CNDDB News Blog

Calling all time travelers! The California Academy of Science’s Invertebrate Zoology Department (CAS-IZ) has launched a new crowd-sourcing effort to transcribe specimen labels from key collections.

CAS-IZ’s Invertebrate Time Machine is the most recent addition to the Notes from Nature transcription project hosted on Zooniverse, one of the most widely-used platforms for "people-powered" research. Christina Piotrowski, CAS-IZ Collections Manager, emphasized the urgency of the undertaking: "On our changing planet, there's an ever-increasing need for scientists to study the hundreds of millions of natural history specimens housed in global museum collections. Like a huge biological time machine, these diverse specimens provide 'snapshots' of Life on Earth through time and space in ways no other resource can. Museum collections have long been accessed by researchers to answer critical global questions, but we must now bring these museum specimens 'off the shelves' by digitizing their data, increasing global accessibility to irreplaceable snapshots of our ever-changing natural world."

Since 1853, CAS has led the way in biodiversity research. Their collections are an invaluable resource for the scientific community at large, and to CNDDB in particular. This is a chance for all of us to give back, and lend a hand to this venerable California institution.

Start transcribing today on the Invertebrate Time Machine home page, and enjoy your epic travels!

Branchinecta lynchi – vernal pool fairy shrimp
Submitted by Sean M. O’Brien of Helm Biological Consulting

Sean discovered some vernal pool fairy shrimp in a vernal pool east of the city of Madera. These creatures may be tiny but have a large list of interesting features! They were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1994. They grow to be less than an inch in size and use their many legs to swim on their backs. These legs also aid in their breathing and feeding. They use their legs to free algae and plankton from the water body surfaces. They produce a thick gluey mixture and combine this with their food before eating it. Even with many legs, vernal pool fairy shrimp are defenseless and only live in temporary bodies of water where aquatic predators cannot survive. Vernal pool fairy shrimp are endemic to Oregon and California and have suffered population declines due to the destruction and degradation of vernal pools for the sake of urban and agricultural endeavors. Currently, the CNDDB has 791 vernal pool fairy shrimp occurrences that span from Shasta County to San Diego County. Great job, Sean, for capturing a picture of this tiny but mighty species!

Malacothamnus jonesii – Jones’ bush-mallow
Submitted by Jason Dart and Kristen Anderson

This mallow is a favorite of butterflies and pollinators as well as hummingbirds attracted by all the little insects. This, along with its velvety grey color, makes it a sought-after plant in native nurseries but it can also be found in the wild along the southern California coast in chaparral and cismontane woodland. Jason Dart and Kristen Anderson found the plant growing in the wild in San Luis Obispo County and submitted their observation to the CNDDB. Malacothamnus jonesii was originally listed in the 1974 first edition of the CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants as rare but not endangered and is currently considered a California Rare Plant Rank 4.3 plant (limited distribution in California; not very threatened in California). These delicate pink flowers can be seen blooming from as early as March through the summer into October, so there is still a little time to see them. A very big thank you to both Jason and Kristen for all the important work you share and this awesome photo!

Do you have some great photos of rare plants or wildlife detections? Submit them along with your findings through our Online Field Survey Form and see if your photos get showcased!

Does the CNDDB ever seem like a black box? Confused about when to use which of our products? Locked down by the pandemic and hungry for something new?

Since we have also been working from home and unable to meet with our users in-person, this seemed like the right time to revise some training material. We have just released a modernized version of our CNDDB overview video. It covers why we do what we do, how we process information, and what products we make available to others. This video will help you get the most from your CNDDB access, with an awareness of some pitfalls and misconceptions about our products. Even our most seasoned subscribers will likely learn a thing or two.

While we recommend that all users of our database are familiar with all of the content in this video, if you only have a few minutes to spare or just want to know about a particular topic, you can click on a link to jump ahead to the relevant section in the video.

Check it out on our training webpage!