Secretary’s Report, 2009
American Society of Naturalists
Secretary

Galápagos Island land snails have diversified into more than 80 species by taking advantage of new environments. Young islands have both a wealth of resources and not many competitors to exploit them. Shell shape within species is most variable in areas with few different snails and many different plants, showing the importance of both competition and resource diversity in a single adaptive radiation.
A new study finds that a species of sea star stays cool using a strategy never before seen in the animal kingdom.

Featured in Discover
"Starfish Prepare for Hot Conditions by Taking a Long, Cold Drink" November 19, 2009
Brett Israel recounts Sylvain Pincebourde, Eric Sanford and Brian Helmuth's research on the thermoregulation techniques of select sea stars.

Featured in U.S. News & World Report
"Ants are Friendly to Some Trees, Not so Nice to Others" November 10, 2009
U.S. News & World Report covers the study by David P. Edwards, et al. on ants engineering their environment to increase the amount of nesting space in trees.

Featured in BBC News
"Starfish 'pump up' to cool down" October 28, 2009
BBC reports on Sylvain Pincebourde, Eric Sanford and Brian Helmuth's study on intertidal sea stars's strategy to avoid overheating in the sun.

Featured in Natural History Magazine
"Size Matters" October 1, 2009
Cell Size but Not Genome Size Affects Scaling of Metabolic Rate in Eyelid Geckos
Zuzana Starostová, et al

Featured in ScienceNOW
"Antplant Ants Are Never Satisfied" September 16, 2009
Elizabeth Pennisi covers David P. Edwards et. al., "A Plant Needs Ants like a Dog Needs Fleas: Myrmelachista schumanni Ants Gall Many Tree Species to Create Housing"
Secretary