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Issue 90, Fall 2014 Daunting Mysteries to Be Solved
The R. Tucker Abbott Visiting Curatorship is a fellowship program
that was originally established in accordance with the wishes of the
late Dr. R. Tucker Abbott, Founding Director of the Shell Museum.
We’re pleased to announce that the 2014 recipient is author and
citizen scientist, Dr. Harry G. Lee.
For one week in November Lee will help
identify some of the Museum’s more
mysterious micromollusks, which will then
be added to our “Southwest Florida
Shells” guide on our website.
Photo by José H Leal
Lee is a long-time friend of the Shell Museum and was even once a Board
Member, so his return will be a homecoming of sorts. What he loves about
studying shells is that it is "an avenue to
understand the natural order of things."
Photo by Will Dickey
Dr. Lee prac ced Cardiology and
Internal Medicine in Jackson‐
ville, Florida. Now re red from
medicine, Lee applies his vast
knowledge of shells as a lecturer
and author.
Pearls and Chocolate for a Cause
Only accep ng 25 reserva ons so book now! Create an elegant 78 inch freshwater pearl
and Swarovski crystal necklace (or two
smaller ones) while sipping wine, sampling
hors d'oeuvres and chocolates. This fundraiser is a great way to help the Museum
while having fun. Host Patty Lipka will unleash your inner artist and make creating
easy. You’ll have a great time and go
home with a beautiful necklace to keep.
Friday, November 14th, 5:30p
Tickets: $100 per person.
Book online at shellmuseum.org or by calling (239)-395-2233.
Thank you to the individuals who have invested $100 or more in the
Museum July ‐ September 2014.
Don and Jane Adams
Anna Urban Allen
Lee and Margery Almas
Lawrence Amon
Mary Anderson
Bruce and Ginny Avery
Clair Beckmann
Pete and Nancy Bender
Barbara Beran
Elizabeth Bernens and William Harvat
Edward Berninger
C. William Black
Fred and Mary Bondurant
Jane Bonner
Margaret Boutwell
Jack and Barbara Boyce
Wayne and Linda Boyd
Leslie and Sandy Boyle
Edward and Marilyn Braun
Robert and Candace Burns
Douglas and Robin Cook
James Cordy
Chris and Becky Davison
Dottie DeVasure
Donald Dillinger
Henry and Lorna Domke
Lammot DuPont
Jerry Edelman
Jack Elias, Sanybel's Finest
John and Betty English
Donald Feiner
David Filkins
Marianne Fischer
Terry and Barbara Flannery
Hans and Leslie Fleischner
Virginia Fleming
Douglas and Sherry Gentry
Ron and Phyllis Gibson
William and Wanda Goodman
Linda Gornick
Joan Grayson
Steve and Mandy Greenstein
Glen and Phyllis Gresham
Dan Hahn, Dan Hahn Custon Builders
Albert and Sally Hanser
John Harrington and Deborah Marston
Marty and Brenda Harrity
Donna Harvell
Hans Heinz
Elizabeth Heizmann
David and Dorrie Hipschman
David Holzinger and Linda Zylman Holzinger
Amy Horton, Amy's Something Special,
LLC
Markus Huber-Beccarelli
Jason Huff
Terry Igo, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company
Tad and Nancy Jeffrey II
John Jensen
Jersey Cape Shell Club
Richard and Mead Johnson, Bailey's
General Store
Donald and Joyce Kater
Duane Kauffmann
John and Mitzi King
Jerome King and Dale Anne Reiss
Charles King Davis and Carolyn Davis
Andrew and Lila Kusiak
Joseph La Motta
Joseph LaBella
Gus Landl, Landl Construction Inc.
William and Deborah Larson
Herbert and Lenore Lawrence
David Lee
Asplundh Foundation
Rob Lisenbee, Bank of the Islands
Philip and Patricia Love
Willie and Sharon Lyon
Grace Madeira
Mammel Family Foundation
Larry and Holli Martin
Eugene and Helen Martz
Karla Mason
Donald Matlock
Susan McCallion
James and Linda McCoy
DTM and JLM Mclaughlin Family Foundation
Steve and Wendy McMillan
Sal and Mia Mendoza
Loris Miller
Daniel and Ann Moeder
Thomas and Margaret Mohundro
Sandy Montclare
John and Kay Morse
Emmett and Kathleen Nealon
Leroy and Diane Neitzel
Fred Nerger
Amy Nowacki
Anna Marie Nyquist
Jim Pankow
Smoky Payson and Stephanie Payson
Marie Peart
Jon and Kim Pelzer
Gary D. and Nancy Penisten
Tim and Catherine Pennington
Robert and Anne Perra
Kerry and Laura Person
Fran Peters
2 Peggy Porter Hoel
Linda Powers
Lee County Electric Company
Richard and Nathalie Pyle
Jo Ann Reece
Donald Rice
Ed and Lynn Ridlehoover
Tom and Jeanne Risher
Todd Roberts
Rich and Jean Rompala
Gussie Ross
Priscilla Royse
Mary Ann Saegebarth
Katrina Salokar
Garry Scheuring
Gary and Bernice Schmelz
Michael and Pat Schmidt
Craig and Lynn Schneider
John and Donna Schubert
Jay Schulz and Andrea Flynn
Craig Scott
David and Karen Searles
Patricia Sells
Virginia Severinghaus
Phyllis Sharp
Jean Shaulis
Terry Spillane
Jeff Shuff, Tween Waters Inn
Kate Simister
North Alabama Shell Club
Dennis Skowronski and Amy Zelidman
Suncoast Conchologists Club
Donna Smith
Halle Smith
Charles Sobczak
George and Patti Sousa
Terry Spillane
Evelyn Stewart
Thomas Stewart, III
David and Carolyn Stigler
Janet Strickland
Betty Strode
R.F. and Anna Teerlink
William and Kathy Ten Pas
Sharon Thomas
Wayne and Gerry Thompson
Lynda Traverso
Jim and Margaret Walker
Amy Lou Waters
Ronald Weeks
John R. Wood Realtors
Gregory and Ruth Woodham
Edwin Wurzburg and Deborah Haggett
Pat Zambuto, The Cedar Chest Fine Jewelry
Mollusk Matinées
This lecture series includes a broad range of ex‐
ci ng shell‐related subjects combining natural
history and environmental issues of immediate
interest to our community. Talks will range
from 30–40 minutes, followed by ques ons.
January 7
Alternate Wednesdays, Time: 2pm
Loca on: Museum Auditorium
Cost: Included with paid Museum admission
THE HUMAN FOOTPRINT—EXTINCTION, EXPANSION
AND EVOLUTION IN THE 21ST CENTURY
CHARLES SOBCZAK, AUTHOR
January 21 THE SEASHELLS OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
José H. Leal, Science Director and Curator, The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum
February 4 HOW SHELLS REVEAL A STUNNING PAST
Cindy Bear, Coordinator, Programs and Services, Randell Research Center, Calusa
Heritage Trail
February 18 LEE COUNTY’S CONSERVATION 2020 PROGRAM, NATURAL AREAS FOR THE FUTURE
Cathy Olson, Conservation Lands Manager, Lee County Parks and Recreation
Conservation 20/20 Program
March 4
THE LAND SNAILS OF J.N. “DING” DARLING NATIONAL
WILDLIFE REFUGE
Harry G. Lee, Citizen Scientist, Jacksonville, Florida
March 18
BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS OF THE NORTHEASTERN ADRIATIC SEA
Stefanie Wolf
Marine Naturalist
The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum
April 1
THE DYNAMICS OF FLORIDA’S BARRIER ISLANDS
Kim Trebatoski, Collection Associate
The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum
April 15
WHAT IS A CEPHALOPOD?
Rebecca Mensch, Marine Naturalist
The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum
3 What Do We Learn from
Collections?
Story and Photos by José H. Leal, Ph.D.
more local species of plants and animals are likely to be found in the collections of Honolulu’s
Bishop Museum than living in the Hawaiian Islands today. A study of small mammals collected
at Yosemite National Park in the early 1900s and
at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, Berkeley, revealed that
many of these species now live at higher altitude
in that area, a shift most likely induced by global
climate change (warmer climate allowing the
species to move higher in the mountain ranges).
In an example closer to home, the Museum collection holds local records of some species apparently no longer present on
Sanibel Island, such as the
Tampa oyster drill, Urosalpinx
tampaensis (Conrad, 1846).
The second floor of the Museum is home to our
collection. Why do we want to store so many
shells? Much of what we know about the natural
world we owe to museum collections. Natural
history collections are libraries of the natural
world and, as such, are vital to our ability to understand nature and our planet. Humans have
the desire to collect. Our inquisitive nature compels us to accumulate natural objects. The resulting assemblages are informative and have the
potential to enhance knowledge about the
group of things collected, no matter their kind:
meteorites, mushrooms, bird eggs, insects, bones,
or shells, to name just a few.
Historically, natural history collections became firmly established as an outcome
of the cycle of European exploration
voyages
that
peaked between the 16th
and 18th centuries. The socalled “curiosity cabinets” of
natural objects, animals, and
plants accrued by European
voyagers and nobility as a
result of world exploration
(and annexation) morphed
into the official collections of
royal, and later, national natural
history museums.
Every shell in the collection is
a potential environmental data recorder. Shells grow by
gradual accumulation of calcium carbonate: the shell
built by the young animal is
retained throughout the mollusk’s life. Minerals present in
the water at different times of
shell formation are retained in
Chicoreus orchidiflorus their original forms, and this
(Shikama, 1973) may provide a record of the environmental conditions (such as saCurrent scientific research on animals and linity and temperature) at the time the shell was
plants relies heavily on natural history collections. made. Bivalve samples from the Museum collecCollections provide baseline data for animal and tion amassed on Sanibel in the 1970s have been
plant inventories and surveys; the resulting used in this type of study.
Scientific collections provide the anatomical and genetic data needed for contemporary
phylogenetic studies (the studies of the degrees
to which different groups of organisms are relat-
knowledge of distributions (or geographic ranges) of different species is instrumental in the study
of local extinctions (known as extirpations)
caused by environmental changes. For example,
4 ed to each other). The study of the evolutionary tion holdings are posted online via the Museum
relationships of animals, plants, and other living web site.
things would not exist without collections. In addiIn 2011, to help expedite our cataloging
tion to sampling from alcoholefforts, the Museum prepreserved animal tissues,
pared a proposal requestmodern techniques allow for
ing funds from the Institute
the extraction of DNA materiof Museum and Library Seral from dry tissue, including
vices (IMLS, a federal fundthose sometimes found inside
ing agency) to hire staff
old shells. There are many othsolely to perform data entry.
er cases illustrating the value
Since beginning of funding
of natural history collections
in September 2012, the Muand what can be learned
seum
has
catalogued
from them, but I hope that at
about 32,000 lots, and we
At 387.5mm, the Shell Museum’s Charonia this point I have convinced
expect to have catalogued
variegata (Lamarck, 1816) is the largest
you of the notion of collections
about 26,000 more at the end
known in the world.
as “snapshots” or “photo alof the grant period in late 2015.
bums” of nature and biodiversity.
The catalog includes about 61,500 lots. The “wellThe collection at the Museum consists of a
combination of gifts of private and institutional
collections. Private collections may include selfcollected shells, shells acquired from dealers or
through exchange with other collectors, or any
combination of these different types. An excellent self-collected example is the outstanding
collection by Mr. Redfern of Bahamian seashells
donated this year to the Museum by Colin Redfern. The Redfern collection, exceeding 10,000
lots, includes the material illustrated in his
“Bahamian Seashells” books. During its initial
years, the Museum received gifts from the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian), and
the American Museum of Natural History (in New
York). Since the acquisition of those “seed” collections, the Museum has become a magnet for
donations of collections of all sizes, currently
reaching an estimated total of 120,000 lots. The
collection is managed through a state-of-the-art
digital catalog, programmed in-house by dedicated Museum volunteer Richard Willis. Collec-
oiled machine” that includes processing of collection lots and data entry consists of a group of
volunteer curatorial assistants led by Sanibel’s
own Tom Risher, working in tandem with part-time
collection associates Kim Trebatoski and Heather
Williams (whose salaries are funded by the federal IMLS grant).
In addition to the regular collection, which
includes marine, terrestrial, and freshwater mollusks, the Museum also holds a small collection of
type specimens (the material examined by the
species author(s) and referred to in the original
description). The collection is also the source of
materials for the Museum exhibits.
Next time you wonder about the Museum
collection, please remember that it is not just a
place where the Museum “stores thousands of
shells,” but a dynamic source of information for
many branches of natural sciences and human
endeavors, as distinctive from simple shell storage
as a busy library is from a book warehouse.
Collec on records are stored in digital databases. Search the Shell Museum database online at h p://shellmuseum.org/
5 Volunteer Spotlight
Candy Heise and Cindy Timm
There is a little-known gem located on the second floor of The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum.
Available to Museum members or by special appointment, the Margaret Thorsen Library is a highly specialized collection housing many rare tomes and journals about mollusks and other marine life. These
reference materials are sought by scholars around the world; the Museum’s treasures are professionally
cared for by two devoted volunteers with similar upbringings.
Candy Heise began her library
career in Cape Girardeau, Missouri—where she lived for 23
years. After moving back to Florida, Candy accepted a full-time
position with the Sanibel Public
Library, where she’s been for the
past 12 years.
Wanting a little extra income,
she answered an ad to work at
the Museum store. In the second
year of her 5 years at the gift
shop Dr. José Leal asked Candy
to volunteer in the upstairs library.
Volunteering meant using her
one day off but she says, "I feel
like I'm filling a need…I guess
that's what librarians are all
about—providing a service to
people. And I just love doing it.”
However, the tasks in the library
soon became such that Candy
felt she needed help. The solution came from an unlikely connection—another librarian from
the land where citrus was king.
After growing up in Winter Haven, Cindy Timm earned her
MLS at the University of North
Carolina and then ended up in
Georgia. She worked in a number of hospital libraries and then
moved on into school library
work. “Retired” in 2005, Cindy
and her family settled on Sanibel in 2008. After seeing a feature in the paper about the
Sanibel Library and the reference librarian from her own
hometown she said, "I'm going
to go meet her."
Cindy ended up becoming a
volunteer at the Sanibel Library
and then Candy asked her if
she was interested in volunteering at the Shell Museum, as well.
“I needed help.” Candy said.
In addition to maintaining the
Museum library, these two volunteers also strive to improve it.
And it is their continued interest
and enthusiasm that is a true gift
beyond price.
“What's interesting is that sometimes maybe we have the item
and the Smithsonian has it but
no other library in the world has
it. Article requests come mostly
from universities, where people
are doing research on Florida
fossil shells, mollusks from different regions of the world, and a
variety of other topics. For example, today we received article requests from the American
Museum of Natural History in NY,
Texas A&M University, and University of Hawaii. It’s very interesting.” Cindy Timm says of the
Margaret Thorsen Library.
The Museum thanks Candy and Cindy for all that they do!
6 HappyBirthday
Birthday toto
Us!Us!
Come Celebrate Our 19th Year!
Happy
Saturday, November 15th
Thank you to our sponsors for making our free day possible!
Landl Construction Inc
239-994-0112.
7 NONPROFIT ORG
US POSTAGE
PAID
FORT MYERS, FL
PERMIT #5737
P.O. Box 1580 Sanibel, FL 33957
(239) 395-2233
SAVE THE DATE!!!
Help support our Educational Programs. Please
join us on January 25th at the Sanctuary Golf
Club for our Beach Party Gala fundraiser. Dinner, music, exceptional live and silent auction
items, and more! Book at shellmuseum.org or
by calling (239) 395-2233.
The Timbers Restaurant and The Bailey‐Ma hews Na onal
Shell Museum team up to celebrate the Museum’s 19th
year!
Oystravaganza
Join oyster aficionado Matt Asen and his fabulous
Timbers restaurant staff at
the Museum for an evening that’s all about oysters.
Sample oyster and wine
varietals while we also satisfy
your
hunger
for
knowledge with an Edible
Mollusks presentation by
the Museum’s own Dr. José Leal. Book online at shellmuseum.org or by calling
(239) 395-2233. $60 per person, Thursday, November
13th, 6pm
www.shellmuseum.org
For the Shell of It!
Visit The Timbers November 12th to the 15th because they’ve dreamed up a special limitedtime menu featuring a flight of various oysters
paired with craft beers.
$15 per person, with proceeds benefitting the
Museum.
Dates: November 12-15th.
8 Newsletter sponsored in part
by the State of Florida,
Department of State, Division
of Cultural Affairs and the
Florida Arts Council
9