Category Archives: Species Discovery and Change

Discovering species on the shelves

Posted on February 21, 2018 by

What’s the best place for a paleontologist to discover a new species: Alberta; Mongolia; or the collections at the Canadian Museum of Nature? Museum paleontologist Danielle Fraser writes that there’s beauty, mystery and lots of scientific discoveries to be made on the shelves, and in the drawers and boxes, of the museum’s collection. Continue reading →

Posted in Collections, Fossils, Research, Species Discovery and Change | Tagged | Leave a comment

World’s largest botany conference: “Care for Plants, Care for our Future”

Posted on February 7, 2018 by

What’s big, green and full of plant scientists? The International Botanical Congress, of course! This past July, in Shenzen, China, three Museum of Nature botany researchers gathered with 7000 others at the world’s largest gathering of plant scientists. Read museum researcher Jeff Saarela’s behind-the-scenes account. Continue reading →

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Two Rare Species, One Big Trip

Posted on December 13, 2017 by

As a member of the historic C3 voyage that circumnavigated Canada’s coastline in summer 2017, Paul Sokoloff writes about the search for two very special species of plants that exist only in one small area of the vast Canadian Arctic. Continue reading →

Posted in Arctic, Botany, Collections, Plants and Algae, Research, Species Discovery and Change | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Cracking the mystery of crystal structure

Posted on October 17, 2017 by

Canadian Museum of Nature intern Joachim de Fourestier explores one of hardest mineral questions: The mystery of internal crystal structure. Continue reading →

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Co-Extinction and the Case of American Chestnut and the Greater Chestnut Weevil (Curculio caryatrypes)

Posted on February 2, 2017 by

A problem to take seriously. Continue reading →

Posted in Research, Species Discovery and Change | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Going Hunting in Texas

Posted on November 29, 2016 by

Search for an elusive insect with museum entomologist Robert Anderson. Continue reading →

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What’s in a Name? A Year in Taxonomy at the Canadian Museum of Nature

Posted on July 28, 2016 by

A total of 34 new species were described by museum scientists in 2015, all with new scientific names. Some of our experts even had species named after them! Continue reading →

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Searching for Pearly Mussels in the Rideau River during the Hottest Days of Summer

Posted on July 25, 2016 by

Sixteen years after the first study, what is the state of native mussels in Ontario’s Rideau River? Research scientist André Martel and team will be diving all summer to find out. Continue reading →

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Museum Metabolism

Posted on July 7, 2016 by

Like animals and plants, museums have a “metabolism”. Do you know how it functions? Continue reading →

Posted in Collections, Species Discovery and Change, Tools of the trade | Tagged | Leave a comment

Cave Weevils in North America

Posted on April 5, 2016 by

Caves are known for their magnificent geologic structures, but the richness of their biodiversity is emerging into the light. Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Fieldwork, Research, Species Discovery and Change | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment