Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History

The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington D.C., United States. The museum's collections total over 500 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, mineral, rocks, meteorities, and human cultural artifacts. With 7.4 million visitors in 2009, it is the most visited of all of the Smithsonian museum and is also home to about 185 professional natural history scientists — the largest group of scientists dedicated to the study of natural and cultural history in the world.

History of the museum

The museum, then known as the United States National Museum, opened its doors to the public on March 17, 1910 in order to provide the growing Smithsonian Institution with more space for collections and research.The building, which was not fully completed until 1911, was designed by Hornblower & Marshall. The building, designed in the neoclassical architectural style, was the first constructed on the north side of the National Mall, along Constitution Avenue, as part of the 1901 McMillan Commission plan. In 2000, Kenneth E. Behring donated $80 million to the museum and in 1997 donated $20 million to modernize it.

Hall of Human Origins

The David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins opened on March 17, 2010, marking the museum's 100th anniversary. The hall is named for David H. Koch, who contributed $15 million to the $20.7 million exhibit.

The Hall is "dedicated to the discovery and understanding of human origins," and occupies 15,000 square feet (1,400 m²) of exhibit space. Specimens include 75 replica skulls, an interactive human family tree that follows six million years of evolution, and a Changing the World gallery that focuses on issues surrounding climate change and humans' impact on the world. The exhibit has been criticized for downplaying the significance of human-caused global warming.

History of human evolution

Sometime around six or seven million years ago, the first members of our human family, Hominidae, evolved in Africa. They spent much of their time in trees, as did their close primate relatives, the ancestors of today's chimpanzees and gorillas. But unlike other primates, these early hominids walked readily on two feet when on the ground-a trait scientist often use to define the human family.

Between the time of the first hominids and the period when our species, Homo sapiens, evolved in Africa more than 150,000 years ago, our planet was home to a wide range of early humans. To piece together their story, scientists rely on a wealth of evidence, including fossils, artifacts and DNA analysis. The web of clues is difficult to unravel, and experts often disagree about which species lived when and where. But it is clear that the human family has a rich evolutionary history—a past that has shaped who we are today.

Dinosaurs/Hall of Paleobiology

The museum has over 570,000 catalogued reptiles from around the world. The National Collection of Amphibians and Reptiles has increased 300% over the past 40 years (190,000 specimen records in 1970 to over 570,000 specimen records in 2008).The Hall of Dinosaurs has fossilized skeletons and cast models, including Tyrannosaurus rex facing off with Triceratops, and the "Triceratops exhibit shows the first accurate dinosaur skeleton in virtual motion, achieved through the use of scanning and digital technology." The collection consists of 46 "complete and important specimens" of dinosaurs. The website has a "virtual tour" of the collection.

Dinosaurs are a group of terrestrial reptiles that first appeared in the Late (or perhaps Middle) Triassic Period, about 230 million years ago. Although dinosaur bones have been discovered throughout human history, these animals were only described scientifically in the early nineteenth century. Since that time, scientists have identified nearly a thousand different dinosaur species, from all continents, and ranging in size from a few kilograms to tens of tons.