Award Winning Coventry Museum gets “Beastly” for the Summer

Coventry’s Herbert Art Gallery and Museum is taking visitors back in time to meet huge prehistoric beasts such as Woolly Mammoths and fierce Sabre-toothed cats as the BBC “Walking with Beasts” exhibition takes up residence for the Summer.

So its back to the Ice Age and beyond at this award winning Coventry venue with the exhibition running from July 2nd to the 30th October giving visitors to chance to go on a prehistoric safari to meet some of the fearsome animals that our ancestors had to contend with.  It is hard to imagine  when looking at the huge, gaping jaws of a Smilodon or the immense bulk of an Coelodonta (that’s a Woolly Rhino), that these types of creature roamed around the east midlands – so if you fancy meeting some of Coventry’s earliest inhabitants – now’s your chance!

This family friendly exhibition includes original scale models and the life-size polyurethane heads of the prehistoric animals featured in the six part BBC documentary, as well as full-sized replicas of some of the most amazing creatures to ever walk the planet.  There are real fossils to see, plus the chance to get involved in touch screen interactive activities to build your own digital fossils, learn about animal camouflage and to get to grips with the topic of climate change.

Everything Dinosaur team members have had the opportunity to work with these exhibits on a number of occasions, look out for the Neanderthals – a species of human that we shared planet Earth with until about 28,000 years ago and don’t forget to try out the blue screen area, it’s great fun seeing the young, enthusiastic palaeontologists of the future putting themselves in the picture amongst all these amazing prehistoric mammals.

Our feathered friends get in on the act as well, it is not just the mammals that diversified after the demise of the dinosaurs.  For a time, giant birds as tall as a man and with vicious, hatchet shaped jaws ruled the world.  Visitors to the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum will get the chance to meet them – that’s if you are feeling brave enough to go eyeball to eyeball with a “Terror Bird” (phorusrhacids) – we promise you will never look at garden birds in the same way again.

Look out for the “Terror Birds” but Don’t get too Close to their Talons

Watch out for the talons.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The picture (above), shows a typical “Terror Bird” from the Cenozoic, these animals were fast enough and strong enough to catch and eat horses. This figure was part of the Bullyland range.

To view the Bullyland range of prehistoric animal models: Bullyland Prehistoric Animal Models.

This astounding exhibition lifts the lid on the technology behind the series and examines these fantastic creatures and the times in which they lived.

Exhibition Officer Dominic Bubb commented about the exhibition stating:

“As a museum we obviously showcase history but Walking with Beasts brings a whole new level to discovering the past.  With our natural history collections visitors have always had the chance explore the natural world, but now they get to see so much more thanks to this incredible exhibition.”

To learn more about the exhibition and the other exciting events taking place at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum over the next few months: Herbert Art Gallery and Museum.

A spokesperson for Everything Dinosaur stated:

“Walking with Beasts at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum provides visitors with a unique opportunity to learn about prehistoric animals and so gain an insight into how these creatures were brought back live and kicking onto our television screens.”

Tickets to the exhibition are £4.95 for adults, £3.95 for children over 5, FREE for under 5s and £14.00 for a family ticket that gives entry to either 1 adult and 3 children or 2 adults and 2 children. Concessions are available, for more information and to book tickets online visit the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum website.