Museum of Science, Boston

Exhibit [Return to listing page]
Green Wing, Level 2

Ancient stone tools, poisonous plants, DNA, fossil skulls, and tamarin monkeys all have something in common: they are all clues that help explain why all life on Earth, including humans, evolves over generations. This exhibit encourages visitors to explore the evidence supporting the theory of evolution and understand why the human body has evolved into its present form.

Live tamarin monkeys, a chick hatchery, and other live organisms draw visitors into this engaging exhibit, where they can discover that all life has evolved from a single common ancestor. Find yourself on the giant, "Circular Tree of Life" to see how recently our species shared an ancestor with a fungus or a fish.

Touch fossil casts of ancient human skulls, and compare modern and fossilized skeletons. These fossils provide key evidence for the existence of extinct species of early hominids. You can also try walking in the footsteps of one of our early ancestors.

Conduct taste tests with phenylthiocarbamide (PTC), a bitter-tasting compound that only some people can detect, to discover how genetic traits evolve. Visitors can also learn about the properties of DNA and explore changes in our genes today, which offer clues to why our ancestors evolved in the past, and how our species may evolve in the future.