camp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For these two weeks, these students are
immersed in science research.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
participate in the ongoing projects associated with the Janzen lab, and have an
opportunity to develop their own research projects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Students generate their own questions, are guided through
the process of developing a experiment or study that can answer their question,
and have an opportunity to present their research to the public.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Turtle Camp Research and Education
in Ecology (TREE) Program is a rare opportunity for students of this age to
engage in real science.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year’s
TREE program started on Monday, and we will get to know these students and
their projects over the next two weeks.</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-86251204121035946172012-06-14T06:15:00.001-07:002012-06-14T06:16:50.383-07:0025th Year Anniversary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jXXJh5Slroop6QHOqSjMlw-ocdPlf2fmEmiPIiyXzwGQQRihjYFLiYwOF_2kdbtyVYdwKvrnmnNdtuoWvl4sTiAhzJFAX6pL3bLsNDxA17jLFKpbVEqSKU-mV6yV5EerF9vVU8YwhsOe/s1600/Picture+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jXXJh5Slroop6QHOqSjMlw-ocdPlf2fmEmiPIiyXzwGQQRihjYFLiYwOF_2kdbtyVYdwKvrnmnNdtuoWvl4sTiAhzJFAX6pL3bLsNDxA17jLFKpbVEqSKU-mV6yV5EerF9vVU8YwhsOe/s320/Picture+3.png" width="320" /></a></div>
For 25 years, Fred Janzen and his collaborators and students have intensely studied a population of painted turtles on the Mississippi River. Those who have participated in Turtle Camp are now across the country doing great things. On June 1st, we had our 25th year anniversary, drawing former students from across the country to spend a weekend at Turtle Camp. This group of hard-working and dedicated scientists have produced new knowledge about one of the most fascinating creatures on the planet. Fred deserves a big Thank You from us all for giving us the opportunity to engage in such interesting research.Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-16212319982219894342012-06-12T11:44:00.001-07:002012-06-14T06:36:26.273-07:00Turtle Life Part 5: Spring Emergence<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/JqMeU3kb5b4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhrjZd_vkBzLciwg9K9n_B7uSDmM8N5WksvyLi66RRYTHYDRflcnQy-IEWIIOtiPj6yH8ghEcT93ACzHHTld6TbKuVMO95DQT1gbnMXo0R0D5RpwkiaQ43E0rU7LUoiqVPfbPvMrpgvEQ/s1600/Picture+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhrjZd_vkBzLciwg9K9n_B7uSDmM8N5WksvyLi66RRYTHYDRflcnQy-IEWIIOtiPj6yH8ghEcT93ACzHHTld6TbKuVMO95DQT1gbnMXo0R0D5RpwkiaQ43E0rU7LUoiqVPfbPvMrpgvEQ/s320/Picture+2.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A baby turtle on its journey to water.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">Black is all you ever have seen. You and your sisters
are packed into your subterranean nest, and you have just endured a cold
winter. But days are getting longer, and
sunlight more intense, and the soil begins to thaw and then warm. On a hot rainy day in March, you and your
sisters begin to claw your way through the moistened soil. You have several centimeters to dig through,
and you reach the surface. Your first
glimpse of light! However, you are an
aquatic turtle, yet mom put your nest far into the land. For each meter she crawled out of the water,
you have to crawl back. With her size,
she can walk that far in ten minutes, but it will take you days. You are about the size of a quarter. The lawn grass towers above your head. Divots in the ground are like canyons, and
slight rises are like mountains. You
cannot see the water directly, but you can sense it, and start walking towards
the water. Your dark colored carapace
helps camouflage you, but there are predators everywhere. Little blackbirds, blue jays, herons, crows,
raccoons, bullfrogs, and anything else that can fit you into their mouth might
eat you. And if you don’t make it in time,
you could dry out and die. In early
mornings and late evenings you march towards water, but its too hot in the middle
of the day and too cool in the night. Inch
by inch, you get closer to your goal until you finally reach the swamp. Your first swim in the water feels natural,
as this is your real home. While you
still need to avoid fish, frogs, wading birds, and many other predators, you
have already beaten many of the challenges you face. If you are able to survive, you will come
back to the nesting beach where you were laid, but 5 years later, to lay your
first clutch of eggs. Your first year
of life is now complete.</span>Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-4665133845168404052012-06-12T11:25:00.000-07:002012-06-12T11:26:32.019-07:00Turtle Life Part 4: Winter Months<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjPVCJZmM5H1hfkrMD_M_x1owENru62G6cMDEUVl86NOY7lTldnBuMxM6-bX-Souo_tuO0i_RDK2DHDsXby4LaWqS-kmIBCF2dnpQPTXd0fcTjcwOj_g11T6j9xcWsxqvhDXtmc_SRLf2_/s1600/p0060vdd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjPVCJZmM5H1hfkrMD_M_x1owENru62G6cMDEUVl86NOY7lTldnBuMxM6-bX-Souo_tuO0i_RDK2DHDsXby4LaWqS-kmIBCF2dnpQPTXd0fcTjcwOj_g11T6j9xcWsxqvhDXtmc_SRLf2_/s400/p0060vdd.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You are a COLD baby turtle!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
You and your sisters have hatched in your nest, and now position
yourselves with your tail down and your head up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here, you wait.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You still have some yolk attached to your
belly on the inside of your shell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
yolk is all your nourishment until spring. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As proceeds, leaves turn colors, then drop
off the trees above your nests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Days
grow shorter, nights grow longer, and winter approaches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The temperature inside your dark nest begin
to fall, your heart rate and metabolism really slow down. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Snow that falls above the nest acts as an
insulating barrier to the cold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still,
your shallow nest, and subsequently your own body temperature, drops below
freezing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your body is specially adapted
to withstand subzero temperatures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your
body can “supercool” which means it can stay unfrozen in temperatures below
freezing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if it gets colder, parts
of your body can freeze- mostly the liquid outside of your cells.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are one of the few vertebrate animals on
earth that can survive with your body temperature so cold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the winter is still a dangerous
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it drops too cold, you may not
be able to make it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, all you can
do now is hope mom’s nest was in a place that is well enough insulated from the
cold, that you won’t freeze to death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>can’t wait for the spring
thaw and your first glimpse of daylight.</div>Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-18193179252716851622012-06-10T20:11:00.002-07:002012-06-10T20:12:39.101-07:00Turtle Life Part 3: Summer Months<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRAIU5CWOl18MI9lGa_v25V5wsoaoZWgCWFc9dc893mjF2_sYb1cUUXvV8JCPdFxrxBsDsk7NsWWm-MqlCd7vyNdGXBCyJ3AtbiEZR_d1Sf3NM_aPswmsMU42tWr0I_BCyOxVkHltPtnFM/s1600/Picture+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRAIU5CWOl18MI9lGa_v25V5wsoaoZWgCWFc9dc893mjF2_sYb1cUUXvV8JCPdFxrxBsDsk7NsWWm-MqlCd7vyNdGXBCyJ3AtbiEZR_d1Sf3NM_aPswmsMU42tWr0I_BCyOxVkHltPtnFM/s1600/Picture+1.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A developing turtle embryo!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Its now early July and you have been developing well. Your
sexual structures have not yet developed and whether you will grow boy parts or
girl parts is now being determined.
This years temperatures are about average, and your nest is in a sunny
spot. In particular, during the
afternoon, there is no shade covering your nest. These warm temperatures increase the developmental rate, meaning
cells are dividing faster and your body is growing quickly. When you are at a cooler temperature
you develop more slowly. Since you
are at a warm temperature certain genes are telling your body to produce
hormones that direct your developing tissue to become ovaries as opposed to
testes. This means you are a
girl! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Development proceeds rapidly as this summer is very warm. In
early August, you are almost completely developed and it’s about time to
hatch. You have a special scale on
the end of your nose called an egg tooth.
You slit the leathery shell and take your first breath of air. Over the next day or two you will
completely crawl out of your shell.
All of your siblings are doing the same thing right now. Within a day, there will no longer be a
nest filled with eggs but now a nest filled with you and your baby turtle
siblings. You might think
that the next step is to crawl out of the nest, but in fact, your chances of
survival are much better if you sit tight, and endure the coming winter months
in the comfort of your nest.</div>Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-34862990145135183592012-05-29T07:26:00.001-07:002012-05-29T07:26:38.109-07:00Turtle Life Part 2: Early JuneNow it is early June. Your nest (luckily) was not sniffed out by a hungry predator, and you remain safely buried in the soil. At this point, you chances of being found by a predator or very low, they mostly find only fresh nests. However, about 70% of the nests around you were discovered and destroyed. For the coming months, the most important thing for you is how wet and how warm your little spot in the soil is. Mom chose a very sunny site to dig your nest. There is very little shade on the south or west side of the nest, so your nest is very exposed in the hot afternoon sun. Compared to most of the places around, your nest is relatively very warm. However, more important than how shady your nest is, is just the weather itself. You develop more quickly when its warm, but development slows down when its cool. If your nest is very warm, you may hatch in early August, but if its a cool summer, you might not hatch until September. <br />
<br />
Your mom left you all the yolk you need to grow, but she didn't give you all the water you may need. Unlike a bird egg, that has a shell that water cannot permeate, your leathery soft egg shell can absorb (or lose) water. If your nest is very moist, your egg will swell up, and may even allow help you be bigger when you hatch. However if it floods, you won't be able to survive. And if it is very dry, it may make growth difficult or even kill you. So hopefully your mom's nest is about the right temperature and about the right moisture for proper development. <br /><br />As you have heard, nest temperature will determine whether you will be a boy or a girl. But the critical time for sex determination (known as the thermosensitive period) will not begin quite yet. Once you are about one third of the way through your development, tempertature will begin to be important, but that is still a few weeks away.Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-87513927166817917242012-05-24T08:27:00.003-07:002012-05-24T08:27:41.755-07:00Turtle Life: Part 1 The first year of life for a turtle<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>418</o:Words>
<o:Characters>2384</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Iowa State University</o:Company>
<o:Lines>19</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>4</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>2927</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Use your imagination for a moment, and put yourself in the
shoes (or shell!) of a painted turtle during the first year of life.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRxKfexmwZnZ4QULcYd72biGukqrhcfSOMQtbWAN03Q7yDi9acbZv0V5YHjdRa4dnY4nZ24H5TmJ0wP-XPG5UuZ5661HymcldEYFkUfSrfIwOcgikh042mlV3nurcAe_UWzgAHSF7jwj3Q/s1600/Picture+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRxKfexmwZnZ4QULcYd72biGukqrhcfSOMQtbWAN03Q7yDi9acbZv0V5YHjdRa4dnY4nZ24H5TmJ0wP-XPG5UuZ5661HymcldEYFkUfSrfIwOcgikh042mlV3nurcAe_UWzgAHSF7jwj3Q/s320/Picture+1.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom is digging you a nest!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first few weeks of May:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are a fertilized egg of a turtle, only a few cells
big.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are inside your mother,
along with 10 other eggs who will be your brothers or sisters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each day, your mother is swimming
around the slough, trying to eat as many aquatic insects, carrion, and aquatic
vegetation as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She needs
this food so that she can supply you with a large amount of nutritious
yolk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This yolk is very important
for you, because you will not eat a real meal for about 1 year!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your mother is also trying to bask in
the sunlight as much as possible so she has the energy to dig you a nest,
somewhere on land.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
May 24:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today
is an important day for you and your siblings. It is sunny, and warm, and mom
spends all morning basking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Around
5pm, she crawls out of the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She could crawl out only a few meters, but she doesn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mom walks out of the water and starts
looking for just the right place to nest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Which place is right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well,
this is a challenging question!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Raccoons, skunks, foxes and coyotes would love to dig up her nest, and
might even try to eat mom if they get the chance- so hopefully she can find a
place where you and she can both avoid the predators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6FDgur4OTt-dKSxOhe_Uk2KX3ZRJyVlSebr0II8wcafM_iGnYsCgSriUx9RCfJaDEipBpQBuu9UtgTeZ5sBT19vtHnJuc-L1nJ7PoNQUmdQbElnJD_LM4_iKjoUNa3JM3AZkfkIXOIZp/s1600/UNcovered+nest.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6FDgur4OTt-dKSxOhe_Uk2KX3ZRJyVlSebr0II8wcafM_iGnYsCgSriUx9RCfJaDEipBpQBuu9UtgTeZ5sBT19vtHnJuc-L1nJ7PoNQUmdQbElnJD_LM4_iKjoUNa3JM3AZkfkIXOIZp/s320/UNcovered+nest.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You and your siblings, buried with care in the nest!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She also needs to be concerned with your development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She can’t sit on the next like a bird
can or protect you from predators, so the only thing she can do is choose a
good place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If its too hot
or cold, you won’t ever make it, but she can’t control the weather either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So she has to choose a nest that will
hopefully be the right temperature, but you may be at the mercy of the
weather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, if your nest is
very warm, you and your siblings will all become sisters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your nest is cool, you and your
siblings will all become brothers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Perhaps your nest is in the middle, and you will have some brothers and
some sisters!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJfLVDBgTy6a6nkIDoP5HWvEGz6_6MLcHTAgENWqICkDsAzoHQrddRi0SPB7sir-jxYJiBApkdgfGBIndnfGmUSvKo3N2_LIpbKjUofLmcRJJwOVO1FPNmQMugVHHKeQXBa0tRSxh7zXX2/s1600/Covered+Nest.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJfLVDBgTy6a6nkIDoP5HWvEGz6_6MLcHTAgENWqICkDsAzoHQrddRi0SPB7sir-jxYJiBApkdgfGBIndnfGmUSvKo3N2_LIpbKjUofLmcRJJwOVO1FPNmQMugVHHKeQXBa0tRSxh7zXX2/s320/Covered+Nest.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The covered up nest- well camouflaged from Raccoons.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mom chooses a sunny place about 50 meters from the
river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She begins to dig. Your
mother has extremely sharp claws and powerful hind legs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She also has drank a lot of water,
which she now releases on the nest as she digs, to help moisten the rock hard soil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She carefully carves out a cavity about
the size of a racquetball, with a narrow opening at the top.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, out you come!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are no longer in your mom, but in
the ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your eggs is about the
size of a grape, but mostly yolk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You are still just a few cells large. She carefully packs you in, and
covers you up, and crawls back to the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since you are in an egg, and haven’t even developed eyes
yet, it is possible you will never ever see your mother, because she is gone
and isn’t coming back!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But she has
done what she can to give you what you need to survive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this is just the beginning of a
long year ahead of you!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Find out what happens next?</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-3771333645840042322012-05-21T19:20:00.000-07:002012-05-21T19:20:19.022-07:00Turtle Nesting 101<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>198</o:Words>
<o:Characters>1132</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Iowa State University</o:Company>
<o:Lines>9</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>2</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>1390</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Turtles are oviparous which means that they lay eggs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many other animals lay eggs as well,
like birds, insects, amphibians, fish and other reptiles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether or not turtles live in the
water most of the time, they will lay their eggs on land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The painted turtles that we study crawl
out of the water, dig a shallow nest, lay their eggs, cover up the nest, and
leave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forever!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a turtle lays her nest<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>she never comes back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So you may think a turtle is a pretty lousy mom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that is not so!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Turtle eggs are filled with nutritious yolk that help the
baby developing inside grow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
eggs are very sensitive to their environment- particularly how warm and wet the
environment is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So moms must lay
eggs at just the right time, and in just the right place so that the nest is
suitable for the developing eggs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At Turtle Camp, we monitor where and when turtles nest, and
we measure how many eggs are in the nest, and how big each egg is. Over the
past 24 years, the earliest date we have recorded a turtle nest was May 21.
This year, there have already been 52 nests laid prior to May 21! Depending on
where you live, you may have experienced a very warm winter and early
spring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here at Turtle Camp it was
a very warm winter and early spring. This warm winter has already influenced
how the turtles are behaving! Stay tuned to see how nesting continues through the coming weeks.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/l0nEUrFAeQk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-56474959255365028272012-05-19T10:44:00.000-07:002012-05-19T14:34:06.668-07:00Turtle Camp 2012! The 25th Year!<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
What is Turtle Camp?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
25 years ago, a PhD student from the University of Chicago
was looking for a place to find Painted Turtle eggs for a science
experiment. Somebody suggested
heading to a Sand Prairie along the Mississippi River, near Thomson, IL. As he was camping nearby on a nearby
island, he noticed turtles seemed to love nesting right in there in the
campsite! That student was Fred
Janzen. Fred is now a Professor at
Iowa State University and we now know that campsite as Turtle Camp. And every year since that summer, Fred
and his students have traveled to the Turtle Camp to research the turtles. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For 6 weeks each May and June, a team of researchers is
stationed at Turtle Camp, trying to learn as much about the ecology and
evolution of these animals as possible.
The Turtle Camp Research Team has very diverse duties. On one of the nesting beaches, we walk
through every single hour of daylight looking for nesting turtles, and take all
sorts of information about each nest.
We also trap turtle swimming around in the river, and learn about those
turtles as well. We visit the Sand
Prairie, which is a great habitat for turtle nesting, and for many uncommon
reptiles to live (like the Hognose Snake and Ornate Box Turtle). On top of all this, students have their
own research projects going on.
Indeed, Turtle Camp is a busy place for the Turtle researchers. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Who is the Turtle Camp research team?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA1CmSF92ds7FYo6F5yDWaRgK2LhPQQwOWpEx6a6xKLJTxgaURejLzGZQvAQKRjyqpRt67Jh0jgQdKPguONpBim5lgcPDw0MVNVImCu6u-jqqVMYXtE9X6LMatYsGAKh4mex0-3-6LsCe-/s1600/Picture+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA1CmSF92ds7FYo6F5yDWaRgK2LhPQQwOWpEx6a6xKLJTxgaURejLzGZQvAQKRjyqpRt67Jh0jgQdKPguONpBim5lgcPDw0MVNVImCu6u-jqqVMYXtE9X6LMatYsGAKh4mex0-3-6LsCe-/s400/Picture+2.png" width="400" /></a>Each year the research team is a bit different, and
throughout the season different people come and go. Right now, I am coordinating the research project. I am a
PhD student at Iowa State, and I am working
with 3 Iowa State biology students, Jessica, Brooke, and Aubrey. Jessica is from Des Moines, and has been to Turtle Camp for 6 years (longer than I have). She started coming as a high school student. Brooke is in her second year at Turtle Camp, and Aubrey in her first. As Turtle Camp proceeds more and
different people will be coming through.
Of course, Fred is still the primary Turtle Camp researcher, and is the
reason there has been successful research continuing here for so long. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What to expect by following along?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Over the coming weeks, you will learn that turtles are very
fascinating and interesting creatures.
And you will also learn what its like to be a science researcher living
in the field, studying animals in their natural habitats. It will be a fun adventure for us, and I hope you will have a fun following along. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/8fR0iaY8kkw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
</div>Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-25571384733925368552012-05-16T06:41:00.000-07:002012-05-16T06:41:03.158-07:00Turtle Camp Begins!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Ws1MgwQCI0yMcWMYTPHa03mbyjTmKA8HZf5yM0c9BKJojFAFN9BuOFR2cq5fk8m0Fx0GphWK7Jfw-HWiAqa8NVEM74Nzf8LCrTcli8CLbvVSmA8jjxmQX6nXz4AZG0PkCgGKUXIBw7h2/s1600/paint1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Ws1MgwQCI0yMcWMYTPHa03mbyjTmKA8HZf5yM0c9BKJojFAFN9BuOFR2cq5fk8m0Fx0GphWK7Jfw-HWiAqa8NVEM74Nzf8LCrTcli8CLbvVSmA8jjxmQX6nXz4AZG0PkCgGKUXIBw7h2/s320/paint1.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
On Monday we arrived at our Turtle Research site in Thomson, IL. We will spend the next 6 weeks here doing science research, working mostly with Painted Turtles. On Day 1 we set up our campsite and gear for the 6 week season, and purchased a lot of supplies and groceries. Yesterday we set up a lot of turtle traps in the Mississippi River backwaters to try and capture as many turtles as possible. And we also had our very first turtle nest of the season.... Our internet coverage is rather poor out here, but I will be sending you some videos and more updates soon.<div>
<br /><div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To whet your appetite, check out this longer turtle trapping video from last years Turtle Camp.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/dWsKOnTC9CI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
</div>Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-8186979543866691752012-04-24T06:08:00.001-07:002012-04-24T06:08:38.662-07:00Sex-determination explained<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/kMWxuF9YW38?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
Ted ED partnered with Aaron Reedy (of the Lizard Project) to make this great video about the diversity of sex-determining mechanisms.<br />
<br />
There is still a lot we don't know about sex-determination as well, which are areas of current and future research.Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-57430360449491002882012-04-19T14:58:00.001-07:002012-04-19T15:00:51.333-07:00Food Webs as hypothesis generators<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbfn8_XovJXdLbUmc-pfEMn9BW9E-t9bE3hYZfuJOKetd0pF8Jt5z2nhuHcxZ6dbiC3vTT6nxmoaDoLO8wZRlryQfx7kGfOIfmCE6LITQ5IBOA7TfdB9w35HqeH5ElALlHwL53qHt5GUA/s1600/IMG_0013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbfn8_XovJXdLbUmc-pfEMn9BW9E-t9bE3hYZfuJOKetd0pF8Jt5z2nhuHcxZ6dbiC3vTT6nxmoaDoLO8wZRlryQfx7kGfOIfmCE6LITQ5IBOA7TfdB9w35HqeH5ElALlHwL53qHt5GUA/s400/IMG_0013.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>Do you think that a hawk eating a rat could have any influence on the Anoles on our islands? If you cannot think of a way it could have an influence, take a look at the food web drawn at the right for some ideas.<br />
<br />
<br />
The student's in Mr. Morris' class have helped me construct a simplified food web for Island M, based on observations we had made on the island or nearby. Here is a great example of one of the food webs a student constructed based on our observations. From this drawing, you can see that perhaps the rat population really strongly influences anoles, because they not only directly eat anoles, but compete with them for other food sources.<br />
<br />
One thing these webs really help us do is generate hypotheses. In class tomorrow, students will be coming up with predictions based off of several different scenarios.Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-79186142842424973882012-04-19T12:19:00.000-07:002012-04-19T12:19:01.150-07:00A few Lizard VideosHere are a few last videos from the Lizard Project. One really clearly shows Dan noosing a lizard, and the other shows how we process (weigh, measure, mark) the lizards.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/dnhh9xx9aB0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/atUTdn7w_AE/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/atUTdn7w_AE?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/atUTdn7w_AE?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div>Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-60655856410510907892012-04-10T17:12:00.000-07:002012-04-10T17:12:20.777-07:00Lizard Project- Fun with Photography, Thanks to Vincent MusiSome say that a picture is worth a thousand words. I think I have never been more in agreement with that statement than after my day yesterday. Vincent Musi, a world famous photographer, and his family visited us and he took a shot at photographing our lizards. Vince had wonderful stories about his life as a National Geographic and freelance photographer, and after working with him, it was clear he was a master of his trade. Vince had prepared a wonderful lizard studio, and we spend hours with him working on getting the right lizard poses (which is very hard to do in a very unnatural lizard studio). After about 6 hours of work, we finally got a lizard to flare his dewlap in just the right place, at just the right time. Pretty great to see a lizard in such detail, something I could never appreciate with the naked eye! Many thanks to Vince for coming down to work with the lizards! Also, Vince's son Hunter is an expert lizard nooser in training! He had plenty of natural talent!<div><br />
</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghvBolB4LpElsJ4TPnlnZpieCZijGo_WB9AYvX-IqNOFeFqf1cp_5HXwhBcjOyQr05egFOZ_OtRD3rcJJjsuZnxNp4pYUjc8Ie1xc3ha9-5FaHs_e-Glprm3TAnE_CBrRijypWgOn63rWb/s1600/_65A6264.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="421" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghvBolB4LpElsJ4TPnlnZpieCZijGo_WB9AYvX-IqNOFeFqf1cp_5HXwhBcjOyQr05egFOZ_OtRD3rcJJjsuZnxNp4pYUjc8Ie1xc3ha9-5FaHs_e-Glprm3TAnE_CBrRijypWgOn63rWb/s640/_65A6264.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div></div>Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-16252197733145687592012-04-05T19:38:00.002-07:002012-04-05T19:40:11.419-07:00Lizard Project- Day 10. Lizard Lingo!<div class="MsoNormal">We are on the cutting edge of evolutionary biology, but also on the cutting edge of developing new vocabulary. After spending days and days trying to catch lizards, we have developed some new vocab words. Let me define a few of these words, and use them in a sentence so you can better understand them. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">“Squirrel” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">verb</i> To run around to the backside of a tree to avoid danger coming from the front, as squirrels commonly do to avoid predators.</div><div class="MsoNormal">In common lizard speak: “Hey Dan, did you get that big male?” “Nah, he squirreled me, can you see him from the other side?”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">“The Praying Mantis” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">noun</i> The lizard catching technique generally employed to counter squirreling. When a lizard is unseen, but its location is well known, the lizard-catcher aligns his hands in a prayer position, and then rapidly wraps his fingers around the tree, hoping to capture the lizard on the other side.</div><div class="MsoNormal">In common lizard speak: “Hey Tim, that lizard is directly on the other side of that branch, use the Praying Mantis!” (Video demonstration to come!)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/tOOeMg7eqYM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe>“The Put-back” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">noun</i> When one lizard catcher should capture a lizard, but fails at the last moment, but another lizard catcher comes in to capture that same lizard before it escapes. This word was borrowed from basketball, when a player simultaneously rebounds and scores off a teammates missed shot. To see a prime example of a putback, see the video:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In common lizard speak: “I can’t believe that dang lizard got away from me when I was getting it out of the noose!” “Yeah, Good thing Reedy was there with the Put-Back, Taj Gibson would be sooooo jealous!”</div>Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246072671681051007.post-20440352096006899532012-04-04T18:16:00.004-07:002012-04-04T18:33:29.497-07:00Day 8 & 9: A field day in the life of an evolutionary biologist- repost from Aaron's blog<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">As a biology teacher it seems to me that many kids who would make really great biologists (Maybe you are one of those kids!), don’t become biologist because they don’t know any biologists personally and can’t picture exactly what it is they would do as a biologist. Here at WideWorldScience we love what we do and we want to share it with you. While it is true that there is a lot of time spent back at the lab, analyzing data, teaching classes, planning experiments and preparing for field expeditions, all of us love to get out and do science in the wild. We really do love working with our friends outside, paddling kayaks, looking for wildlife, climbing trees and chasing lizards. We live for these field trips! Here is a typical field day in the life of a biologist:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 1em; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 4px; position: relative; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoGmzsl0hGgisc-m4wsjphCDMXROGJVPSE7daPJoR7qwbwmd2rtd9PVH0eZpegagwdVD_emdjkcS8y952R3-0baMvslPlphREr5PxSnhclJ2WnMygut-vAVNnOZy0q_sn6Aw65bpCRMhZR/s1600/IMG_0788.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoGmzsl0hGgisc-m4wsjphCDMXROGJVPSE7daPJoR7qwbwmd2rtd9PVH0eZpegagwdVD_emdjkcS8y952R3-0baMvslPlphREr5PxSnhclJ2WnMygut-vAVNnOZy0q_sn6Aw65bpCRMhZR/s320/IMG_0788.JPG" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 0px 0px 0px; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #222222; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px 0px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: transparent; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: transparent; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: transparent; border-top-left-radius: 0px 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 0px 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center;">Dan and Andrew with our rental truck and kayak trailer.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">6:30 Wake up- Four of us are packed into the tiny bunkhouse room at the Guano Tolomato Matanzas Estuarine Research Reserve. It is small, but it has air conditioning, running water, electricity and an internet connection, so we are glad to have it. Many times we camp in tents while we are working in the field.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">6:45 Breakfast- cereal, milk and bananas</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">8:00 Drive 3 miles to the boat launch- This is where we put the kayaks in the water. There are lots of fisherman that put their boats in the estuary here. It is a busy place.7:15 Packing the gear- We pack up all of our gear into the truck for the day. This includes, lizard nooses, lizard bags, drinking water, dry shoes, sunscreen, cameras, animal coolers, lizard noose repair kit, duct tape (you always need duct tape), life jackets, kayaks, paddles and of course lunch (usually pb&j sandwiches, apples and granola bars).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">8:30 Paddle out to the islands- This is one of my favorite parts of the day. It takes about 10 minutes to paddle to Island M, our closest island, and about 45 minutes to paddle to Island F, the furthest island. We often have dolphins swim near us while we paddle.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">9:00 We land on an island. This requires us to wade through the shallow water. Since Tim cut his foot on an oyster shell two days ago, we have to help him keep his feet dry. See this video.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-right: 1em; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 4px; position: relative; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUXy74HI2uMRYyMZbplg_fkobc-_osD-syV-C-tE6QYLvhYob3UiwziDAMIu90AjBXnUxAvUhrA6Hy3rFI6v0Lxq93I1Nsan8FmNgv92q9e30EoQX7IXHWtdA2-UsBhoR6dKPQnofoQXk/s1600/IMG_0770.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUXy74HI2uMRYyMZbplg_fkobc-_osD-syV-C-tE6QYLvhYob3UiwziDAMIu90AjBXnUxAvUhrA6Hy3rFI6v0Lxq93I1Nsan8FmNgv92q9e30EoQX7IXHWtdA2-UsBhoR6dKPQnofoQXk/s400/IMG_0770.JPG" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 0px 0px 0px; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #222222; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px 0px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-left-color: transparent; border-left-style: solid; border-right-color: transparent; border-right-style: solid; border-top-color: transparent; border-top-left-radius: 0px 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-width: initial; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 0px 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px; position: relative;" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: left;">The commute to the office.</div><br />
<div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">9:15- 12:15 We hunt for lizards on the island. We just walk around carefully looking for lizards in the trees. When we find one we then try to noose it. We put numbers on those that we have already caught so we don’t catch them again accidentally.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="font-size: 10px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img alt="IMG_2792.jpg" src="webkit-fake-url://4D513E84-AC32-4591-BFF5-406FEF02DBE0/IMG_2792.jpg" /></span></div><br />
<div style="font-size: 10px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">12:15- 12:45 We take a break to eat our lunch.</span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">1:00- 4:00 We move to a second island and catch lizards there.</span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-right: 1em; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 4px; position: relative; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYXYA-AEK6TD69InPH8NWslQDPVxVZ4mn8SrdX2pke7CtcgU0_k12jPdK8Cn9oBXiU_2tCl-K7t0kqf5_THxyogR02m8R0hti0ZJu6s6nDMPpKlPSZ0wSo8kdFM9_UDT66xtymOSL1f-6q/s1600/IMG_0782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYXYA-AEK6TD69InPH8NWslQDPVxVZ4mn8SrdX2pke7CtcgU0_k12jPdK8Cn9oBXiU_2tCl-K7t0kqf5_THxyogR02m8R0hti0ZJu6s6nDMPpKlPSZ0wSo8kdFM9_UDT66xtymOSL1f-6q/s320/IMG_0782.JPG" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 0px 0px 0px; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #222222; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px 0px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: transparent; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: transparent; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: transparent; border-top-left-radius: 0px 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 0px 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center;">Looking for lizards in all the wrong places.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">4:15 We paddle the kayaks back to the boat launch and load them back up on the trailer to drive back to the field station.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">5:00 Cold Showers- Sometimes we even stop for ice cream on the way home.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">5:00 to 6:30 Blogging, Tweeting, Cooking Dinner and update</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">s data notebooks</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="IMG_6907.JPG.jpg" src="webkit-fake-url://80159A5E-2C97-4046-9CED-CA9C5BFAE71F/IMG_6907.JPG.jpg" /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">6:30-10:00 Processing Lizards. This is what we call it when we measure, weigh, mark and take tissue samples from the lizards.<br />
</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img alt="IMG_0789[1].JPG.jpg" src="webkit-fake-url://7B832164-BAE7-4224-8DF8-E6EB38434839/IMG_0789%5B1%5D.JPG.jpg" /></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">10:30 Sleep time! We are really tired by this point in the day!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 18px;"></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span>Tim Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14413659331897157680noreply@blogger.com0