Skeletons of a chimpanzee, a modern human, and a reconstructed Neanderthal at the entrance of the hall ©Denis Finnin, Courtesy of AMNH

The History of Human Evolution section of the new Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins ©Denis Finnin, Courtesy of AMNH

A Neanderthal skeleton assembled from six fossils ©R. Mickens, Courtesy of AMNH

Model of double stranded DNA coming out of a cell ©Denis Finnin, Courtesy of AMNH

How did we become human? What makes us human? Where are we going? The new Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins (endowed by the parents of Governor Eliot Spitzer) at the American Museum of Natural History, is trying to answer these questions. The hall houses a permanent exhibition that opened on February 10, 2007, which traces human history back to Africa seven million years ago when the first hominids appeared, and establishes the remarkable course of human evolution. Ellen V. Futter, president of the museum, said that it combines “for the first time in a major exhibition of its kind, a wealth of mutually reinforcing evidence from two seemingly disparate fields of science—the fossil record and genomic data—to present a sweeping and comprehensive story of humanity’s origins and progress.”

One of the most striking characteristics of the hall is in fact its genomic thread interwoven with fossil records of the history of human evolution. A quick glimpse at the entrance of the hall gives you the idea. A big screen on top of the entrance welcomes visitors with a swimming sperm merging with an egg to become an embryo. The embryo divides twice, gives way to chromosomes aligned together, and finally a human brain emerges and occupies the whole screen.

Genomic studies in recent decades have reinforced and extended what we know from fossils: we have evolved from earlier humanlike species that first emerged in Africa some six to seven million years ago. Our ancient relatives moved out of Africa in multiple waves of migration to other continents starting about two million years ago. Modern Homo sapiens first migrated out of Africa about 60,000 years ago, and finally became the only Homo species in the world. The hall starts with multimedia presentations of the most basic molecules of a living cell: DNA, RNA, and proteins, followed by animations of how scientists study them. Three vials of milky solution on display contain DNA, one of which was extracted from 40,000-year-old Neanderthal bones, donated by the Max Planck Institute in Munich, Germany. The molecular tour culminates in an interactive “Tree of Life,” where visitors are shown how all living things are related, drawn with what seems to be a funky version of MacVector. All the genetic bits come to the conclusion that the human genome is, on average, 96% identical to that of some of our most distant primate relatives, and that we are 99.9% identical to each other regardless of ethnic differences.

Biologists may not find the genetic trip too exciting because, well, we breathe this subject day in and day out. However, scientists and laymen alike will find the fossil collection here an unbelievable resource. The 9,000-square-foot hall houses over 200 casts of hominid fossils and artifacts that document human evolution over millions of years. At the entrance there is a monumental trio of life-size primate skeletons: a chimpanzee, a modern human, and a reconstructed Neanderthal. Other fossil highlights are equally impressive. An Australopithecus couple walking together are the icons from the former Hall of Human Biology and Evolution. A bust of the Peking man gives a good example of Homo erectus. It was found near Beijing, China and has been dated to 250,000 to 400,000 years ago. A full-body skeleton of the Neanderthal, a Homo species who lived in Europe before being replaced by modern humans about 30,000 years ago, probably can be seen in only a few places in the world. Also on display is a reconstructed skull of the Homo floresiensis, a remarkably small-sized species found in Indonesia in recent years whose evolutionary placement is still debated. Last but not least, the famous Turkana boy, a nearly complete skeleton of an 11- or 12-year-old boy who died about 1.5 million years ago near Lake Turkana in Kenya, smiles in his showcase. Most fossils in the hall are casts, but, according to Dr. Ian Tattersall, co-curator of the hall and curator of the division of anthropology, they are faithful representations of the originals and good resources for anyone who wishes to learn what is the basic evidence that evolutionary scientists are dealing with.

Even for scientists, the assembly of so many hominid fossils is a remarkable scene. The Neanderthal skeleton, for example, with complete and detailed body structure, was assembled based on six different fossils found in four countries. The wide array of reconstructed hominids is the work of a team headed by Gary Sawyer, a senior museum technician. Behind the scenes, Mr. Sawyer explained how he began with fossils or pieces of fossils, assembled them exactly where they should be, attached muscles according to the bone structure, and finally gave the reconstruction a hominid face. Anatomy is certainly the key player in the process, and it involves numerous and tedious technical details. However, it also calls for artistic creativity. The Turkana boy, for example, has a cheerful smile on his face. How do they know that he was smiling? Well, they don’t. But when it came to the phase of reconstructing his face, said Mr. Sawyer, they brought in a boy, had him smile, and modeled his expression. After all, he was a boy. Why not make him happy?

In addition to that of Mr. Saywer’s, there are laboratories which function beyond the museum exhibitions on the floors that are inaccessible to the general public. The museum is home to a large research community. Besides the conventional departments of invertebrate biology, vertebrate biology, paleontology, anthropology, and physical sciences, a new Center of Comparative Genomics is now a vital part of the museum’s research interests. Traditional biology is combined with state-of-the-art molecular laboratories in the Center. Dr. Rob DeSalle, co-curator of the hall and curator of the Center, heads a lab whose research topics range from viruses to whales. By studying some model systems such as the papilloma virus and malaria, and through collaborations with The Mount Sinai Hospital and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, his lab is trying to understand the mechanisms that underlie human diseases caused by various microbes. To study non-human and human genomics, the Center invested in a large facility for DNA sequencing and synthesis. In fact the museum has become so strong in research that it has announced the launch of its graduate school in 2008, modeling the program on that of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. It will be the first museum in the US to grant Ph.D.s.

The vibrant research community helps keep the hall up-to-date with the most recent research developments, for example, there are three LCD screens displaying scientific findings. Functional MRI studies of the human brain and avian flu research are currently shown there. But these are going to be changed to other stories soon so that visitors are kept informed of the latest scientific advances.

Some may wish to dig deeper into our evolutionary history. To explore beyond the hall they can go to a variety of public programs provided by the museum. Past events included a debate on the opening day on whether the Neanderthals interbred with ancient Homo sapiens, which was held between scientists from the museum and those invited from outside. On March 14, paleontologist Alan Walker from Pennsylvania State University will present a seminar on searching for our earliest human ancestor. More scientific programs can be found on the museum’s Web site, www.amnh.org.

The Educational Laboratory for Comparative Genomics and Human Origins, a hands-on teaching facility ©R. Mickens, Courtesy of AMNH

If visitors get really excited about research, they can even get their own laboratory experience. The hall features the Educational Laboratory for Comparative Genomics and Human Origins. On one side of the lab, visitors can play around with some hominid skulls or use dissecting scopes to look at various dental fossils and standard microscopes to look at plant sections in which some cells are caught in the middle of mitosis. On the other side of the lab, an agarose gel loaded with DNA is on display. The rest of the bench is set up with a few laptops with various Web pages or programs open, such as the NCBI Web page and CrystalX. In the back of the lab, some small appliances such as an Eppendorf centrifuge and a mono-block thermal cycler, although kept silent and unemployed, remind biologists of their routines. The lab is the first teaching facility of its kind established in a permanent exhibition hall at the museum. Visitors are welcome here with no additional charge to the museum general admission. Schools can also call for arrangements for class trips.

Children are, of course, not forgotten. The hall has designed an educator’s guide for class trips. Various publications for educational purposes are available, including an illustrated book on human evolution, Bones, Brains, and Human DNA, aimed at children aged eight and up, written by curators of the hall. They have also written a book for adults which will be published in April 2007.

Passing the elaborate history of human evolution, the exhibition immediately raises one question. What makes us human? Put in another way, what is it that makes us different from other species, or are we really so different? The hall explores this question through the examples of artistic creativity, language development, and tool use. Yet the answer is largely left for visitors to ponder.

In recent years, the US has witnessed a revival of Christian fundamentalism. For example, the Pennsylvania case of teaching intelligent design in science classes, although having failed, posed an alarming signal to the scientific community. The new hall, with convincing evidence of human evolution, stands immediately at the forefront of defending scientific dignity. “Most people who don’t grasp the idea of human evolution are uninformed,” said Dr. Rob DeSalle, “the better informed we are, the more we will understand. In fact, this is what the hall and the museum are all about. It’s about understanding that we have common ancestors with all living organisms.” Dr. DeSalle also added that it was not wrong to have a spiritual view on the world, just that creationism was not the way to view the natural world. At the end of the hall there is a small video presentation in which scientists with religious beliefs talk about the issue. They are trying to show that science and religion do not have to be in conflict. In fact, “they have different realms and are complementary,” commented Dr. Ian Tattersal.

The hall even poses a more general and far-reaching question for humankind. Where are we going? There are many aspects to this question. For example, are we, as one human species, still evolving? Is it possible that someday a new species will emerge and finally take over earthly power just as we did some 60,000 years ago. Perhaps humanity may not even survive that long to see it happen. Due to human activities, the earth is experiencing gigantic changes that are detrimental to humans. Global warming, for example, certainly affects us. How should we respond? How do we humans, as one branch of the primate family and as part of the vast and diverse natural world, act responsibly and respectfully? What we do now defines our future. And our future is out there, wide open. The hall shows us the origins of humankind, but it cannot provide us with the future. It is something that everyone needs to think about and decide.

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