Category Archives: Species Discovery and Change

Undiscovered backyard biodiversity: New lichen species discovered in Guelph, Canada

Posted on September 26, 2018 by

Troy McMullin’s inventory of the Arboretum at the University of Guelph, in Ontario, reveals that there is still lots of undiscovered biodiversity in our backyards. Continue reading →

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Finnish moth species is asexual with benefits

Posted on September 19, 2018 by

Veronica Chevasco reports that a species of Finnish moth is asexual with benefits. Continue reading →

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Living on the edge: the voles of Svalbard

Posted on July 25, 2018 by

The population of the sibling vole in the Norwegian Arctic island of Spitsbergen irregularly fluctuates from 200 individuals per hectare to almost none. Our research scientist, Dominique Fauteux tries to solve this mystery. Continue reading →

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Museum birds tell their tale

Posted on June 27, 2018 by

What can be learned from a bird’s nest from 1925? Or from a Bird of Paradise collected in the middle of the last century? Michel Gosselin shows us five specimens from the Museum’s bird collection that each tell a very special story. Continue reading →

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Is the world’s largest Triceratops skull sitting in our collection?

Posted on May 16, 2018 by

Alan McDonald wonders, and works to reveal, if the world’s largest Triceratops skull has been uncovered in the museum’s collection? Continue reading →

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Biting into the Past

Posted on May 2, 2018 by

Paleontologist Danielle Fraser blogs about why finding a fossil tooth always gives her a big smile. Continue reading →

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

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 →

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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 →

Posted in Botany, Plants and Algae, Species Discovery and Change | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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 →

Posted in Research, Rocks and minerals, Species Discovery and Change, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment