Natural History
Monthly Archive: December Natu
Fossil-finding Tour at Evergreen Brick Works
In July, ROM Assistant Curator Dr. Kevin Seymour offered an enthusiastic group of 25 ROM members a guided tour of the famous fossil site at Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto’s Don Valley. Beautiful weather was the order of the day (after days of rain), giving all participants an enjoyable if somewhat muddy outing.
Grandson visits ROM specimens named after his grandfather
Neal and Bonnie Finn from Edmonton, Alberta, visited the ROM to see a fossil specimen named after Neal's granfather in 1925.
New Research from the Burgess Shale: Thorny worms that swarmed in the Cambrian seas
Hallucigenia sparsa is no ordinary animal. This poster child of the Burgess Shale biota is the ultimate weirdo!
Museums, stories and things.
Get ready for an insider's look at the ROM from someone who's usually very far outside of it.
Conservator in the House – In-situ Conservation of the “Tree Cookie”
Find out what Heidi Sobol, Senior Conservator of Paintings is up to in the Schad Gallery!
Komodo Dragon Preparation, Step 3: Cleaning and Articulating the Bones
The final stages of preparing Doni, the Komodo Dragon for display
Komodo Dragon Preparation, Step Two: To the Bug Cave! I mean, Bug ROOM
Viewer discretion advised. Images depict a Komodo Dragon being dissected as it is prepared for the ROM's collections. Some images may be shocking.
Does a mild winter mean more insects?
With increasing frequency, as spring rolls in, ROM entomologists are asked this question: will mild winter temperatures result in more bugs this spring and summer? Unfortunately, there is no simple “yes” or “no” answer to this question — the best response is “It depends”.
Bugs are moving in (not bed bugs this time)
Question: It’s fall, why are all these bugs coming into my home? I’ve never seen them before!
Western conifer seed bug; copyright ROM images
Gem of the Month: Canadian Diamonds
Posting by Brendt Hyde, Mineralogy Technician
The discovery of diamonds in the 1990’s marked a beginning for Canada’s first diamond mine, the Ekati Diamond Mine, located in the Northwest Territories. It also marked the beginning of the, still relatively young, diamond mining industry in Canada.
