Kayce Bell

@kaycebell.bsky.social

2337 Followers 1449 Following

Parasite enthusiast and chipmunk whisperer. Associate Curator of Terrestrial Mammals at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Views & posts mine. she/her kaycebell.com

dorsal view of ten Peromyscus study skins, the second and third specimens from the top have visible tufts of fur on their tails and the species identifications are written in pencil in different handwriting than the other 8 specimens, which have species IDs written in ink.
Dorsal view of a deer mouse study skin, the tail is less than the length of the body and does not have any tufts. The species name on the tag is written in ink, Peromyscus m. clementis
dorsal view of a Peromyscus mouse, turns out to be a piñon mouse (Peromyscus truei), with the specimen tag displaying Peromyscus maniculatus clementis. There are visible tufts of fur on the end of the tail, which should not be present on a P. maniculatus
dorsal view of ten Peromyscus study skins, the second and third specimens from the top have visible tufts of fur on their tails and the species identifications are written in pencil in different handwriting than the other 8 specimens, which have species IDs written in ink.
Dorsal view of a deer mouse study skin, the tail is less than the length of the body and does not have any tufts. The species name on the tag is written in ink, Peromyscus m. clementis
dorsal view of a Peromyscus mouse, turns out to be a piñon mouse (Peromyscus truei), with the specimen tag displaying Peromyscus maniculatus clementis. There are visible tufts of fur on the end of the tail, which should not be present on a P. maniculatus
A disorganized pile of miscellaneous manual bones and teeth with a note in the bottom center that says "TRY TO MATCH!"
A sea hare (a type of large sea slug) feeding, surrounded by pink corral one algae. The sea hare is a greyish color with dark mottling
A limpet with a greenish-yellow mantle covering most of the shell, except for a small white portion visible around the keyhole. The limpet is surrounded by sea grass and different types of algae.
A maroon colored octopus moving on top of some kelp the sliding into the water.
Colorful animal sculptures in a cage. A blue dimetrodon, and three different sized elephants, a medium sized green one, large orange one with tusks, and a small light blue one with tusks. Taken at the Funny Zoo in Marseille, France.
Colorful animal sculptures in a cage. A blue dimetrodon, and three different sized elephants, a medium sized green one, large orange one with tusks, and a small light blue one with tusks. Taken at the Funny Zoo in Marseille, France.
Plastic octopus "skeleton" with vertebrae looking legs and a head that looks like it has ribs.
Woman in black shirt and skirt on left hand side of a stage with a PowerPoint slide that advocates for natural history collections, noting they are often hit with funding cuts, educate visitors, lead informal education, have active researchers, serve as resources and repositories
A jumble of of dried gray-brown sticks with some green leaves mixed in. There is a Merriam's chipmunk in the center of the image, next image is a zoomed picture where the chipmunk is visible.
An open BioRad thermocycler with five blue tubes in the block and the cycling protocol visible on the display.
Magnified view of a dried sucking louse, the louse is a light brown color with 6 visible legs and a darker brownish red abdomen from a blood meal when the louse was alive.
A ventral view of a dried sucking louse specimen under magnification with a dissecting scope. The specimen is a light yellow color with visible hair-like setae on the sides of the abdomen. There is a darker color in the center part of the abdomen, potentially remnants of a long ago blood meal. The specimen has a pointy head with antennae pointing back, and legs folded inward.
Selfie of a Woman in purple sweater with a T. rex skeleton, the famous Sue, in the background.
Screen shot of a weather app stating, "My Location Chicago 11 degrees, Feels like -5 degrees".
6 chipmunk sucking lice, the lice are almost translucent and some have visible recent blood meals, one is gripping a hair with its claws.
A museum biodiversity display with taxidermy mounts and skulls, including a badger, lynx, and wolf as well as deer and whale skulls. In the forefront is a display case with some taxidermy rodents and jars of fluid preserved fish.
Looking out over a tropical cloud forest at sunset. The foreground is lighter vegetation and there are clouds with shades from dark gray to pink and yellow sunset light between them.
Wall that looks like light blue museum cabinet compactors with silver handles with a video screen in the middle. There is a drawer of spotted skunks displayed on the video screen. A display case is in the foreground with museum study skins of a cactus wren and a Mohave ground squirrel.
Four women behind a table with wood rat museum specimens and computers. All four are smiling and happy me is holding up a wood rat specimen.
A white nosed coati that climbed a wooden t-stand holding fruit for birds. The coati is in the process of biting down on a piece of papaya on the top of the stand. In the background is a tropical cloud forest.
Screenshot of a menu from Spotify's artist page for Creed. Menu lists: Listen to music ad-free, Follow, Don't play this artist, Share, Report, and Show Spotify Code
Label of a bottle of Heinz Tomato Ketchup that says "No Sugar Added" and "Sweetness from Plants"
A yellowpine chipmunk perched upright on a rock in front of a rusty piece of iron with several large rocks in a bed of gravel surrounding it.
Screenshot of a Scientific American X post (tweet) that says "Writing for five to 20 minutes a day can improve health, diminish stress, increase self-confidence and even kindle imagination." There is an image of a female-presenting person in a red shirt sitting holding a pen who appears to be writing.
A fox squirrel laying on its belly on a tree branch looking at the camera, with the tree trunk and branches behind it and some green vegetation in the background.
Stage at the Hollywood Bowl lit with rainbow colors and screens on the sides.
Hand holding about 1.5 inch long segment of a tail from a southern alligator lizard.