Iceworms in the Olympic Mountains - A Window into the Past
Tuesday Dec. 14, 7 pm
Iceworms, relatives of earthworms, are the only animals limited to glaciers and are found from Oregon to Alaska. Peter Wimberger will describe iceworm natural history and his research on Olympic iceworm genetics which has led to the mystery of why the Olympics are the only place in the world that is home to both Alaskan and Cascade iceworms. What does this tell us about past continental glacial movements?
Previous work identified two primary evolutionary lineages in iceworms – one from Alaska and the other from the Cascades and southern British Columbia - revealed by their mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences. Iceworms from the Vancouver Island and majority of the Olympic populations were descendants of the Alaska evolutionary lineage. It was only when we looked at the highest glaciers in the Olympics that we found representatives of the Cascade lineage. However, these worms coexisted on the glaciers with worms from the Alaska evolutionary lineage! This sheds light on the deep history of glacial advances occurring millions of years prior to the recent ice ages.
Our speaker is Prof. Peter Wimberger, evolutionary and conservation biologist and Director of the Slater Museum of Natural History, University of Puget Sound. His talk will be given in the Olympic National Park Visitors Center on Tuesday, December 11 at 7 pm. The Perspectives Series, co-sponsored by Olympic NP, FONP and Discover Your Northwest, are free and open to the public.
Photo copyright 2008-2010 Oregon Public Broadcasting, used with permission.
