Royal Ontario Museum

Collections & Research Staff

Burton Lim
Assistant Curator
Mammalogy

B.Sc., Zoology, University of Toronto
M.Sc., Biology, York University
Ph.D. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto

Burton Lim is Assistant Curator of Mammalogy in the Department of Natural History at the ROM.

Born, raised and educated in Toronto, Burton has been employed at the ROM since completing his undergraduate degree in 1984 and has pursued graduate studies. He has travelled to 18 countries (and counting) conducting fieldwork on mammals. His research interests focus on the evolution of bats and the biodiversity of mammals.

His dissertation examines the molecular phylogenetics of New World sheath-tailed bats (Family Emballonuridae), their origin, divergence times, biogeography in Central and South America, and the evolution of morphological and behavioural characters. Burton has recently completed a 5-year project doing a biotic survey of small mammals as part of a larger project on terrestrial vertebrates and their parasites in China.

He uses information gathered from faunal surveys in the Guiana Shield (primarily Guyana and Suriname) to investigate species diversity and relative abundance of small mammals (bats, rats, opossums). The establishment of baseline data on distribution and community ecology enables the monitoring of changes in the environment to assess aspects of conservation and sustainable development. Burton is also participating in the international Barcode of Life project to create a genetic reference system for species identificaiton and discovery of mammals.

Recent Publications
Please contact Burton Lim for reprints.

2010	Francis, C.M., A.V. Borisenko, N.V. Ivanova, J.L. Eger, B.K. Lim, A. Guillén-Servent, S.V. Kruskop, I. Mackie, P.D.N. Hebert. "The role of DNA barcodes in understanding and conservation of mammal diversity in Southeast Asia." PLoS ONE, 5(9): el2575. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0012575.
2010	Lim, B.K. “Adaptive radiation of neotropical emballonurid bats: molecular phylogenetics and evolutionary patterns in behaviour and morphology.” In Evolutionary Biology - Concepts, Molecular and Morphological Evolution, edited by P. Pontarotti. Springer-Verlag, Berlin and Heidelberg, pp. 283-299.
2010	Lim, B.K., M.D. Engstrom, F.A. Reid, N.B. Simmons, R.S. Voss, and D.W. Fleck. “A new species of Peropteryx (Chiroptera: Emballonuridae) from western Amazonia with comments on phylogenetic relationships within the genus.” American Museum Novitates, 3686: 1-20.
2010	Lim, B.K., M.D. Engstrom, J.C. Patton, and J.W. Bickham. “Molecular phylogenetics of Reig's short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis reigi) and its distributional range extension into Guyana.” Mammalian Biology, 75: 287-293.
2010	McDonough, M.M., B.K. Lim, A.W. Ferguson, C.M. Brown, S.F. Burneo, and L.K. Ammerman. “Mammalia, Chiroptera, Emballonuridae, Peropteryx leucoptera Peters, 1867 and Peropteryx pallidoptera Lim, Engstrom, Reid, Simmons, Voss and Fleck, 2010: Distributional range extensions in Ecuador.” Check List: 6:639-643.
2010	Taddei, V.A., and B.K. Lim. “A new species of Chiroderma (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) from Northeastern Brazil.” Brazilian Journal of Biology, 70: 381-386.
2009	Jansa, S.A., T.C. Giarla, and B.K. Lim. “The phylogenetic position of the rodent genus Typhlomys and the geographic origin of muroidea.” Journal of Mammalogy, 90: 1083-1094.
2009	Lim, B.K. “Environmental assessment at the Bakhuis bauxite concession: small-sized mammal diversity and abundance in the lowland humid forests of Suriname.” The Open Biology Journal, 2: 42–53.
2009	Lim, B.K. “Review of the origins and biogeography of bats in South America.” Chiroptera Neotropical, 15 (1): 391-410.
2009	Lim, B.K. Molecular phylogenetics of New World emballonurid bats: phylogeny, times of divergence, biogeography, and evolutionary patterns in morphology and behaviour. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, Köln, Germany, xiv + 123 pp.
2009	Zhou, Z.-M., A. Guillén-Servent, B.K. Lim, J.L. Eger, Y.-X. Wang, X.-L. Jiang. “A new species from southwestern China in the Afro-Palaearctic lineage of the horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus).” Journal of Mammalogy, 90: 57–73.

Research Projects
Canadian Barcode of Life Initiative

Galleries
Bat Cave

ROM Images
Mammals

Podcasts

Bats!
October 06, 2009
Learn about Burton Lim's, Assistant Curator of Mammalogy, Bat research in Guyana and around the world. Burton is an expert on all types of bats and studies their biodiversity and evolution.

Video Podcast (13.2MB, 1m 54s)
Written Transcript (PDF)

Specimen Preparation
March 01, 2007
Assistant Curator Burton Lim describes the process of preparing specimens collected in the field for research and study.

Video Podcast (4 MB, 1m 38s)
Written Transcript (PDF)

A Day in the Field
January 25, 2007
Assistant Curator Burton Lim describes a typical day of fieldwork in China, from preparing bat and rodent specimens to recording field notes, and of course enjoying camp meals.