Lecture - Life at the Edge: Evolutionary Adaptation to Extreme Environments April 10, 2008

The deep mid-ocean ridge system is home to some of the most extreme animal habitats found on Earth: high pressure, lack of light, toxic chemicals, and low temperatures but extreme temperature fluctuations up to 350° C! Specially adapted animals not only tolerate these conditions, they often thrive under them. These include clams with special feet and blood used to “mine” sulfide from cracks in the mid-ocean ridge lavas, mussels and snails that have giant gills filled with special bacteria to provide them with food, and shrimp that have lost their normal eyes and use patches on their backs to “see” the faint light of active hydrothermal vents. Amazing images will introduce the audience to the mid-ocean ridge system, the deep-sea, and life in the changing environment of hydrothermal vents. Come explore this exotic environment!

Chuck Fisher is a Professor of Biology at The Pennsylvania State University. He was one of the first scientists to study and publish about life in the deep sea hydrothermal vents in the 1980s. He has participated in 57 research expeditions (including 27 as chief scientist), made 126 dives in manned research submarines, and spent over 4 months at sea working with Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs).

Sponsored by: The Ridge 2000 Program funded by The National Science Foundation, and University of New Mexico Biology and Earth and Planetary Sciences Departments.

Cost: $2 public/$1 members, seniors, students

Official Website: http://www.nmnaturalhistory.org/edu_lectures.html