Studying bursts of diversification in tropical bats

Sharlene Santana holds a Lophostoma silvicolum bat.

Sharlene Santana is an evolutionary biologist and the new curator of mammals here at the Burke Museum. She studies how behavior, diet, anatomy and function result in bursts of diversification in tropical bats – mostly from Panama, Costa Rica and Venezuela.

Sharlene was born and spent most of her life in Venezuela. Growing up in the tropics fostered her love for animals and interest in their diversity.

Some of the tropical forests where Sharlene has worked no longer exist because they have been cut down. While Sharlene releases most of the bats she studies in the field, she collects some specimens to help preserve the biodiversity of these increasingly threatened habitats. In her research today and other studies in the future, these specimens in collections will help answer questions that haven’t even been asked.

I recently sat down with Sharlene to ask her why and how she studies bats.

Isaac the African lion goes Down Under

Isaac, a mounted African lion who spent nearly 30 years in Seattle and was very popular at last year's Meet the Mammals event, has a new home at Museum Victoria in Australia.

Jeff Bradley, mammalogy collection manager at the Burke Museum, took time off from his recent Australian vacation to visit Isaac in his new home.

"Last year, I got a call from Mardi Newman, a local benefit auctioneer, asking if we'd have any use for a mounted African Lion called Isaac," Jeff said. "A friend of hers, Renee Mills, had recently died, and had left quite a collection of African artifacts and specimens, most of which were going to auction.”

Meet the Squirrels! (And other mammals, too)

Squirrels – you probably see them every day in the Seattle area and may even overlook their presence, but these common creatures have an interesting history. The University of Washington Daily's "Double Shot" sought to find out more about the squirrels on UW's campus. They came to the Burke's mammalogy collection to speak with Collection Manager Jeff Bradley and talk about changes in the local squirrel populations over time. Watch the video to find out more!

You can see some of the Burke Museum's squirrel specimens and hundreds of other specimens for yourself at Meet the Mammals on Saturday, November 12, 10 am – 4 pm.

A Squirrel-y Time of Year

As the winter season creeps its way into Washington State, you may feel the urge to eat comfort food and wrap up in warm blankets.  While we den up, a backyard animal is hard at work—the squirrel.

There are 13 different species of squirrels found in Washington State, some are native and others have been introduced.  While each species has its own set of winter behaviors, one frequently seen species, the Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), can be seen carrying many tasty morsels throughout the day.

As food sources for squirrels become harder to find during the winter months, the Eastern Gray Squirrel and many other squirrel species can be seen burying, or storing, food.  Constantly busy during this time of year, these squirrels collect seeds from trees and other plants as well as fungi and insects.  Eastern Gray Squirrels bury these items in winter caches and can find these locations in the future by using memory and smell.

Sometimes squirrels can forget where caches are located, and the result is good for the environment.  When winter caches go uneaten, these buried seeds may aid in tree dispersal and contribute to the growth of forest ecosystems.  As I watch these creatures investigate my gorgeous Japanese Maple, I can only hope that someday they can plant another one for me in my backyard!

Come see squirrels and touch other mammals this Saturday, Nov. 20, 10 am – 4 pm at the Burke Museum’s Meet the Mammals family day event.

Posted By:  Andrea Barber, Communications

Meet the Caribou

It's fall again, and during this time of the year at the Burke, mammals are on our minds. That's because this Saturday is the annual family day, Meet the Mammals. Bring the family and get face-to-face with mammal skulls, touch the fur of big cats and assemble whale vertebrae while talking to Burke mammalogy experts. One Washington State mammal that I personally can't wait to meet is the caribou.

Woodland Caribou, or Rangifer tarandus, are even-toed hoofed mammals (or ungulates) that inhabit North America, Northern Europe and Asia. The Selkirk Herd, found in the north-eastern corner of Washington State, is a herd of roughly 30 members. Caribou are social herding animals that live in groups of no less than 10 and sometimes as large as tens of thousands when congregating at summer feeding grounds.

Caribou are migratory animals that travel over 3,100 miles per year. During these migrations, caribou traverse over all kinds of terrain, and have many adaptations to handle extreme weather conditions. During the winter, caribou have 18,000 hairs per square inch on their bodies that are hollow in order to help insulate the animals in subzero temperatures. The hairs are also hollow, making caribou more buoyant while crossing bodies of water. They are the fastest swimmers of all ungulates, with broad, paddle-like hooves, and can reach speeds of up to 6 mph in the water.

Photo of Woodland Caribou, Rangifer tarandus

Caribou are also the only members of the deer family in which both males and females have antlers; males have larger antlers that can weigh up to 33 pounds! Rutting season is from late August - October. During this time, males will compete for females by sparing, bashing their antlers together and head-butting over mates. Once rutting season is over, males will lose their antlers in the winter and will begin re-growing their antlers once again.

Every mammal has its own story and the Burke’s mammalogy experts are eager to share these stories at Meet the Mammals this weekend. It’s an exciting event with the chance to get up close and personal with mammals of all shapes and sizes—hoofed or not!

Burke visitors touch and examine porpoise skulls at last year's Meet the Mammals

Posted By: Andrea Barber, Communications.

A whale of a job

Posted by: Julia Swan, Communications

See our skeletons on the move:



See even more cool mammal specimens this Saturday at Meet the Mammals!

Is there a rodent that howls and eats meat? Find out at Meet the Mammals!

Posted by: Karin Hoffman, Communications

Saturday, November 22, is our third annual Meet the Mammals event. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn about the rich diversity of the world’s mammals by examining over one hundred skulls, skins and skeletons. This is your chance to get answers to the questions you’ve been dying to ask about mammals. Some of the questions I’ve come up with are:

• Is it true that the Pacific Northwest is home to both the largest (beaver) and smallest (little pocket mouse) rodents in North America?
• What do wolverines, wolves, and walrus’ share?
• Are blesboks, grysboks or blackbucks found in Washington state?
• Isn’t an elephant shrew an oxymoron?
• Can a mammal without hair still be a mammal?

A team of mammalogists from the Burke Museum and folks from the Woodland Park Zoo, Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, Seattle Aquarium and Guild of Natural Science Illustration will be on hand to provide answers to these questions, share examples of specimens up close and answer any questions you can come up with. So come check it out from 10 am – 4 pm this Saturday - free with museum admission.