Special delivery! See our visiting baby camels (Dec. 6–19) and yaks (Dec. 20–Jan. 5) this holiday. Learn more
Short & Sweet: 6 Science Snippets from 2024
Our gift to you: A quirky collection of under-the-radar (and over-the-top) Cal Academy moments, from frog findings to tongue-twisting livestreams.
December 13, 2024
0
Ahh, annual report season, the most wonderful time of the year. Especially because the Academy’s annual report isn’t like other reports. It’s a cool report. How cool?
150+ newly described species cool. Record-breaking City Nature Challenge observations cool. Methuselah being 93 (+/- 8) years old cool.
So much cool…that it needed this blog as a companion piece. Read on for six chronicles of Academy cool from 2024, and then scroll back up to this cool green button for the pièce de résistance.
Focusing on frog vision
From courtship to parental care, much about amphibian behavior and biology remains mysterious. Rayna Bell, PhD, Patterson Scholar and Associate Curator of Herpetology, has long set her sights on one of the biggest amphibian unknowns: What do frogs and toads see in dim light?
Rayna Bell, PhD, checks in on frogs behind-the-scenes in Steinhart Aquarium.
This year, Bell and her colleagues at the Academy and the Natural History Museum, London, shared some of their ongoing research in Vision in Frogs and Toads, a free, interactive ebook that explores the role of frog ecology in shaping the diversity and evolution of their visual systems. Joseph Wu, a scientific illustration intern at the Academy, contributed original illustrations and artwork that really make the book pop. Or should we say...hop.
Fins with benefits
Over one-third of the world’s shark species are at risk of extinction. Despite this somber statistic, proposals are afoot in Brazil to cull sharks in marine protected areas (MPAs) following two highly publicized bite incidents in the Fernando de Noronha archipelago in 2015 and 2022.
Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezii) would be affected by the potential cull. Luiz Rocha © 2024 California Academy of Sciences
Culls would also impact Brazil's lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris). Luiz Rocha © 2024 California Academy of Sciences
The Academy’s Brazilian-born ichthyology curator, Luiz Rocha, PhD, is calling for common sense, not culls. In a paper published in Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation earlier this year, Rocha and his co-authors emphasize the remarkable success of MPAs in helping threatened species recover, and advocate for a data-driven approach to shark management that's rooted in science, not fear.
Tetragnatha all along
You’ve already heard about new-to-the-AQ celebrities like punk-rock turacos and X-men-esque newts. But what about the new creatures behind the scenes? Meet Tetragnatha, a genus of long-jawed orb-weaver spider, and their mom, Academy postdoctoral researcher and NSF postdoctoral fellow Maddy Hannappel, PhD.
Maddy Hannappel, PhD, in Steinhart Aquarium's Tetragnatha spider nursery.
One of Hannappel's tetragnathid spiders hangs out with a freshly caught meal.
Hannappel and her Steinhart Aquarium collaborators are studying the life history, biology, and behavior of Tetragnatha, with a keen interest in the spiders’ potential role as “sentinel” species. Because contaminant levels in Tetragnatha reflect contaminant levels in their surrounding aquatic habitats, these relatively common spiders could be a big help in monitoring water pollution. Hannapel’s spider nursery is already making a difference: Steinhart Aquarium is the first institution reporting Tetragnatha data to zoological databases.
Exhibit design with Earth in mind
California: State of Nature opened this past May, bringing to life the breathtaking biodiversity of our home state. Know what enjoyed a second life? Much of the material used to build the exhibition!
For California, our Exhibit Studio team repurposed structures from previous exhibits and donated much of what couldn’t be reused to other science nonprofits, helping to divert waste from landfill.
Before: Guests explore the Giants of Land and Sea exhibition, which closed earlier this year.
After: Notice anything familiar? Some of the steel structures in Giants were reused for California: State of Nature.
Additional green bona fides include LEED®- and CARB-compliant plywood; coatings that meet or exceed Greenseal GS-11 standards; and FSC- and Greenguard-certified laminate. We’re proud of the team’s deep commitment to sustainability—and for demonstrating that a lighter environmental footprint is the most loving one.
Small island, big discoveries
An internship can change your life. At the Summer Systematics Institute (SSI), it just might change our understanding of the tree of life.
Just off the coast of Cameroon, the island of Bioko brims with biodiversity—including many species found nowhere else. This past summer, SSI intern John Nguyen and his colleagues in the Herpetology Department published a comprehensive study of Bioko’s reed frogs (Hyperolius spp.) confirming that two additional species occur on the island: H. endjami and H. fusciventris.
A Hyperolius endjami male singing at a breeding site on Bioko Island. © Patrick McLaughlin
Reed frog species can be challenging to tell apart due to their substantial color pattern variation, so identifying these particular frogs solves a mystery that had eluded researchers for decades. This work also opens the door for future research that could help protect Bioko’s incredible amphibians. Future SSI interns take note!
A Guinness Record-worthy livestream
Every September 7, California Biodiversity Day gives us the opportunity to celebrate the flora and fauna of our state. This year, our celebration was gleefully, gloriously unhinged.
Our social media team challenged 50 nature enthusiasts to read out the scientific names of as many California species as possible…on a livestream…for 12 straight hours.
Cal Academy staff did their best to pronounce the unpronounceable.
The fearless, occasionally costumed participants may not have made it through all 7,000+ species, but hey—it’s more about the journey than the destination, man. (Should we do it again next year?)
Reporting on a year's-worth of cool Cal Academy stories wouldn't be possible without my cool Cal Academy colleagues. I'd like to thank the following teams and individuals for sharing their work with me: CAS Arachnology Lab; Steinhart Aquarium, especially Terrestrial Invertebrate Biologist Kyra Ortiz; Center for Biodiversity and Community Science; Department of Herpetology; Department of Ichthyology; Digital Engagement; Exhibit Studio; and the Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability.
About the author
Lauren Mercer-Ferguson is the Academy’s Membership Program Manager. As a passionate storyteller and science enthusiast, she is a student of the art of engaging audiences—whether through membership events, donor campaigns, or creative outreach. From exhibit previews to virtual adventures, she loves blending strategy and heart to connect people with the wonders of science and nature.
