Roost Rulers
Small prey bully large predators… and win
March 23, 2022
Tiny, fruit-eating bats take over the roost of larger, carnivorous bats at the edge of Panama’s Soberanía National Park.
Tiny, fruit-eating bats take over the roost of larger, carnivorous bats at the edge of Panama’s Soberanía National Park.
Plant leaves show us the species that exist in a forest, and the ecological conditions in which they live. These attributes can also be observed in fossil leaves, which allows us to reconstruct forests that existed millions of years ago and understand how they have changed over time. In this talk we will talk about how fossil leaves tell us about the effect of a mass extinction 66 million years ago, on the evolution of modern tropical forests.
Giant agates found in an island on the Pacific coast of Panama prompted a study on the area’s geology to answer the question of how the Isthmus evolved and became a bridge between two continents.
Rain sounds cue bats to stay at home
Join us to explore a few examples showcasing the spectrum of relationships among tropical organisms and their consequences from the genome to the global level. How does being in relationship change with time and what triggers tipping points that radically change the partners’ lives?
Barro Colorado Island Research Station in Panama celebrates upcoming 100th birthday with an exhibition at the US National Museum of Natural History.
Geologist Tony Coates changed the way we think about the ground under our feet. He confirmed the date when North and South America were connected at about 3 million years ago. We remember Tony not only as a skilled field geologist, but as a kind person and storyteller, who captured the imagination of scientists and non-scientists alike with his ability to spin a tale.
Art and science on the same wavelength
In September 2017, divers observed a massive “dead zone” rising to envelop Caribbean coral reefs in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Smithsonian post-docs joined together to understand marine hypoxia now and in the past.
My research interests have evolved from a strict focus on the ecology of coral reefs to paleontological investigations of the evolution of Caribbean marine ecosystems in response to environmental change and finally towards elucidating the causes and consequences of past and ongoing human...