Fernbank Museum of Natural History is ushering in a new kind of superhero with special exhibit Nature’s Superheroes: Life at the Limits. The exhibit explores an array of living creatures combating extreme conditions with surprising ‘superpowers’ to perform ordinary tasks like finding a next meal, leveraging strength, gathering speed and even locating a mate.
The helicopter beat of dragonfly wings, the black swallower’s appetite for a snack 10 times its own body weight, and even the seemingly death-defying feats of tardigrades. These abilities may be impossible for humans to achieve, but Nature’s Superheroes will show how these extraordinary talents are far from fiction with life-sized and larger-than-life models, engaging dioramas and interactive displays.
At Fernbank Museum, guests can enjoy the exhibit one step further with a visit to Fernbank Forest, the 65-acre old growth Piedmont forest home to many of the super examples featured within Nature’s Superheroes.
“We always encourage guests to experience WildWoods and Fernbank Forest,” Jessy Nuckolls, a life science educator at Fernbank Museum, said. “And so many of the organisms you can learn about inside the exhibit call the forest home. We’ve got Tardigrades, Periodical Cicadas, Winter Wrens, Pileated Woodpeckers – with this exhibit, guests can immediately take what they’ve learned and see it right outside.”
To get even closer to these superheroes, Fernbank Museum is hosting Animal Superhero Day on Saturday, Oct. 6 from 10am-2pm. Guests are invited to dress up in costume and test their senses, move like an animal, create a superhero name and meet live animal ambassadors.
Additional programming includes 3D movies on Fernbank’s Giant Screen Theater spotlighting superhero journeys: Earthflight 3D and Flight of the Butterflies 3D. Earthflight shows daily through Dec. 13 and whisks viewers across the world on the wings of birds big and small, while Butterflies shows Nov. 2 through Jan. 10 to explore one of the longest migrations on earth, performed by monarch butterflies that weigh less than a penny.