What's New?
Human's oldest ancestor found in Burgess Shale
Toronto – March 5, 2012. Researchers from the University of Cambridge, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), and the University of Toronto have confirmed that Pikaia gracilens, an iconic extinct animal found only at the 505 million-year-old Burgess Shale fossil beds in Canada’s Yoho National Park, was in fact a primitive chordate – the group of animals that today includes vertebrates: amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish and mammals. Read more about this discovery or see an animation of this creature, Pikaia gracelens.
March 5, 2012
New Burgess Shale exhibit online
The new Virtual Museum of Canada's Burgess Shale exhibit was created by Parks Canada and the Royal Ontario Museum. This visually stunning online exhibition explores the history and science of the Burgess Shale. Of particular interest is the comprehensive fossil gallery and an animated tour of the Cambrian seas that once occupied what is now Yoho National Park.
December 1, 2011