hello everyone,

i've often been asked why museum bird collections are valuable to
science, so i thought i'd tell you about a recently published bit of
research that helps provide an answer:

http://gu.com/p/2n9d3/tf

this story takes a look at when avian poxvirus first hit the gapalagos
islands and uses forensic technology to determine how its spread.
sadly, it also finds that galapagos avifauna could follow the same
trajectory as the hawai'ian birds, if we don't figure out how to limit
the damage.

cheers,

--
GrrlScientist
Devorah Bennu, PhD
birdologist at gmail.com
http://www.grrlscientist.net/
http://twitter.com/GrrlScientist
http://www.guardian.co.uk/grrlscientist
http://blogs.nature.com/grrlscientist/
American Expat living in Frankfurt, Germany