apr. 2009
Photo of the day (48): Scutalus
30-04-2009 20:41
During the same trip to Huancavelica,
mentioned
yesterday,
some species of
Scutalus
were collected. Two of these are pictured here.
The material is sitting on my desk, waiting to be identified. They were collected at Mina Julcani near Ccochacasa, which is high up the Andes at 3850 m.
An Epiphragmophora species was sympatrically occurring.
The material is sitting on my desk, waiting to be identified. They were collected at Mina Julcani near Ccochacasa, which is high up the Andes at 3850 m.
An Epiphragmophora species was sympatrically occurring.
Peruvian slugs
29-04-2009 19:41
Some weeks ago, Valentín Mogollón sent me some
pictures of slugs that he spotted during a recent
trip to Huancavelica. One clearly was a
Deroceras
species. My colleague Ton de Winter, who is an expert
in slugs, kindly provided his opinion when shown this
photograph:
“Looks like a typical specimen of D. reticulatum (Müller, 1774), but to be sure it is better to look at the anatomy”. Since the specimen was not at hand, I’ll have to be happy with this identification.
At the same trip this specimen was encountered. Doubtless it is a veronicellid, but very hard to be more conclusive than that. Species of this family only can be identified after dissection and some even after additional DNA studies.
There are seven species from different genera known from Peru. I have to confess that I’m not familiar with any of them. So we’ll have to keep this as a Veronicellidae from Huancayo, unless someone steps up with a better idea.
“Looks like a typical specimen of D. reticulatum (Müller, 1774), but to be sure it is better to look at the anatomy”. Since the specimen was not at hand, I’ll have to be happy with this identification.
At the same trip this specimen was encountered. Doubtless it is a veronicellid, but very hard to be more conclusive than that. Species of this family only can be identified after dissection and some even after additional DNA studies.
There are seven species from different genera known from Peru. I have to confess that I’m not familiar with any of them. So we’ll have to keep this as a Veronicellidae from Huancayo, unless someone steps up with a better idea.
MegaLab
26-04-2009 19:13
Last week the Dutch site of the European
project
Evolution MegaLab
went live. It follows the idea that everybody can
observe evolution in his own backyard. All you have
to do is to count the number and type of
Cepaea
nemoralis
and
C.
hortensis.
When you add these data on the website, they are
automatically compared with observations from the
past (for Dutch records the collections of the Leiden
and Amsterdam museum are used).
This morning, a very light rain moistened my garden after a quite long period of dry weather. When I looked outside I found a number of snails in my backyard crawling on the vegetation. There were quite a number of Cornu aspersum - which I had noticed already by the gnawing of several plants. In total I could find 6 adult specimens of Cepaea nemoralis.
When I entered the data on the site, it appeared that no observations had been made in the past within 5 kms of my house. Also, no other recent observations had been entered in the database.
When I made an evening stroll through the village, I came across another population. Here the snails had moved into trees among herbaceous vegetation.
The website is open till September. Then all pan-European data will be analyzed and a publication will be written by all national coordinators.
This morning, a very light rain moistened my garden after a quite long period of dry weather. When I looked outside I found a number of snails in my backyard crawling on the vegetation. There were quite a number of Cornu aspersum - which I had noticed already by the gnawing of several plants. In total I could find 6 adult specimens of Cepaea nemoralis.
When I entered the data on the site, it appeared that no observations had been made in the past within 5 kms of my house. Also, no other recent observations had been entered in the database.
When I made an evening stroll through the village, I came across another population. Here the snails had moved into trees among herbaceous vegetation.
The website is open till September. Then all pan-European data will be analyzed and a publication will be written by all national coordinators.
DNA protocols: from field to sequencer
24-04-2009 21:27
Preparation of material for DNA research is becoming
more and more important, as the facilities are
continuously improving. At Naturalis we will make a
‘quantum leap’ later this year when a new molecular
lab will be opened.
Recently there were some suggestions made by colleagues that the procedure I used so far, might not be full-proof for DNA. Especially the use of 'alcohol-proof' paper for labeling was not recommended by an expert, since this paper contains a very low concentration of formaldehyde (which in high concentrations destroys DNA).
Also there are some bad experiences mentioned with the niku-nuki method when applied to larger snails (the method was developed for smaller ones). I need to do some further testing on that and see how we may optimize the method for animals of orthalicid size (often 2+ cm).
Thirdly there was the suggestion to take tissue samples from living material, either from the foot or the rim of the mantle. This could be done with an extreme sharp knife and it was suggested that the snails could survive when the sample was small enough.
Finally, a colleague mentioned Nembutal, a substance I used in the past to stretch the snails before killing them in alcohol.
This are clearly things that need more elaboration. An inventory of pros and cons of different protocols for the preparation of animals could be helpful. What works best for you? What is a practical method when you are out in the field? What if you have animals in the lab? Do you have good results with a particular protocol geared towards larger snails?
I would be interested to hear your comments on this issue.
Recently there were some suggestions made by colleagues that the procedure I used so far, might not be full-proof for DNA. Especially the use of 'alcohol-proof' paper for labeling was not recommended by an expert, since this paper contains a very low concentration of formaldehyde (which in high concentrations destroys DNA).
Also there are some bad experiences mentioned with the niku-nuki method when applied to larger snails (the method was developed for smaller ones). I need to do some further testing on that and see how we may optimize the method for animals of orthalicid size (often 2+ cm).
Thirdly there was the suggestion to take tissue samples from living material, either from the foot or the rim of the mantle. This could be done with an extreme sharp knife and it was suggested that the snails could survive when the sample was small enough.
Finally, a colleague mentioned Nembutal, a substance I used in the past to stretch the snails before killing them in alcohol.
This are clearly things that need more elaboration. An inventory of pros and cons of different protocols for the preparation of animals could be helpful. What works best for you? What is a practical method when you are out in the field? What if you have animals in the lab? Do you have good results with a particular protocol geared towards larger snails?
I would be interested to hear your comments on this issue.
Competition and science
23-04-2009 21:26
Some dreadful examples mentioned to me this week
forces me to draw the attention to competition
again.
Is competition useful in science? Yes, it can. However, it depends in what context and with what means you are competing.
I can see the advantages if there is competition using your brains (or groups of brains, for that matter). It will predominantly occur in laboratory settings or theoretical contexts. The ultimate goal is to have a Nature or Science citation, thanks to those scoring guys&girls (but that quite another chapter). The craziest thing I heard about in this context, is two groups within the same institute competing and closing their doors to avoid painstakingly that someone in the room next door might have a peek of what is on their computer screen...
For me it becomes a whole different thing when it come to doing field work. Giving the few resources available nowadays, both material and in human capacity, I would suspect a willingness to share forces and distribution of specimens. Notably when it comes to quite inaccessible places like the tepuis in southern Venezuela.
The sad thing is that obviously two European groups are competing in that area. One having more financial power, making it very hard for the others to get even helicopter transport and forcing them to do an 8-day march through hostile terrain.
For me, this may be competition for the honour, but I consider it far from the scientific spirit that inspired many explorers of this continent.
Is competition useful in science? Yes, it can. However, it depends in what context and with what means you are competing.
I can see the advantages if there is competition using your brains (or groups of brains, for that matter). It will predominantly occur in laboratory settings or theoretical contexts. The ultimate goal is to have a Nature or Science citation, thanks to those scoring guys&girls (but that quite another chapter). The craziest thing I heard about in this context, is two groups within the same institute competing and closing their doors to avoid painstakingly that someone in the room next door might have a peek of what is on their computer screen...
For me it becomes a whole different thing when it come to doing field work. Giving the few resources available nowadays, both material and in human capacity, I would suspect a willingness to share forces and distribution of specimens. Notably when it comes to quite inaccessible places like the tepuis in southern Venezuela.
The sad thing is that obviously two European groups are competing in that area. One having more financial power, making it very hard for the others to get even helicopter transport and forcing them to do an 8-day march through hostile terrain.
For me, this may be competition for the honour, but I consider it far from the scientific spirit that inspired many explorers of this continent.
Living snails (3)
22-04-2009 08:10
A continuation from this
post...
Three videos of the snails crawling around. Two of Hugo on my desk, from different angles. One inside their ‘home’, where you can see the shape of the foot and the movement viewed through the glass.
After a suggestion from one of the visitors of the NMV-meeting, I have given Hugo and Marisabel a new home. More spacious. And greener. Should be a real improvement, don’t you think?
Will keep you posted...
Three videos of the snails crawling around. Two of Hugo on my desk, from different angles. One inside their ‘home’, where you can see the shape of the foot and the movement viewed through the glass.
After a suggestion from one of the visitors of the NMV-meeting, I have given Hugo and Marisabel a new home. More spacious. And greener. Should be a real improvement, don’t you think?
Will keep you posted...
Neotropical Helicinidae
21-04-2009 19:01
Last week I found on the shelf with new publications
in our library (refreshed every two weeks), a number
of the journal Zoosystematics and Evolution; this
journal is published by the Natural History Museum in
Berlin. The number - said to have been published in
September 2008 - contains a paper by Ira Richling and
Matthias Glaubrecht on types of Helicinidae in the
collection of the Berlin museum.
Being important as such, the authors have added in the introduction interesting information on various malacologists who contributed to our knowledge on Cuban land snails: Ludwig Pfeiffer (who signed his letters always with “Louis”), Johann Gundlach, Wilhelm Dunker, Felipe Poey and Eduard von Martens.
Johann Gundlach (1810-1896), after Dathe & González López (2002).
I found it especially interesting to read about the brief trip to Cuba that Pfeiffer made in 1839-1840. He was accompanied by Gundlach, a German who didn’t return to Europe but spent the rest of his life on the island, collecting and studying the fauna. Richling and Glaubrecht provide evidence that Pfeiffer’s descriptions of new taxa from Cuba were often based on material received from Gundlach.
After the annotated type list, a second part gives a list of all taxa with their (in some cases, provisional) generic placement. The references contain several recent publications that will be of interest to malacologists devoted to the Neotropics and interested in biohistory.
References:
Dathe, W. & González López, R.M., 2002. Johann Christoph Gundlach (1810-1896). Naturforscher auf Kuba. Basilikien Presse, Marburg a/d Lahn.
Richling, I. & Glaubrecht, M., 2008. The types of Neotropical Helicinidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Neritopsina) in the malacological collection of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin: an annotated catalogue, with emphasis on Cuban land snails. - Zoosystematics and Evolution 84: 265-310.
Being important as such, the authors have added in the introduction interesting information on various malacologists who contributed to our knowledge on Cuban land snails: Ludwig Pfeiffer (who signed his letters always with “Louis”), Johann Gundlach, Wilhelm Dunker, Felipe Poey and Eduard von Martens.
Johann Gundlach (1810-1896), after Dathe & González López (2002).
I found it especially interesting to read about the brief trip to Cuba that Pfeiffer made in 1839-1840. He was accompanied by Gundlach, a German who didn’t return to Europe but spent the rest of his life on the island, collecting and studying the fauna. Richling and Glaubrecht provide evidence that Pfeiffer’s descriptions of new taxa from Cuba were often based on material received from Gundlach.
After the annotated type list, a second part gives a list of all taxa with their (in some cases, provisional) generic placement. The references contain several recent publications that will be of interest to malacologists devoted to the Neotropics and interested in biohistory.
References:
Dathe, W. & González López, R.M., 2002. Johann Christoph Gundlach (1810-1896). Naturforscher auf Kuba. Basilikien Presse, Marburg a/d Lahn.
Richling, I. & Glaubrecht, M., 2008. The types of Neotropical Helicinidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Neritopsina) in the malacological collection of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin: an annotated catalogue, with emphasis on Cuban land snails. - Zoosystematics and Evolution 84: 265-310.
Photo of the day (47): Epiphragmophora
20-04-2009 14:48
In reaction to this
post,
Gabriela Cuezzo sent me these pictures of a
wonderful
Epiphragmophora
tomsici
Fernández & Rumi, 1984.
The pictures were taken at the type locality: Argentina, Catamarca, 20 km from Andalgalá on the road to Cafayate.
Thanks Gabriela!
The pictures were taken at the type locality: Argentina, Catamarca, 20 km from Andalgalá on the road to Cafayate.
Thanks Gabriela!
NMV75
18-04-2009 20:19
The
Dutch Malacological
Society
(NMV) was founded in 1934 and thus celebrates this
year its 75th anniversary. Today the Annual Meeting
was held at Naturalis in Leiden.
After the formal meeting, a special publication was presented called “Schitterende schelpen en slijmerige slakken” [Beautiful shells and slimy snails]. It contains 44 contributions highlighting different fields of malacology and illustrating the joy that people have in malacology, either as a hobby or - the happy few - as a professional. The book is for sale here. I’m a co-author of two papers, so hopefully you will forgive me plugging it here.
Sylvia van Leeuwen presenting the book ‘75 years of NMV’.
Yours truly was also elected as a Board member (again!) and I hope to serve the next 6 years on the team to sustain and promote malacology.
In the afternoon a traditional ‘contributions by members’ was held, in which members of the society can briefly show interesting things (usually shells), announce new developments or discoveries. I showed ‘Hugo’ and ‘Marisabel’ and a brief part of the film Tepuy to give an impression of their natural habitat.
During the day my poster on Venezuelan land snails was on show.
It was a busy, but most enjoyable day. Only the start of more activities to celebrate 75 years of NMV.
After the formal meeting, a special publication was presented called “Schitterende schelpen en slijmerige slakken” [Beautiful shells and slimy snails]. It contains 44 contributions highlighting different fields of malacology and illustrating the joy that people have in malacology, either as a hobby or - the happy few - as a professional. The book is for sale here. I’m a co-author of two papers, so hopefully you will forgive me plugging it here.
Sylvia van Leeuwen presenting the book ‘75 years of NMV’.
Yours truly was also elected as a Board member (again!) and I hope to serve the next 6 years on the team to sustain and promote malacology.
In the afternoon a traditional ‘contributions by members’ was held, in which members of the society can briefly show interesting things (usually shells), announce new developments or discoveries. I showed ‘Hugo’ and ‘Marisabel’ and a brief part of the film Tepuy to give an impression of their natural habitat.
During the day my poster on Venezuelan land snails was on show.
It was a busy, but most enjoyable day. Only the start of more activities to celebrate 75 years of NMV.
Living snails (2)
17-04-2009 18:10
Continuing my
post
on the tepui snails...
My living snails have been transferred to Naturalis. Here ‘Hugo’ and ‘Marisabel’ are sitting on my desk.
Looking at the colour of the animals, it is remarkable to see the variation. One is uniformly beige (slightly darker near the foot), the other has a darker dorsal stripe on the body and the ocular tentacles with darker tips.
Meanwhile I have come to the conclusion that they belong to a new taxon. Just don’t know yet if they are subspecifically or specifically distinct from Plekocheilus fulminans alticola Haas, 1955, occurring elsewhere in the area. The species in this genus show a very interesting mix of characters at different localities. Although seemingly nearby, the distances are actually rather large (10+ km). I will elaborate this in a new paper.
To be continued...
My living snails have been transferred to Naturalis. Here ‘Hugo’ and ‘Marisabel’ are sitting on my desk.
Looking at the colour of the animals, it is remarkable to see the variation. One is uniformly beige (slightly darker near the foot), the other has a darker dorsal stripe on the body and the ocular tentacles with darker tips.
Meanwhile I have come to the conclusion that they belong to a new taxon. Just don’t know yet if they are subspecifically or specifically distinct from Plekocheilus fulminans alticola Haas, 1955, occurring elsewhere in the area. The species in this genus show a very interesting mix of characters at different localities. Although seemingly nearby, the distances are actually rather large (10+ km). I will elaborate this in a new paper.
To be continued...
Photo of the day (46): Epiphragmophora
16-04-2009 21:31
Last week, Valentín Mogollón did some collecting in
Dept. Huancavelica, Ccochacasa. One of the species he
collected was this
Epiphragmophora
species.
Not being a specialist in this family myself, I asked to Gabriela Cuezzo if she dared to say what species it could be. Always difficult to identify a shell on the basis of a picture only. But to her opinion it is probably E. clausomphalos Deville & Hupé, 1850. Additionally, she remarked: “However, Epiphragomophora from Peru are very undocumented, especially when considering animals, not only shells”. Thus, I hope this kind of pictures help to document the Neotropical malacofauna.
Many thanks to Valentín and Gabriela.
Not being a specialist in this family myself, I asked to Gabriela Cuezzo if she dared to say what species it could be. Always difficult to identify a shell on the basis of a picture only. But to her opinion it is probably E. clausomphalos Deville & Hupé, 1850. Additionally, she remarked: “However, Epiphragomophora from Peru are very undocumented, especially when considering animals, not only shells”. Thus, I hope this kind of pictures help to document the Neotropical malacofauna.
Many thanks to Valentín and Gabriela.
Photo of the day (45): Corona
15-04-2009 20:21
Again some living snails. Today two species of
Corona,
which both live in the lowland rainforest in eastern
Peru.
The first is C. pfeifferi Hidalgo, 1869 which is occurring in Dept. Amazonas. The picture was taken by Carlos Rivera. A picture of the shell can be found here.
The second picture is C. regina (Férussac, 1821), taken by Grace Montalván near Puerto Maldonado in Dept. Madre de Dios.
Many thanks to Valentín for transferring the pictures to me.
The first is C. pfeifferi Hidalgo, 1869 which is occurring in Dept. Amazonas. The picture was taken by Carlos Rivera. A picture of the shell can be found here.
The second picture is C. regina (Férussac, 1821), taken by Grace Montalván near Puerto Maldonado in Dept. Madre de Dios.
Many thanks to Valentín for transferring the pictures to me.
Guadeloupe living snails
14-04-2009 07:29
The report of Alain Bertrand, mentioned
yesterday,
contains several pictures of living snails. You might
see some familiar ones compared to those of Dominica,
scattered throughout my previous posts. And also in
an upcoming paper.
I’m grateful to Alain Bertrand, who kindly sent me information on his West Indian studies.
I’m grateful to Alain Bertrand, who kindly sent me information on his West Indian studies.
Living snails
13-04-2009 22:04
Today a long-awaited package arrived. Or rather, I
had to pick it up myself in Assen (more than 5 hours
by train, both ways). It contained ‘scientific
material. no commercial value’, viz. shells and
snails. My newest pets... living
Plekocheilus.
Since the laboratories were closed today, they will
spent one night at my home.
Alas, one of the three didn’t survive the trip. I have nicknamed her ‘Nancy’. The other two appeared to be alive. One of them has a number of spiral stripes on the last whorl; I have named it ‘Hugo’. The other has one, narrow spiral band but is otherwise elegantly dark brownish; I have named it ‘Marisabel’.
Hugo and Marisabel. Just two names, who happen to occur in Latin America ;-)
Hugo is immediately active upon opening the package. I put him on the cucumber I had bought especially for my snails and seems to love it.
Marisabel was withdrawn into the shell. First I fear that she is dead too. After diner I see that she is awoken. I quickly start to make some pictures and videos.
More on them later.
Alas, one of the three didn’t survive the trip. I have nicknamed her ‘Nancy’. The other two appeared to be alive. One of them has a number of spiral stripes on the last whorl; I have named it ‘Hugo’. The other has one, narrow spiral band but is otherwise elegantly dark brownish; I have named it ‘Marisabel’.
Hugo and Marisabel. Just two names, who happen to occur in Latin America ;-)
Hugo is immediately active upon opening the package. I put him on the cucumber I had bought especially for my snails and seems to love it.
Marisabel was withdrawn into the shell. First I fear that she is dead too. After diner I see that she is awoken. I quickly start to make some pictures and videos.
More on them later.
Divergent opinions
13-04-2009 08:02
Are there as many opinions as there are taxonomists?
Sometimes it seems so. Anyhow, sometimes one need
faunal lists as sources for meta-analysis and then
one has to find consensus among divergent opinions.
Island faunas is a topic for a new paper I’m working on. In that context different views on the same fauna became apparent, in this case the malacofauna of Guadeloupe.
For this island I had three sources, two of which are unpublished data:
- the website of the ‘Inventaire national du patrimoine naturelle’ (INPN) of the Paris museum (MNHN);
- an unpublished report by Alain Bertrand, who collected intensively on this (and several other) island (see map above);
- an internal report by David Robinson and Angela Fields.
As I was primarily interested in the total number of taxa and the endemic species, it was a bit puzzling to cope with the different opinions. The INPN-site only lists the taxa, which forced me to make some guesses, but generally the differences could be easily resolved.
A total of 50 species were counted (marked in bold), of which 12 are endemic to Guadeloupe (marked in yellow above). Generally I followed the treatment by Robinson & Fields (to be consistent with data for other islands). Only taxa have been counted if they were listed by at least two of the three sources, unless recent collected material was present.
Island faunas is a topic for a new paper I’m working on. In that context different views on the same fauna became apparent, in this case the malacofauna of Guadeloupe.
For this island I had three sources, two of which are unpublished data:
- the website of the ‘Inventaire national du patrimoine naturelle’ (INPN) of the Paris museum (MNHN);
- an unpublished report by Alain Bertrand, who collected intensively on this (and several other) island (see map above);
- an internal report by David Robinson and Angela Fields.
As I was primarily interested in the total number of taxa and the endemic species, it was a bit puzzling to cope with the different opinions. The INPN-site only lists the taxa, which forced me to make some guesses, but generally the differences could be easily resolved.
A total of 50 species were counted (marked in bold), of which 12 are endemic to Guadeloupe (marked in yellow above). Generally I followed the treatment by Robinson & Fields (to be consistent with data for other islands). Only taxa have been counted if they were listed by at least two of the three sources, unless recent collected material was present.
New taxa (14): Plekocheilus
10-04-2009 09:27
Finally, there is a peculiar species from the eastern
tepui region,
Plekocheilus
(Eurytus)
sophiae
from Yuraní-tepui.
The holotype is also in the Florida museum, UF 24413. This is the single specimen currently known, but since it is so peculiar I ventured to describe it as a new species.
The holotype is also in the Florida museum, UF 24413. This is the single specimen currently known, but since it is so peculiar I ventured to describe it as a new species.
New taxa (13): Plekocheilus
09-04-2009 08:26
Two more new species, originating from the same Cerro
de la Neblina expedition mentioned
here.
It are congeneric, sympatric species of
Plekocheilus
(Eurytus).
The first is P. (E.) huberi, named after Otto Huber who as a botanist has devoted his career to the tepui area. Holotype UF 284764.
The second is P. (E.) nebulosus. Holotype UF 284723. It is from the Cerro de la Neblina massif, which lends its name to this taxon.
The first is P. (E.) huberi, named after Otto Huber who as a botanist has devoted his career to the tepui area. Holotype UF 284764.
The second is P. (E.) nebulosus. Holotype UF 284723. It is from the Cerro de la Neblina massif, which lends its name to this taxon.
New taxa (12): Plekocheilus
08-04-2009 19:10
A second new species from Venezuela Guayana is
Plekocheilus
(Eurytus)
tepuiensis.
The holotype, and only specimen so far known, is a
subadult. However, the colouration and the sculpture
of the last whorl sets it apart from all taxa
previously described.
It was collected on Cerro Yapacana. The holotype is in the Leiden museum, RMNH 112031.
It was collected on Cerro Yapacana. The holotype is in the Leiden museum, RMNH 112031.
New taxa (11): Drymaeus
07-04-2009 07:50
The first new species that I would like to mention
from my
paper
on the tepuis from Venezuelan Guayana, is
Drymaeus
(D.)
rex
spec.nov.
The name was given for three reasons. First of all, it is a tribute to the herpetologist Roy McDiarmid who has always paid attention to snails and who collected the types. The epithet also refers to ‘ruadh’, an old word from Scottish Gealic which means red; it refers to the reddish apex that may be present in this taxon. Finally it refers to the majestical appearance of the living animal.
The holotype is in the Florida museum, UF 284726. All type material was collected during the interdisciplinary expedition to Cerro de la Neblina in 1983-1987, led by Charles Brewer-Carias.
The name was given for three reasons. First of all, it is a tribute to the herpetologist Roy McDiarmid who has always paid attention to snails and who collected the types. The epithet also refers to ‘ruadh’, an old word from Scottish Gealic which means red; it refers to the reddish apex that may be present in this taxon. Finally it refers to the majestical appearance of the living animal.
The holotype is in the Florida museum, UF 284726. All type material was collected during the interdisciplinary expedition to Cerro de la Neblina in 1983-1987, led by Charles Brewer-Carias.
A new paper
06-04-2009 17:37
Today my paper on a revision of the Orthalicidae from
Venezuelan Guayana was published in
Zootaxa.
Later this week more on it.
Later this week more on it.
A Lost Paradise?
05-04-2009 10:42
Some weeks ago there was a discussion at Naturalis
during a staff meeting about journals. From time to
time new journals appear and decisions have to be
made about their subscription. Someone asked if we
would object if we only had the digital version. It
would be much cheaper than the printed one.
For the younger generation it may be difficult to imagine why it is so charming to see all the new journals on their stands in the library. They smell as freshly printed paper should. You can pick the journals up and glance through them, picking up interesting articles. Can you really find any new paper readily when using a search machine like Scholar?
Nowadays it has become custom to distribute PDFs. You can store them easily, take them to anywhere on your laptop, view them on your screen with a few touches of buttons. But I notice that when I really want to study a paper I tend to print it out; and I know I’m not the only one doing it. Not directly an environment-friendly way.
It’s one of the dilemmas each scientist is facing. Especially taxonomists want to have access to the original source and often find themselves among piles of literature, sifting out the data they need for the paper under construction.
At the end of the discussion at Naturalis it was decided to have both the online and printed versions of the journal. The best of both worlds. For how long it lasts. Because sooner or later the library budget will be cut, printed versions will become unavailable and old volumes stored out of easy reach to economize on space. All options being discussed now and then.
I would consider it a paradise lost.
For the younger generation it may be difficult to imagine why it is so charming to see all the new journals on their stands in the library. They smell as freshly printed paper should. You can pick the journals up and glance through them, picking up interesting articles. Can you really find any new paper readily when using a search machine like Scholar?
Nowadays it has become custom to distribute PDFs. You can store them easily, take them to anywhere on your laptop, view them on your screen with a few touches of buttons. But I notice that when I really want to study a paper I tend to print it out; and I know I’m not the only one doing it. Not directly an environment-friendly way.
It’s one of the dilemmas each scientist is facing. Especially taxonomists want to have access to the original source and often find themselves among piles of literature, sifting out the data they need for the paper under construction.
At the end of the discussion at Naturalis it was decided to have both the online and printed versions of the journal. The best of both worlds. For how long it lasts. Because sooner or later the library budget will be cut, printed versions will become unavailable and old volumes stored out of easy reach to economize on space. All options being discussed now and then.
I would consider it a paradise lost.
A Blue Drymaeus, I presume?
02-04-2009 21:33
Some animals are astonishing. Hiding themselves
perfectly against the background, which can be handy
when having a bright-coloured or yellowish shell and
living in dense forests. Mother Nature invented the
blue-bodied snail for it.
This picture was taken by David Robinson on Dominica in the West Indies. It is Drymaeus laticinctus (Guppy, 1868). According to David, several other Drymaeus species in the West Indies have blue bodies. Thus this may be a genetic trait within this area.
Quite intriguingly I received another picture of what presumably is a Drymaeus. Now you see quite perfectly that yellow + blue = green.
It becomes even more intriguing when you know the locality where this animal was found... Not in a rain forest in the Antilles, but... in Peru.
I’m still hunting for a picture of the shell, which has been collected by Carlos Rivera but has not yet turned up after his moving to a new house.
BTW: according to rumors there is a club being formed, called “Seekers of the Blue Drymaeus”. So far, only USDA officials are eligible. I’ll keep you posted when more is known.
This picture was taken by David Robinson on Dominica in the West Indies. It is Drymaeus laticinctus (Guppy, 1868). According to David, several other Drymaeus species in the West Indies have blue bodies. Thus this may be a genetic trait within this area.
Quite intriguingly I received another picture of what presumably is a Drymaeus. Now you see quite perfectly that yellow + blue = green.
It becomes even more intriguing when you know the locality where this animal was found... Not in a rain forest in the Antilles, but... in Peru.
I’m still hunting for a picture of the shell, which has been collected by Carlos Rivera but has not yet turned up after his moving to a new house.
BTW: according to rumors there is a club being formed, called “Seekers of the Blue Drymaeus”. So far, only USDA officials are eligible. I’ll keep you posted when more is known.
Photo of the day (44): Sultana
01-04-2009 09:10
Another photograph of a living snail, together with
some pictures of a shell in the collection of
Valentín Mogollón. They are of
Sultana
(Methorthalicus)
yatesi
(Pfeiffer, 1855). The ‘variety’ or ‘colour
form’
vicaria
Fulton, 1896 is pictured here.
The shell was collected by Federico Gutierrez in Peru, Dept. Amazonas, Prov. Rodriguez de Mendoza. The living animal was pictured by Carlos Rivera.
Many thanks to Valentín and Grace for making these beautiful pictures available here.
The shell was collected by Federico Gutierrez in Peru, Dept. Amazonas, Prov. Rodriguez de Mendoza. The living animal was pictured by Carlos Rivera.
Many thanks to Valentín and Grace for making these beautiful pictures available here.