American Museum of Natural History. Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs.

Exist Dates

1995 - present

Biographical or Historical Note

abstract

Permanent exhibition. Opened June 1995. Located on Floor 4, Section 9. One of two halls in the David H. Koch Dinosaur Wing, the Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs at the American Museum of Natural History features fossils from one of the two major groups of dinosaurs. The ornithischians are characterized by a backward-pointing extension of the pubis bone, which is thought to have helped to support the enormous stomachs that these dinosaurs needed to digest the masses of tough vegetation they ate (1). The scientific team of paleontology curators, supervisors, and preparators for the hall installation included Mark Norell, Lowell Dingus, Eugene S. Gaffney, Michael J. Novacek (2, 1995), Jeanne Kelly, Phil Fraley, and Steven Warsavage (3, 1995, p. 6-10).

The Museum reimagined its fossil halls in the 1990s. Chronologically arranged exhibits were updated to reflect evolutionary relationships. The Halls of Saurischian and Ornithischian Dinosaurs, the Lila Acheson Wallace Wing of Mammals and Their Extinct Relatives, which includes the Hall of Primitive Mammals and the Paul and Irma Milstein Hall of Advanced Mammals, the Hall of Vertebrates Origins, and the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Orientation Center were the result of this rearrangement in exhibition (4, 1994/95, p. 5).

The Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs features mounts of Triceratops, Stegosaurus, the duck-billed Anatotitan dinosaurs, Corythosaurus, and the dinosaur mummy (1). Exhibits explore two evolutionary branches within the Ornithischian group: the genasaurs, which are defined by the development of inset tooth rows that form cheeks, and the cerapods, identified by an uneven covering of tooth enamel (1). In 2007 the new Dinosaurs Halls were renamed as the David H. Koch Dinosaur Wing in honor of Museum Trustee David H. Koch (4, 2007/08, p. 4).

Information for the hall appears in the following Museum publications:

American Museum of Natural History Annual Reports for years 1994-1996 (page 5); 2007-2008 (page 4)

American Museum of Natural History Original Guides for years 1993 (page 50); 2001 (Table of Contents, pages 16-17, 63)

American Museum of Natural History Floor Plan, Summer 2012

Sources

(1) “Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs.” American Museum of Natural History. n.d., http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent-exhibitions/fossil-halls/hall-of-ornithischian-dinosaurs. Accessed 24 October 2016.

(2) Browne, Malcolm W. "New Dinosaur Exhibit Underscores Disputes within Paleontology." The New York Times, 23 May 1995. Web.

(3) Milner, Richard. "Bringing Back the Dinosaurs." Natural History, vol. 104, May 1995, pp. 6-10. Web.

(4) American Museum of Natural History. Annual Reports. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1994-1996.

(5) American Museum of Natural History. Annual Reports. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 2007-2008.

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Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

Dingus, Lowell
Curator for hall (3, 1995).

Fraley, Philip
Preparator for exhibits in hall (3, 1995).

Gaffney, Eugene S
Curator for hall (3, 1995).

Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs
Companion hall

Kelly, Jeanne
Preparator for exhibits in hall (3, 1995).

Koch, David H., 1940-
Museum trustee, hall located in David H. Koch Wing (4, 2007/08, p. 4).

Norell, Mark
Curator for hall (2, 1995).

Novacek, Michael J.
Curator for hall (2, 1995).

Warsavage, Steven
Directed installation of exhibits (3, 1995).

Related Resources

subjectOf

Historic Halls of the American Museum of Natural History
Curated digital images of permanent halls in the American Museum of Natural History Library, Digital Special Collections.

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