American Museum of Natural History. Hall of Primitive Mammals.

Exist Dates

1994 - present

Biographical or Historical Note

abstract

Permanent exhibition. Opened June 1994. Located on Floor 4, Section 5. The Hall of Primitive Mammals at the American Museum of Natural History, one of two halls in the Lila Acheson Wallace Wing of Mammals and Their Extinct Relatives, traces the lower branches of the evolutionary tree of mammals, including monotremes, marsupials, sloths, and armadillos. The hall features Dimetrodon, glyptodonts, the saber-toothed cat, and Lestodon. The Mammal Island in the center highlights members from this most diverse group of vertebrates. (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, 1994-96, p. 5).

The Hall of Primitive Mammals highlights the development of key mammalian physical features such as the synapsid opening in the skull, a large hole behind the eye socket for muscles that extend to the jaw, three middle ear bones, and the placenta. These traits correspond to eating, hearing, and reproduction, and each trait represents a change in an evolutionary branch. Animal groups represented in this hall include monotremes, multituberculates, triconodonts, edentates, and extinct relatives of mammals, such as the Dimetrodon and glyptodonts. Some living animals from these groups, such as the egg-laying mammal platypus, a monotreme, are referred to as “living fossils.” (1).

Sources

(1) American Museum of Natural History. Hall of Primitive Mammals, accessed September 26, 2016, http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent-exhibitions/fossil-halls/hall-of-primitive-mammals.

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

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

(4) American Museum of Natural History. Annual Reports. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1990/91-1994/96.

Information for the hall appears in the following Museum publications:

American Museum of Natural History Annual Report 1994-1996 (page 5)

American Museum of Natural History Official Guide for years 1993 (page 50) 2001 (Table of Contents, pages 18-19, 63)

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Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

Dingus, Lowell
Curator for hall (3, 1995, p. 6-10.).

Fraley, Philip
Preparator for exhibits in hall (3, 1995, p. 6-10.).

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

Hall of Early Mammals
The Hall of Primitive Mammals replaced the Hall of Early Mammals (4, 1990/91 p. 1).

Kelly, Jeanne
Preparator for exhibits in hall (3, 1995, p. 6-10.).

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

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

Paul and Irma Milstein Hall of Advanced Mammals
Companion hall

Wallace, Lila Acheson, 1887-1984
Hall located in the Lila Acheson Wallace Wing of Mammals and Their Extinct Relatives (1).

Warsavage, Steven
Directed installation of exhibits (3, 1995, p. 6-10.).

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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