Ohav Harris

A Brief History of the Trials and Tribulations of Teaching Evolution

jenebauerLeave a comment

Faith Frings, Ohav Harris, and Kaleb Smallwood 
*Authors listed alphabetically; all contributed equally to this piece

The teaching of evolution has always been a polemical topic. People often consider evolution and religion to be in direct opposition to one another, when in actuality the two are concerned with separate realms of reality. Many teachers, and even college professors, often feel nervous about bringing up the topic because they worry about how not only students will respond, but also, in the case of K-12 educators, how their parents might react. In fact, a survey conducted in 2007 and published in 2010 concluded that roughly 532,000 students in Florida were taught by teachers who either felt uncomfortable teaching the subject or refrained from teaching evolution entirely (Fowler and Meisels, 2010). This discomfort with discussing evolution has been present since before Darwin published his theory in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859. Darwin himself feared how religious and scientific authorities would respond, as scientists such as Georges Cuvier, a lauded naturalist of the time, decried the belief that the extant species had changed much since they first came into being. This caused him to delay his publication after his return to England in 1836 (Pew Research Center, 2009). The controversy surrounding the teaching of evolution reached a head in the United States in 1925, during the Scopes trial.

The Scopes Trial of 1925 (also called the Monkey Trial) is one very infamous example of the aggravation evolution can bring about in the classroom. John Thomas Scopes, a Tennessee high school science teacher, was accused of teaching evolution, which was against Tennessee law at the time due to the Butler Act, which outlawed any philosophy that opposed creationism and taught that mankind descended from animals (Arnold-Forster, 2022). Scopes did so intentionally, as he was working with the ACLU to defy this law as the defendant. Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan aided the prosecution. Citizens acted as chimps to mock the defense. Unfortunately, since Scopes himself was on trial and not the law he acted against, the defense was not allowed to call scientists in to provide testimony and Scopes was found guilty of breaking the law and fined $100. The verdict was overturned in 1927, but this was only on a technicality. This means that for two years, it was illegal to teach evolution in schools in Tennessee. Two years may not be much in hindsight, but ideas can become entrenched in a person’s mind in that amount of time. Numerous people would have been ignorant of evolution or told that it was a lie in some cases, breeding a lack of scientific literacy that would have made it more difficult for people to accept evolution or science in general in the future. Worse still, laws of this nature persisted in places such as Mississippi and Arkansas (Arnold-Forster, 2022).

While the thoughts and feelings that led to events like the Scopes Trial may seem like a thing of the past now, such vehement sentiments against evolution have flared up more recently than one might think, leading to yet another court case regarding the teaching of evolution in 2005, this time in Pennsylvania. Kitzmiller et al. v Dover Area School District et al. differed from the Scopes Trial in two crucial ways. First, the issue was not a law banning the teaching of evolution, but the school district teaching evolution alongside intelligent design, a philosophy often used as an alternative to creationism. Second, the defense was allowed to call expert scientists as witnesses, turning the trial into something of an educational seminar for those in attendance, showing them that there is plenty of evidence in favor of evolution and that a scientific theory differs from a theory in the colloquial sense (Humes, 2008). Rather than a denial of science in favor of religion, this trial showed not only that evolution is valid, but also that it can be accepted while holding religious beliefs. Many opponents to the teaching of evolution, due to religious beliefs, came to understand the evidence for evolution over the course of the trial and came to accept it without sacrificing their religious values. While the significance of this trial and its subsequent ruling cannot be understated as they allowed the legal teaching of evolution to continue, the most important note to take from this trial is the masterful teaching put on display. Rather than chide the crowd and opposing litigants for their lack of comprehension of science, the scientists brought on by the defense were considerate, respectful, and humorous. There are important lessons to be learned from this trial by those who aspire to teach evolution or subjects such as paleontology or biology where evolution is integral to a comprehension of the subject.

For example, one important point established by the defense in the Kitzmiller case is the fact that science and religion are not mutually exclusive, but they deal in different areas of reality. Religious explanations of phenomena and other things observable in the world often tend to be supernatural, going outside of the confines of what science can and should be used to explain. Science deals strictly with the natural, observable world. Science uses what evidence exists in the natural world to come to conclusions best supported by that evidence. As such, scientific explanations of processes observable in the world do not rule out the existence of a god or other greater power. Science cannot broach the subject at all. Consequently, acceptance of evolution does not require a rejection of one’s faith, nor are the two in conflict at all. It may be helpful to point out this fact for those in a class who feel strongly about their religious affiliations to ease their worries in that regard. Additionally, this trial shows the significance of preparing thoughtful and clear  answers for any questions  raised by students in class. One outlandish argument brought up during the trial was that of irreducible complexity. It was argued that cars and planes are made using similar parts, but neither a car nor plane came from the other. Additionally, if one vital part of a car or plane was removed, the object would cease to function. It was argued that the same went for organisms. Ken Miller’s response was complete and used the relevant example of the multipurpose proteins in bacterial flagellum, which was something discussed ad nauseum in the trial, to show that organisms are not irreducibly complex (Humes, 2008). The proteins that make up the flagellum can also be used for various other functions, so it is not accurate to say that the system is irreducibly complex. In another setting, those proteins can be seen performing completely different functions. Being ready to address questions and detractors is crucial to getting an audience to listen to and respect you. Doing so while respecting people’s lack of knowledge or their skepticism is equally crucial. Through proper teaching, evolution can transition from the controversial topic it is sometimes seen as into being well-accepted as the scientific theory that it is by the public, similar to the theory of gravity or cell theory. Calmly explaining to students that we did not come from monkeys, assuaging their worries regarding religion, and encouraging scientific thinking are all important steps along this road. Evolution is just as important a scientific subject to understand as any other to allow people to understand the natural world around them and how it functions.

Works Cited

Arnold-Forster, Tom. “Rethinking the Scopes Trial: Cultural Conflict, Media Spectacle, and Circus Politics.” Journal of American Studies, vol. 56, no. 1, 2022, pp. 142–166., doi:10.1017/S0021875821000529.

Humes, Edward. Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America’s Soul. Harper Perennial, 2008.

“Darwin and His Theory of Evolution.” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, Pew Research Center, 4 Feb. 2009, https://www.pewforum.org/2009/02/04/darwin-and-his-theory-of-evolution/.

Ohav Harris, Undergraduate Geology Student

jenebauerLeave a comment
Ohav sitting in gravel in a museum exhibit under a T. rex.
Me with Stan the Tyrannosaurus rex at my internship at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Outside of science I enjoy reading manga, collecting Pokémon cards, and playing video games.

Describe what you do. I am an undergraduate researcher. I recently finished a project which involved entering geographic information of echinoderms (animals like and including sea stars, sea lilies, sea cucumbers, etc.) into a database so that we could analyze their biogeographic patterns (how the animals moved through time and space) in the geologic record.

I have done class visits with groups of fourth graders as a part of the Scientists in Every Florida School program to teach them about geology.

Discuss your path into science. I used to want to be a lawyer for as long as I can remember, but on my 17th birthday, I visited the American Museum of Natural History and was smitten with their dinosaur exhibits! After leaving, I was unsure if I wanted to continue pursuing a career in law, so I did some basic research of how much I could expect to make as a paleontologist (to make sure I could still support myself and a family) and decided to commit to the switch. After that, I have been pursuing dinosaur paleontology as best I can!

A dinosaur skull in rock with the sclerotic ring highlighted in purple.
The sclerotic ring (highlighted in blue) is a bony structure found in the eye of some dinosaurs and all modern-day birds. I am very interested in studying what those rings did for dinosaur eyes and how they developed. (source: ecomorph.wordpress.com)

Discuss other scientific interests. I’m very interested in birds and reptiles, specifically snakes. If I couldn’t study nonavian (non-bird) dinosaurs, I would study one of those groups of animals in the fossil record. I’ve also become quite attached to crinoids since starting my undergraduate degree, so they would be my invertebrate pick!

How does your work contribute to the betterment of society in general? Hopefully, with the echinoderm geographic data that I’ve collected, we can better understand of echinoderm evolution through time as well as how they dispersed across the world over time. 

I hope that I’ve convinced the classes I’ve visited that geology is a science that rocks! More than that, I also hope that I’ve made them more curious about how our world works, and to keep asking amazing questions and finding equally amazing answers.

Fossil sea lilies embedded in rock.
A crinoid fossil. I have been researching the geographic distribution of these ancient sea lilies and other echinoderms, like sea stars, and I thought this was a very nice fossil to show how neat they are! (source: fossilera.com)

Is there anything you wish you had known before going into science? Mainly, what classes I would have to take. In my case, I had multiple major options, but didn’t look too far into them. I’m very happy where I am now, although I’m sure there is an alternate universe version of me that is going down the biology route. 

Have you received a piece of advice from your friends/mentors/advisors that has helped you navigate your career? I’ve gotten good advice about grad school. In particular, I should be reaching out to professors I would like to work with a good while before applications are due.

Examining Cryolophosaurus: Shedding Light on a Little-Known and Important Jurassic Dinosaur

jenebauerLeave a comment

An enigmatic theropod Cryolophosaurus: Reviews and comments on its paleobiology

By: Changyu Yun

Summarized by Ohav Harris, a geology major at the University of South Florida and is currently a junior. He plans to pursue a doctorate degree in paleontology and become a paleo-educator in some capacity, either working in a museum or a university. In his free time, Ohav enjoys collecting Pokémon cards, reading manga, and fishing.

What data were used? The author, Yun, used many previously published peer reviewed papers to review and evaluate the ideas that exist regarding Cryolophosaurus’s evolutionary relationships, or phylogenetics. The only known fossil data for this dinosaur are hip fragments, various vertebrae, rib fragments, femurs, part of its foot, and the holotype (the fossil that the description of the genus/species is based on), which include the skull and neck vertebrae – all of which were found in Antarctica. The sparse remains of Cryolophosaurus make it difficult to make definitive statements of its relationship to other theropods (bipedal dinosaurs that are primarily carnivorous), though researchers are confident that it is a theropod. Yun includes an array of possibilities from various sources that attempt to answer the question of this dinosaur’s phylogeny and examines what fossil data of Cryolophosaurus there are to make comments on its ecology and biology.

Methods: Yun analyzes Cryolophosaurus’ anatomy and geographical placement, makes comparisons to better known dinosaurs, and references scientific papers that discuss this Cryolophosaurus to draw conclusions regarding its possible phylogeny, ecology, and biology. Certain features of this animal, like the shape of its skull, the structure of its feet, and the purpose of its skull crest, are discussed and used to support Yun’s claims of the nature of Cryolophosaurus.

Reconstruction of Cryolophosaurus by Daniel Goitom. The defining crest is boldly colored, so as to attract the attention of a mate. Cryolophosaurus’s primitive, needle-like feathers would have been an excellent source of thermal insulation in the Antarctic climate in which it lived.

Results: While the exact phylogeny of Cryolophosaurus is tricky, and not yet fully understood, there are a few things that can be said about it. The skull of Cryolophosaurus has features of tetanurans, dinosaurs that are more closely related to modern birds, like Allosaurus, and earlier, more primitive therapods like Ceratosaurus. Tetanurans and Ceratosaurus are closely related, but took different evolutionary paths. The tetanurans are made up of two groups, carnosaurs and coelurosaurs, which contain a majority of the most famous therapods like Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus respectively, and all modern birds (descending from the coelurosaurs). Because Cryolophosaurus’ skull has both features of tetanurans and earlier theropods, it can be inferred that it is a transitional fossil that links the first theropods in the Jurassic and all subsequent therapods and modern birds. It is also likely that, based on its shared features between both theropod groups, Cryolophosaurus is an early tetanuran. This possibility is briefly discussed in the paper. It was also determined that Cryolophosaurus was an apex predator in its Antarctic environment, able to make swift movements and out-speed its prey to capture them. This is based on the animal’s astragalus (the bone in the foot between the shin and tarsals) and calcaneum (the bone just under the astragalus that forms the heel) being fused through ossification, or the growth of new bone material. Because dinosaurs walked on their tiptoes, this would not affect their stability as it would for humans. Additionally, those two bones are located right next to each other in dinosaur feet, which means that Cryolophosaurus only had one “ankle” bone where it would usually have had two. Taphonomic evidence (relating to the processes a body undergoes after death, including fossilization), supports the idea of Cryolophosaurus being an apex predator, as herbivore teeth have been found in its stomach. Sauropods, the long-necked dinosaurs, have also been found in the same formation as Cryolophosaurus, which could suggest they were also potential prey. Interestingly, the Cryolophosaurus holotype was found disarticulated with shed teeth nearby. These teeth are believed to have belonged to another Cryolophosaurus, suggesting that this dinosaur may have had cannibalistic tendencies. The characteristic crest of the dinosaur (Fig. 1) is believed to have been used as a display for attracting mates, with differences in bodily characteristics between males and females.

Why is this study important? Cryolophosaurus is an important dinosaur for theropod evolution because it is likely a transitional fossil connecting the earliest therapods to the tetanurans that came after. Understanding this dinosaur’s place in the phylogeny of theropods is important because it can elucidate various unknowns about their evolution. Cyrolophosaurus’ environment was also unique, being the only therapod yet discovered in Antarctica, which was a colder climate than what other dinosaurs in the Jurassic were living in. This provides a new perspective into dinosaur ecology, particularly through the lens of dinosaurs adapted for colder climates.

The big picture: Dinosaur paleontology is generally regarded by the public as being centered around the most popular Late-Cretaceous genera like Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, and Velociraptor without much consideration for their ecology or even other dinosaurs from different periods. This study sheds light on one such lesser-known dinosaur, Cryolophosaurus, and states its importance to the phylogeny of theropod dinosaurs as well as its ecological role. Understanding the “niche” and lesser known dinosaurs is extremely important to the understanding of dinosaur paleontology, as those dinosaurs often provide much insight, not only into their evolution and development, but also to the unique nature and attributes of dinosaurs as a whole.

Citation: Yun, Changyu, 2020. An enigmatic theropod Cryolophosaurus: Reviews and comments on its paleobiology. VOLUMINA JURASSICA, 2019, XVII: 103–110

My Experience at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center

AdrianeLeave a comment

Ohav here–

Earlier in the spring, I got an email containing a flyer for an internship that grabbed my attention with a simple question: “Do you like dinosaurs and digging in the dirt?”. As an aspiring paleontologist, I thought, to no surprise, “I love both of those things!”, and I looked into the offer further. A few references and an interview later, I had managed to get a position! That May, I would be going to Thermopolis, Wyoming.

When I started my first day, I was surprised at how dense with information the museum was. I knew that being in a small town, the museum would be much smaller than its contemporaries. Even so, I was not prepared for the amount of stuff in that building! Still in awe of all the beautiful specimens in the main hall, the other interns and I began our orientation. There were a handful of programs and activities available which we would work together to lead, the following of which were the most common.

First, were the Museum Tours: the most basic of the activities, but by no means the least fun. It is exactly as it sounds: a tour of the museum. However, we interns were allowed and encouraged to put our own personal spins on them. This meant making our own scripts, deciding which exhibits to focus more on and which can be breezed through, cherry-picking the coolest fun facts to share with our groups, and even including pop culture references. For example, we would often describe the length of our Supersaurus, Jimbo, by using the metric of Jeff Goldblums. Since Jimbo is 120 feet long and Jeff Goldblum is 6’4’’, we estimated that Jimbo was about 19 Jeff Goldblums long. This went over particularly well with those familiar with his iconic role in Jurassic Park.

Second, were the Bus Tours. The Bus Tours were also simple: drive a van full of people up the mountains of the Morrison Formation to our most significant dig site, Something Interesting (SI), and give them a tour of the place. The tour, in short, was a look through a window to about 150 million years ago, and explored not only the dinosaurs found there, but also the geochemistry and even the seasonality of prehistoric Thermopolis.

Third, were the Shovel Readies, which involved taking group(s) up the mountain to one of our four active sites to dig for a few hours. These would occur either in the morning or the afternoon.

Fourth, and my favorite activity of all, was the Dig For a Day program, or DFD. DFDs were a combination of the previous activities plus an expedition to the Sundance Formation, which underlies the Morrison and yields marine fossils. A DFD day would start with an SI tour, followed by a few hours of digging at one of our sites, then lunch, then prospecting (looking for new fossil sites) at Sundance. Although most guests found dinosaurs more interesting than the marine invertebrates, the promise of being able to keep whatever invertebrate fossils they found sweetened the deal. Finally, after the Sundance, we would conclude the day with a museum tour, which included a sneak peek into our collections and prep lab.

Working with so many wonderful people, who themselves are amazing scientists, was an unforgettable experience. Living with them added to the overall experience too, as we all got to know each other quite well, making the group dynamics all the more interesting. Of course, this is expected from a group of people who love dinosaurs and other prehistoric life spending seven weeks together in the same house. More than anything, though, I loved being able to teach guests about the history of life. Because the museum exhibits were organized with a “tour through time” in mind, it was especially easy and fun to walk guests through the steps life took to get to where we are today. In addition to teaching, I was able to learn a lot. The other interns’ tours alone allowed me to gleam a significant amount of information and insight, since their versions always had things I didn’t know in them. Beyond the tours, I learned much from the museum staff who trained us, learning how to find pathologies and taphonomies in fossils from the head prep lab manager and how to find and map them in the field from the dig site manager. In the lab especially, I came to see some of the most interesting things which made me think more and more about the intricacies of dinosaur morphology and what pathologies that they may have developed.

My biggest take-away from my internship was being able to learn from so many people and being able to pass that knowledge on to others. I was extremely fortunate to work in such an amazing establishment and learn so much, as well as make so many good friends. Going up the mountains of the Morrison, nearly every day for seven weeks, was something I won’t forget. Walking where the dinosaurs walked and digging their remains, and being able to educate all the while, was a small taste of what I hope to do in the future. Now, I must say: if you ever find yourself on a road-trip to Yellowstone or otherwise find yourself in Wyoming, please take the time to stop by the Wyoming Dinosaur Museum in Thermopolis. This hidden gem has much to offer, and the town is charming too!