ClassX Video Lessons Sucky Fish & Relationship Advice from Ants | Natural News from The Field Museum | Ep. 3
Today, we’re diving into some fascinating topics, including new dinosaur discoveries, environmental challenges, and the importance of healthy relationships. Let’s get started!
Caleb McMahan, a fish collections manager, and his team have made an interesting discovery about a fish called the suckermouth armored catfish, or Hypostomus niceforoi. This fish usually lives in the streams of the Andes Mountains in countries like Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru. However, the team found that it has also been spotted in Lago Nicaragua, a lake in Nicaragua. Since the fish couldn’t have swum there due to saltwater barriers, it might have been transported through the ornamental fish trade.
The ornamental fish industry has been around in Central and South America for a long time and provides many jobs. But there’s a problem when people release their pet fish into local waters. This can cause big ecological issues. In fact, the aquarium trade is responsible for about a third of the world’s worst aquatic invasive species. Armored catfishes can get stuck in fishing nets and cause damage, and they are known to be invasive in other parts of Central America.
So, remember, if you have a pet fish you can’t keep anymore, don’t release it into the wild. Instead, consider returning it to a pet store or donating it to a school or retirement home. This helps protect native fish populations.
Field Correspondent M. Lee Grass Lee brings us news about recent dinosaur finds in Utah. Fossil preparator Akiko Shinya and curator Pete Makovicky have been working hard in the hot sun, searching for dinosaur remains that are between 112 and 98 million years old. They walked up to 12 miles a day in 100-degree heat!
After a week of searching, they found a partial skeleton of what might be an armored dinosaur, rescued a small herbivorous dinosaur from the Late Jurassic period, and discovered the skeleton of a large sauropod. More details about these exciting finds will be shared soon.
Museum media producer Greg Mercer joined the team in Utah and captured some amazing footage. Stay tuned for his mini-documentary to learn more about this field trip!
In Lewis Carroll’s book “Through the Looking Glass,” the Red Queen tells Alice that you have to run as fast as you can just to stay in the same place. This idea is used in biology as the Red Queen Hypothesis, which suggests that competitive species need to evolve quickly to stay ahead of their rivals. But there’s another idea called the Red King Hypothesis, which suggests that species that help each other, known as mutualists, evolve more slowly to keep their beneficial relationships going.
Curator and ant scientist Corrie Moreau, along with Princeton post-doc Ben Rubin, studied how long it takes for mutualist relationships to evolve. They looked at the relationship between acacia trees and certain ant species. The trees provide food and shelter, while the ants protect the trees from herbivores. Their research, published in Nature Communications, showed that mutualists actually evolve faster than competitive species because they need to adapt to changes in their environment and their partners.
Corrie suggests that many species switch between being mutualists and parasites over time, which means they need to adapt quickly to keep their relationships balanced. The key takeaway is that it’s important to work on maintaining balanced relationships, so one side doesn’t take advantage of the other.
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Natural News from the Field Museum! If you’re curious to learn more about today’s topics, check out the links to the articles in the description. Don’t forget to subscribe for updates on future episodes. The next episode on The Brain Scoop will explore artificial head-binding in Ancient Egypt. Stay tuned!
Imagine you are a museum media producer like Greg Mercer. Create a short video or slideshow presentation about a recent scientific discovery or an interesting animal. Use images, videos, and facts to make your presentation engaging. Share it with your classmates and explain why you chose this topic.
Design a poster that educates people about the dangers of releasing pet fish into the wild. Include information about invasive species and suggest alternatives for pet owners who can no longer care for their fish. Use colorful illustrations and clear messages to make your poster eye-catching and informative.
Work in groups to role-play a dinosaur expedition team like Akiko Shinya and Pete Makovicky. Assign roles such as paleontologist, fossil preparator, and media producer. Plan a mock expedition, decide on the tools you’ll need, and discuss the types of dinosaurs you hope to find. Present your expedition plan to the class.
Conduct a simple experiment to observe mutualistic relationships in nature. For example, plant a flowering plant and observe how bees or other pollinators interact with it. Record your observations and discuss how both the plant and the pollinators benefit from this relationship. Share your findings with the class.
Write a short story from the perspective of an ant living in a mutualistic relationship with an acacia tree. Describe the daily life of the ant, its interactions with the tree, and the challenges it faces. Use your imagination to bring the story to life and share it with your classmates.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Hey and welcome back to Natural News from The Field Museum! Today’s stories include exciting dinosaur discoveries, some challenges in the environment, and the importance of maintaining healthy relationships. Let’s dive in!
Fishes collections manager Caleb McMahan and co-authors recently published a paper in the Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural Science from Louisiana State University about a species of suckermouth armored catfish, Hypostomus niceforoi. This species is typically found in Andean streams in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru, but the new paper reveals it has also been collected from Lago Nicaragua in Nicaragua. Given the significant geographic distance and saltwater barriers, the fish likely didn’t swim there but may have been transported through the ornamental fish trade.
The ornamental fish industry has been established in Central and South America for decades and, when managed sustainably, provides jobs for thousands. However, when pet owners no longer want their fish and release them into local waters, it can lead to serious ecological issues. One estimate suggests that the aquarium trade has contributed to a third of the world’s worst aquatic invasive species. Armored catfishes like Hypostomus can become entangled in fishing nets, causing damage, and different species of armored catfishes are known to be invasive in other parts of Central America, with their negative impacts not fully understood.
So, as a friendly reminder, please do not release your fish into the wild! If you need to rehome a healthy pet, consider returning it to a pet store or donating your setup to a school or retirement home. Releasing a fish into the wild can harm native fish populations.
We have an update from Field Correspondent M. Lee Grass Lee, who is reporting on recent dinosaur finds in Utah. Fossil preparator Akiko Shinya and curator Pete Makovicky have been conducting fieldwork, searching for dinosaurs in the heat. They’ve spent three weeks looking for remains that are 112-98 million years old, walking up to 12 miles a day in 100-degree heat. After a week of searching, they discovered a partial skeleton of a probable armored dinosaur, salvaged a small Late Jurassic herbivorous dinosaur that had been damaged, and found the skeleton of a large sauropod. More details on these finds will be shared soon.
Museum media producer Greg Mercer joined the team in Utah and provided clips for us! If you want to learn more about this field trip, stay tuned for his mini-documentary coming soon.
Now, let’s talk about ants. In Lewis Carroll’s book “Through the Looking Glass,” the Red Queen tells Alice that it takes all the running you can do to stay in the same place. This idea has been adapted in biology as the Red Queen Hypothesis, which refers to the pressure on competitive species to evolve rapidly to outpace their competition. However, recent statistical modeling suggests the opposite may be true for mutualists—species that benefit from each other’s activities. This is known as the Red King Hypothesis, which posits that mutualist species evolve at a slower rate to maintain their beneficial partnership.
Curator and ant scientist Corrie Moreau and Princeton post-doc Ben Rubin investigated how long it takes mutualist relationships to evolve between species. They studied the relationship between acacia trees and certain species of ants, where the tree provides food and shelter, and the ant protects the tree from herbivores. Their findings, published in Nature Communications, revealed that mutualists actually evolve more quickly than competitive species because they need to adapt to changes in their environment and their mutualist partners.
Corrie suggests that many species switch between mutualism and parasitism over time, which requires them to react quickly to maintain balance in their relationships. The takeaway is that it’s important to put effort into maintaining balanced relationships; otherwise, one side may end up taking advantage of the other.
Thank you for watching this episode of Natural News from the Field Museum! If you want to learn more about anything we covered today, check out the links to the articles in the description, and subscribe for notifications on future episodes. The next episode on The Brain Scoop will be about artificial head-binding in Ancient Egypt. Stay tuned!
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This version removes any informal language and maintains a professional tone while conveying the same information.
Fish – A cold-blooded animal that lives in water, has gills for breathing, and usually has fins and scales. – In the river, we observed a variety of fish swimming together in schools.
Dinosaur – A group of extinct reptiles that lived millions of years ago, known for their large size and diverse species. – Scientists study dinosaur fossils to learn more about these ancient creatures and their habitats.
Ecology – The branch of biology that deals with the relationships between living organisms and their environment. – In our ecology class, we learned how different species interact within an ecosystem.
Invasive – Referring to a species that is not native to an area and tends to spread, often causing harm to the environment. – The invasive plant species quickly took over the local habitat, outcompeting native plants.
Species – A group of similar organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. – The scientists discovered a new species of frog in the rainforest.
Relationships – The interactions and connections between organisms within an ecosystem. – Predator-prey relationships are crucial for maintaining balance in the ecosystem.
Environment – The surrounding conditions in which an organism lives, including air, water, and land. – Protecting the environment is essential for the survival of many species.
Mutualists – Organisms that engage in a mutualistic relationship, where both parties benefit. – Bees and flowers are mutualists, as bees get nectar and flowers get pollinated.
Adaptations – Changes in an organism’s structure or behavior that help it survive in its environment. – The thick fur of polar bears is an adaptation to the cold Arctic climate.
Fossils – The preserved remains or traces of organisms that lived in the past. – Fossils provide important evidence about the history of life on Earth.
