Printed on August 27, 2007
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Waking a Mammoth: Q&A with Scientist Dan Fisher, Part 1
**Daniel C. Fisher completed undergraduate and graduate work in Geological Sciences at Harvard University (PhD, 1975) and was appointed in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Rochester. In 1979, he moved to the University of Michigan's Department of Geological Sciences and Museum of Paleontology, where he is now the Claude W. Hibbard Collegiate Professor and Curator of Paleontology. Shortly after arriving in Ann Arbor, Fisher was called to several local sites where remains of mastodons had turned up during excavation of farm ponds. While still involved in work on North American material, he has recently expanded his research to include woolly mammoths in northern Siberia. Although remote in every sense from the Great Lakes region mastodons that originally attracted his interest, an arctic perspective is adding new insights to our understanding of proboscidean paleobiology and late Pleistocene extinction.**
NGC: When did you know you wanted to study paleontology? What drew you to mammoths in particular?
Dan Fisher: I began studying paleontology in high school, thanks to a dedicated and enthusiastic biology teacher. I didn't begin with an interest in mammoths but started working on them after coming to teach in Michigan, where many mammoths and mastodons have been found. What attracted me most about these animals was the prospect that the structure and composition of their tusks could provide clues about their ecology and extinction.
NGC: At what point were you informed about Lyuba's discovery, and how did you get involved with the research team?
Dan Fisher: I heard about Lyuba about two weeks after she was found, shortly after mammoth expert Bernard Buigues learned of her. I have collaborated with him and Dr. Alexei Tikhonov on mammoth research for about a decade, so we were already in close contact.
NGC: What is it like to work with a creature that walked the earth over 40,000 years ago?
Dan Fisher: Relative to the age of fossils that most paleontologists study, 40,000 years is not so old. But anything that comes from a time this remote can't help but affect your perspective on life today. You realize that for all the differences between life then and now, the really important things have not changed much. This frees you to focus on some of the bigger questions about our world and life in it.
NGC: How many other mammoths have been discovered, and what makes this mammoth different?
Dan Fisher: If we're talking about moderately complete mammoths with some preservation of soft tissues, the number would be around a couple dozen specimens. But tens of thousands of specimens have been found with just teeth and bones remaining. What makes Lyuba different from any of these is the quality and completeness of her preservation. Though she is not large, no other specimen preserves this much of the original anatomy. That makes her a remarkable scientific resource.
NGC: Where did you travel with Lyuba?
Dan Fisher: I first traveled to examine Lyuba in Salekhard, Russia -- near where she was found -- at the museum that is now her long-term home. I next met up with her in Tokyo, where the CT scanning was done, and later in Saint Petersburg, where we did the investigative surgery and removal of samples for analysis elsewhere.
NGC: What was most interesting to you about your trip to Siberia and meeting the Nenets reindeer herders?
Dan Fisher: It's hard to pick just one thing, but I did find the craftsmanship exemplified in the Nenets' wooden sleds especially impressive. It was just one instance of their ingenuity and care applied to the complex problems of mobility and survival in a harsh landscape. As something of a woodworker myself, I never tired of studying their form and function.
NGC: Can you tell us how Lyuba was found, and when she was turned over to scientists?
Dan Fisher: A short version of the story is that Lyuba was found by two of Yuri Khudi's sons, Edik and Kostia, as they were collecting firewood along the Yuribei River. They didn't disturb her, but told their father, who came to see her for himself the next day. He still didn't pick her up, but decided to consult with a close friend and eventually to report her to local authorities. There was a brief interval when she was brought in from the tundra by another Nenets. And a rapid investigation was required to locate her and follow up on Yuri Khudi's intention to turn her over to a local natural history museum. But soon after he made his decision, she was in the care of museum scientists.
NGC: When did you know you wanted to study paleontology? What drew you to mammoths in particular?
Dan Fisher: I began studying paleontology in high school, thanks to a dedicated and enthusiastic biology teacher. I didn't begin with an interest in mammoths but started working on them after coming to teach in Michigan, where many mammoths and mastodons have been found. What attracted me most about these animals was the prospect that the structure and composition of their tusks could provide clues about their ecology and extinction.
NGC: At what point were you informed about Lyuba's discovery, and how did you get involved with the research team?
Dan Fisher: I heard about Lyuba about two weeks after she was found, shortly after mammoth expert Bernard Buigues learned of her. I have collaborated with him and Dr. Alexei Tikhonov on mammoth research for about a decade, so we were already in close contact.
NGC: What is it like to work with a creature that walked the earth over 40,000 years ago?
Dan Fisher: Relative to the age of fossils that most paleontologists study, 40,000 years is not so old. But anything that comes from a time this remote can't help but affect your perspective on life today. You realize that for all the differences between life then and now, the really important things have not changed much. This frees you to focus on some of the bigger questions about our world and life in it. NGC: How many other mammoths have been discovered, and what makes this mammoth different?
Dan Fisher: If we're talking about moderately complete mammoths with some preservation of soft tissues, the number would be around a couple dozen specimens. But tens of thousands of specimens have been found with just teeth and bones remaining. What makes Lyuba different from any of these is the quality and completeness of her preservation. Though she is not large, no other specimen preserves this much of the original anatomy. That makes her a remarkable scientific resource.
NGC: Where did you travel with Lyuba?
Dan Fisher: I first traveled to examine Lyuba in Salekhard, Russia -- near where she was found -- at the museum that is now her long-term home. I next met up with her in Tokyo, where the CT scanning was done, and later in Saint Petersburg, where we did the investigative surgery and removal of samples for analysis elsewhere.
NGC: What was most interesting to you about your trip to Siberia and meeting the Nenets reindeer herders?
Dan Fisher: It's hard to pick just one thing, but I did find the craftsmanship exemplified in the Nenets' wooden sleds especially impressive. It was just one instance of their ingenuity and care applied to the complex problems of mobility and survival in a harsh landscape. As something of a woodworker myself, I never tired of studying their form and function.
NGC: Can you tell us how Lyuba was found, and when she was turned over to scientists?
Dan Fisher: A short version of the story is that Lyuba was found by two of Yuri Khudi's sons, Edik and Kostia, as they were collecting firewood along the Yuribei River. They didn't disturb her, but told their father, who came to see her for himself the next day. He still didn't pick her up, but decided to consult with a close friend and eventually to report her to local authorities. There was a brief interval when she was brought in from the tundra by another Nenets. And a rapid investigation was required to locate her and follow up on Yuri Khudi's intention to turn her over to a local natural history museum. But soon after he made his decision, she was in the care of museum scientists.
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2 Comments
My comment is about a blog/forum not available and there is no way to post to a general one. I want to know when GIANT CRYSTAL CAVE will air again. I saw it on 4/26/09 and want others to watch the show. This site is not user friendly and I have been searching for this info for several hours. Can anyone help? I access DirectTV channel 276 zip code 80124. Thank you.
I am trying to get attention from Natgeo about the airing of their story regarding Greg Williams being Kidnapped in the Philippines. The story is a fake and a big hoax. Too many inconsistencies. In my posting which was deleted in their forum, I challenged several aspect of the story. Instead of answering the the moderator deleted my posting. Below was my original
posting .
This is a bogus tale. Many inconsistencies in the tale. No Abu Sayaf kidnapping has ever occured from Cebu and taken to Mindanao. The logistics are just too great to overcome. The distance is to great for any small boat to accomplish the trip from Cebu to Mindanao. It means refueling several times and exposed to a lot of traffic and discovery by authority. Second the place of the kidnapping at the port area of Cebu is heavily guarded by government police and military personnel that unles they are involved themselves (Military & Police) in the kidnapping, it would be next to impossible to do it.
Another questionable aspect of his trip is that he claims he was recruited from Florida to become a Missionary in the Phillipines without the proper training in Missionary work and was just ask to come nonchalantly. Usually this trip is sponsored by the Church with complete instructions on what to do. Also you are always met at the airport by somebody from the mission.
The portion about Abu Sabaya using an interpreter to talk to him is also not believable. In all of his kidnappings he has never used an interpreter to broadcast his demands . He usually would like to talk to the media and speaks English during those broadcast.
Also for the Abu Sayaf to kidnap him looking for the blind prophet is totally rediculous. Why would they not kidnap the blind prophet instead of him? He claims that the Abu Sayaf knew that he was in contact with the prophet, in that case then they would know where the prophet is. Also, before the Abu Sayaf stages the kidnappings they have already scouted the area and the person to be kidnapped. They will not kidnap anyone at random unless they are sure they are going to get paid for it. So, they would usually target someone with money. If you are a foriegner travelling they would target expensive resort areas knowing that those who can stay in those resorts has the money and can afford to pay ransom.
The other aspect of the kidnappings is also very questionable. They would not kidnap 2 to 3 people in Cebu and ferry them all the way to Zamboanga and Jolo if they are not sure that they would get any financial benefit out of it. When they kidnap, they usually take more than 2 to 3 people at the same time. Their usual M.O. is to kidnap from a half dozen to a dozen victims at one time. That way it increasses their chances of getting a fat payday.
His mode of escape is very much a fairy tale. Granting that the interpreter is a good Samaritan who is willing to sacrifice himelf and his family for his sake, but it would be foolhardy to believe that his kidnappers are drinking beer and partying at night till the wee hours of the morning. The Abu Sayaf are avowed Muslims and does not touch alcohol. No one who has been kidnapped by them has ever witnessed them dringking alcoholic beverages.
The portion of his escape from the other end of the tunnel makes it seem like the kidnappers are a bunch of keystone cops who does not know what they are doing. If they have been using the cave as a hideout they would have known about the other opening and would have placed a guard on that entrance so no government troops can surprise them through that opening.
This episode should be labled as fiction and not as a true story. I am surprised that NatGeo did not check the inconsistencies of the story before airing it. It is a wonderfully made up fiction.
Next time Natgeo please check the story and its content and make sure they are real.
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