Blog Archive: Natural History

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Posted Tue, 03/06/2018 - 12:01pm

Zombie Ants

Researchers discuss zombies: The real, the fake, and their significance in science and culture.

Tags: entomology

Posted Wed, 11/02/2022 - 7:24pm

A Tale of Terroir: Porcini Mushrooms Have Evolved with a Preference to Local Adaptation

The Dentinger Lab at the Natural History Museum of Utah has published a provocative new paper in the journal New Phytologist that describes their work with the much beloved mushroom, Boletus edulis, better known by gastronomers worldwide as the porcini.

Tags: mycology, mushrooms, fungi, mycologist

Posted Thu, 10/27/2022 - 2:43pm

Studying the Past, Present, and Future of Bats

Every year during the last week of October leading up to Halloween, bat researchers, conservationists, and enthusiasts celebrate Bat Week. Bats have historically been the star of spooky books, movies, and decorations so it is the perfect season to celebrate and bring awareness to these fascinating and diverse creatures. However, due to their misrepresentation in terrifying lore and literature, bats have become misunderstood and feared by many.

Tags: vertebrate zoology, bats

Posted Wed, 10/19/2022 - 2:27pm

Angkor: A Living Window into the Past

Angkor is a vast complex of temples and other archaeological structures rising out of the jungle in northern Cambodia. It covers an astonishing 400 square kilometers, or 154 square miles. To put this in perspective, this is an area equivalent to the entire eastern half of Salt Lake City from 600 North to I-215 in the south. This massive site was the home to arguably Southeast Asia’s greatest civilization, the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th centuries.

Tags: ethnography, anthropology, angkor, angkor wat

Posted Wed, 10/05/2022 - 1:37pm

New Native Voices Enrich the Collections

From the first plans of our museum’s space, especially the Native Voices exhibit on the top floor, we have worked to include more than just objects from Native cultures in our region. Their perspectives, history, and actual voices are an important way to more fully present their culture to the wide museum audience.

Tags: ethnography, anthropology

Posted Tue, 09/13/2022 - 11:55am

Ecological Tipping Point: Five El Niño Events Per Century

A team of researchers led by the University of Utah created a fine-grained analysis of El Niño’s impact on animal communities spanning the past 12,000 years. The study was published in the journal Science on Sept. 8, 2022.

Tags: El Niño, Lake Pallcacocha

Posted Tue, 06/21/2022 - 3:17pm

NHMU Dinosaur Stars in Jurassic World Dominion

One of the most striking dinosaurs to appear in Jurassic World Dominion is the horned dinosaur Nasutoceratops titusi, the only fossil specimen of which can be found here at NHMU.

Tags: paleontology