Today was more computer work, but not with DNA. Over break, Dr. Kirchman had gone to NYC (I think :D) where the rail bird samples are kept and took some measurements of skeletons. While in the lab, I took all the different measurements for four different species and found the averages of each measurement for males and females separately. Then I made a big table which may seem easy, but it took up the whole time at the internship. The tables included a bird we knew was flightless and a bird we knew could fly along with two other birds. From these measurements, we could make a pretty good guess that one of the other birds was flightless because its measurements were similar to those of the flightless bird. As you can see on the picture on the right, the bird on the left has very large leg bones in comparison to the other bird, but their wing bones are fairly similar in length. This implies that the bird on the left is used to using its legs more than the bird on the right. Another clue that implies the bird on the left does not often fly is that its sternum (the bone that looks like a triangle) is very skinny. The thickness of the sternum was one of the measurement I recorded for our table and it shows how many flight muscles the bird has. The bird on the right is smaller that the bird on the left, and yet its sternum is larger, implying it has more flight muscles than the bigger bird. Therefore, the bird on the left probably roamed the ground rather than the skies.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Graphing Greatness
3/19/12
Today was more computer work, but not with DNA. Over break, Dr. Kirchman had gone to NYC (I think :D) where the rail bird samples are kept and took some measurements of skeletons. While in the lab, I took all the different measurements for four different species and found the averages of each measurement for males and females separately. Then I made a big table which may seem easy, but it took up the whole time at the internship. The tables included a bird we knew was flightless and a bird we knew could fly along with two other birds. From these measurements, we could make a pretty good guess that one of the other birds was flightless because its measurements were similar to those of the flightless bird. As you can see on the picture on the right, the bird on the left has very large leg bones in comparison to the other bird, but their wing bones are fairly similar in length. This implies that the bird on the left is used to using its legs more than the bird on the right. Another clue that implies the bird on the left does not often fly is that its sternum (the bone that looks like a triangle) is very skinny. The thickness of the sternum was one of the measurement I recorded for our table and it shows how many flight muscles the bird has. The bird on the right is smaller that the bird on the left, and yet its sternum is larger, implying it has more flight muscles than the bigger bird. Therefore, the bird on the left probably roamed the ground rather than the skies.
Today was more computer work, but not with DNA. Over break, Dr. Kirchman had gone to NYC (I think :D) where the rail bird samples are kept and took some measurements of skeletons. While in the lab, I took all the different measurements for four different species and found the averages of each measurement for males and females separately. Then I made a big table which may seem easy, but it took up the whole time at the internship. The tables included a bird we knew was flightless and a bird we knew could fly along with two other birds. From these measurements, we could make a pretty good guess that one of the other birds was flightless because its measurements were similar to those of the flightless bird. As you can see on the picture on the right, the bird on the left has very large leg bones in comparison to the other bird, but their wing bones are fairly similar in length. This implies that the bird on the left is used to using its legs more than the bird on the right. Another clue that implies the bird on the left does not often fly is that its sternum (the bone that looks like a triangle) is very skinny. The thickness of the sternum was one of the measurement I recorded for our table and it shows how many flight muscles the bird has. The bird on the right is smaller that the bird on the left, and yet its sternum is larger, implying it has more flight muscles than the bigger bird. Therefore, the bird on the left probably roamed the ground rather than the skies.
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Kelsie, nice writing! I get a nice sense of your work, both the everyday and the larger aspect of your project. One suggestion: it would have been interesting to know everything that went into your table. Perhaps you could publish it here!
ReplyDeleteHi, Kelsie.
ReplyDeleteYour enthusiasm contributes a lot to the work that you do; it's an important aspect to being an intern I think~ ! It shows your mentor (and the other students in the Research group) that you're passionate about your work... Anyways- excellent photos; you did a very impressive layout and they have been taken with clarity. I enjoy reading your detailed descriptions and enthusiastic exploits in your work.
Sari
Good comment, Saria.
DeleteHi, Kelsie. I really like how you included photos which helped me to understand better what you are talking about. I thought the works that we are doing are similar because we are both looking at the physical characteristics of certain, dead organisms carefully in order to know more of that organisms.
ReplyDeleteLauren Park
Good comment, Lauren.
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