Zoology CSI By: Heather Farrington, Curator of Zoology Even at the dawn of the genetic age, it was known that only living (or once living) cells could be a source of DNA for study. Blood, tissues such as skin and muscle, and reproductive cells such as sperm were standard sources of genetic material. Structures such as fur, hair, feathers, shells, claws, and nails were thought to be made up only of secreted proteins, with no living cells, and therefore were of little value to geneticists unless there were still skin cells attached. If you’ve ever seen a TV crime drama, this is why hair samples are always collected by pulling rather than cutting, so that the skin cells at the base of the hair follicle (living cells containing DNA) are attached. After a cell dies, the DNA inside begins to degrade, or break down […]
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Adventures in Brazil’s Pantanal Region
Have you ever wondered what our curators do on vacation? Are we true nerds at heart and spend our vacations doing something related to our fields – visiting museums, libraries, archives, digging up fossils, exploring nature, or visiting historical and cultural sites?
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Be a citizen scientist with project NestWatch!
Looking for an activity to get you out of the house this summer, while maintaining proper social distancing? Want to learn more about the animals living around you? Consider participating in Project NestWatch!
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Early Photography – Part 4 of 4
The Photography Department of Cincinnati Museum Center holds about 1 million photographic prints, negatives, slides, glass plate negatives, and cased images such as daguerreotype. This article is about early photography using examples from our collection.
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The Spanish Flu
In the midst of the 1918 influenza pandemic, Cincinnati’s Mayor made the decision to give up. There was pressure from businesses, saloons, clergy and citizens to allow them to get back to normal daily life. How did the city get to this point and what happened before and after?
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From Roadkill to Museum Specimen
Below you will find a brief account of how we prepare bird skins for the museum collection. If you want to see this process in more graphic detail, we’ll provide some video links at the end.
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What’s in a Pot? Lessons from Native American Pottery
Because most Native American pottery we discover through excavations or surface collections is broken into small pieces called sherds, people often ask us “what can those pieces tell us?” As it turns out, quite a lot!
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The Queen City Welcomes Charles Lindbergh and His Spirit of St. Louis, August 6, 1927
Charles A. Lindbergh, an obscure 25-year-old air mail pilot, became an international celebrity when he became the first aviator to cross the Atlantic Ocean non-stop from New York to Paris, France.
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Early Photography Series 3 of 4 – Tintypes
A tintype is a wet-collodion process, same as the ambrotype, with the emulsion applied by hand, but on a dark lacquered iron plate instead of glass. The lacquer forms the dark background required to reveal the positive image. Tintypes are often coated with a protective varnish.
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Archaeological Evidence for the Presence of Dogs at the Hahn Site
At the Hahn Site, located near the border of Anderson Township and Newtown, Ohio, CMC archaeologists have unearthed a plethora of prehistoric Native American artifacts.
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