Event name: AMNH Excursion

Event time and place: November 16, 2024 at New York


AMNH's Triceratops skeleton
My trip began with a tour of the fossils hall given by Dr. Holtz. We were told that the hall was organized phylogenetically, or by the order of evolution. This was demonstrated clearly by pictures on the wall with evolutionary trees highlighting the branches being shown in that specific section. Additionally, as we moved around the hall, the dinosaurs of each section were visually similar. My first highlight from the tour was at the very beginning when we were shown the largest discovered land dinosaur, Patagotitan. We were told that dinosaur legs changed to be directly under their body mass instead of out to the side which allowed them to grow more vertically. Next, we visited the exhibit of a dinosaur with a skull incorrectly labeled as the diplodocus. In reality, it was supposed to be the skull of an apatosaurus. A challenge with this fix is that only one apatosaurus skull has ever been found. Afterwards, we also saw the stegosaurus visit which had another inaccuracy. The spikes on the end of the tail were depicted as close to vertical, while in reality the spikes were closer to horizontal. However, fixing this would mean redoing that part of the model which could present a challenge. Finally, we saw the triceratops section. I always thought triceratops was the best dinosaur, so I found it interesting to see the exact evolution of its head spikes.

Next, I visited the collections core for a tour given by Dr. Fletcher. We initially saw a selection of coral that was dried for its display. As a result, the soft tissue died and only the skeleton was left over. We were told that the soft tissue could only be preserved in liquid with special solvents to keep it alive. Furthermore, we were told that the coral specimens were useful for scientists to get a snapshot of what was happening in its environment at the time since they are sensitive to changes in temperature and pH. However, it is important to consider the effects on specimens living in the area if the coral is removed. It may not be worth taking it out for preservation if there would be a net negative on the environment. Afterwards, we saw a collection of fish that were preserved through clearing and staining. We were told that this technique is used to reveal the skeletal anatomy of a specimen. It is done by clearing all of the tissue with chemical washes and then applying a colored stain to the remaining bones and cartilage.

Then, I visited the asian peoples hall with two other friends for a self guided tour. We noticed that the hall was organized by focusing on a specific country at a time and then examining its effect on surrounding cultures. For example, one section focused on Japanese history and another section focused on Chinese history. One of the items we saw was a malaysian poison coated wood blade. It was used to prepare poison to go onto darts. Once the poison was made on the wood, a separate spatula was used to apply it to the darts. It would have been interesting to know when it was made and used which could be included in the item description. In the China section, we saw a poetic scroll from the early 1900s. I would have liked to see a translation of the poem or a brief summary of what it described. Finally, we also saw a collection of instruments invented under Emperor Fu Hsi in 2953 BC. Among these instruments were variations of cymbals, trumpets, and a reed organ.

With three tours completed, my visit to the museum concluded with viewing a space show exhibition. This year’s space show was “Worlds Beyond Earth” which was about other bodies in our solar system, activities occuring on those bodies which are similar to processes on Earth, and what knowledge gained about other bodies tells us about our own planet. This discussion included missions that gathered information about Saturn’s moon Titan and Jupiter’s moon Europa, such as how Titan has methane rain cycles similar to water rain cycles here on Earth and how Europa has a liquid ocean underneath its icy surface. There was also a discussion about finding organic matter on a comet. However, organic matter can only survive within the goldilocks zone, which includes Venus, Earth, and Mars. While some of the images were definitely created with CGI simulations, there were also displays of data from real missions. Finally, I learned that Mars once had the conditions to support life until its insides cooled, which I hadn’t previously known.

The AMNH does a really great job of accommodating people with wheelchairs and decreased mobility. Ramps are common throughout the museum and everywhere that is accessed by stairs can also be accessed by a ramp at another point. While I was in the asian peoples hall, we actually heard an announcement over the PA system in mandarin that said there was going to be a chinese tour soon. It was a good example of how the museum staff try to accommodate individual cultures to provide a comfortable experience for everyone. Finally, the exhibits have sections dense with information mixed in with lighter interactive parts for the younger audience. In this way, there will be something interesting to an audience of all ages.