Model of a corpse flower, which attracts carrion flies by producing an odor like that of rotting flesh.ASHLEY P. TAYLORDespite the odds, life inhabits practically every inch of Earth. “That’s the marvelous thing,” said ichthyologist John Sparks, who along with parasitologist Mark Siddall cocurated the exhibit “Life at the Limits: Stories of Amazing Species” on display at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City. “Life is so tenacious; it’s resilient; it’s resourceful, and every place it can live, it does, basically. Every habitat we’ve looked at, from the top of the Himalayas to the bottom of the ocean trenches, from boiling hot springs to deep sea vents—there’s life there.”
The exhibit, which opens tomorrow (April 4) in AMNH’s LeFrak Family Gallery, explores the diversity of life at Earth’s extremes of temperature, pressure, wetness, and aridity—and everywhere in between. The exhibit also highlights the range of adaptations that creatures have experienced in order to thrive in myriad conditions. As it turns out, different creatures solve similar problems in different ways. Take egg-laying: corals release millions of egg and sperm in synchrony under the full moon, while the pregnant kiwi bird waddles around carrying one giant egg, which can grow to a quarter of her body weight. Which strategy is best? Both of them work well under the right circumstances.
While most creatures featured in the exhibit have adapted to one extreme or another, the tardigrade, ...
