FOSSIL VERTEBRATES 



THE Department of Vertebrate Palaeontology was established by 

 President Jesup in May, 1891, with Professor Henry Fairfield 

 Osborn as Curator. 

 The plan of the department, as outlined by Professor Osborn in Plan, 

 the Annual Report for 1892, was to form representative scries from 

 the successive horizons of the West, in order to present a historical develop- 

 ment of the Evolution of the Mammals in North America. It was ex- 

 panded subsequently to cover the evolution of the vertebra ta in 

 general, but its chief aim, and since 1909 its specified limitation, has 

 been to present the Evolution of the Land Vertebrates, primarily of 

 North America, but incidentally of other parts of the world. 



These plans have met with a substantial success that places this 

 department among the foremost in the world in this branch of science, 

 not merely in the size of its collections, but in their quality, and in 

 the high standards of scientific accuracy, thoroughness, and artistic 

 excellence maintained in all its work. The generous support received 

 from Trustees and friends of the Museum and the interest and appre- 

 ciation shown by the people of New York have warranted expanding 

 the original plans to a much larger scale than at first contemplated. 

 Where eighteen years ago a single hall seemed adequate to present 

 the evolution of the mammalian life of North America, the exhibits 

 already require three times this space; and we look forward to pre- 

 senting the broad succession of vertebrate life of land and sea, from 

 its inception far back toward the beginnings of the geological record, 

 down to its culmination in the appearance of man, in a succession 

 of halls corresponding to the great periods of geology. The materials 

 for this larger plan are rapidly accumulating, and will be prepared 

 for a splendid presentation before the space is available for their 

 exhibition. 



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