Old Prehistoric Galleries at the National Museum of Natural History

[suspsy]

Hello all,

The NMNH is currently renovating its prehistoric halls, with a scheduled re-opening date in 2019. I thought I would share my extensive collection of photos from my trip to Washington DC in the summer of 2013. The old halls were definitely in need of updating, but dang, they were awesome!

Paleozoic life diorama


Paracarcinosoma


Eurypterus



Pterygotus


Time to crawl ashore!


Much more to come!

[Halichoeres]

Almost all of this was closed last time I was in Washington; I was so bummed. Some Cenozoic stuff was still accessible, but the dinosaurs were completely off exhibit and the marine reptiles section was only visible through a porthole in a door. I made out what I thought was an Archelon shell, but hard to be sure at that distance. So I appreciate the photos to show me what I missed!

[suspsy]

Moving on to reptiles now. Here are some Carboniferous denizens.



The bizarrely proportioned Cotylorhynchus.


Edaphosaurus.


Dimetrodon.


Stay tuned!

[suspsy]

And now it's time for the dinosaurs! First up, Ceratosaurus.



Allosaurus.



Stegosaurus.

[John]

Yes the old halls were awesome!But as much as I'm going to miss it,I can't wait to see the new updated hall when it finally opens.Only this time there will be a noticeable new addition to the dinosaurs,the skeleton of Tyrannosaurus rex utilizing actual fossils rather than just a cast.

[suspsy]

Outdated, but fantastic Stegosaurus sculpture.




Camptosaurus.


Thescelosaurus.


Centrosaurus.


Pachycephalosaurus and Stegoceras.



Albertosaurus and Edmontosaurus.

[suspsy]

Diplodocus and Camarasaurus.


Camarasaurus.


Diplodocus.

[DinoLord]

Thanks for posting your pictures! I went here as a kid and loved it, especially the big Diplodocus. I look forward to the new exhibition; from the concept image I've seen it looks quite good.

[suspsy]

My pleasure. Still plenty more to come!

[suspsy]

Hatcher the Triceratops.





Nedoceratops.

[RobinGoodfellow]

Nice pictures 
Thanks for sharing   

[suspsy]

And now my favourite part of the galleries, Stan the T. rex! This was the first time I'd ever seen a Stan cast in person. It's a fantastic mount.

[suspsy]

And here are a couple of totally vintage miniature dioramas. First, the Jurassic.





And the Cretaceous.






That's it for dinosaurs, but there's still ocean life and prehistoric mammals to come!

[Crackington]

Beautiful photos, looked like a great museum. I hope they do a good job on the re-vamped exhibits.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

Excellent photos! I was there two years back and it is spectacular. I took lots of photos, so if you miss posting anything I might be able to put some up. One thing that annoyed me was that I spent quite some time trying to find the second level of the dinosaur gallery only to discover that it was separate with a stairway behind the stegosaurus which I only noticed in a photo after I got home. Still was a really nice exhibit.

[suspsy]

The second level was closed off entirely when I visited the NMNH. Indeed, I think the galleries shut down about a month after my visit.

[suspsy]

And now it's time to take a dip in the seas!

Tylosaurus, Clidastes (skull), and Hesperonis.



Toxochelys and Protostega.




Dolichorhynchops.



Metaxytherium and Xiphiacetus.



Spheniscus.


Acrophoca.


Zygorhiza.


Pelagornis.



Squalicorax. Beautifully preserved!


Hybodus, Xiphactinus, and other ancient fish.

[Halichoeres]

That Protostega must have been the turtle I saw through the port-hole last year! Thanks for posting, Suspy!

[suspsy]

There are also some prehistoric creatures in the Sant Ocean Hall.

Dunkleosteus.


Helicoprion whorl.


C. megalodon jaws.


Ambulocetus.


Dorudon.


Basilosaurus.


Llanocetus and the evolution of baleen.

[suspsy]

And now at last we come to the Cenozic era!

Uintatherium.



Gastornis.


Hesperocyon, the oldest known dog.


Megacerops.