By Steve Scarpa, Associate Director of Marketing and Communications
The Yale Peabody Museum explores natural selection and what parts of plants are used to create spices through a pair of new cases in Central Gallery.
“Our goal is to have a dynamic museum, one where you can not only see iconic dinosaurs, but also new surprises,” said Kailen Rogers, associate director of exhibitions.
One of the displays showcases the research of current MacArthur Fellow and Peabody curator Martha Muñoz and her lab on how animals can affect their rate of natural selection.
“They study the traits and behaviors of different species of small lizards called anoles in relation to rising temperatures in Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, and Jamaica,” Rogers said.
Anoles that live in the open can control their body temperature by moving in and out of the shade. But because forests are always shady, anoles that live in them can’t use this trick. Instead, their bodies are becoming more tolerant to heat.
“These animals are not passive vessels at the whim of their environment,” Muñoz told Yale News. “They are endowed with the ability to build their own evolutionary trajectories.”
Museum staff built a stylized set of habitats complete with realistic 3D prints of the different speciesto give the viewer a close look at these colorful (and extremely mobile) creatures and the variety of conditions they live in.
“Environments are always changing. If animals can cope through behavior, they will. If they can’t, then Muñoz's research indicates they must adapt,” Rogers said.
A few steps away, the Peabody sheds light on where our spices come from. Spices are harvested from different plant parts and collected around the world. They come from types like herbs, shrubs, vines, and trees. These plants carry chemical compounds, called secondary compounds, that give spices their distinct flavors.
“We want to help families understand more about the origins of these familiar kitchen items,” Rogers said.
The artfully arranged display is curated by postgrad fellow Anesu Nyamupingidza, in partnership with Patrick Sweeney, senior collections manager of botany. Nyamupingidza is a visual artist who creates works that explore human interaction with the natural world, focusing heavily on edible botany. Her unique fellowship is partnership between the Yale Institute for Sacred Music and the Peabody.
“Over the past year, we’ve worked with many different people and organizations, such as with the artist and School of Art fellow Kat Wiese and the Wu Tsai Institute, in order to represent a wide array of voices and topics in our museum,” Rogers said. “Because Nyamupingidza has been working closely with the exhibitions team for months, she was able to see how visitors use the Central Gallery space before developing her project. She thoughtfully curated this display so it would work well for families with young kids—groups who often sit down here for a snack or a breather. It’s thrilling to see how our community of storytellers and visitors continue to interact and inform each other.”
