The American Museum of Natural History was founded in 1869. Ever since it has had a mission to "discover, interpret, and disseminate information about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe." The museum is involved in field exploration (100 research expeditions each year all over the world!), "scientific research, innovative exhibitions, pioneering educational programs, and dedication to scientific literacy." Paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews discovered many dinosaurs for the American Museum in Mongolia, and Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology Dr. Michael Novacek later returned to the Flaming Cliffs site originally worked by Andrews.
I could easily spend weeks wandering through the 45 permanent exhibit halls at the American Museum, visiting the temporary exhibits and spending time in the Rose Center for Earth and Space. Since my space here is limited, however, and my topic is Paleontology, I will focus on the Fossil Halls. Be sure not to miss the display of a Barosaurus protecting her young from an attacking Allosaurus as you first enter the museum at the Central Park West Entrance.
In many of the museums I have visited and profiled in my articles, the paleontology exhibits tend to be set up chronologically, so that one enters as life is just starting to form on earth and progresses to more complex life forms. The American Museum, however, prefers to set up its Fossil Halls as a "giant family tree for vertebrates," reflecting the role of cladistics in paleontological research.
Start your tour in the Hall of Vertebrate Origins to see all sorts of interesting animals. Latimeria, a species of coelacanth ,and a vicious-looking Dunkleosteus are some of the fish you will see, as well as the jaws of sharks. The large amphibianBuettneria can be see in a case, as well as the enormous turtles Stupendemys and Geochelone atlas. The pterosaurs Tupuxuara and Pteranodon soar overhead. Marine reptiles such as the plesiosaur Thalassomedon and the mosasaur Tylosarus undulate past.
Then visit the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs, where you can see skeletons of a Tyrannosaurus rex with paleopathologies (injuries which healed while the animal was alive but we still see evidence of the injuries in the bone), Allosaurus fragilis and a juvenile Albertosaurus libratus. Here also is the first sauropod skeleton to ever be mounted, an Apatosaurus excelsus, mounted back in 1905. You can also see the enormous arms of Deinocheirus mirificus, excavated in Mongolia, and casts of Archaeopteryx fossils and the skeleton of Diatryma gigantea.
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