American Museum of Natural History Research Library
author: American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History. Hall of Living Invertebrates.; Hall of the Biology of Invertebrates; Biology of Invertebrates; Biology of Living Invertebrates; Hall of Biology of Invertebrates; Invertebrate Biology
birth: 1966
death: 1996
Permanent exhibition. Opened December 1966 and closed approximately 1996. Located on Floor 1, Section 9. The Hall of Living Invertebrates at the American Museum of Natural History offered a comprehensive view of invertebrates, their origin, classification, structure, physiology, development, behavior, adaptations to the environment, and economic, medical, and aesthetic importance to humans. The hall, opened as part of the Museum's ten-year exhibition program, was a joint undertaking by the departments of Living Invertebrates, Entomology, and Animal Behavior (1, 1972, p. 73; 2; 3, 1994/96, p. 39). Curators included Dorothy Bliss, William K. Emerson, Jerome Rozen, Alice Gray, Linda Mantel, Willis Gertsch, and Ernst Kirsteuer (3, 1962/63, p. 28; 3, 1964/65, p. 45; 3, 1967/68 p. 42; 3, 1970/71, p. 29).
In February 1952, the Hall of Invertebrates opened and occupied the gallery level of the Hall of Ocean Life showcasing models of invertebrates formerly shown in the Darwin Hall (1, 1951/52 p. 32). By 1962, the invertebrates were transferred to the adjacent hall, the Biology of Invertebrates, later called Living Invertebrates (3, 1961/62 p. 55), though the hall was not completed when opened and individual exhibits were opened as they were completed (3, 1965/66, p. 36).
With the hall's diverse exhibits, curators sought to tie them together with "three unifying biological concepts: the continuity of life, the diversity of life, and the inevitability of change" (1, 1972, p. 73). These exhibits included Origin of Life; Structure of Life; Continuity in Life; exhibits on the evolution of invertebrates; invertebrates living in different environments; bioluminescence; life history and economics of shrimps, lobsters, and crabs; invertebrates in art and ornamentation; invertebrates as pests; a plexiglass model of enlarged cell; an ant colony; and two films, one discussing the formation of life on Earth and the other presenting DNA and RNA. Exhibits previously shown in the Darwin Hall and the Hall of Ocean Life were the Tide Pool, Wharf Pile, Sound-Bottom, and Shallows groups, A Drop of Pond Water, glass models of invertebrates by Hermann O. Mueller, and the Giant Squid model (2; 4, 1967; 5, 1984, p. 17). The Hall of Living Invertebrates closed in approximately 1996 to make way for the Hall of Biodiversity (3, 1994/96, p. 39; 2).