When I published the recent blog post on reptile overwintering strategies I received a question from someone curious about what insects do to survive the winter. Those of us in colder climates may notice a sharp decrease in insect activity over the winter. Where do they go? They have a variety of strategies for surviving the cold.
Read MoreHow do you get a museum science department really excited? Showing us pictures of turtles is one way, but an even better method is shipping us boxes of amazing fossils. The shipment we opened yesterday were sent to us by the Field Museum of Natural History. They are specimens on loan for our upcoming exhibit: Secrets of Fossil Lake (opening November 21).
Read MoreOn a sunny summer day it’s common to see lines of turtles sunning themselves on logs. That’s because reptiles are cold-blooded, also known as ectotherms. They produce very little body heat and instead absorb warmth from the environment to support their activity and digestion. This lifestyle works well during the hotter parts of the year, but things get difficult when temperatures begin to drop. Starting in late fall, reptiles begin to prepare for dormancy.
Read MoreOne of the highlights of my time thus far at the Bruce Museum has been caring for a specimen collected by our first curator, Paul Griswold Howes. The specimen is a mud wasp (Trigonopsis howesii) nest from Guyana.
Read MoreIf you visit the Bruce Museum during October you’ll see two taxidermy birds occupying the display case in front. One of these is a great horned owl, a symbol of wisdom and knowledge. The other is the common American crow, often called a nuisance or a pest. Are the reputations of these birds deserved? Perhaps not where intelligence is concerned.
Read MoreThe Bruce Museum will host our first ever Citizen Science Day on Saturday, June 27, from 1 to 4 p.m., with presentations and activities celebrating their new Citizen Science initiatives.
Free with Museum admission, no reservations required.
Read MoreOne of the missions of any natural history museum is to catalog its collections. Each specimen needs to be properly identified so it can be recorded and thus available to researchers in search of that particular species, or mineral, or trace fossil, etc. This is a continuing task. As new knowledge emerges, identifications may change.
Read MoreJune 7, 2015
9am - George and I just arrived at the Manatee River. This is another river in which the Suwannee cooter is unknown. It is also about 25 miles south of the Alafia River, the southernmost river in its range. There is anecdotal information that they may be found here.
Read MoreStories about animals and artifacts by scientists at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT
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