North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences - Tiffany Ott

Over one weekend I went to visit the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. As I didn’t grow up in North Carolina, and have only visited the museum once on a lab trip, I found it to be interesting and a good experience. I especially liked the exhibits on interdependent animal relationships, and endangered species, as my major is animal science.

One exhibit, that included the sign in the picture to the left, is a great example of how species are interdependent for survival. If fish living in the deepest part of the ocean didn’t have bioluminescent bacteria or fungi to illuminate, they might not be able to find food due to the absence of light at the depths which they live, or be able to find mates to continue the population, as well as the symbiotic relationship.

Another exhibit that interested me was of endangered species and extinction. This is also an important aspect of symbiosis, as I learned the biggest contributing factor to a species being endangered is loss of habitat. The symbiotic relationship is thrown off when there is loss of habitat and can result in dwindling population numbers, when there is no place for them to live. I also found it interesting, as the top right picture shows, that invasive species are the second most contributing factor for endangering species populations. As we discussed in class, invasive species can throw off the symbiosis of different environments.

Below is a picture of a Megatooth Shark jaw, an ancestor of the Great White Shark, both of which are extinct. Twenty-five of the shark teeth in the jaw were found in North Carolina. Extinction is one of the two end results for endangered species. I really liked this exhibit of the shark jaw, not only because the teeth were found in North Carolina, but also because it is hard to imagine a shark that big.