EVOLUTION exhibition at Harvard Museum of Natural History

Post date: Dec 16, 2008 7:6:20 PM

EVOLUTION, New Exhibition Opens April 18 at Harvard Museum of Natural History

On Saturday, April 18, 2009, the Harvard Museum of Natural History will open EVOLUTION, a new permanent exhibition dedicated to the concept that revolutionized biology and continues to inform current research. Harvard scientists have been leaders in the debate and study of evolution since the time of Charles Darwin, and the University remains a center of some of the most important and exciting new research in the field.

Leveraging the latest in this research and Harvard’s rich natural history collections, EVOLUTION invites visitors to examine the fossil, anatomical and genetic evidence that all life is connected through a shared evolutionary history. EVOLUTION will showcase evolutionary transitions such as life’s move from water to land—a new discovery—and the emergence of mammals. Visitors will observe some of the animals and plants that sparked Darwin’s theory of natural selection; view dramatic displays of diversity within species; and access computer simulations to learn how natural selection acts on such variation to produce evolutionary change. EVOLUTION will offer behind-the-scenes looks at ongoing evolution research at Harvard from exciting new discoveries about human origins to bacteria that evolve before your eyes.

University of Chicago paleontologist Neil Shubin will offer the exhibition opening lecture on Thursday April 16th. Shubin has made international headlines with his recent discovery of the 375-million-year-old fossilized remains of Tiktaalik roseae -- dubbed the “missing link” between fish and land animals. To celebrate the opening of the museum’s EVOLUTION exhibit, Shubin, the author of Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion Year History of the Human Body, will discuss the parts of the human genome which originated in long extinct lower animals. In the book, Shubin tells the story of evolution by tracing the organs of the human body back millions of years, long before the first creatures walked the earth. By examining fossils and DNA, Shubin shows us that our hands actually resemble fish fins, our head is organized like that of a long-extinct jawless fish, and major parts of our genome look and function like those of worms and bacteria. The lecture will take place at 6 pm. and is free and open to the public.

The Harvard Museum of Natural History is located at 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, a 6 minute walk from the Harvard Square T station. The Museum is handicapped accessible. For general information please call 617 495 3045 or visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu.