The Natural History Museum in South Kensington , London - Part 2

Continuing from where we left in the previous post. Am including some more exhibits that I found interesting...

Giant Sequoias are the world's largest trees in terms of total volume. They grow to an average height of 50–85 m (165–280 ft) and 6–8 m (18–24 ft) in diameter. Record trees have been measured to be 94.8 m (311 ft) in height and 17 m (57 ft) in diameter. The one pictured below (one of the most seen attractions of the museum) is a 1,300-year-old giant sequoia.



Skeleton of the Indian python.
Snakes have an extra long backbone allowing them to move in a series of horizontal 5 bends.



Reptiles in a box
A tortoises shell is made of two bony parts - the plastron on the underside and the carapace on the upperside. Large horny scales - called scutes - cover the bones of the shell. The middle part of the backbone is fused to the shell, leaving the bones of the neck and the tail free.



Giant Carnivore - the imposing member of the bear family is the worlds largest land carnivore. Best known for their hunting skilld polar bears occassionally kill walruses and beluga whales. With a dense water repellant coat and a think layer of fat these bears can swin long distances through icy waters between ice floes.


Some other animal exhibits











Fennec Fox
These are the smallest foxes alive today weighing 15 kgs as adults. They are found in the desserts of North Africa and on the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas.



The whale shark reaches over 12 metres long and is by far the largest fish in the sea. This harmless giant feeds by filtering small drifting sea creatures called planktons plus small fishes and squid from the water.


This skeleton (seen below) of a young chimpanzee was one of the earliest additions to the museum. The chimps jaw was injured in a fall during the journey from Africa to England and the animal died shortly after arrival in England.



More in the next post....

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