The things themselves

I haven't blogged in ages but I'll try to add stuff on a more regular basis. The move from college professor to museum curator has been time consuming. In efforts to make the switch to museum curator I've been brushing up on my taxonomy and systematics. I ran across this quote in the book Describing Species: Practical Taxonomic Procedure for Biologists by Judith E. Winston. It's from the father of modern systematics, the Swedish botanist and taxonomist Carolus Linnaeus, and it sums up the essence of a natural history museum, and well, any museum.

"The first step in wisdom is to know the things themselves" - Linnaeus (1735)

The alter-ego to the Cincinnati Museum Center across the Ohio in northern Kentucky, the Creation Museum, has been called a theme park rather than a museum precisely because it has no collections. Any institutions calling themselves "museums" who have no actual collections or any museums whose exhibits show no actual objects should consider Linnaeus' words.

I know, I know, the last post is linking to a video from well over a year ago but it is a great episode of the Charlie Rose Show. I encourage all students in my evolution course to watch it.

Charlie Rose - E.O. Wilson & James Watson on Charles Darwin

An hour on the life and work of Charles Darwin with James Watson, chancellor, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and E.O. Wilson, professor emeritus, Harvard University.

Ronald Numbers has written the definitive history of creationism recently published in a new expanded version, The Creationists, 2006, Harvard University Press. He arguably has one of the most even-handed, insightful and informed perspectives on the evolution-creation debate. Numbers cites a very vocal secular atheist minority as contributing to the erosion of science education rather than offering solutions. In a recent interview for Salon.com Numbers says,

"I don't know what the figures are right now, but I bet half of the scientists in America believe in some type of God. So I think Dawkins and Dennett are in a minority of evolutionists in saying that evolution is atheistic. I also think it does a terrible disservice to public policy in the United States." - R. Numbers, January 2, 2007

Understanding of the motivations and beliefs of those who reject evolution is critical in improving science education. As long as the public perceives science as an enterprise hostile towards religous convictions the evolution-creation debate will continue indefinitely.

Critics of the Bush administration often claim that the president is undermining science education by promoting the teaching of creationism. The "teach the controversy" mantra is attributed to the president as being a reflection of administration policy. Critics of the admintration's science policy should temper their critiques with the actual facts. On November 15 speaking at an American Association for the Advancement of Science Leadership Seminar Presidential science advisor and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Dr. John Marburger was recently quoted as saying,

"No one is putting pressure on me or suggesting that creationism should be a part of science education—that's ridiculous," he said. "I've never heard this discussed in any—in any-of the meetings or forums or private discussions...that I've ever had with anybody in the White House [or federal agencies]." American Association for the Advancement of Science News Archives

The Bush administration may be guilty of some politcal pandering to the religous right but the fact is there is no absolutely no evidence that this posturing on creationism and intelligent design reflects actual policy. To the contrary, the administration, through officials like Marburger, have expressed complete support for the scientific consensus on evolution.

It isn't often that an entirely new species of bird is discovered so when it does happen it is big news. Professional astronomer, amatuer ornithologist and dedicated conservationist Ramana Athreya of Pune University, Pune, India has discribed a new member of the genus Liocichla in the extreme western part of the Northern India state of Arunachal Pradesh. This bird was known from an area of Arunachal Pradesh called the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary for quite some time but carefull study was needed to determine if this population truly represented a new species or not. The new bird, named the Bungun Liocichla (Liocichla bungunorum), after the name of the local indigenous people, is the fourth named species in it's genus. The three other liocichla species include the Red-faced Liocichla (Liocichla phoenicea, widely distributed in South and Southeast Asia), the Emei-shan Liocichla (Liocichla omeiensis, retricted to a few forested moutainsides in China) and Steere's Liocichla (Liocichla steerii, a species endemic to the mountains of Taiwan and the subject of much of my own research). All these species frequent dense undergrowth and edge habitats in mountain forests, except for the Red-faced Liocichla which can also be found in lowland forests.

Typically discovery of a new species involves collection of a type specimen to be deposited in a museum collection. This makes the relevent biological material accessable for scientists all over the world so they may examine the data for themselves. However, Dr. Athreya felt culling an indiviudal bird or two from the population was unwise owing to the unknown status of the population therefore the description of this new species was made on the basis of measurements and photographs taken from live birds captured in the field. The primary tool of the 19th century ornithologist was the shotgun rather than a pair of binoculars. But, many modern ornithologists are more sensitive to environmental concerns and considerably more squeamish about killing birds (although there to date is little evidence that scientific collecting has had any long term harm on avian populations). Fortunately however the shotgun need not be necessary in every case. Modern comparative genetic analyses, such as DNA barcoding, is extremely useful in identifying relationships among species and DNA can be archived in museum freezers and sequences placed on online databases so that they can be available to other researchers. Tissue from feathers lost from the birds during capture could well provide a source of DNA that could further confirm the species status of this find.

I have a personal interest in this story as an ornithologist whose research deals with the Taiwan species of Liocichla, Steere's Liocichla. Dr. Athreya contacted several professional ornithologists, including myself, about a year ago asking for our input and advice on this species. There was a lively discussion at the time through the Oriental Bird Club's discussion list over the issue of scientific collecting. In the end however Dr. Athreya did the right thing for now in deciding not to collect museum specimens until further information became available about this species' status. The existing description of this species in the end made excellent use of limited information and luckily this species was so very different from it's congeners that even on the basis of some photographs and morphological measurments there is a strong case to be made for species status for this population. However, the genetic work should still be done. I would have loved to obtain some blood samples or other sources of genetic material from this species for analysis in my lab, however, this population is in a highly protected area and the Indian government is extremely sensitive and cautious when it comes to sharing biological samples with foreign researchers so in the end this was unfortunately not possible. But, there are many labs these days in India equiped to do such work (of course as long as they can depend on the good will of other countries to share samples with Indian researchers). It sounds like there is much exciting work ahead not just on this new species but on this unique forest ecosystem in Arunachal Pradesh. One can only hope that the forest habitat of the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary can be subject to sound mangement practices.

Press coverage of this discovery can be found at BirdLife International, MSNBC and the BBC News. The description of this new species was published in the journal Indian Birds and is available online.

That's me holding a young Chinese Pangolin (Manus pentadactyla) during a visit to the Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute. Pangolins are mammals in the order Pholidota and there are eight extant species distributed throughout Africa and South Asia. Their bodies are covered with keratinized scales and when threatened they roll into a ball. In fact, the name pangolin is from a Malay word which means "something that rolls up". Heavy rains often means bad news for burrowing animals and this individual and his mother and sibling were flooded out of their home during a particularly long bout of heavy rains in Taiwan during 2006. The wildlife hospital at the Endemic Species Institute takes in cases like this and rehabilitates them for later release back into the wild.

Evolution wins in Kitzmiller versus Dover

A federal court decision has been handed down in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania over the Kitzmiller et al. versus Dover Area School District case. The defendant in the case was attempting to uphold the constitutionality of a Dover, Pennsylvania school board policy that required the teaching of intelligent design theory in the science classroom. The Dover school district mandated the reading of a statement that made Darwinian evolution out to be a problematic theory only required for the purposes of standardized testing while also saying that intelligent design (ID) theory was a viable scientific alternative. The board also required the creationist textbook Of Pandas and People, published by The Foundation for Thought & Ethics and authored by Percival Davis and Dean Kenyon, be made available for students in the Dover Area School District. The decision came down clearly and unambiguously on the side of the plaintiff. The decision can be read in it’s entirety here.

In that decision Judge John E. Jones III said of the defendants’ attempt to portray a secular cause for the school board decision,

Defendant's previously referenced flagrant and insulting falsehoods to the Court provide sufficient and compelling evidence for us to deduce that any allegedly secular purposes that have been offered in support of the ID policy are equally insincere. Accordingly, we find that the secular purposes claimed by the Board amount to a pretext for the Board's real purpose, which was to promote religion in the public classroom, in violation of the Establishment Clause. Kitzmiller et al. versus Dover Area School District, Page 132.

What’s more Judge Jones completely rejected any notion that ID was a science let alone a well supported science.

To briefly reiterate, we should first note that since ID is not science, the conclusion is inescapable that the only real effect of the ID policy is the advancement of religion. Kitzmiller et al. versus Dover Area School District, Page 133-134.

In making this determination, we have addressed the seminal question of whether ID is science. We have concluded that it is not, and moreover that ID cannot uncouple itself from it's creationist, and thus religous, antecedents. Kitzmiller et al. versus Dover Area School District, Page 136.

Also, the decision had harsh words for the defendants themselves as it seems that school board members were deliberately dishonest as to the origin of the funding for the Of Pandas and People textbooks.

It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID Policy. Kitzmiller et al. versus Dover Area School District, Page 137.

This decision joins many others since the trial of John Scopes in 1925. These decisions include the 1968 Supreme Court decision in Epperson versus Arkansas saying that the banning of evolution from the public schools is a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and the Edwards versus Aguillard case that struck down a Louisiana statute that mandated equal time for creationism and evolution. The modern legal history of the evolution/creation debate has come down time and time again on the side of evolution and this latest decision constitutes a major blow to the strategy of using appeals to academic fairness and ID as a means to create a wedge to open up the public school system to a particular religious ideology.

The response from the ID crowd has been the predictable mix of outrage and victimization. The Discovery Institute, the premier clearinghouse for the ID ideas and one of the main fronts in the ID movement, is already screaming about judicial activism. On their webpage at www.discovery.org Associate Director of the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute Dr. John West says,

The empirical evidence for design, the facts of biology and nature, can't be changed by legal decree.

Strange coming from an organization backed by conservative, evangelical Christian legal organizations such as the Thomas More Law Center who sees appeals to school boards and lawsuits as the way to validate their ideas. Then West makes a vain an attempt at a positive spin on the Kitzmiller et al. versus Dover decision.

Americans don't like to be told there is some idea that they aren't permitted to learn about. It used to be said that banning a book in Boston guaranteed it would be a bestseller. Banning intelligent design in Dover will likely only fan interest in the theory.

I think Dr. West should remember that anyone in America can learn about any idea they wish, including ID. All the decision is saying is that it is a violation of the US Constitution to mandate learning about this topic in the context of the science classroom.

It will be interesting to see how the Kitzmiller et al. versus Dover decision will influence the ID movement especially in light of their recent successes in the state school board in Kansas. I think this decision will be much more of a blow to the ID movement than John West and others at the Discovery Institute care to admit. At the very least it has pulled back the veil on the fraud that is this appeal to intellectual fair-play and shown it for exactly what the ID movement is, a strategic wedge movement started by a California law professor, Phillip Johnson, to inject religious views into science and education.

Male white-tailed blue robin (Myiomela leucura montium) captured at the Meifeng Horticultural Research Farm. 

Common blind snake (Ramphotyphlops braminus) from Taiwan.