American Museum of Natural History

November 11, 2023

Tour 1: Dr. Holtz and Dinosaurs

In this tour, Dr. Holtz went through the dinosaur hall with us and explained the history of dinosaur evolution and how they are identified compared to other species. We learned that dinosaurs are all either descendants of the megalosaurus diplodocus or the iguanodon, and can be identified by an open hole on their hip, making them easier to differentiate from other species. Dinosaurs have legs directly below the body like lizards and birds, which evolved independently of mammals. Typical reptiles on the other hand tend to have sprawling legs, and not upright, which makes dinosaurs much different than reptiles despite the common belief. We learned that the first dinosaurs were small, carnivorous bipeds, but later evolved to larger sizes where some could no longer support themselves on two feet. However, after 2 million years of climate change, new trees evolved so that some animals evolved to become omnivores or herbivores, and they started to eat trees. Some began to grow tall in order to reach up high on the trees.

The hall conveyed information through signs around the displays of both fossils and casts of fossils. For example, some of the smaller fossils were put into display cases, where you could read about them individually, such as when we saw the growth progression of a certain species of dinosaur. However, some of the grander and larger displays, such as the T-Rex fossils, were almost walking among us in the room. I thought these displays were especially cool, as you could really see and appreciate their size. I think that the hall is aimed at any education level, as both kids can appreciate how the dinosaurs look, while adults can read the signs and gain a deeper understanding of the history of dinosaurs. The hall utilized interactive screens, which would help engage the children, and were able to provide information in a more interesting way rather than just a sign on the wall. Additionally, there were many stations where you could touch a real life fossil and read about it, which was really cool. I found that they were effective at conveying information, since they were more interesting than simply reading off of the wall.

On the tour, Dr. Holtz pointed out that for many years scientists believed that the T-Rex was related to a branch of the allosaurus, so the museum positioned the displays close together to convey this belief. However, Dr. Holtz helped discover that they are actually much closer related to birds. This would be a difficult change in the museum, however, since the entire floor would have to be restructured. It could help to have a sign that told this information, but that wouldn’t really fix the issue entirely.

Tour 2: Hall of Planet Earth

The Hall of Planet Earth covered the details about the Earth both in the past and present, discussing climate change, the Earth’s structure, and different rocks and tectonic plates. We learned about climate change over the course of history, where they described that you could learn this from rock structures. They displayed different rocks that you could learn from, and showed how you could make the distinctions between earth’s climate at the time. They focused on ice ages in the past, and how currently the Earth is warming rapidly. One of the interactive components specifically covered this, where there was a dial that you could scroll through in order to go through Earth’s timeline and learn about the climate at certain points in history. The hall is aimed towards a younger audience with less background knowledge on the topic, where much of the information was explained in very basic terms. The other interactive elements were many different globes that showed different things about Earth, such as topographical globes and globes portraying Earth’s tectonic plates. I thought that these components were effective at conveying the information, especially to children, since they made it easy to visualize what the information was describing.

Tour 3: Dr. Merck and The Hall of Vertebrate Origins

In this tour, Dr. Merck went through the hall of vertebrate origins with us, and explained the history of vertebrate evolution such as the development of jaws and internal bones. Sacabambaspis is the first known vertebrate fossil, where the first vertebrates didn’t have jaws and were just composite feeders. Eventually, they evolved into the bony fish, which were fish that contained internal bones. There were two types of bony fish. The first was the Rayfin fish, which had fins made of parallel splints of bone where the fin just lifts up and down. Most fish we know today are Rayfin fish. The second was the Lobefin fish, which were fleshy at the base of the fin, and essentially has an elbow joint and hand-like bones in the top of the fin. Only 4 species of Lobefin fish still look like fish today, but all land vertebrates are considered Lobefin fish today. We learned that the development of fingers stemmed from the Acanthostega, which had fingers and toes as a result of a mutation that causes two developmental genes to switch places, but they didn’t use these “fingers” until 20 million years later when vertebrates repurposed them to walk on land.

The hall conveyed information through signs around the displays of both fossils and casts of fossils. In contrast to the dinosaur hall, this hall didn’t have many “free standing” fossils and instead everything was in glass display cases. However, I did like the ones hanging from the ceiling, especially when they were fish cause they really helped make you feel like you were underwater and looking up at the fish around you. I think that the hall is aimed at any education level, as both kids can appreciate how the fossils look, while adults can read the signs and gain a deeper understanding of the history of dinosaurs. However, I definitely see that it was more designed for an older audience, due to the interactive components. In this hall, they had interactive models which allowed you to get a closer look at different skull structures and egg structures. I don’t think a kid could appreciate this as much as an adult. I did think that these interactive components were effective at conveying information, especially considering Dr. Merck himself referenced these models many times, pointing out structures such as the antorbital openings in the skull.

On the tour, Merck pointed out that for a long time nobody knew where turtles went in terms of evolution. At first, it was thought that they were close relatives to the pareiasaur, so turtles were put next to that exhibit in the museum. However, it turned out that that was completely wrong, and they are much closer to crocodiles and birds and that sort of thing. This would be a difficult change in the museum, however, since the entire floor would have to be restructured. It could help to have a sign that told this information, but that wouldn’t really fix the issue entirely.