Royal Ontario Museum Blog
Monthly Archive: December cont
Join us for the Tattoos Media Preview!
![](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/mara066_g.jpg?itok=P3FVYWwJ)
We're inviting 20 lucky social media savvy people to attend our Tattoos media preview on March 30th at 10 am.
ROM Research Colloquium: BLOG-A THON (Day 5)
![An urn (HM 1953) from a collection of Zapotec artifacts acquired by Royal Ontario Museum soon after opening. An urn (HM 1953) from a collection of Zapotec artifacts; analysis suggests that this urn is a composite with ancient pieces integrated into a new object that was fabricated in the early twentieth century.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/rom2015_14819_resize.jpg?itok=XA0P7_V2)
Five researchers, five questions, five days.
Join us for the ROM Research Colloquium on February 23 and meet our researchers! Stay for the Vaughan Lecture given by Dave Rudkin.
ROM Research Colloquium: BLOG-A THON (Day 4)
![George F. Matthew's published plate in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, illustrating the definitive specimen of Byronia (2a, 2b), along with other fossils collected by Sir Edmund Walker. Illustration of fossils collected in 1897 from Cambrian rocks on Mount Stephen, British Columbia](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/cambrian_fauna_0.jpg?itok=LGi5z8Xm)
Five researchers, five questions, five days.
Join us for the ROM Research Colloquium on February 23 and meet our researchers! Stay for the Vaughan Lecture given by Dave Rudkin.
What are the big unanswered questions in your field that keep you up at night?
ROM Research Colloquium: BLOG-A THON (Day 3)
![Moustached bats flying out of St. Clair cave in Jamaica. Photo Credit: Brock Fenton Photo of two flying moustached bats](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/moustached_bats.jpg?itok=UVeJ4ijk)
Five researchers, five questions, five days.
Join us for the ROM Research Colloquium on February 23 and meet our researchers! Stay for the Vaughan Lecture given by Dave Rudkin.
How does your research help us understand the world?
ROM Research Colloquium: BLOG-A THON (Day 2)
![Beautiful <em>Amanita</em> specimens collected on the banks of Araca River, Amazonia, Brazil. Amanita species form mutualistic associations with many species of vascular plants. Photo Credit: Dirce Komura A photo of two Amanita specimens from the Araca River, Amazonia, Brazil](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/amanita_resize.jpg?itok=h8bg4ehL)
Five researchers, five questions, five days.
Join us for the ROM Research Colloquium on February 23 and meet our researchers! Stay for the Vaughan Lecture given by Dave Rudkin.
ROM Research Colloquium: BLOG-A-THON (Day 1)
![Discovery of the Ehmaniella Zone layer above the Raymond Quarry by David Rudkin, July 13, 1984. Dave Rudkin in the Raymond Quarry, 1984](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/history_discoveries_rom_44.jpg?itok=1le-Lu1Q)
Follow five of the ROM’s researchers and learn about what fascinates them, what questions are irking them and how their research helps us figure out the world.
Have you got 15 minutes to be part of something BIG?
![White-breasted Nuthatch, common bird of Toronto. Photo by Mark Peck White-breasted Nuthatch, common bird of Toronto. Photo by Mark Peck](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/great_backyard_bird_count_blog_nuthatch_2016.jpg?itok=tAjoWhYf)
Guest blog written by Bird Studies Canada's Toronto Projects Coordinator, Emily Rondel
What if you could be part of a global conservation project by standing in your yard (or local park, or well…anywhere) for 15 minutes? This coming Family Day weekend (Feb 12-15), be part of the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), a four day worldwide “blitz” of wild birds. The GBBC is an invaluable snapshot of worldwide bird abundance and distribution; and it’s only possible due to the participation of tens of thousands of “citizen scientist” volunteers around the globe.
Our NBA All-Star Starting 5
![](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/rom-all-stars.jpg?itok=VgQpFqWJ)
Imagine if Dinosaurs could play in the NBA All-Star game? We did!
Remembering Kiowa Wind McComb
![Portrait of Kiowa Wind McComb at the ROM.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/kiowa_web.jpg?itok=MjfUoe5P)
Kiowa was the Indigenous Youth Intern in the ROM Learning Department through the generous support of Miziwe Biik Aboriginal Employment and Training and was an exceptionally promising young man.
Mexican Cartel lands are home to a newly described species: Goode’s Thornscrub Tortoise
![A new species of tortoise named Goode’s Thornscrub Tortoise, described today by Dr. Robert (Bob) Murphy and colleagues in the Journal ZooKeys. Photo taken in Reserva Monte Mojino, Sonora, Mexico, 24 August, 2013 Photo by Taylor Edwards A new species of tortoise named Goode’s Thornscrub Tortoise, described today by Dr. Robert (Bob) Murphy and colleagues in the Journal ZooKeys. Photo taken in Reserva Monte Mojino, Sonora, Mexico, 24 August, 2013 Photo by Taylor Edwards](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/mextortproject_aug2013_0806c-640px-wide.jpg?itok=1ACfJANu)
ROM curator of reptiles and amphibians, Dr. Bob Murphy and a team of international scientists use leading edge genetic techniques and dangerous fieldwork activities to describe a new species of tortoise in Mexico and shine light on the conservation status of other rare and threatened tortoises from the region