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

American Museum of Natural History. Fossil Fish Hall.; Hall of Fossil Fishes; Fossil Fish Hall
birth: approximately 1909
death: approximately 1928
Permanent exhibition. Opened approximately 1909 and closed approximately 1928. Located Floor 4, Section 5. The Fossil Fish Hall at the American Museum of Natural History was located in the tower room adjoining the Hall of Fossil Reptiles. The curator for the hall was Bashford Dean (1, 1928, p. 46).
The fossil fishes in the hall were arranged chronologically and included early plate-covered fishes, sharks, ganoids, and teleosts (bony fishes). Highlights included an alcove of early fossil sharks, a fossil aquarium depicting a scene from the Old Red Sandstone of Scotland, a life-sized model of Dinichthysm and restoration jaws of a giant fossil shark, Carcharodon megalodon, which were suspended from the ceiling at the entrance (1, 1909, p. 33; 1, 1911, p. 49-50; 2, 1911, p. 84; 1, 1915 p. 65).
In 1929 the hall was replaced by the Bashford Dean Hall of Fossil Fishes, which was also located in the tower. Many of the same exhibits, including Dinichthys, the fossil aquarium, and the jaws of Carcharodon megladon, carried over to the new hall.