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Walking the Cladogram
Before 1995, a walk in the Dinosaur Halls at the American Museum of Natural History was a "walk through time" following the evolution of early to late dinosaurs. Museum scientists Mark Norell and Lowell Dingus came up with a new idea: to organize the exhibition halls according to cladistics. This would give visitors a chance to explore the dinosaur family tree. Before 1995, dinosaurs that lived at the same time were grouped together. Now the dinosaurs are grouped according to the characteristics they share. For example, stegosaurs, duckbills, and ankylosaurs are all in the Ornithischian Hall because of their similar hip structure. The giant sauropods, bipedal carnosaurs, and birds are all in the Saurischian Hall because their hand structure is alike.
OLOGY CARD 029
Series: Biology
Cladistics
Science is like a giant jigsaw puzzle with many of the pieces missing. To try to piece together how organisms are related, Museum scientists use cladistics (cluh-DIS-tiks). In this system, animals that share unique features, such as a backbone, are grouped together on an evolutionary tree called a cladogram.
Image credits: main image, © AMNH.