Minerals have been part of Earth's evolution since the first elements formed grains of dust that collected around our sun and began smashing together to form planets, said hall curator George Harlow, a curator in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at AMNH, and a professor in the museum's Richard Gilder Graduate School. Photos: The world's weirdest geological formations Photos: The world's 6 most famous rocks An ornate crocodile necklace holds 60.02 carats of yellow diamonds and 66.86 carats of emeralds, and a sinuous snake necklace is set with 178.21 carats of diamonds, according to AMNH. "Beautiful Creatures," curated by jewelry historian Marion Fasel, features more than 100 gem-studded animals of the land, air and water, including birds, insects, fish, lizards and spiders. In a temporary exhibit, the hall shines a spotlight on high-end gems that over the last 150 years were incorporated into jewelry resembling wildlife. It came to the museum after the fair closed and earned its name because changes in humidity in the exhibit hall (before it was climate-controlled) caused parts of the ore to vibrate and "sing," according to AMNH. Finnin/Copyright AMNH) (opens in new tab)Īnother massive slab is the so-called Singing Stone, a nearly 5-ton pillar of blue azurite and green malachite ore that was exhibited at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. The amethyst geode pictured here stands 9 feet (3 meters) tall, weighs around 12,000 pounds (5,440 kilograms), or about as much as four black rhinos, and was collected from the Bolsa Mine in Uruguay.
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