Wonderful wildlife
April brings warmer days along with wonder and joy as we see signs of budding life all around us. This month we celebrate National Wildlife Week, April 4 - 10, International Beaver Day on April 7, and Earth Day on April 22.
In accordance with recent Government of Ontario restrictions, the museum is temporarily closed until further notice.
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Science symposium and public talk
The Biodiversity Crisis
April 21 and 22
Global biodiversity is in crisis. Experts are joining together for a special science symposium on April 22 to present recent research on this topic. Don't miss the special free public talk on April 21 by palaeontologists Advait Jukar and Danielle Fraser exploring declining animal populations, climate change and rates of extinction, past and present. The free Biodiversity Crisis symposium is organized by the Beaty Centre for Species Discovery at the Canadian Museum of Nature.
Now available
Virtual school workshops
The museum's new virtual school workshops on rocks and minerals are up and running! In a special Lab and studio situated in the museum, our educators present curriculum-linked lessons and demonstrations to grades 3 to 7 classrooms across the country. These highly interactive presentations provide a great way for teachers and their classes to learn about the rock cycle, types of rocks, mineral formation and uses, and more.
Paying it forward
Nature Inspiration Awards
Launched in 2014, the Nature Inspiration Awards national program honours inspirational nature leaders (individuals and organizations) for their innovative and impactful projects. Winners receive an amount of $5000 which they are encouraged to donate to a charity of their choice. Last year, the International Conservation Fund of Canada was the winner in the not-for-profit (small to medium) category. Based in Nova Scotia, the ICFC has donated the prize money to an east coast whale conservation and rescue organization, the Canadian Whale Institute.
Virtual Open House video series
New insights on old fossils
Museum palaeontologist Jordan Mallon’s M.Sc. students have been busy working on some interesting dinosaur projects, including one on Panoplosaurus (seen above). Dr. Mallon and his student Marissa Livius just recently brought this skull to Windsor, Ontario for CT scanning, which may offer information about how the animal lived and what its ecology was like. Fun fact: this Panoplosaurus skull is a holotype – the first of its kind ever found. It is the primary reference specimen for its species. Find out about projects involving Triceratops and the tiny dinosaur, Pachycephalosaurus, in this video.
Science insights
Extinct beaver
The above fossil is a tibia from an extinct genus of beavers, Dipoides, that lived four million years ago in Canada’s High Arctic. Dipoides was approximately two-thirds the size of present-day North American beavers, Castor canadensis. Dipoides gnawed trees with rounded front teeth, not squared teeth like their modern relatives. A team of scientists studying ancient plants and bones from “Beaver Pond fossil site” on Ellesmere Island believe the woodcutting behaviour developed for harvesting food, not for building dams. Isotopic evidence used in their study suggests that tree predation has existed for more than 20 million years—enough time that might have allowed beavers to affect the evolution of certain trees species. (Detail of Dipoides artwork: George Teichmann)
Editor: Laura Sutin
Questions or comments can be sent to lsutin@nature.ca
Photos:
Header (beaver): pixaybay.com
Biodiversity crisis: Michelle Valberg © Michelle Valberg
Whale rescue: Ander Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium
