Royal Ontario Museum Blog
Monthly Archive: December
Google+ Hangout on Air: Butterflies of Ontario
![Black Swallowtail - Papilio polyxenes Black Swallowtail - Papilio polyxenes](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/black-swallowtail.jpg?itok=owvP85gy)
Join us on July 16th at 2pm EST for our next Google+ Hangout on Air as we chat about the new ROM Field Guide to Butterflies of Ontario!
Montréal Botanical Garden hosts the 50th Anniversary meeting of the Canadian Botanical Association
![By being late for the banquet, we came across a family of foxes who were moving out into the Garden after most of the human visitors had left. By being late for the banquet, we came across a family of foxes who were moving out into the Garden after most of the human visitors had left.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/tinyfoxes.jpg?itok=dqThrN4O)
Deb Metsger and I are on the train coming back from Montréal where we attended the 50th Anniversary meeting of the Canadian Botanical Association.
Triceratops Dig Week 1
![The Triceratops quarry was under water when we arrived. Land with water on it](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/tri-quarry.jpg?itok=tjess9fL)
For the past week, a small crew from the Royal Ontario Museum’s palaeontology division has been excavating a Triceratops site on private ranchland in Harding County, South Dakota.
Your Guide to Family Summer Fun at the ROM
![ROM Family Fun http://www.rom.on.ca/en/support-us/inspiring-stories/barrick-gold-family-day-at-the-rom](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/rom-family.jpg?itok=Fqg7Q91w)
A step-by-step guide to visiting the ROM with your kids!
The Monastery of St Moses, Syria: Introduction
![View of the old monastery buildings from the South in 2004, with then Brother Jihad, a member of the monastery. View of the old monastery buildings from the South in 2004, with then Brother Jihad, a member of the monastery.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/dscn0819.jpg?itok=zFpkWDX7)
Robert Mason reports on his years of archaeological fieldwork at the Monastery of St Moses, Syria, in this blog series.
Sloth Life
![Upside-down Two-toed sloth http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Two_toed_sloth.JPG Upside-down Two-toed sloth](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/upside-down-two-toed-sloth.jpg?itok=k5FIXtI4)
What you may or may not know about this unusual mammal.
A Fish With a Big Bang
![<i>Metaspriggina walcotti</i> as it might have looked in its environment. Reconstruction by Marianne Collins. © Conway Morris and Caron. Illustration of Metaspriggina](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/metaspriggina_rconstruction600.jpg?itok=7HMBD-6F)
New fossils reveal first hints of the evolution of jaws in primitive fish.
Ontario BioBlitz Brings Bad News for Arachnophobes
![A young BioBlitzer gently holds a crawling spider in his hands. Photo by Vincent Luk a young boy carefully lets a spider crawl across his palms](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/2014-05-24_bioblitz148-2_0.jpg?itok=2lR-TPCX)
Guest Blogger and 2014 Ontario Bioblitz Arachnid Taxon team leader Dr. Gergin Blagoev, Research Associate at the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO), tells us about finding double the expected number of spider species in the Humber River Watershed and shares a couple of the most interesting species that were found.
Sharing of Museum Biodiversity Data on the Web
![Map of the world.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/gbif.jpg?itok=NEVJ94X_)
Learn about where you can find open source data from our biodiversity collections
2014 Ontario Bioblitz Bird Count Gets Results!
![A Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) rests on a fence post | Photo by Tallie Garey, EVC Student A small blue and white bird sits on a post against background of vegetation.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/talliegarey_bioblitz_2014-5630.jpg?itok=zKYzPkLH)
Guest blogger and 2014 Ontario Bioblitz Bird Taxon team leader Kevin Kerr, Curator of Birds at Toronto Zoo, writes on some of his experiences inventorying birds, including 9 species-at-risk, from the Humber River Watershed.