Collecting specimens, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

May 10, 2015
Collecting specimens, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

From May 4th to May 9th Postdoctoral researcher Dennis K. Persson and PhD student Julia G. Cosgrove, of the Giribet Lab, conducted field work in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The aim were to collect tardigrades (Tardigrada) and pseudoscorpions (Arthropoda: Arachnida). Tardigrades would be extracted from mosses and lichens under microscope, whereas pseudoscorpions would be found by sifting of leaf litter. A number of tardigrade species, such as Macrobiotus Islandicus, Echiniscus virginicus, Paramacrobiotus tonollii and Milnesium, were recognized from the initial investigations of the acquired samples, though more are expected. Also, several specimens of pseudoscorpions were found, of which species is yet to be determined. No pseudoscorpions have been described from the Park yet.