Burton Lim
Assistant Curator of Mammalogy
Area: Natural History, Biodiversity
Exhibitions & Galleries: LIfe in Crisis: Schad Gallery of Biodiversity
Phone: 416.586.5771
Follow @burtonlimBio
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 identification and discovery of mammals.
Other Links
- Lim, B.K. 2009. ROM's Blog.
- Lim, B.K. 2007. Taxa - Mammals. Biotic Surveys and Inventories of Southern China. University of Utah.
- Lim, B.K., M.D. Engstrom, and J. Ochoa G. 2003. Preliminary checklist of the mammals of the Guiana Shield (Venezuela: Amazonas, Bolívar, Delta Amacuro; Guyana; Suriname; French Guiana). Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.
- Engstrom, M.D. and B.K. Lim. 2000. Checklist of the mammals of Guyana. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.
- Engstrom, M.D., B.K. Lim, and F.A. Reid. 1999. Common mammals of Iwokrama. Iwokrama International Centre for Rain forest Conservation and Development, Georgetown, Guyana.
Research Projects
Less than 10% of the planet’s estimated 100 million species have been identified and described.