National Museum of Natural History Unearthed

Your Museum Madness 2012 Champion is ...

... the Tasmanian Tiger!

In the Australia exhibit of the National Museum of Natural History's Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of Mammals, look beyond the dingo, and behind the gossamer fabric screen at the thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus), a rare mounted specimen of an extinct species of carnivorous marsupial that once lived throughout Australian continent, including the island of Tasmania. Printed on the screen is the title “An Extinction Story” and the question “What happened when these two predators faced off?” The dingo—a wild dog that arrived in Australia with Asian seafarers 3,500 years ago—and the thylacine, are not related species. However, as Australia's top predators, they shared a similar diet. As the dingo spread throughout the Australian continent, the thylacine disappeared, apparently surviving only on the isolated southern island of Tasmania by the time that European settlers arrived in Australia just over 200 years ago ...

Read the complete story on your 2012 Museum Madness Champion here!

Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History

 

Image Caption and Credit: Two of the National Zoo’s thylacines, probably the surviving offspring of the original female, outside the Carnivora House, c. 1905. One of these animals (most likely the one in front) is USNM 125345, a specimen recently DNA-sequenced by a team of international scientists. Credit: Photo by E. J. Keller; National Zoological Park.

Museum Madness 2012 @NMNH - Results of Battle of the Champions and the Championship!

After letting our competitors rest (even collections need a little break!), the time has finally arrived for the Museum Madness 2012 Championship!

 

Who are the contenders and how did they make it to the Championship?

 

 

Round 1: vs. Tarantula

Round 2: vs. Giant Squid

Round 3: vs. Bull Mummy

Round 4: vs. Deep-Sea Vent Worms

 

 

 

 

 

Round 1: vs. Turtle Skeleton

Round 2: vs. Neanderthal from Shanidar

Round 3: vs. Basilosaurus

Round 4: vs. Coelacanth

 

 

 

 

 

Who will be victorious? It's up to you!

Sarah Banks, Audience Engagement Specialist, Office of Education and Outreach

Museum Madness 2012 @NMNH - Results of the Division Finals!

From the thirty-two contenders that began on March 21st, you've narrowed the field down to four division champions. Thank you for your enthusiastic responses and support of the objects about which you want to learn more!

Highlights:

While it breezed past the Hope Diamond in Round 1 and the Monarch Butterfly in Round 2, the Bull Mummy just couldn't move past Titanoboa in Round 3. The Deep-Sea Vent Worms, meanwhile, continued their winning streak as your votes helped them to a victory over the Wood Collection.

 

Your Division Champs are ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who are you pulling for in Round 3? Voting will open later this afternoon, and we'll need your help to narrow the field from 4 to 2!

Sarah Banks, Audience Engagement Specialist, Office of Education and Outreach

Museum Madness 2012 @NMNH - Round 2 Results and Division Finals Coming Up!

After a fast and furious Museum Madness: Round 2, the results are here! Did your favorites make it to Round 3? Were you surprised by any of the new information you learned?

Highlights:

The Giant Squid and the Fenykovi Elephant exited the tournament in Round 2 with losses to Titanoboa and Phoenix. It was neck and neck with the Handaxe Made by Early Humans and the Wood Collection, until the Wood Collection pulled ahead by a single vote!

So who's still in the running after Round 2?

In the Backbones Division we have ...

1. Phoenix, the North Atlantic Right Whale
2. Coelacanth

In the Classics Division we have ...

1. Basilosaurus
2. Tasmanian Tiger

In the Exhibit All-Stars Division we have ...

1. Bull Mummy
2. Titanoboa

In the Wild Cards Division we have ...

1. Deep-Sea Vent Worms
2. Wood Collection

Who are you pulling for in Round 3? Voting will open soon, and we'll need your help to narrow the field from 8 to 4!

Sarah Banks, Audience Engagement Specialist, Office of Education and Outreach

Museum Madness 2012 @NMNH - Round 1 Results!

You, the fans of NMNH, have spoken and the results of Museum Madness: Round 1 are in! Read on for highlights and find out if your favorites made it to Round 2.

Highlights:

Round 1 got off to a great start with a landslide win by the Megalodon Jaws over the T-Rex. The perennial favorite Fenykovi Elephant then triumphed over the Roosevelt Rhinos, and Martha the Passenger Pigeon handily beat Snarge. The surprise of this round came at the end when the Hope Diamond suffered a narrow loss to the Bull Mummy.

So who's left standing after Round 1?

In the Backbones Division we have ...

1. Fenykovi Elephant
2. Martha the Passenger Pigeon
3. Phoenix, the North Atlantic Right Whale
4. Coelacanth

In the Classics Division we have ...

1. Basilosaurus
2. Tasmanian Tiger
3. Megalodon Jaws
4. Neanderthal from Shanidar

In the Exhibit All-Stars Division we have ...

1. Monarch Butterfly
2. Bull Mummy
3. Titanoboa
4. Giant Squid

In the Wild Cards Division we have ...

1. Allende Meteorite
2. Deep-Sea Vent Worms
3. Handaxe Made by Early Humans
4. Wood Collection

Did your favorites make it through? If not, who will you root for in Round 2? Let us know and get ready for more voting tomorrow, March 28th!

Sarah Banks, Audience Engagement Specialist, Office of Education and Outreach

 

Museum Madness 2012 @NMNH

Not a basketball fan? Feeling left out of the March Madness fun? Wishing there was a bracket that incorporated your interests in birds, mammals, insects, fishes, and more?

We have the solution for you! It’s called ...

Museum Madness is our version of the basketball tournament - with a twist. Instead of teams competing, we have objects vying for your interest. Would you like to learn more about our iconic elephant or a species of fish thought to have died out with the dinosaurs? Over the next two weeks, you decide what will advance through the rounds and reign victorious.

So who are the contenders?

In the Backbones Division we have ...

1. Fenykovi Elephant
2. Martha the Passenger Pigeon
3. Snarge
4. Roosevelt Rhinos
5. Phoenix, the North Atlantic Right Whale
6. X-ray of a Seahorse
7. Coelacanth
8. Great White Shark

In the Classics Division we have ...

1. Basilosaurus
2. Burgess Shale Fossils
3. Tasmanian Tiger
4. T-Rex
5. Megalodon Jaws
6. Neanderthal from Shanidar
7. Lucy, Our Early Human Ancestor (reconstruction)
8. Turtle Skeleton

In the Exhibit All-Stars Division we have ...

1. Hope Diamond
2. Easter Island Stone Figure
3. Monarch Butterfly
4. Bull Mummy
5. Tarantula
6. Titanoboa
7. Korean Bridal Gown
8. Giant Squid

In the Wild Cards Division we have ...

1. Allende Meteorite
2. Smithsonite
3. Deep-Sea Vent Worms
4. Handaxe Made by Early Humans
5. Wood Collection
6. Scarab Beetle
7. Invertebrates from the Gulf of Mexico
8. Modern Human Art and Music

How do you vote and follow the action?

Starting Tuesday, March 20th, keep an eye open where you follow us - Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest - for links to the voting pages.

Sarah Banks, Audience Engagement Specialist, Office of Education and Outreach

 

Crowdsourcing Via Social Media Allows Rapid Remote Taxonomic Identification

Last month, a Smithsonian (NMNH)-sponsored team of ichthyologists performed the first survey of the fish diversity in the Cuyuni River of Guyana.  Upon their return, they needed to identify over 5,000 specimens in less than a week’s time in order to obtain an export permit.  Faced with insufficient time and inadequate library resources to tackle the problem on their own, they instead posted a catalog of specimen images to Facebook and turned to their network of colleagues for help. 

In less than 24 hours, this approach identified approximately 90% of the posted specimens to at least the level of genus, revealed the presence of at least two likely undescribed species, indicated two new records for Guyana and generated several loan requests. The majority of commenters held a Ph.D. in ichthyology or a related field, and hailed from a great diversity of countries including the USA, Canada, France, Switzerland, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil. 

By quickly tapping the collective expertise of their social network to help with the preliminary identification process, the expedition members were able to sort, pack and export the specimens to Washington DC in a timely manner. The identifications will also speed the cataloging process and help make the material available for loan and study as quickly as possible.  Such crowdsourcing of identifications would not have been possible five years ago, but increased internet access across South America and the massive recent growth of social networks have made tapping the world’s collective knowledge easier than ever.  Based on this experience, Facebook offers a remarkably efficient free tool that can accelerate taxonomic identification substantially.

Brian Sidlauskas, expedition leader and Research Collaborator of Dr. Richard Vari, in the National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology

Image captions and credits: Fish identified as Hypostomus taphorni. (top) Fish identified as Guianacara cuyunii. (bottom) Images courtesy of Whit Bronaugh, a graduate student at Oregon State University. 

*The expedition was funded by the NMNH Biological Diversity of the Guiana Shield Program and the Department of Vertebrate Zoology.