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Do You Have a Question for One of Our Scientists?
Does the Museum have any fossil remains of Neanderthals?
Though small in size and number, the Field does hold some Neanderthal skeletal fragments among its anthropology collections. These remains are not true fossils, in that their organic component has not been replaced by a mineral matrix, but rather are portions of actual human skeletons. Collected in France from La Souquette, Roque Courbere and La Moustier (one of the most important Neanderthal sites), the Museum’s Neanderthal holdings comprise two molar teeth and several cranial fragments. The Museum also holds an excellent collection of casts of hominid remains, including replicas of almost every famous Neanderthal specimen.
Though our collection of actual Neanderthal remains is modest, our collection of Neanderthal material culture is world-class. The everyday tools, weapons and implements of the Neanderthals, as with all early hominids (the early ancestors of modern man), were largely composed of stone. More correctly, perhaps, the stone tools are what best survived the rigors of the ages, and thus are the most abundant today. Aside from the Logan Museum’s collection at Beloit College in Wisconsin, the Field possesses the largest lithic (or stone tool) collection from the European Paleolithic in the entire United States.
Finally, the Museum is unique in America, if not the world, for holding "Magdalenian Girl," a nearly complete skeleton of an early anatomically modern human—successors to Neanderthal—dating from more than 16,000 years ago. This rare and outstanding specimen is currently on display in the "Life Over Time" exhibition.
William Pestle
Assistant Collections Manager, Department of Anthropology
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What North American insects are most deadly to humans?
There are no North American insects that are normally fatal to humans. However, while most people are not particularly sensitive to wasp, bee or ant stings, some individuals may succumb to anaphylactic shock or die unless treated immediately. The harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex) of the western United States is generally considered to have the most painful sting, with intense pain lasting up to four hours.
Also, mosquitoes carry potentially dangerous diseases. In Illinois, for example, the house mosquito (Culex pipiens) carries a form of St. Louis encephalitis, and the eastern tree-hole mosquito (Aedes triseriatus) carries LaCross encephalitis. Both diseases can produce flu-like symptoms and may be fatal in a small percent of the population.
Philip Parrillo
Curatorial Assistant, Department of Zoology, Division of Insects
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Why do shorebirds hang out so far from the water, such as at the Skokie Swift CTA station? Was this area once a wetland?
The term "shorebirds" refers to members of the order Charadriiformes, which represents some 300 species worldwide, including sandpipers, plovers, terns and gulls. Although many species are found near water, others have discovered feeding and living opportunities away from water. In our area, ring-billed and herring gulls fly from their lakeshore roosting areas daily to forage in places like city dumps and mall parking lots.
The killdeer, a plover species common around Chicago in the non-winter months, also forages or nests in open habitats that are not necessarily near water, including cemeteries, parks and parking lots. The Skokie Swift station could have been a wetland at some point, but having evolved to use a variety of open urban habitats, shorebirds probably frequent the area today for its foraging opportunities.
John Bates
Assistant Curator, Department of Zoology, Division of Birds
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Can I see Sue even if I don't live in Chicago?
Two identical Field Museum, A T-rex Named Sue, exhibitions sponsored by McDonald's Corporation will travel simultaneously to cities across the country. The tours began at Boston's Museum of Science on June 21, 2000, and Honolulu's Bishop Museum on July 15, 2000. The exhibitions will spend approximately three months in each city on the tour. A current list of cities hosting A T-rex Named Sue can be found on our Sue website. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a breathtaking life-sized articulated cast skeleton of Sue. The exhibition tells the amazing story of this fossil through video footage, freestanding interactive exhibits, colorful graphics and touchable casts of bones. Interactive anatomical models will allow visitors to control the movements of a T. rex's jaw, tail, neck and forelimbs. Visitors can put together a large format 3D puzzle of Sue's skeleton, see the Cretaceous world through Sue's eyes, experience an eye-level view of Sue's massive skull and touch models of Sue's dagger-like 12" long teeth.
Marlene Rothacker
Project Administrator
The Field Museum
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Where would you most likely find dinosaur footprints?
If the right types of rocks are present, dinosaur footprints can be found almost anywhere. The right types of rocks include those that are sedimentary in origin, come from continental (not marine) environments, and are from the Mesozoic Era (the time when dinosaurs lived, 250 to 65 million years ago). Specifically, tracks are usually preserved in areas where the water table was at or near the surface when the tracks were made. Your best chances of finding dinosaur tracks are in areas where significant erosion or mining activities have exposed large portions of these rocks.
Darin A. Croft
Program Developer and
Post-Doctoral Research Associate
Department of Geology and
Department of Education
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Did T. rex have any predators?
No it didn't. Although a juvenile Tyrannosaurus might have been vulnerable, a healthy, full-grown adult was not. We know of no other meat-eaters even close to T. rex in size at the end of the Cretaceous period.
William Simpson
Chief Preparator and Collection
Manager, Geology Department
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Why were the arms of T. rex so short?
We really don’t know why. What we do know is that their arms, which were about the same length as those of a human, were robust and extremely powerful. Muscle scarring on the arm bones of Sue indicate that her forelimb muscles were very well developed. So, whatever these dinosaurs were doing with their arms, they were doing it with force.
William Simpson
Chief Preparator and Collections
Manager, Geology Department
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In movies, T. rex is always depicted with little bumps on top of its snout. Is there any scientific evidence for this?
Yes, all tyrannosaurids have slight bumps and ridges on their snouts, although they may be exaggerated in some film reconstructions. We will never really know why they had these bony bumps, but they may have served as some sort of social-signaling function, much like the antlers on a deer do today.
Chris Brochu
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
Fossil Vertebrates
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What is the difference between a chimpanzee and a gorilla?
Chimpanzees and gorillas are both members of the primate group, which includes mammals such as lemurs, monkeys and humans. All primates have relatively large braincases (in comparison to other mammalian groups) and possess agile limbs and fingers. Chimps generally differ from gorillas several ways. For example, chimps are smaller than gorillas and have larger and more conspicuous ears. In addition, female chimps are almost the same size as males, whereas female gorillas are much smaller than their male counterparts. Using collections like those housed at the Museum, scientists continue to debate the exact relationships among primates and often ask themselves questions similar to yours.
William Stanley
Collection Manager of Mammals
Zoology Department
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Did you kill the animals that are on display?
Nearly all the mammals featured in our exhibits have been on display for at least 50 years, and some for more than 100 years. At the time they were collected, mammal populations were large and people were accustomed to hunting animals for food. Consequently, very few people were concerned at the time about killing a few animals to put on display at the Museum, and perhaps even less concerned when they knew that these animals were helping to educate millions of people. However, because so many of these animals today are endangered from overhunting and habitat loss, we could not nor would we want to kill more. And because we have been able to reuse the old taxidermy mounts very effectively, we only have had to create a few new ones in recent years. The animals in these contemporary displays have come from zoos, nature centers, state wildlife agencies or similar organizations. Since The Field Museum remains one of the nation’s primary centers for both education and basic research on biological diversity and environmental conservation, we feel these new displays, as well as the older ones, are a great way to educate our visitors about the natural world and illustrate how we must change our attitudes and activities if we are to preserve the biological diversity that remains.
Lawrence Heaney
Associate Curator and Head
Division of Mammals
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Why don’t ants or other small insects drown in the rain?
Ants that live underground generally abandon their homes when they flood, often bringing their pupa and larvae along with them. Once they find dry refuge, the colony will wait until the ground dries out before attempting to build a new home. Most ants, however, try to find areas that offer some drainage so they don’t have to move during heavy rainfalls. Other small insects have their own unique ways of coping with floods. The 17-year cicada, for instance, will encase itself in a waterproof capsule of soil during floods. And lion ants avoid the problem altogether by restricting themselves to sandy areas under hanging cliffs and logs before each rainy season.
Daniel Summers
Collection Manager of Insects
Zoology Department
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I live on the 24th floor of a Chicago high-rise and have seen spiders on the outside of my windows. How did they get up here?
Well, they sort of "fly" up there. Baby spiders often release silk from their spinnerets to create a balloon-like contraption. The spiders then use these contraptions to hitch rides on uplifting air currents. The specific spider that lives on your window is probably a Larinioides sclopetaria, an orb-weaving spider that is found throughout the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. In more natural environments, these spiders live on rocks overhanging water. In the city, they have found the next best thing: tall buildings and high-rises. What makes these buildings so appealing is that the light shining through our windows attracts an enormous amount of insects, providing the spiders with a delicious nightly feast.
Petra Sierwald
Adjunct Curator, Insects
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Why were the shrunken heads from South America taken off display?
The shrunken heads from the Shuara (Jivaro) culture of lowland Ecuador were taken off display when the South America Hall was recently converted into the new Museum store. However, the exhibit in which the heads were showcased was outdated and needed to be revised. Today, we now know that headhunting was a part of the complex religious belief system of the Shuara, who placed a strong emphasis on creating a rich mythology and used shamanistic practices to unify the real and supernatural worlds. From ethnographical research conducted by anthropologist Michael Harner, we also know that the Shuara shrank heads not only of enemies caught in battle, but also of revered members of their community as a way to incorporate their spirits into those of the living.
Alaka Wali
Associate Curator, Anthropology
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