Natural History

Analysis of a rare specimen of the earliest known bird bolsters the theory that modern birds arose from dinosaurs -- they had dinosaur-like feet. A study of an Archaeopteryx specimen found in Germany shows that unlike modern birds, the ancient version lacked the perching foot of a modern bird. Instead, it had a first toe that pointed inward, similar to the human thumb. The magpie-sized bird also could hyperextend its second toe, making it similar to the deinonychosaur, a theropod dinosaur thought to be its closest relative.

Where do bats live? What do spiders eat? How old is the forest? The answers to those and many other questions can be found at the James and Anne Robinson Nature Center, a $17.6 million educational facility that opened this month in Columbia. With two levels of interactive exhibits set amid 18.3 wooded acres, the center is Howard County's new front door to nature, a year-round attraction that invites visitors to learn about the surrounding landscape and then go and explore it. Owned by Howard County and operated by its Department of Recreation and Parks, the nature center is named after a couple who lived on the land for many years and wanted to share it with the community.

Soledad Salame's latest show at Gomez, opening Saturday, is an installation that consists of paintings, prints and insects. Real insects from the rain forests of South America, shown in specimen boxes on loan from the National Museum of Natural History in Washington. The theme of the show is the environment (of course), and Salame says, "It is about bugs, beauty and the Earth." In conjunction with the opening, Gary Hevel, an entomologist from the natural history museum, will speak on insect farming in Indonesia on Saturday at 3 p.m. Also on view this month at Gomez are the paintings of Gloria Ortiz Hernandez and and photographs by Bernard Faucon.

The Natural History Society of Maryland houses a wall of cloudy-eyed snakes, drawers full of fossils, rocks, and skeletal remains of behemoths, shelves displaying Native American artifacts and glass-enclosed cases with mounted birds. More than 50,000 specimens, some preserved for more than a century, pay testament to the state's rich natural heritage and the society's tenacity at saving them. "We are about natural history here," said Ginger Mihalik, executive director of the society founded 80 years ago in Baltimore.

Robert B. Costello,71, a former General Motors executive and undersecretary of defense in the Reagan and Bush administrations, died Tuesday in Bradenton, Fla.Hildegarde Howard,96, one of the first women selected as chief science curator of a U.S. museum, died Saturday in Laguna Hills, Calif. Ms. Howard landed a job in 1923 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.Pub Date: 3/06/98

WASHINGTON -- To spiders, scorpions, termites and othe creepy crawlies, Orkin Pest Control is the enemy. But to hundreds of insects at the Smithsonian Institution's insect zoo, the Orkin Man is a friend.The Atlanta-based company contributed $500,000 for renovation of the popular exhibit at the Museum of Natural History, which will reopen in September as the "O. Orkin Insect Zoo" -- after Otto Orkin, the company's founder.The gift highlights the Smithsonian's funding dilemma. The sprawling complex's needs are outstripping its public funding, but the search for alternative resources is raising accusations of a sellout.

Where do bats live? What do spiders eat? How old is the forest? The answers to those and many other questions can be found at the James and Anne Robinson Nature Center, a $17.6 million educational facility that opened this month in Columbia. With two levels of interactive exhibits set amid 18.3 wooded acres, the center is Howard County's new front door to nature, a year-round attraction that invites visitors to learn about the surrounding landscape and then go and explore it. Owned by Howard County and operated by its Department of Recreation and Parks, the nature center is named after a couple who lived on the land for many years and wanted to share it with the community.

"The Tree: A Natural History of What Trees Are, How They Live and Why They Matter" By Colin Tudge Tudge declares that trees are engineering marvels and that "wood is one of the wonders of the universe." He is equally in awe over the astonishing variety of forms trees achieve around the globe, and precisely describes them, from oaks to baobabs to the mighty kauri. "Without trees, our species would not have come into being at all," declares Tudge, and now in this time of global warming, trees are key to our survival.

Researchers digging in what was once the bottom of a Chinese lake have found the fossils of a loon-like creature that suggests today's birds may have evolved from aquatic environments. Gansus yumenensis lived 110 million years ago, had feathers and was a foot-propelled diver with webbed feet, according to an international group of researchers. From an evolutionary standpoint, it is the most advanced bird from that era yet to be discovered, the researchers say. The bird would have resembled a modern loon, but was not closely related to the loon or any bird alive today, they say. The researchers found up to 40 Gansus fossils preserved in mudstone rocks deposited in an ancient lake in northwestern China, at a site near the town of Changma, about 1,200 miles west of Beijing.

Erana L. Lubbert, 101, active church member Erana L. Lubbert, an active member of her church and community, died in her sleep Nov. 16 at the Edenwald Retirement Community. The former Towson resident was 101. Born in Marshalltown, Iowa, in 1901, she attended high school in Minneapolis and earned a teaching certificate from McPhail Music College in Minneapolis. In 1926, she married Carl Lubbert, an electrical engineer with Western Electric Co. He died in 1971. In the early 1930s, she and her husband moved to Baltimore and settled in Anneslie, where she lived until 1990.

The Natural History Society of Maryland houses a wall of cloudy-eyed snakes, drawers full of fossils, rocks, and skeletal remains of behemoths, shelves displaying Native American artifacts and glass-enclosed cases with mounted birds. More than 50,000 specimens, some preserved for more than a century, pay testament to the state's rich natural heritage and the society's tenacity at saving them. "We are about natural history here," said Ginger Mihalik, executive director of the society founded 80 years ago in Baltimore.

Here's something you may not know about the sharks at the National Aquarium in Baltimore: They're often up at 1 a.m., drifting aimlessly like long-finned insomniacs. But you'd have trouble nodding off, too, if occasionally dozens of Girl Scouts held sleepovers in front of your tank. After all, the last thing anyone wants to do at a sleepover is, well, sleep. That goes double when the overnight stay is at a popular venue most people never get to visit after closing time. As families and groups look for cost-friendly diversions, many are waking up to the idea of camping in at a local attraction.

"The Tree: A Natural History of What Trees Are, How They Live and Why They Matter" By Colin Tudge Tudge declares that trees are engineering marvels and that "wood is one of the wonders of the universe." He is equally in awe over the astonishing variety of forms trees achieve around the globe, and precisely describes them, from oaks to baobabs to the mighty kauri. "Without trees, our species would not have come into being at all," declares Tudge, and now in this time of global warming, trees are key to our survival.

With all due respect to Frank Sinatra and his swaggering saunter of a song, "New York, New York," if there's one thing better than waking up in a city that never sleeps, it is never sleeping in a city that never sleeps. While planning my latest visit to Gotham, my list of everything I wanted to see, eat and buy grew so long, I realized my only choice was to disregard any need for that waste of time called slumber. Because I planned to visit on a Wednesday, the city's already vast menu of activities expanded further still, offering the opportunity to see both a Broadway matinee and a theatrical performance later that evening.

Harley Garbani excused himself, ducked out of the room and returned with a savage set of 6-inch teeth and claws. "Take a look," he said, displaying the finer, if sharper points of a Tyrannosaurus rex. "If he picks you up with these, you can kiss your butt goodbye." That fate seems unlikely these days even if Garbani's home is more appropriate to, say, Jurassic Park than the trailer park in Hemet, Calif., where he lives. Moving from room to room is a journey of a few feet spanning millions of years.

Only grandson of Col. Fred H. Wagner and Lillian Wright Wagner, and only son of Fred H. Wagner, Jr. and Marie Wagner of Hagerstown, Maryland. Beloved husband of Maria for 65 years; proud father of Frederick (Michelle), Caroline (James) Alley, Jeanne Oster, Laurence (Xiomara) and Peter, and loving grandfather of thirteen. Born in 1917 in Baltimore, Maryland, he was educated in Baltimore, White Plains, New York, Grosse Point and Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Cambridge in Great Britain. He served as a Navigator in the Army Air Corps in World War II in the Pacific Theater.

Michael Kerr,a 2-year-old boy who battled cancer and attracted donations from around the nation, died Thursday in Chino Hills, Calif. Donations helped the family raise $300,000 for a bone marrow transplant from his 6-year-old sister, Tiffany, but he developed a lung infection, pneumonia, kidney failure and a brain tumor.Max E. Causey,69, foreman of the jury that convicted Jack Ruby of murdering Lee Harvey Oswald, died of a heart attack Sunday in Garland, Texas. When Mr. Ruby shot him, Mr. Oswald was accused of assassinating President John F. Kennedy in Dallas.

Dinosaurs don't exactly need the boost. But Steven Spielberg's just-released "Jurassic Park" movie will undoubtedly bolster their popularity -- who knows, maybe even beyond Barney.Besides the burgeoning supply of generic dinosaur merchandise, "Jurassic Park" items are invading stores and even museums across the country.Here's where you can go for more about these prehistoric creatures plus products for dinosaur-crazed children and adults.Area dinosaursBeltsville was a popular stomping ground for dinosaurs, says Michael Brett-Surman, a paleontologist with the Smithsonian Institution.

Researchers digging in what was once the bottom of a Chinese lake have found the fossils of a loon-like creature that suggests today's birds may have evolved from aquatic environments. Gansus yumenensis lived 110 million years ago, had feathers and was a foot-propelled diver with webbed feet, according to an international group of researchers. From an evolutionary standpoint, it is the most advanced bird from that era yet to be discovered, the researchers say. The bird would have resembled a modern loon, but was not closely related to the loon or any bird alive today, they say. The researchers found up to 40 Gansus fossils preserved in mudstone rocks deposited in an ancient lake in northwestern China, at a site near the town of Changma, about 1,200 miles west of Beijing.

Five years ago, Michelle McCourt was reading her son's favorite bedtime story, How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? when she noticed something strange. The dinosaurs she remembered from her childhood in the 1970s were gone. In their place were unfamiliar creatures such as the "apatosaurus" and the "pteranodon." "The brontosaurus didn't exist anymore. A pteradactyl wasn't a pteradactyl," said the 41-year-old mom from Sparta, N.J. As McCourt and other parents have discovered, things are different in Bedrock these days.