Excursion Report for American Museum of Natural History

New York Museum Trip

November 11th, 2023 at the American Museam of Natural History


Dr. Merck speaks in front of an Actinopterygii display

Beginning with the layout of the Hall of Vertebrates, the black line along floor roughly follows the evolution of vertebrates or animals with backbones across a span of more than 500 million years. As Merck describes, “if they had really done this perfectly…they would have built a new building and [reorganized the tree branch of evolution], but they couldn't do that since they had to use the preexisting halls.” Within the hall, it covers the major physical developments, including animals with jaws, limbs, and watertight eggs for example. Merck addresses the evolutions of the vertebrate family that exhibited crucial physical developments. The hall displays hundreds of fossil specimens of the early vertebrates from fish, amphibians, crocodiles, lizards along with their relatives to marine and flying reptiles such as the plesiosaurs and pterosaurs respectively. These displays span from floor to ceiling with a variety of text or timelines to read or fossils to look at from every angle including below! This also does contain a few exhibits where all visitors can touch fossilized remains of extinct animals including a plesiosaur vertebra and a 100-million-year-old fish. The Vertebrates Hall, as well as the Halls of Saurischian and Ornithischian Dinosaurs mainly caters to grade school students, however older visitors can still learn and enjoy the hall. Young guests can be involved in the “touch fossils” as the American Museum of Natural History describes. High school or undergraduate students can appreciate the variety of fossil species on display as well as the technical/scientific terms used on the exhibits that would likely surpass the understanding of children.

Dr. Merck previously pointed out that the entire layout of the hall could be improved upon to better reflect the current understanding of evolution using cladistics, or a method classification for species according to the proportion of measurable characters they have in common. However, correcting this type of error would not only limit the access of the hall(s) to the public for an extended period but also likely become outdated once again. About halfway through Dr. Merck's presentation, a specific instance of outdated information was discovered after retelling the story of turtle enthusiast and curator Eugene Gaffney. When the American Natural History Museum was initially built, turtles were thought to be related to an extinct reptilian species known as Pareiasaurs leading to the exhibits locations to be near each other despite turtle laying within an entirely different section of the evolutionary tree. To remedy this change in the evolutionary position of the turtle, the hall would likely have to be entirely gutted.

Our second tour of the day was led by Dr. Holtz exploring the Halls of Saurischian and Ornithischian Dinosaurs beginning near the 122-foot-long Titanosaur. Similarly, to Dr. Merck's tour, Dr. Holtz outlined the evolutionary anatomy and timeline of dinosaurs along with elaborating on misconceptions within the field. In the Ornithischian Dinosaurs Hall, Dr. Holtz covered the genasaurs, defined by the development of inset tooth rows that formed cheeks, and the cerapods, identified by an uneven covering of tooth enamel. The Saurischian Dinosaur Hall contained theropods, tetanurans, and finally coelurosaurs, groups defined by three-toed feet, three-fingered hands, and relatively long arms respectively. Between the two halls, about 100 specimens (about 85% being fossils rather than casts) display each branch of the dinosaur evolution along with modern-day relatives, such as seagulls within the maniraptors section. Some exhibits were accompanied by computers with further 3d animations, graphics, or narration of the display around it.


Dr. Holtz presents infront of the Sauropods display

This hall has a similar education level as the Vertebrate Hall; however, it is more child friendly as seen in the quantity of interactive components. Although, the hall can easily accommodate older visitors by providing tour guides that further explain and expand upon the existing exhibits. I mention this addition of a tour guide due to an interaction I had with a fellow guest, after listening to Holtz explanation of the pubis bone in ornithischians they asked me when our tour had started and who the guide was. When discussing the evolutionary trends of Sauropods, Dr. Holtz mentions that when the museum opened the name card within the case was correct, however in 2015 the species would be renamed to Galeamopus. This out-of-date exhibit would require a simpler fix compared to the Vertebrates Hall, as the name on the sign would only need to be changed.

Our third tour of the day was self-guided in the Hall of Primates with Kitty, Kenny, June, and I. This hall created a timeline of the mammalian order by exploring the history of monkeys, apes, and humans. An exhibit of some of the close relatives of primates is also present such as tree shrews at the farthest end of the hall. Characteristics outlining the relationship of the human family to other primates are the focus of this hall such as posture, the amount of body hair, and the shape of the hand, especially the thumb. The hall displayed this information through glass cases containing displays of skeletons, mounted specimens, and artwork that demonstrate shared characteristics and unique traits within each group. Compared to our first two tours, the Primate Hall was the least likely to be aimed at young children. The hall had a far quieter atmosphere with dimly lit exhibits lining the walls that contained swaths of text that the younger audience would not understand or have the attention span to read. Some of the displays could possibly frighten some children due to the resemblance to humans and the lifelike appearance of some of the primates at their eye level.

The Vertebrate Hall features several hands-on activities that allow guests to touch long-extinct fossilized remains of animals. These fossils are just a few feet off the ground with text in a large font for guests of all ages to read and understand what they are touching. Within the dinosaur halls, a similar hands-on display of the scale of a dinosaur's foot was a popular activity for parents and children alike. A perfect place for an educational photo opportunity! The dinosaurs' halls also took advantage of computers that provided more diagrams and narration for guests to learn more about their favorite dinosaurs. The Hall of Primates was the least interactive of the halls we specifically toured during our trip, only a few dioramas of primate species out in the open and contain signage deterring guests from touching the displays. This hall would significantly benefit from a film simplifying the evolution of primates and humans like the video footage found in the corridor leading to the Saurischian Dinosaurs Hall.

The dinosaur and vertebrate exhibits are effective in conveying what prominent features early specimens displayed; however, the hands-on exhibit may not receive as much traction as it used to due to the pandemic and the lack of sanitation near the display. Although, the display is more targeted toward younger audiences, so the information and experience provided is not as beneficial to most older audiences. While the hall of Primates does not contain any interactive elements excels at providing detailed information and displays after reading through the exhibits, however, this method is effective for older audiences.