Animal Life
Animal Life Gallery 1: Mammals
The mammal gallery takes you on an exciting journey through some of the most spectacular life on Earth in an amazing setting.
As you first enter the gallery you meet a young Asian elephant and a bat flying above. The range of other animals surrounding them gives a taste of the treasures to come as you explore further.
Deeper into the gallery you come face to face with an attacking tiger. Its claws are bared and you realise how strong and powerful this animal must have been. Surrounding the tiger is an amazing diversity of other wild cats including a ferocious lion.
The familiar faces of a chimpanzee, an orangutan and a gorilla look out from their jungle setting into the cathedral-like gallery. Your eyes are drawn up past the ornate iron-work of the balconies and arching staircases, to an incredible whale skeleton that seems to float above your head. The enormous ribcage, tail and head give a real sense of how majestic these animals are in the wild.
Further into the gallery you meet menacing wolves and a polar bear and become transported around the world. A group of antelopes looks as if it has just been disturbed from quietly feeding on an African plain. Swamp deep and wild boar look out into the gallery and a hippopotamus skull and giraffe legs show the amazing bones inside these animals.
From Australia you can see kangaroos, koala, the spiny echidna and the duck-billed platypus. The duck-billed platypus is one of the strangest animals in the world and looks as if it is lots of different animals glued together, it even lays eggs!
Zebra, rhino, the Australian flying fox and sea mammals such as a walrus and sea lion are some of the other amazing animals on display.
An unexpected highlight of the gallery is the skull of Old Billy, the world's oldest horse. A painting shows him enjoying the countryside near Warrington, before his death in 1822. Living to the age of 62, he reached more than twice the normal age for a horse!
At the end of the gallery are British animals you might spot in woodland, on the riverside or in any city centre. The woodland setting shows deer, badgers and red squirrels, the river otters and weasels and the city street a fox raiding a bin for leftovers.
Animal Life Gallery 2: Invertebrates & Birds
Invertebrates
Invertebrates are animals without backbones. They show a huge range of size, shape and colour. You can find the invertebrate displays in the Victorian cases lining the bird gallery.
The displays explain the features of different invertebrates and how they are grouped. You can see whole specimens, animals preserved in spirit, and beautiful glass models. The sponge display shows the incredible Venus' Flower Basket, a type of glass sponge.
The coelenterates include animals such as corals. The display shows in a range of shapes and vivid colours, and stunning glass models of sea anemones and other soft bodied creatures. Some of these models were made by the world renowned glass company Blaschka.
Beautiful specimens of sea urchins and starfish, represent the group Echinoderms. Wonderfully named creatures such as feather stars, sun stars, basket stars and brittle stars are all on show.
A motley crew of worms are preserved in spirit jars, some were parasites and are still attached to their host. There are also some more glass models showing the detailed structure of delicate soft-bodied animals.
The mollusc display comprises a stunning selection of shells of all shapes, sizes, colours and patterns. There are also examples of how shells have been used as jewellery and money. Some nautilus shells have been cut open to show the intricate internal structure of these animals. More glass models illustrate the soft parts of molluscs such as cuttlefish and octopuses. One of the largest shells on display here is the Fluted Giant Clam.
The rest of the invertebrate displays are dominated by invertebrates with jointed legs, called arthropods. The first cases focus on crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters. Some quite monstrous specimens are on show, such as the porcupine crab which is covered in spines, and parasitic crustaceans which are stored in spirit on their hosts.
Some strange spiders and scorpions can also be found on the gallery, including Orb-web Weavers which have horns on their backs. Horse-shoe crabs and sea spiders are also on show, with weird and wonderful shapes.
The Bird Gallery
The bird display is housed in the splendour of a listed Victorian gallery. You are taken on a journey around the world seeing birds from Australia, the Americas, the Orient and Europe. Interesting themes such as colour, flight, breeding, feathers and extinction bring the birds to life.
The enormous Emperor Penguin has got to be a highlight. It gazes skywards as if looking for the stars to guide it back home to the south pole. Other enormous birds include the flightless Crested Curassow from South America and the Andean Condor. The Andean Condor is one of the largest flying birds with a wingspan of 11 foot. See if you can spot the tiny Cuban Tody, known as "the most adorable bird in the universe".
The mating displays of birds are always an impressive site. Make sure you catch the Black Grouse alongside a tremendous display of ruffs. Ordinarily ruffs are rather dull until it comes to mating season when the feathers on male's chest burst forth in an extraordinary puffed-up display.
In terms of glamour, nothing can beat the bird of paradise from New Guinea. The Red Bird of Paradise and the Six Wired Bird of Paradise are displayed at Manchester.
The section on extinction is a poignant reminder of human impact upon the earth. Dodo bones can be seen displayed alongside a Passenger Pigeon. There were once so many Passenger Pigeons that the flocks were a mile wide and 300 miles long. It became extinct due to over hunting and forest clearance.
Next to these birds there is a skeleton of the enormous flightless bird the Moa from New Zealand, which became extinct in the 16th century. You can see another flightless bird from New Zealand, the Kakapo that is still with us but only just; there are only 86 left.
The section on prehistoric birds is well worth a look. The sheer size of the cast of the skull of the giant bird Phorusrachos longissimus is amazing. This is displayed alongside the enormous egg of an elephant bird.
You can see how many birds you can identify in the British birds display. This includes all native British birds plus some more unusual species such as the Great Bustard, which last bred in England in 1832. However, pride of place must go to the White Tailed Eagle which, until recently last bred in Britain in 1916. Now, thanks to a re-introduction programme, breeds once again in Scotland.
There's much, much more to see in the Bird Gallery; look out for the gloriously named Marbled Frogmouth and the brightly coloured Eclectus Parrot (now popular pets). Don't miss the Albatross, Iridescent Splendid starling, the Satyr Tragopan, Hornbills, Toucans the extraordinary nest of the Weaver Bird and the bizarre sight of a small Meadow Pipit feeding a large Cuckoo chick.
And finally, as a challenge, see how many kiwis you count.
