Green Grow the Salamanders Biology Science Videos 

Green Grow the Salamanders: Shelf Life Video

Many people visit the American Museum of Natural History to view the preserved specimens of dinosaurs and extinct animals, but the Museum also has a collection of about 80 live cultures of microorganisms, including algae. Here is what the Museum has to say about episode 11, “Green Grow the Salamanders,” of their popular Shelf Life series:: This episode of Shelf Life looks at how Museum researchers are currently studying the surprising role single-celled algae play in the life of the spotted salamander—and comes on the heels of the opening of…

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Biology Paleontology Science Videos 

The Tiniest Fossils of All

This episode of the Shelf Life video series explores the fossils of tiny marine organisms known as foraminifera. That name is a mouthful, so even scientists often shorten it to forams. These single-cell organisms still live in Earth’s oceans today. The fossilized shells left behind by their foram forefathers serve as tiny time capsules for climate data from bygone eras. Finding Clues in Fossils Ammonite fossils also contain clues to past climates. Ammonites are a group of ancient mollusks related to modern animals like nautiluses, which most closely resemble squid and…

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Skull of the Olinguito: Shelf Life Episode 4 Biology Science Videos Zoology 

Skull of the Olinguito: Shelf Life Episode 4

The Skull of the Olinguito This video, fourth in the Shelf Life series, reveals how scientists in the field found the skull of a new species and identified it as the elusive olinguito. Thousands of new animal species are discovered every year, some living and some extinct. Researchers regularly make expeditions to the far-flung corners of the globe in search of new species, ranging from the single-celled organisms found in pools of volcanic sulfur (or even in your own stomach), to deep-sea organisms and larger animals like monkeys and birds.…

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Coelacanth, Shelf Life Episode 3, American Museum of Natural History Video Biology Science Videos Zoology 

Fishing for Facts: Studying the Rare Coelacanth

Find out how coelacanth bodies are preserved so you can view them in natural history museums. Video, Shelf Life Episode Three. Meet the Coelacanth Coelacanths (see-la-kanths) are large, ancient fish with arm-like fins and armor-like scales. They can be found in the fossil record through the time of the dinosaurs, but disappear about 70 million years ago. Everyone thought the creature was extinct. Then, in 1938, the coelacanth splashed into the modern world when one was caught in a fishing net off the coast of South Africa. The prehistoric specimen…

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