Royal Ontario Museum - Toronto, Ontario - Science Museums on Waymarking.com

The museum was under the direct control and management of the University of Toronto until 1968, when it became an independent institution.

It houses the world's largest collection of fossils from the Burgess Shale with more than 150,000 specimens.

Originally, there were five major galleries at the ROM, one each for the fields of archaeology, geology, mineralogy, paleontology, and zoology.

By the 1960s, more interpretive displays were ushered in, among the first being the original dinosaur gallery, established in the mid-1960s. Dinosaur fossils were now staged in dynamic poses against backdrop paintings and models of contemporaneous landscapes and vegetation. The displays became more descriptive and interpretive, sometimes, as with the extinction of the woolly mammoth, offering several different leading theories on the issue for the visitor to ponder. This trend continued, and up until the present time the galleries became less staid, and more dynamic or descriptive and interpretive. This trend arguably came to a culmination in the 1980s with the opening of The Bat Cave, where a sound system, strobe lights and gentle puffs of air attempts to recreate the experience of walking through a cave as a colony of bats fly out.

The Natural History galleries are all gathered on the second floor of the museum. The gallery contains collections and samples of various animals such as bats, birds, and dinosaur bones and skeletons.

The Life in Crisis: Schad Gallery of Biodiversity, designed by Reich+Petch and opened in late 2009, features endangered species, including specimens of a polar bear, a giant panda, a white rhinoceros, a Burmese python, Canadian coral, a leatherback sea turtle, a coelacanth, a Rafflesia flower, and many other rare species. There are also recently extinct species displayed, including specimens of a passenger pigeon and a great auk, as well as skeletons of a dodo bird and a moa with a specimen of a moa egg, and many other recently extinct species. The gallery presents the need to protect the natural environment and the need to educate the public about the main causes of extinction -- overhunting, habitat destruction, and climate change. In September, the gallery received an Award of Excellence by the Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario. The Schad Gallery of Biodiversity is not merely an exhibition gallery showcasing Earth’s wondrous specimens, but a lesson for the future care of the planet. The gallery is organized into three zones exploring the central themes: Life is Diverse, Life is interconnected, and Life is at Risk. “Interestingly, biodiversity is a relatively new term popularized in 1985 as a contraction of biological diversity” said Anthony Reich, Principal at Reich+Petch. “It’s a big subject that’s become more relevant to everybody. The challenge was how to tell this big story in a 10,000 sq ft (900 m2) space. We decided to design a dynamic, immersive experience with three core themes that hopefully will make a lasting impression on visitors.”[45] The Tallgrass Prairies and Savannas, is a part of the gallery that features one of the most endangered and diverse habitats in Ontario. The display features examples of the regions and the efforts by the Ontario ministry of Natural Resources, to maintain and restore the tall grass prairies and savannas.

The Gallery of Birds has on display many bird specimens from past centuries. The Gallery of Birds is dominated by the broad “Birds in flight” display where stuffed birds are enclosed in a glass display for visitors to experience. Dioramas allow visitors to learn about the many bird species and how environmental and habitual changes have put bird species in danger of extinction. Pull-out drawers let you examine eggs, feathers, footprints and nests more closely.[46] The gallery included exhibits of other extinct species such as, the Passenger Pigeon. These exhibits were later moved to the Schad Gallery.

The Bat Cave is an immersive experience for visitors that presents over 20 bats and 800 models in a recreated habitat, with accompanying educational panels and video. Originally opened in 1988, the bat cave was reopened on 27 February 2010 after extensive renovations. The 1,700-square-foot exhibit most notably includes a recreation of St. Clair Cave located in central Jamaica. The original cave was formed by an underground river that flowed 30 meters below ground through the limestone and was three kilometers long. This cave was then recreated in the museum based on ROM fieldwork conducted in Jamaica in 1984. A large amount of bat research has been conducted with support from the ROM. In 2011, the ROM hosted a "bat workshop" connected with the 41st Annual North American Symposium on Bat Research.

The Reed Gallery of the Age of Mammals explores the rise of mammals through the Cenozoic Era that followed the extinction of the dinosaurs. There are over 400 specimens from North America and South America on display. Also included in the gallery are, 30 fossil skeletons of extinct mammals, over 160 non-mammalian specimens, and hundreds of fossil plants, insects, fish, and turtles. The gallery's entrance begins with mammals that arose shortly after the extinction of the dinosaurs. A highlight of this gallery is the sabre-toothed nimravid Dinictis.

The James and Louise Temerty Galleries of the Age of Dinosaurs and Gallery of the Age of Mammals feature many examples of complete dinosaur skeletons, as well as those of early birds, reptiles, mammals, and marine animals, ranging from the Jurassic to Cretaceous periods. The highlight of the exhibit is "Gordo", a recently rediscovered Barosaurus skeleton, that is the largest dinosaur on display in Canada.

The Teck Suite of Galleries: Earth's Treasures features almost 3,000 specimens of minerals, gems, meteorites and rocks ranging from 4.5 billion years ago to the present. These items were found in many different locations including the earth, moon and beyond, and represent the world's dynamic geological environment.[52] Two of the ROM's iconic objects, the Light of the Desert gem and the Tagish Lake meteorite, are located within this vast collection.

Name: Royal Ontario Museum Location/Address: 100 Queens Park Toronto,, ON Canada M5S 2C6 Telephone Number: 416.586.8000 Web Site: [Web Link] Type/Specialty: Natural History Theater: No Hours of operation: Daily 10h00 to 17h30 Admission Fee: 17 CAD Gift Shop: yes Cafe/Restaurant: Yes Agency/Ownership: Not listed Educational programs: Not listed Other Features: Not listed

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