Latest news with #FieldMuseumofNaturalHistory
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
‘Important moment in evolution': Fossil preserves never-before-seen flight feathers in ‘first bird'
Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. When a fossil preserves an animal's complete body in a death pose, seeing it is observing a snapshot in time. Several such fossils exist for Archaeopteryx — the earliest known bird — and now, a remarkable specimen that was off-limits to scientists for decades is offering previously unseen evidence about the first bird's ability to fly. Researchers have long wondered how Archaeopteryx took to the air while most of its feathered dinosaur cousins never left the ground, and some argued that Archaeopteryx was probably more of a glider than a true flier. The first fossils of this Jurassic winged wonder were found in southern Germany more than 160 years ago and are about 150 million years old; to date just 14 fossils have been discovered. But private collectors snapped up some of these rarities, isolating the fossils from scientific study and hobbling investigations into this pivotal moment in avian evolution. One such fossil was recently acquired by Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History and has provided answers to the longstanding question about flight in Archaeopteryx. Researchers published a description of the pigeon-size specimen in the journal Nature on May 14, reporting that ultraviolet (UV) light and computed tomography (CT) scans had revealed soft tissues and structures never seen before in this ancient bird. The findings included feathers indicating that Archaeopteryx could achieve powered flight. While most Archaeopteryx fossil specimens 'are incomplete and crushed,' this fossil was missing just one digit and remained unflattened by time, said lead study author Dr. Jingmai O'Connor, a paleontologist and associate curator of fossil reptiles at the Field Museum. 'The bones are just exquisitely preserved in 3D; you really don't see that in all the other specimens,' O'Connor told CNN. 'We also have more fossilized soft tissues associated with our specimen than we've seen in any other individual.' Field Museum fossil preparators and study coauthors Akiko Shinya and Constance Van Beek worked on the specimen for more than a year. They spent hundreds of hours scanning and modeling the positions of the bones in three dimensions; chipping away shards of limestone; and using UV light to illuminate the boundaries between mineralized soft tissue and rocky matrix. Their preparation — a process that took about 1,600 hours in all, O'Connor estimated — paid off. The researchers detected the first evidence in Archaeopteryx of a group of flight feathers called tertials, which grow along the humerus between the elbow and the body and are an important component of all powered flight in modern birds. Since the 1980s, scientists have hypothesized that Archaeopteryx had tertials due to the length of its humerus, O'Connor said. But this is the first time such feathers have been found in an Archaeopteryx fossil. The surprises didn't end there. Elongated scale shapes on the toe pads hinted that Archaeopteryx spent time foraging on the ground, as modern pigeons and doves do. And bones in the roof of its mouth provided clues about the evolution of a skull feature in birds called cranial kinesis, the independent movement of skull bones relative to each other. This feature gives birds more flexibility in how they use their beaks. 'It was one 'Wow!' after another,' O'Connor said. The discovery of tertials in particular 'is an extraordinary finding because it suggests that Archaeopteryx could indeed fly,' said Dr. Susan Chapman, an associate professor in the department of biological sciences at Clemson University in South Carolina. Chapman, who was not involved in the research, studies bird evolution using paleontology and developmental biology. 'The preparators of the Chicago Archaeopteryx did an outstanding job of preserving not just the bone structure, but also the soft tissue impressions,' Chapman told CNN in an email. 'Because of their care, this near complete specimen provides never-before-understood insights into this transitional fossil from theropod dinosaurs to birds.' However, Archaeopteryx could probably only fly for short distances, she added. Despite having tertials, it lacked certain adaptations for powered flight seen in modern birds, such as specialized flight muscles and a breastbone extension called a keel to anchor those muscles, Chapman said. The museum acquired this Archaeopteryx specimen in 2022, and at the time, museum president and CEO Julian Siggers called it 'the Field Museum's most significant fossil acquisition since SUE the T. rex.' As a link between non-avian theropod dinosaurs and the lineage that produced all modern birds, Archaeopteryx's evolutionary importance was unquestionable. But in some ways, the museum was taking a big gamble on that particular fossil, according to O'Connor. It had been in private hands since 1990, and its condition was unknown. When it arrived at the museum, scientists weren't sure what to expect, O'Connor said. To say that the fossil exceeded their expectations would be an understatement. 'When I found out we were going to acquire an Archaeopteryx, I never in my wildest dreams thought that we were going to end up with such a spectacular specimen,' O'Connor said. 'This is one of the most important macroevolutionary transitions in Earth's life history, because this gives rise to the group of dinosaurs that not only survives the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, but then becomes the most diverse group of land vertebrates on our planet today. So this is a very, very important moment in evolution.' The significance of such specimens underscores why scientific access should be prioritized over private fossil collection, Chapman added. When fossils are sold for profit and private display rather than for study, 'their preparation is often poor, thus losing irreplaceable soft tissue structures,' she said. 'Moreover, the value of such specimens to mankind's understanding of evolution is lost for decades.' The Chicago Archaeopteryx likely preserves many other important details about bird evolution, O'Connor added. With an abundance of data already collected from the fossil and analysis still underway, its full story is yet to be told. 'There's going to be a lot more to come,' she said. 'I hope that everyone finds it as exciting as I do.' Mindy Weisberger is a science writer and media producer whose work has appeared in Live Science, Scientific American and How It Works magazine. She is the author of 'Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind Control' (Hopkins Press).
CBS News
16-04-2025
- General
- CBS News
Story time for families honors Arab American Heritage Month at Field Museum
The University of Illinois Chicago is home to the first and only Arab American Cultural Center on a college campus, and staff members were at the Field Museum of Natural History on Wednesday to celebrate Arab American Heritage Month with families. When CBS News Chicago visited, youngsters were sitting on the floor for story time. A story has the power to make the floor of a Field Museum exhibition hall feel like the center of the Arab world. Nesreen Hasan usually works with UIC students, but she was the one reading to toddlers on Wednesday. "I work at the Arab American Cultural Center and this month, April, is the month for Arab Americans," Hasan said. Story time with toddlers at the Field Museum is now a three-year tradition during Arab American Heritage Month. Reese Corey, 2, loves reading until she is distracted by a dinosaur — something that has a higher-than-average probability of happening at the Field Museum. But story time — no matter how long it lasts — helps Reese's mom, Anna Shea-Michaels, teach her daughter her own story. "Reese here, her dad is part Lebanese and Syrian, and we don't have very much connection to the family over there," Shea-Michaels said, "so I just love to kind of broaden her world about her culture." As Hasan read to kids Wednesday, she hoped to reach adults too. "For many years, Arab Americans have been facing racism, bigotry, xenophobia — and we feel sometimes a heritage month, or Arab American Heritage Month, can broaden people's horizons," she said. And whether they realize it or not, kids are learning how to listen to stories — and embrace their own. "Even at the youngest of ages, having a narrative about who she is, is really important," Shea-Michaels said of her daughter. At the Field Museum, the Crown Family PlayLab hosts free story time sessions, music and more on most Wednesdays.
CBS News
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
False bomb threat prompts staff evacuation, late opening for Field Museum
Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History evacuated its staff and opened late on Tuesday due to a false bomb threat. The museum announced that it received a threat of explosives in the building early Tuesday. The Chicago Police Explosives Canine Unit and Bomb Squad were called to the museum, at 1400 S. DuSable Lake Shore Dr., and found that the threat was not credible. During the sweep, Field Museum staff members were evacuated to the nearby Shedd Aquarium, where the museum said its staff were warmly welcomed. The museum's opening was delayed until noon Tuesday because of the threat, but it was open as usual through the afternoon. The museum will be open until 9 p.m. Tuesday for the "After 5 at the Field" event, at which visitors can experience the museum after hours at a discounted all-access admission rate. What's happening at the Field Museum now? At the Field Museum now, the popular "Cats: Predators to Pets" exhibit remains open through April 27. The exhibit is all about cats of all kinds — domestic and wild, cuddly and ferocious. On Monday, the museum hosted its latest cat café, held in partnership with the Anti-Cruelty animal welfare organization, at which visitors could pet, cuddle, and play with real live cats. Meanwhile, special Events are planned for Wednesday at the Field Museum. Among them is the panel discussion, "Cultural Curators: Black Voices in the Museum Industry," in which three museum staff members will talk about their professions and experiences and give advice to youngsters. The free event at the museum's James Simpson Theatre is part of the Field Museum's Black History Month celebration. Also Wednesday, Corwin Sullivan, an associate professor of biological science at the University of Alberta, will present the talk, "Reptile, reconfigured: changes in structure and function on the evolutionary line from long-deceased dinosaurs to modern birds." This event is part of the weekly A. Watson Armour III Seminar Series and is included with museum admission. The Field Museum is free for Illinois residents on Wednesdays. On Thursday, the Field Museum's first poet in residence, Eric Elshtain, will host a pop-up event in the "Cats: Predators to Pets" exhibit, at which visitors can discover how cats can inspire poems. Elshtain sets up a typewriter station at different spots in the museum each week, where visitors can craft their very own poems.
CBS News
17-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Field Museum to host Cat Café for Purr-esidents' Day
Since November, the Field Museum of Natural History has been hosting an exhibit all about cats of all kinds — domestic and wild, cuddly and ferocious. The last CBS News Chicago headline to come out of the Field Museum before Sunday was also about felines — specifically the man-eating Lions of Tsavo, which have been on display at the museum in taxidermy form since 1924. But on Monday, Field Museum visitors will be in for something completely different. Some friendly cats — not taxidermy specimens or stars of nature films like those seen in "Cats: Predators to Pets" or elsewhere in the museum — but real, live cats looking for a new home. The Field Museum is partnering with exhibition sponsor World's Best Cat Litter and the Anti-Cruelty animal welfare organization to host cat cafés at the museum. Anti-Cruelty will bring cats currently up for adoption at its River North Adoption Center, and visitors can pet, cuddle, and play with them.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Experts baffled by results of unlikely solution to troubling bird fatalities: 'It was almost miraculous'
McCormick Place's Lakeside Center, a convention center in Chicago, has long been a death trap for birds during migration season. But with bird-safe window film, the number of collisions has fallen significantly, reported. For over 40 years, thousands of birds collided with the center's windows each year, mistaking the glassy, reflective surfaces for open sky or safe habitats. But last fall, after the bird-safe window film was installed, only 18 deaths were recorded, a 90% drop from the previous year. The dramatic decline shows the promise of preventive measures and is a sign that similar solutions could be applied across other at-risk buildings. "To me, it was almost miraculous," Dave Willard, retired bird division collections manager at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History, who has monitored the site since 1982, told The transformation came after Lakeside Center's operator worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Field Museum, and local bird monitors to install bird-safe film. Applied at a cost of $1.2 million, the film features small dots that make the glass visible to birds, preventing deadly crashes. The film is now gaining traction. Feather Friendly, the company behind the bird-safe film, has landed contracts for at least nine more buildings in Chicago, with clients requesting the same solution used at the convention center. The window barrier doesn't just reduce bird collisions. It also safeguards ecosystems. Birds ingest nearly 500 million tons of insects per year, controlling pests that threaten forests and agricultural products. They also pollinate around 5% of plants humans use for food and medicine. As more cities follow Chicago's lead, these conservation measures could pave the way for a cleaner, safer future for animals and urban life to coexist. The window film joins an expanding list of design interventions engineered to make the built environment more bird-friendly. In Chicago, architect Jeanne Gang designed Aqua Tower, an 82-story building, with a wavy exterior so birds can see the building more clearly to avoid collisions. Beyond design, companies are coming up with creative solutions to protect birds. England's Manthorpe, for instance, manufactured a hollow brick with a small entry hole that provides a nesting spot for swifts, an endangered bird species. Do you worry about air pollution in your town? All the time Often Only sometimes Never Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. As spring approaches, Willard hopes that birds will continue to survive into the new season during their migration. With the film, he has "no reason to think" the worst. "I turned into a believer," Willard said. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
