How I transformed Leonardo DiCaprio into a beetle | Iva Njunjić | TEDxGhent
-
0:08 - 0:11On the morning
of the 1st of May this year, -
0:11 - 0:13the world woke up to discover
-
0:13 - 0:17that Oscar-winning Hollywood star
Leonardo DiCaprio -
0:17 - 0:20had been transformed into a beetle.
-
0:20 - 0:23This is the story
of how I made it happen. -
0:23 - 0:27But let me start the story
with a simple question: -
0:27 - 0:31How many animal species
are there on Earth? -
0:31 - 0:32What would you say?
-
0:32 - 0:36Usually people say something
like a few tens of thousands. -
0:36 - 0:40Well no, the answer
is probably around 8 million. -
0:40 - 0:43And that is because
all of these mammals and birds -
0:43 - 0:46are just a small fraction of biodiversity.
-
0:46 - 0:50The true diversity
is in the millions of tiny creatures, -
0:50 - 0:53such as insects, snails, spiders.
-
0:54 - 0:57So during three centuries of biology,
-
0:57 - 1:01we have discovered and named
only 1.5 million species. -
1:01 - 1:05So just a small portion
of the true number. -
1:05 - 1:08And, you know, we may have cataloged
all the craters on the Moon, -
1:08 - 1:12but right here, on Earth,
in the 21st Century, -
1:12 - 1:1680% of species are still unknown to us.
-
1:16 - 1:18I mean, that's insane, right?
-
1:18 - 1:20But why is that?
-
1:20 - 1:25Well, you know, it seems that
these small creatures have really bad PR -
1:25 - 1:31because, like most people, even biologists
are mostly focused on the big ones. -
1:31 - 1:34And there are hundreds of scientists,
all over the world, -
1:34 - 1:36working on one species of tiger,
-
1:36 - 1:42but there is only one scientist
for every 1,500 species of insects. -
1:43 - 1:49And this unknown, unstudied majority
is getting more and more important -
1:49 - 1:54because human activities are nowadays
accelerating the rates of extinctions. -
1:54 - 1:57So every day we are losing species
-
1:57 - 2:02before we even have the opportunity
to discover them and to get to know them. -
2:02 - 2:07This means there is still
a lot of work to do for taxonomists. -
2:07 - 2:13Taxonomists are biologists, like myself,
whose job is to discover new species. -
2:13 - 2:17And I really think that we have
the best job in the world, you know? -
2:17 - 2:18Like, it's a lot of fun,
-
2:18 - 2:22and there is nothing we like better
than being somewhere out in the forest -
2:22 - 2:25in search for new species.
-
2:25 - 2:28Also, the public expect us to do that.
-
2:28 - 2:29A few years ago,
-
2:29 - 2:34the Dutch government set up something
called "The National Research Agenda," -
2:34 - 2:37which was an opportunity
for the general public -
2:37 - 2:41to send in questions
they thought scientists should answer -
2:41 - 2:42from their tax money.
-
2:42 - 2:46And one of the main things
people asked from biologists -
2:46 - 2:48was to discover new species
-
2:48 - 2:52and figure out how many species
are there on Earth. -
2:52 - 2:58But unfortunately, at the same time,
public funding for taxonomy is going down -
2:58 - 3:01because governments give priority
to cutting-edge science, -
3:01 - 3:04while taxonomy is more traditional.
-
3:05 - 3:09So we started thinking of alternative ways
to fund our research. -
3:09 - 3:11And then we thought,
-
3:11 - 3:14"What if we involved those non-biologists
-
3:14 - 3:17who, like us, love the idea
of discovering new animals? -
3:17 - 3:20Kind of taxonomy tourism."
-
3:21 - 3:26So we started an organization
called "Taxon Expeditions." -
3:26 - 3:30And what we do is we organize
scientific expeditions -
3:30 - 3:31for the general public -
-
3:31 - 3:35so for laypeople interested
in nature and science. -
3:35 - 3:40And the goal of every expedition
is to discover new species. -
3:40 - 3:43Participants pay for being part,
-
3:43 - 3:45and from that money we fund everything -
-
3:45 - 3:47the whole expedition, the research,
-
3:47 - 3:50the sponsorship of local students
and local researchers, -
3:50 - 3:53and also the scientific publications.
-
3:53 - 3:55And what is very important
-
3:55 - 3:58is that the outcome
is available for everybody. -
3:58 - 4:01So all the specimens
that we collect on these trips -
4:01 - 4:03are deposited in local museums
-
4:03 - 4:07so that local researchers
and conservationists can also study them. -
4:07 - 4:11And we publish all our new species
in open-access journals -
4:11 - 4:15so that anyone can read
those papers free of charge. -
4:15 - 4:18But how do you discover a new species?
-
4:18 - 4:21Can anyone do it? How hard is it?
-
4:21 - 4:24Well, it's actually
surprisingly easy, you know? -
4:24 - 4:27You just sweep a butterfly net
through some jungle foliage -
4:27 - 4:31or pick up a handful of dead leaves
from a tropical forest, -
4:31 - 4:36and it is nearly guaranteed
that you will be picking up new species. -
4:36 - 4:40In fact, you can probably even find
new species in your own backyard. -
4:40 - 4:44But the trick is to figure out
which ones are new and why. -
4:44 - 4:47And that is something
you need experts for. -
4:47 - 4:52Experts like Hendrik Freitag, for example,
from the University of Manila, -
4:52 - 4:56who knows all there is to know
about water beetles. -
4:56 - 5:00Or Menno Schilthuizen
from Leiden University, -
5:00 - 5:04who is a specialist
for tropical snails and slugs. -
5:04 - 5:09Or myself, a specialist for cave beetles.
-
5:09 - 5:11It also helps to have
a team of geneticists -
5:11 - 5:13with their portable DNA lab,
-
5:13 - 5:16with which they can read
the DNA of the new species. -
5:16 - 5:21So put these people
plus a bunch of enthusiastic laypeople -
5:21 - 5:24in a jungle field station for ten days,
-
5:24 - 5:26and you have a recipe for success.
-
5:27 - 5:30And these are some images
from our expedition to Borneo. -
5:30 - 5:35So this is Aglaya,
a novelist from the Netherlands. -
5:35 - 5:39And these are photographer
Brock from Australia; -
5:40 - 5:42college administrator William from Texas,
-
5:42 - 5:45who really loved this canopy climbing;
-
5:45 - 5:49anthropologist Tony, also from Australia.
-
5:49 - 5:54So none of these people is a biologist,
but they all have something in common. -
5:54 - 5:59They all have passion for biodiversity
and heart for conservation. -
5:59 - 6:03And what they get during these trips
is very unique experience. -
6:03 - 6:07So they get to spend ten days
in a remote place -
6:07 - 6:09learning from scientists.
-
6:09 - 6:14They discover new species, and they get
to give them official scientific names. -
6:14 - 6:19But more importantly, they help
to speed up the biodiversity discovery -
6:19 - 6:23and the documentation
of the world's threatened biodiversity. -
6:23 - 6:26So what do we do on these expeditions?
-
6:26 - 6:29Well, our expeditions
consist of two parts. -
6:29 - 6:31First part is the fieldwork,
-
6:31 - 6:34where we teach participants
all the tricks and the trades -
6:34 - 6:38that field biologists are using
to collect and to discover new species. -
6:38 - 6:41And the second part
takes place in the field lab, -
6:41 - 6:45where we instruct people
how to sort and study the specimens. -
6:45 - 6:48We also take apart their genitalia -
-
6:48 - 6:50I mean of the beetles, not participants -
-
6:50 - 6:56because this part of the body
is crucial to identify different species. -
6:56 - 7:00We also extract and analyze the DNA
of the collected samples, -
7:00 - 7:02and at the end of the expedition,
-
7:02 - 7:06we all vote and we all together
choose names for new species. -
7:06 - 7:09And then the whole team
works together on a publication, -
7:09 - 7:12which we submit to a scientific journal.
-
7:12 - 7:19So, so far, we had four expeditions,
and we discovered 18 new species. -
7:19 - 7:21And all of these are, you know,
-
7:21 - 7:26small animals like very tiny beetles,
a minuscule water mite. -
7:26 - 7:32And actually the largest species we found
was this only two-centimeter-long slug. -
7:33 - 7:35But despite their small size,
-
7:35 - 7:39these animals are crucial
constituents of ecosystems, -
7:39 - 7:42where they perform
many important functions. -
7:42 - 7:46And we are very proud of our discoveries,
-
7:46 - 7:49but usually when we tell people
about them, you know, -
7:49 - 7:51they just kind of shrug their shoulders
-
7:51 - 7:55because they prefer to hear
about some large mammals -
7:55 - 7:58or new species or some showy butterflies.
-
7:59 - 8:02That's why we have
one trick up our sleeve: -
8:02 - 8:04celebrities.
-
8:04 - 8:10New species are sometimes named after
celebrities and their trademark looks. -
8:10 - 8:13Crazy-hair-colored David Bowie spider.
-
8:14 - 8:18Or a new species of a fly
with a big golden behind -
8:18 - 8:20named after Beyoncé.
-
8:21 - 8:24Or, definitely one of my favorites,
-
8:24 - 8:28this species of a moth
named after Donald Trump, -
8:28 - 8:29which has -
-
8:30 - 8:33which has really beautiful
blond hair, as you might notice, -
8:33 - 8:36but also a very small penis.
-
8:36 - 8:37(Cheers)
-
8:37 - 8:40(Applause)
-
8:45 - 8:49Some famous people are, on the other hand,
immortalized in animal names -
8:49 - 8:51not because of their looks,
-
8:51 - 8:53but because of what they do
for the environment. -
8:53 - 8:56And on our first expedition to Borneo,
-
8:56 - 9:00we found this very tiny,
obscure water beetle. -
9:00 - 9:01It was a new species,
-
9:01 - 9:07and we decided to name this species
after famous actor Leonardo DiCaprio, -
9:07 - 9:11who is also, as you may know,
a very dedicated conservationist. -
9:11 - 9:15Turns out, sometimes having a famous name
-
9:15 - 9:19attached to what would otherwise
be an unremarkable little creature -
9:19 - 9:23is the only way for these species
to get attention. -
9:23 - 9:28So we were expecting this beetle
will get some media attention, -
9:28 - 9:32but we were absolutely not prepared
for what happened next. -
9:32 - 9:36So Leonardo DiCaprio changes
his profile photo on Facebook - -
9:36 - 9:37(Laughter)
-
9:37 - 9:39to the photo of our beetle.
-
9:39 - 9:41I mean, how cool is that, right?
-
9:41 - 9:45Like, this is the best endorsement
of our work we could ever wish for. -
9:45 - 9:49And of course,
the media went wild over it. -
9:49 - 9:55I was all of a sudden giving interviews
for The Guardian, Forbes, Life Science. -
9:55 - 9:57There were videos popping up
on YouTube about this. -
9:57 - 10:00It was even featured on TV, on BBC Wild.
-
10:02 - 10:07Black and tiny Leonardo DiCaprio beetle
may not win any Oscars for its looks, -
10:07 - 10:11but in conservation
even the smallest creature counts. -
10:11 - 10:17And sometimes it takes a celebrity
to transform himself into a beetle -
10:17 - 10:21to get people to take notice
of this entire hidden world -
10:21 - 10:25of unknown creepy-crawlies
we share this planet with. -
10:25 - 10:28Because they do deserve attention.
-
10:28 - 10:32Not only because there are so many
out there yet to be discovered, -
10:32 - 10:34but because the life
on Earth as we know it -
10:34 - 10:36would not exist without them.
-
10:37 - 10:39By aerating the soil,
-
10:39 - 10:43decomposing organic matter,
and pollinating the plants, -
10:43 - 10:46they are the little things
that run the world. -
10:46 - 10:50And with our taxonomy tourists,
we uncover their secrets. -
10:50 - 10:51Thank you.
-
10:51 - 10:53(Applause)
-
10:53 - 10:55Thank you.
-
10:54 - 10:56(Applause)
- Title:
- How I transformed Leonardo DiCaprio into a beetle | Iva Njunjić | TEDxGhent
- Description:
-
Over the past 250 years, naturalists have discovered, described, and named 2 million species of animals and plants. But this is probably only 20% of the number that really exists. How difficult is it to discover a new species? Can anyone do it? And why is it important? Hear Iva Njunjić tell the story of one tiny beetle that made it into the international media.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 10:58
David DeRuwe approved English subtitles for How I transformed Leonardo DiCaprio into a beetle | Iva Njunjić | TEDxGhent | ||
David DeRuwe edited English subtitles for How I transformed Leonardo DiCaprio into a beetle | Iva Njunjić | TEDxGhent | ||
David DeRuwe edited English subtitles for How I transformed Leonardo DiCaprio into a beetle | Iva Njunjić | TEDxGhent | ||
David DeRuwe accepted English subtitles for How I transformed Leonardo DiCaprio into a beetle | Iva Njunjić | TEDxGhent | ||
David DeRuwe edited English subtitles for How I transformed Leonardo DiCaprio into a beetle | Iva Njunjić | TEDxGhent | ||
David DeRuwe edited English subtitles for How I transformed Leonardo DiCaprio into a beetle | Iva Njunjić | TEDxGhent | ||
David DeRuwe edited English subtitles for How I transformed Leonardo DiCaprio into a beetle | Iva Njunjić | TEDxGhent | ||
David DeRuwe edited English subtitles for How I transformed Leonardo DiCaprio into a beetle | Iva Njunjić | TEDxGhent |