X-Rays reveal secrets about ancient Peruvian mummy's history

Doctors at Driscoll Children's Hospital were hoping to take the wraps off some of the mysteries hidden inside an Peruvian mummy this morning. This archaelogical investigation was not done with trowels and shovels: this case, the digging was done with X-rays.

This 2,000-year-old mummy was taken to Driscoll Children's Hospital today for X-rays that can reveal information 
about its life in ancient times [Credit: Corpus Christi Museum of Natural History and Science]

"She was not my average patient!" said Suzi Beckwith, Diagnostic X-ray Coordinator at Driscoll Children's Hospital

For the past 60 years, the mummy has been kept at the Corpus Christi Museum of Natural History and Science. However now that museum wants to send the mummy back to Peru. They are trying to learn as much as they can about her, and X-rays can reveal a lot.

The museum already knows some of the mummy's past from records. They believe it is from the Inca Empire of Peru. When she was alive, the girl was 6- to 8-years-old girl, but that was back as far as 2,000 years ago.

Today, the museum and the hospital came together to see what secrets she is hiding inside.

"Because of the size of the mummy, I thought it was a baby," Beckwith said. "But looking at the X-rays, you see her legs are actually tucked in. So she's not a baby. she's a little girl.

X-rays can confirm gender, age, and even cause of death.

The X-rays showed the mummy's bones are in good condition, and can confirm other things like gender, age, 
and even cause of death [Credit: Corpus Christi Museum of Natural History and Science]

"We're looking for things that can help us give information to anthropologists in Peru, and then hopefully confirm cultural group that she belongs to, said Jillian Becquet, Collections Manager at the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History.

Little is known about the girl's ancient life, where the mummy is from, or whether she was taken out of Peru legally.

Records do show the mummy was exhibited at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, before arriving at the Corpus Christi Museum of Natural History and Science in 1957. The mummy was one of the museum's first artifacts. However, it was removed from display in the 1980s, and has sat in storage ever since.

"This person needs to be where her family buried her," Becquet said.

Now, the museum is trying to learn more about her past and identity, working with the Peruvian Embassy with the goal of sending the mummy home. 

"Whatever group was around her chose to do this very caring thing, to wrap her purposefully and bury her," Becquet said. "Somebody along the way disrespected that, and so we want that to be restored."

From here, Peruvian anthropologists will look over the data to verify the findings. As for if or when this mummy will be returned, will be up to the Peruvian government to decide.

Author: Jane Caffrey | Source: KrisTV [Septembter 18, 2017]

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New Peruvian whale fossil discovery sheds light on whale lineages

A new study led by a Monash biologist has provided fresh information on the origin of one of the major baleen whale lineages, which helps to connect living whales with their deep evolutionary past.

Cranium of Tiucetus rosae (MNHN.F. PPI261, holotype) in (a) oblique anterodorsal and (b) lateral 
view (a, anterior; d, dorsal; l, lateral; p, posterior) [Credit: Felix Marx et al. 
Royal Society Open Science (2017)]

The new whale (Tiucetus rosae) bridges the gap between a family known as cetotheriids – today represented by the living pygmy right whale – and a poorly understood group of ancient whales living 10 to  25 million years ago.

“Tiucetus sheds light on what kind of animal cetotheriids, and thus one of the major modern baleen whale lineages, evolved from,” said lead study author Dr Felix Marx from the Monash School of Biological Sciences.

“We know from DNA and morphological studies how the living baleen whale families relate to each other, but the looks and whereabouts of their earliest ancestors remain largely in the dark.

“Our new whale is starting to change that, by filling in the blanks at the base of Cetotheriidae.”

Phylogenetic position of Tiucetus rosae (shown in red) among other living and extinct baleen whales 
[Credit: Felix Marx et al. Royal Society Open Science (2017)]

The Peruvian whale fossil was found, collected and prepared by the study’s French co-author, Dr Christian de Muizon.  Dr Marx is an expert on baleen whale evolution and was invited to describe and analyse the new specimen. His study, published in Royal Open Society Science, is part of an ongoing research program involving scientists from Peru and several countries in Europe.

There are four families of baleen whale in the modern ocean - 10 to 25 million years ago, the ocean looked rather different, and was dominated by a group of archaic whales scientists still know very little about, according to Dr Marx.

“It is generally thought that these ancient whales belong to one or more of the living families, but they are so different from their modern cousins that no one is quite sure where they fit,” he said.

“Our new fossil superficially looks like an archaic species, but also shares some very clear traits with Cetotheriidae. ­

The research team studied the shape of its bones in detail, and compared it to a broad variety of living and extinct species. Every comparison they made resulted in clear differences with known whales, which meant that the fossil represented a new species.

Source: Monash University [September 14, 2017]

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Hidden Inca treasure: Remarkable new tree genus discovered in the Andes

Hidden in plain sight -- that's how researchers describe their discovery of a new genus of large forest tree commonly found, yet previously scientifically unknown, in the tropical Andes. Researchers from the Smithsonian and Wake Forest University detailed their findings in a study just released in the journal PhytoKeys.

New canopy tree genus Incadendron esseri shown in this altitudinal transect of Manu National Park in Peru 
[Credit: Wake Forest University]

Named Incadendron esseri (literally "Esser's tree of the Inca"), the tree is a new genus and species commonly found along an ancient Inca path in Peru, the Trocha Union. Its association with the land of the Inca empire inspired its scientific name.

So how could a canopy tree stretching up to 100 feet tall and spanning nearly two feet in diameter go undetected until now?

"Incadendron tells us a lot about how little we understand life on our planet. Here is a tree that ranges from southern Peru to Ecuador, that is abundant on the landscape, and yet it was unknown. Finding this tree isn't like finding another species of oak or another species of hickory -- it's like finding oak or hickory in the first place," said Miles Silman, the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation Presidential Chair in Conservation Biology at Wake Forest.

"This tree perplexed researchers for several years before being named as new. It just goes to show that so much biodiversity is unknown and that obvious new species are awaiting discovery everywhere -- in remote ecological plots, as well as in our own backyards," said Kenneth Wurdack, a botanist with the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

Fruits and leaves of Incadendron esseri, new tree genus found in Peru and Ecuador 
[Credit: Jason Houston]

The tree belongs to the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae -- best known for rubber trees, cassava, and poinsettias -- and like many of its relatives, when damaged also bleeds white sap, known as latex, that serves to protect it from insects and diseases.

Its ecological success in a difficult environment suggests more study is needed to find the hidden secrets that are often inherent in newly discovered and poorly known biodiversity.

Currently the Incadendron is common in several research plots under intensive study as part of the Andes Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research Group, an international Andes-to-Amazon ecology program co-founded by Silman.

For nearly 25 years, Silman has worked to gain greater understanding of Andean species distributions, biodiversity, and the response of forest ecosystems to climate and land use changes over time.

Incadendron esseri branch [Credit: Wake Forest University]

"While Incadendron has a broad range along the Andes, it is susceptible to climate change because it lives in a narrow band of temperatures. As temperatures rise, the tree populations have to move up to cooler temperatures," said Silman.

One of the study's co-authors, William Farfan-Rios, is a Wake Forest graduate student researching tropical forest dynamics and responses to changing environments along the Andes-to-Amazon elevational gradient. Discovering the Incadendron hits particularly close to home for the Cusco, Peru-native. Not only is the new genus vulnerable to climate change, but it is also threatened by deforestation in nearby areas.

"It highlights the imperative role of parks and protected areas where it grows, such as Manu National Park and the Yanachaga-Chemillen National Park," he said. "Hopefully our ongoing study of the Incadendron and the intensive long-term forest monitoring will contribute to best practices in reforestation and forest management."

Source: Wake Forest University [September 07, 2017]

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