Of all the specimens and artifacts in the museum, my favourites are the gorgeous coiled ammonites.
ammonite photo source : Lorie Pierce
Take a look at the beautiful everyday applications this elegant design inspires.
Rebecca Asquith lamp
hightech washbasin
Louis Comfort design Tiffany Lamp photo source : morsemuseum.org
screen shot of ROM Egyptologist Gayle Gibson source : rom.on.ca
http://www.rom.on.ca/en/blog/introducing-nefret-mut-0
It’s great to realize that we can use modern technologies to learn more about ancient people and how they lived. A recent investigation of the hieroglyphics on this 3,000 year old mummy case have revealed the name of the deceased.
Nefret-Mut which means ‘the beautiful one of the Goddess Mut’
From torontoist.com
Researchers have revealed the real name of a ROM mummy that has been commonly known as “Justine.” Last week, Toronto Egyptologist Gayle Gibson discovered that the mummy was called Nefret-Mut, which means “beautiful one of the goddess Mut.” Gibson says that according to the messy hieroglyphics on what is believed to be her coffin, Nefret-Mut was a chantress at the Temple of Amun-Re. According to Gibson, Nefret-Mut lived around 945 B.C. during the rule of King Shesonq I. The mummy was excavated in 1905 to 1906 by egyptologist Eduoard Naville before being acquired by the ROM’s first curator Charles Trick Currelly, and is currently on display at THEMUSEUM in Kitchener.
Octochef cake with sushi photo source : Avalon Cakes
I have a particular fascination with sea life and follow several Twitter feeds that relate to all things maritime.Today this photo popped up @echinoblog
Take a look at the other creations from Avalon Cakes including this Under the Sea balancing act. http://avaloncakes.com/gallery/sculpted-cakes
Under the Sea cake photo source : Avalon Cakes
The problem with blogging about a specimen before a proper identification sign has been installed, is that you might get your identification wrong.
Case in point is the Glanochthon, recently installed in a prominent central location in the museum. Sources in the Palaeontology Department confirm the identity as:
Glanochthon sp., Permian, Germany, purchased Tucson 2013 (the label copy has been supplied by curatorial but not yet installed)
Additional information from Wikipedia shows:
“Glanochthon is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian from the Early Permian of Germany. Fossils have been found from the Meisenheim Formation in the Saar–Nahe Basin.” Wikipedia
Tiktaalik features photo source : http://tiktaalik.uchicago.edu/meetTik2.html
My original thinking was that the tetrapod was a cast of the famous Devonian missing link animal, Tiktaalik.
Tiktaalik roseae, better known as the “fishapod,” is a 375 million year old fossil fish which was discovered in the Canadian Arctic in 2004. Its discovery sheds light on a pivotal point in the history of life on Earth: when the very first fish ventured out onto land.
Various fishapods artist : Dave Sousa
In Late Devonianvertebrate speciation, descendants of pelagiclobe-finned fish – like Eusthenopteron – exhibited a sequence of adaptations:
- Panderichthys, suited to muddy shallows;
- Tiktaalik with limb-like fins that could take it onto land;
- Early tetrapods in weed-filled swamps, such as:
- Acanthostega which had feet with eight digits,
- Ichthyostega with limbs.
Descendants also included pelagic lobe-finned fish such as coelacanth species. In 2000 P. Ahlberg et al. described a transitional form from fish to tetrapod, the Livoniana. This creature dates 374 – 391 million years ago, a successor to Panderichthys. wikipedia
UPDATE : photo
Glanochthon – not Tiktaalik photo source : Lorie Pierce
Since it opened 11 months ago, I have visited the new aquarium on 22 occasions. The cuttlefish and octopuses have been a main draw for me. Yesterday was an exceptional day. Finally the summer crowds have dwindled and the school groups are not yet showing up at the door. It was a peaceful experience. One could get near the tanks and spend time composing photographs. Plus staff were out feeding some animals and cleaning tanks in full scuba gear.
The smaller octopus was moving around its tank and new sea nettles were on display.
However, my heart went out to the baby cuttlefish whom I’ve seen grow up from eggs the size of a large (black) pearl. Now they are big enough and mobile enough to track them on video.
cuttlefish approx 8 months old photo source : Lorie Pierce
The new Atlantic sea nettles are a study in gracefulness…unless they get tangled up in another jelly’s tentacles.
Atlantic sea nettles photo source: Lorie Pierce
Unfortunately, I cannot show you the cuttlefish movies I took as the files are too large. Will work on how to resolve that issue as they are magical to see in motion.
Martin Sheen photo source : imdb
Sometimes famous people come to the museum and I am usually not around, or otherwise oblivious to their visit. However, I did see Martin Sheen (Ramon Antonio Gerardo Estevez) a couple of years ago when he attended a function for an international children’s’ charity.
It’s his 74th birthday today. A great time to celebrate and admire what he accomplishes both on and off the screen.
photo source : Lorie Pierce
These bookends sit on a table in our European Decorative Arts Gallery. They always make me smile as they remind me of Heckle and Jeckle – two animated crows from my youth.
Gallery of Ancient Greece, ROM photo source : Lorie Pierce
I admire model makers. They allow museums to show more than what will fit into a display case. They provide context for other objects and help explore the rich culture of ancient civilizations, as if those settlements had sprung to life again in miniature form.
This map shows were humans live on this planet.
Each colour accounts for one billion people.
photo source : Chris Hadfield twitter site
deer carving on tomb photo source : Lorie Pierce
This gorgeous carving is one of the features on a wall of Chinese tomb panels located near the entrance to the museum’s volunteer centre. More deer images frolic nearby on a tomb gate and one hundred of them grace a ceramic vase.
museumtalkarchive 