A new Atlanta Event featuring the colorful Gecko is scheuduled to
open at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History on May 28, 2010.
Most people are familiar with the Giant Day Gecko, thanks to one
insurance company. Yet there are more than a thousand gecko species in
the natural world, and a live variety of those (including the giant day
spokes-gecko) will be part of Fernbank’s upcoming Geckos exhibition.
These won’t have questionable accents, though!
New Gecko Exhibition at Fernbank Museum will Stick with Visitors!
Live animal exhibition offers glimpse into a gecko’s world through the eyes, tails and sticky toepads of nature’s most adaptable lizards
Geckos are endowed with charisma that makes them hard to ignore and naturally engaging. A single display in Fernbank Museum’s 2007
exhibition Lizards and Snakes: Alive! left visitors sticking around the habitat, locked in fascination by these mesmerizing creatures.
Now, Fernbank Museum of Natural History will unveil a full exhibition
dedicated to the world’s diverse species of lizards in Geckos-Tails to
Toepads, opening May 28, 2010.
More than 1,100 species of geckos have conquered habitats that can range
from balmy tropical beaches and lush rainforests to frigid mountain
slopes and parched deserts. They range from shadowy nighttime hunters
with unbelievable camouflage to neon-colored nectar eaters that dash
around in daylight. Bulging eyes, night vision, ‘sticky’ toepads,
squawking voices, and disposable body parts-welcome to a gecko’s world.
Geckos-Tails to Toepads is a traveling exhibition that introduces
visitors to the remarkable diversity of these lizards with bold backlit
graphics, engaging interactives and living examples from around the
world. Lush, naturalistic habitats anchor the exhibition and draw
audiences into the geckos’ realm. Visitors can experience gecko night
vision, listen to gecko voices, learn unusual facts from gecko experts,
try to spot camouflaged geckos, and build a custom gecko for various
environments. The exhibition also presents cutting-edge science, from
the race to catalog and classify gecko diversity to unraveling the
mysteries of how geckos are such masters of adhesion.
“Fernbank’s ongoing live animal programs demonstrate what wonderful
ambassadors animals are for the natural world,” said Fernbank’s animal
care coordinator Lynn Anders, who manages the Museum’s permanent
collection of 40 lizards, snakes and turtles. “Observing live animals
connects visitors with the natural world and inspires conservation of
our natural resources.”
Habitats, complete with rock ledges, live plants and waterfalls,
showcase 18 species of live geckos from around the globe. Eye-catching
graphic panels with colorful images of geckos cover the walls.
Throughout the exhibition visitors are immersed in the sights and sounds
of a gecko’s world.
Geckos-Tails to Toepads includes self-contained custom habitats that
provide lighting, humidity, temperature, and water quality control to
meet the needs of the delicate creatures in its care. This is the most
advanced traveling gecko exhibition in the country.
“This exhibition is full of bright colors, hands-on activities, and
attention-grabbing gecko personalities. Visitors will enjoy being
transported to habitats all over the world as they meet all the geckos
that make this exhibition so incredible,” Anders said.
Peeling Productions, the exhibit arm of Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland in
Allenwood, Pennsylvania, an institution accredited by the Association of
Zoos and Aquariums, spent two years designing and creating the
exhibition. Fernbank Museum and Peeling Productions have previously
partnered to showcase the exhibitions Reptiles: The Beautiful and the
Deadly (2001) and Frogs: A Chorus of Colors (2005 and 2007), two of
Fernbank’s most popular exhibitions of all time. Geckos-Tails to Toepads
is sponsored locally in part by AGL Resources with media support from
Radio Disney.
The IMAX(r) film Bugs! A Rainforest Adventure will show at Fernbank from
May 28-September 30 to complement the Geckos exhibition. A separate
IMAX(r) ticket or Value Pass admission is required for the film.
Geckos-Tails to Toepads is on view at Fernbank Museum of
Natural History from May 28-September 6, 2010. The exhibition is
included with Museum admission, which is $15 for adults, $14 for
students and seniors, $13 for children ages 3 to 12, and free for Museum
Members and children under 3. Value Pass admission includes the Museum
and IMAX Theatre at a discount ranging from $19-$23, or $8 for Museum
Members. Geckos is also included with City Pass admission.
Fernbank Museum of Natural History is located at 767 Clifton Road NE in
Atlanta. For tickets or visitor information, visit fernbankmuseum.org or
call 404.929.6300.
Related Fernbank Museum Exhibits and Articles:
Butterflies and Other Insects
DeSoto Artifacts
Arabia at IMAX
