March 10, 2010
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Hall of Vertebrate Origins
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
(between 77th and 81st Streets)
New York, NY 10024
Tel: (212) 769-5200
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Free with admission
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OngoingHours
Mon – Sun: 10 am – 5:45 pmThe burgeoning of vertebrates through the oceans and onto land is part of an evolutionary sequence that stretches back more than 500 million years. The development of some of the most basic, yet revolutionary, physical characteristics—the backbone, jaws, limbs and the ability to reproduce without returning to the water—was key to the evolution of life on Earth and is examined here.
The Hall traces the evolution of such varied creatures as the first vertebrates to walk on land, the first vertebrates to live entirely on land and the first flying vertebrates. Highlights include Buettneria, one of the earliest four-limbed animals; the massive armored early fish Dunkleosteus; the gigantic aquatic turtle known as Stupendemys; and Pteranodon, a flying reptile, or pterosaur, with a wingspan of 23 feet.
About this Organization
American Museum of Natural HistoryThe largest natural history museum in the world has a mission commensurately monumental in scope.
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American Museum of Natural History Listings
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Ongoing The 25 opals in this exhibit come from a range of locations—Australia, Brazil, Honduras, Ethiopia and the United States—and illustrate the gem’s diversity.
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Ongoing This exhibit runs along the 400-foot-long walkway that hugs the glass wall of the cubic Rose Center. Employing the facility's architectural features by using the Hayden Sphere as a basis for comparison, Scales of the Universe explores the vast range of sizes in the cosmos—from the observable universe to our planet to a tiny electron.
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Ongoing Ranging from tiny spits of land to the island continent of Australia, the cultures of the South Pacific Islands have developed across vast expanses of water.