Have you ever wondered what’s inside an elephant’s trunk or how a giraffe holds up its long neck? This week Futureproof visited the incredible Animal Inside Out exhibition at the Ambassador Theatre for an unusual look at some of nature’s most impressive beasts.
Created by Dr. Gunther Von Hagens – the anatomist behind the renowned Body Worlds exhibition – Animal Inside Out offers visitors the unique chance to explore under the skin of some of the world’s most impressive creatures. Any animal lover, biology enthusiast or fan of Channel 4’s excellent Inside Nature’s Giants series will be in their element.
All of the nearly 100 animal specimens in the exhibition are plastinated: a preservation technique which replaces body fluids and fat with durable resins and elastomers. The life-like poses of the animals give an inside peak into the extraordinary anatomical and physiological features of some of nature’s giants.
Visitors are guided on an anatomical safari. Highlights include an enormous bull elephant which is displayed split in half, the impressive musculature of a Silverback gorilla and a shark entirely outlined by its dense network of blood vessels.
Suitable for visitors of all ages, the exhibition celebrates the beautiful diversity of animals while inspiring our curiosity in the natural world. It also shows the physical similarities among animals and humans and demonstrates how evolution has modified basic body plans and physiological systems to achieve some incredibly specialised results.
Listen back to Dr. Angela Whalley as she brings us on an intimate tour of this extraordinary exhibition:
Animal Inside Out opened at the Ambassador Theatre on March 12th. For more information and to book tickets visit their website www.animalinsideout.ie.
