Giganotosaurus caroliniiThis is what greets you upon entering the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia or as my nephew calls it, the Dinosaur Museum. It is literally over the ticket counter right inside the front doors. It is slightly larger than ...
T Rex
T RexWho put the 'terrible' in terrible lizard. But T Rex has the bigger brain (slightly). The lighting in the dinosaur hall was difficult. It was dark with bright spots, windows and light fixtures. And trying to find angles that hid lights and signs and wires was tricky. Plus it was all hand held, resulting in plenty of soft or outright blurry images.
T Rex's FootSignificantly larger then her 'hands'. And I suspect rather unpleasant in everyday use.
Butterfly
ButterflyOn the top floor of the Academy is a butterfly garden. And this is one of the resident butterflies. I do not know the species, and as they are flown in from around the world I don't have a field guide to look them up (if you know please leave a comment telling me). I'm not sure if it is the travel or that the habit isn't right or if it is a normal lifespan, but the butterflies live here for only a few weeks. Update: Mike Sokorski, Butterfly coordinator for the Academy has left a comment id'ing this as Tithorea harmonia.
Another Butterfly
Another ButterflyAgain I do not know the species. If you do please let me know in the comments. It was very warm and humid in the room housing the butterflies. And my lens (at least the filter) kept fogging up. I was lucky to get some clear images. Update: Mike has id'ed this one as Idea leconoe. Thanks Mike.
Iguana
IguanaI'll end with a living not so terrible lizard. The Academy also has an animal rehab center. I'm not sure what this guy was in for. But he had a knack of almost posing perfectly and then at the last minute turning her head to a horrible angle. But I managed to get a pair of good shots including this one.
7 comments:
Just a general query, Are these relative Photos? From the family tree so to speak, it is a disturbing trend if not. LOL
Hi,
My name is Mike Sikorski and I am the Butterfly coordinator at the Academy of Natural Sciences. Thanks for visiting the butterfly exhibit! The two butterflies pictured are Tithorea harmonia (I'm not quite sure what the sub-species is)from Costa Rica and Idea leconoe from Malaysia. Again, thanks for visiting and come back soon!
They are all great photos, but I love the light glow on the T-Rex foot.
I was just there on Mother's day... The Rex looks great and it makes me wonder if the girl in the ticket counter gets nightmares... it literally hangs right over her.
In the animal rehab center - I met a cockatoo? parrot? some large tropical bird with a gorgeous pinkish/off-white feathery coat. As my mom and I walked passed the glass, the bird skipped and jumped on a branch close to the window and just started a conversation - very matter of factly - funny stuff. It then started knocking on the glass window with her beak -- my powers of attraction amaze me.
Great series with beautiful, crisp colors. My favorite is the butterfly.
@ Mike: Thanks for stopping by and Id'ing the butterflies. I'll definitely be back to see the butterflies and the gecko exhibit.
@ Danudin: I'm told that the descendants of these were all shipped down under a couple of centuries ago.
@ Rachel: Thanks. Sometimes the lighting works.
@ mljrbg: Thanks. Which one?
@ Bert: powers of attraction? Dude, it's a one way mirror. The bird was talking to himself. And you need to work on your powers of reading (or observing) the T Rex is in the hall to the side of the ticket counter. That's Giganotosaurus over the girls.
The foot of the T REX pic is just perfect!
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