7/1/19 – Hello! My name is Mercedes Martinez and I attend Dolores High School, and through the Pinhead Institute I have had the amazing opportunity to intern at the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch in Elgin, Arizona. I actually arrived here on Friday (6/28/19) and have been slowly learning about the surrounding wildlife and plant life that the ranch has to offer. (I have had the privilege to help count frogs in the surrounding bodies of water, man-made or otherwise, and to help release lizards!) For an example, I learned that the three “yucca plants” (as I initially called them) were actually three different species of plant, one of them being “agave,” which are bat pollinated and have what appear to be a tree stalk growing out of them. They are also used to make Tequila! The next is “sotol,” which has a giant pollen stalk growing out of it and little ‘teeth’ along the edge of the leaves. The final one is the typical “yucca,” which has a stalk bearing white flowers growing from the middle.
The sotol
The tequila plant (agave)
The yucca
And, of course, I have learned a lot about the decomposition process, which is what I will be studying during my three week stay at the research ranch. There are five main steps: Autolysis, or the Fresh Stage, which occurs 1-3 days after death. After that is Putrefaction, or bloat, which is 4-10 days. Next is Active Decay, which lasts 10-25 days. Then Advanced Decay, which is 25-50 days after death. Finally, there’s Post Decay, which is 50+ days after death.
I hope to learn as much as I can about the insects that feed (and are born and mature) on the deceased animals I will be studying, as well as learn from the actual animals themselves!
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