Skeletons of a chimpanzee, a human, and a reconstructed Neanderthal will greet visitors at the American Museum of Natural History’s new Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins.

The 10,000-square-foot hall on East 77th Street, which opens Saturday, is named for Governor Spitzer’s parents, who are benefactors of the museum. In what might have brought a smile to Charles Darwin, the hall deftly combines up-to-date fossil discoveries and cutting-edge genomic science.

“There has been a revolution in how science is done,” a curator at the Institute for Comparative Genomics, Rob DeSalle, said. The study of genomes (hereditary information located in DNA) reinforces the fossil record, the curator of the division of anthropology, Ian Tattersall, said. “In fact, they tell the same story,” he said.

Old standbys from the former Hall of Human Biology and Evolution remain, such as the figures of the beloved Australopithecus pair strolling across an open plain 3.5 million years ago. Now, visitors can also use touch screens to rotate and compare images of skulls (a likely favorite among teenagers).

Another area explores subjects such as the human grasp of symbolic logic, music, and art.

A “science bulletin” will be updated continually with news stories relating to human evolution.