Royal Ontario Museum Blog
Monthly Archive: December
Moonbird re-sighting
![The orange flag on this Red Knot's leg indicates it was banded in Argentina.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/baker_red-knot_banded1.jpg?itok=LNncIbNa)
Back in 1995 ROM ornithologist Dr. Allan Baker was part of an international team that banded a small shorebird in Argentina, a Red-knot soon to become dubbed Moonbird, with a leg band with the number B95 on it.
Weapon Wednesday: Swords from the Philippines
![17-18th century Filipino sword #927.59.47 (photo W.C. Pratt) 17-18th century Filipino sword #927.59.47 (photo W.C. Pratt)](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/927.59.47_4.jpg?itok=JLv-WsaW)
The ROM's collecton of swords from the Phillipines is outlined in the context of the history and geography of the archipelago.
Snapshots of Biodiversity: A Photo Essay on the 2014 Ontario BioBlitz
![A scientist and a youth look closely at a specimen on a table next to a microscope.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/2014-05-24_bioblitz_vincentluk03.jpg?itok=ahh8ZDrF)
The 2014 Ontario BioBlitz brought 500+ registrants together this past weekend to find and catalogue biodiversity in the Humber River watershed, and students from the Environmental Visual Communication (EVC) Program were there to capture the event from every angle.
Epic Civilizations During ROM Revealed: A Volunteer's Perspective
![Hung out with lions and dragons at volunteer post in Far Eastern Department. Saw 250,000 year old mand mad artifacts. How was your Sat? #ROMrevealed](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/romtweet-ac.jpg?itok=azuNEbim)
Guest blogger, Amanjeet Chauhan sums up her experience as a volunteer during ROM Revealed Weekend.
Happy International Museum Day!
!["Scared" visitors test out their acting skills in the Bat Cave, Level 2. Visitors take a selfie inside the bat cave.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/bat_cave.jpg?itok=__nJq-tQ)
Since 1977, Museums around the world have been celebrating International Museum Day on May 18. Each year, a new theme is selected and this year we're celebrating "Museum collections make connections".
Study explores evolution of flightless birds
![Tinamous are the closest living relatives of the flightless ratites. Brian Gratwicke/Flickr, CC BY Tinamous](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/hzzq4h65-1399768480.jpg?itok=WrHC0_em)
DNA confirms relationship between the giant flightless moa and the tinamous
![](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/moa_bones_moa_and_tinamou_sm.jpg?itok=clHC7Yel)
One of the longest running debates in ornithology may finally have an answer thanks to new ROM research published in science journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.
Kissing the Cod!
![A view of the blue whale's baleen, which lines the upper jaws. | Image by Jacqueline Waters © Royal Ontario Museum A close up shot of the blue whales baleen.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/bluewhale_day5-1-2.jpg?itok=p4Rh-n2w)
Environmental communicator Jacqueline Waters shares more of her experience on the ground with the ROM team working to recover a blue whale carcass in NL.
My first day in Trout River, Newfoundland: ROM biologists arrive, town is curious
![Blue whale remains washed up on the shore at Trout River, NL. | Image by Jacqueline Waters © Royal Ontario Museum A blue whale carcass lies upside down in the water near a rocky shoreline.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/bluewhale_day1-1.jpg?itok=3Zf1rW-K)
Jacqueline Waters shares her impressions from Day 1 of the ROM's efforts to recover a Blue whale specimen near Trout River, NL.
Rhinoceros Reminder that Conservation Requires Continued Commitment
![Bull the Southern white rhinoceros at the Entrance to the Life in Crisis: Schad Gallery of Biodiversity | Image by the ROM A large make Southern white rhino dominates the entrance to the ROM's biodiversity gallery](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/rom2011_11856_39.jpg?itok=lxMBOVEj)
A surge in the poaching of Southern White Rhinoceros made the ROM reconsider the presentation of our iconic specimen.