American Museum of Natural History

Upcoming Events

Hall of Human Origins

The newly opened Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins presents the remarkable history of human evolution from our earliest ancestors millions of years ago to modern Homo sapiens. The innovative Spitzer Hall combines the most up-to-date discoveries in the fossil record with the latest in ge... [ + ]nomic science to explore the most profound mysteries of humankind: who we are, where we came from, and what is in store for the future of our species.

Iridescent Opals

Renowned for their colorful iridescence, opals’ unique internal structure creates their colors by scattering light. Opal gemstones used in jewelry are relatively soft and fragile; they need protection from scratching, bumping, and abrupt temperature changes. Opal most commonly forms by the action of... [ + ] warm water on volcanic glass. It can also form at low temperatures, when water rich with dissolved silica mixes with sediment or enters rocks.

Opal deposits are found around the globe, but about 85 percent of the world’s gem opals are mined in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. These opals come from a range of locations—Australia, Brazil, Honduras, Ethiopia, and the United States—and illustrate the gem’s diversity.

Rare Jade

A two-foot-long slice from a jadeite jade boulder provides a spectacular window into the dramatic process that formed this highly prized type of jade. This jadeite started as a small vein, or fracture, over 12 miles underground that was wrenched apart by the collision of two tectonic plates over 35 ... [ + ]million years ago. During the shakeup, mineral-rich fluids rose into cracks in Earth's mantle and deposited jadeite rock. As the tectonic plates continued to rub against one another, the veins of jadeite broke and reformed again and again, producing the remarkable emerald green and white swirls. The polished 55-pound slab was recovered from northern Burma.

The spectacular jade slab is now on display in the Museum's 77th Street Grand Gallery. Also on display are two delicately carved jade pieces from China, dating from the early 1900s—a nephrite jade vessel for incense and a jadeite jade carving of Guanyin, Buddhist goddess of mercy.

Habitat Group Dioramas

The Museum's habitat group dioramas, located extensively throughout its halls, are among the most renowned and beloved exhibits at the Museum. With precise depictions of geographical locations and the careful, anatomically correct mounting of specimens, these stunning dioramas are windows onto a wor... [ + ]ld of animals, their behavior, and their habitats. Moreover, since many of the environments represented have been exploited or degraded, some dioramas preserve places and animals as they no longer exist. The viewer of a habitat group diorama is able to travel not only across continents, but also, in some cases, through time.

Fossil Halls

One of the premier attractions in New York City is the Museum's series of fossil halls, including its two famed dinosaur halls. The Museum is home to the world's largest collection of vertebrate fossils, totaling nearly one million specimens. More than 600 of these specimens, nearly 85 percent of wh... [ + ]ich are real fossils as opposed to casts, are on view. Completely renovated between 1994 and 1996, the fossil halls now stand as a continuous loop on the fourth floor, telling the story of vertebrate evolution. Unlike most fossil exhibits, which are arranged in chronological order, the Museum's fossil halls display the specimens according to evolutionary relationships, dramatically illustrating the complex branches of the tree of life, in which animals are grouped according to their shared physical characteristics. Such relationships are determined through a method of scientific analysis called cladistics, which the Museum helped pioneer. The halls' renovation also allowed for new scientific interpretations of favorite displays, as well as the restoration of the fourth floor to its original architectural grandeur.