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mbari-blog · 3 days

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Shining a light on the origins of bioluminescence ✨✨

A new study led by MBARI collaborators at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History explores the evolution of bioluminescence, nature’s living light show. A team of researchers, including MBARI Senior Scientist Steven Haddock, has learned bioluminescence first evolved in animals at least 540 million years ago in soft corals.

Scientists have long been curious about the evolution of bioluminescence. To tackle the larger question of why bioluminescence evolved, we needed to know when this ability first appeared in animals. In search of the trait’s earliest origins, the team decided to peer back into the evolutionary history of octocorals, an ancient and frequently bioluminescent group of animals that includes soft corals, sea fans, and sea pens.

Mapping out the branches of the evolutionary tree from fossil records, genetics, and bioluminescent behaviors revealed that some 540 million years ago, the common ancestor of all octocorals was very likely bioluminescent. That is 273 million years earlier than the glowing ostracod crustaceans that previously held the title of earliest evolution of bioluminescence in animals.

MBARI’s Biodiversity and Biooptics Team is working to understand how and why animals produce their stunning luminescence. Learn more about this illuminating research on our website.

#MBARI #DeepSea #SeaLife #Ocean #Research #Science

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arthistoryanimalia · 1 year

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3-5 March is the #InternationalFestivalofOwls at the International Owl Center so if you have any extra owls you didn't share during #Superb_Owl_Sunday now is the time! (I have tons 😉)

Papier Mâché Doll - Owl, Burma (Myanmar), collected 1963, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History collection.

#owl #bird #birds in art #papier mâché #doll #Southeast Asian art #Asian art #Burma #Myanmar #folk art #20th century art #1960s #Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History #International Festival of Owls #International Owl Center #animals in art

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retrosaurus · 1 year

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A diorama featuring classical models of Allosaurus and Stegosaurus, digitised from a 1978 slide. 🦖

#palaeoblr #dinoblr #70s #70s childhood #dinosaurs #museum #Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History #Places #🦖

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smbhax · 2 years

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Muntjac deer skull Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Bone Hall Washington D.C.

Muntjac are small deer are native to S and SE Asia and invasive in Japan and the UK. In the UK, after escaping from the Duke of Bedford’s estate in 1925, their population expanded rapidly, and is now expected to become England’s most numerous deer species.

Wikipedia | Smithsonian | Photo by Ryan Somma

#muntjac #deer #barking deer #skull #skeleton #bone hall #smithsonian #museum #natural history #history #smithsonian national museum of natural history #washington dc #dc #duke of bedford

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tetsuyasogo · 33 years

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July 5, 1991: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

#tetsuya sogo #十河哲也 #hisa sogo #十河尚 #Hisa & Tetsuya Sogo #washington d.c.#Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

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tmbgareok · 6 months

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A 1992 TMBG concert ticket currently on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, as part of the new temporary exhibit "Cellphone: Unseen Connections;" with label, and context in a "Before Cellphones" section.

#tmbg #they might be giants #submission #smithsonian #national museum of natural history #museum

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rimouskis · 7 months

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on the subject of museums though: I'm a FIRM believer that the smithsonians are genuinely some the greatest cultural heritage americans possess and I believe SO fervently in them being free to the public and accessible to all because they ARE our nation's history and tell (and ideally deconstruct) our national myths and help contextualize the natural world around us and show us the heights of human ingenuity and art. also my favorite of all of them is the national museum of the american indian and I personally think if you can only go to one smithsonian museum it should be that one

#I've only been to DC once since the National Museum of African American History and Culture opened and I wasn't able to go bc the #timed tickets for the day were all sold out :( but I'm going to attempt to go later this year #idk I feel very passionately about the smithsonians... one of my favorite childhood memories is the family trip we took there #and I walked around the natural history museum with a notebook and wrote down all my favorite things I saw that day ahaha #and the air & space museum really is just incredible. my dad has Space Race Boomer Brain but I was always really interested #in how his mind was so CAPTURED by the space race and by space exploration and him seeing the first man on the moon #and that bled into me appreciating that museum a lot #but seriously the american indian museum is just a feat to behold. just incredible.#and — I'd argue — the MOST important museum to view if you wanted to truly grasp the weight of the stories our country tries to tell itself

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petsincollections · 1 year

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Scottie Dog stuffed animal

Stuffed plush animal toy, Scottie (Scottish Terrier) dog, made with synthetic shaggy "fur". Bron Solyom notes (page 6, see accession file): "These [toys, E434810-434817] were among Ann Dunham's personal possessions. I do not know if either of her children played with them." It is unknown when or where these were made or acquired.

Anthropology Collections

NMNH Research & Collections

#dogs #plush dogs #stuffed dogs #scottie dogs #plush scottie dogs #stuffed scottie dogs #cedric?#smithsonian institution #anthropology #national museum of natural history

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istandonsnowpiles · 4 months

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