Synopsis (from back cover):

Enormous, elephantine and extinct the mammoth is the iconic animal of the Ice Age. These colossal creatures roamed the cold, open landscapes of Europe, Asia and North America as recently as 20,000 years ago. Today, their well-preserved fossil remains generate much fascination and speculation around the world. Mammoths: Ice age Giants reveals what their life was really like. It describes their environment, behaviour, evolution and appearance, including new DNA analysis that shows what colour mammoths actually were. Unravelling the latest scientific research, Adrian Lister explains why this incredible species died out and whether it may be possible to clone them in the future. He also draws challenging parallels between the fate of the mammoths and that of their close relatives, the living elephants.

Throughout the book there are striking photographs of skeletons, skulls, tusks and preserved flesh from the world-famous collections of the Natural History Museum in London, as well as images of the best preserved mammoth in the world, Lyuba. From the Pleistocene period to our recent past, Mammoths: Ice Age Giants captures evolution in action in the dynamic world of the mammoth.

Review:

This book was published by the Natural History Museum to co-inside with their exhibition of the same name. The lavishly illustrated book is divided into five chapters; Mammoths and elephants, Tusks and trunks, The world of the Ice Age, Frozen and living and Endangered and extinct.

The book compliments the exhibition well, but there is no need to have seen the exhibition to enjoy the book. Adrian presents the evolution of the mammoth, their environment and suggests why it may have become extinct.  The book is very readable with up to date information.  Well worth a read if you are interested in this subject.

The Exhibition:

One of the main reasons for my recent visit to London was to see the ‘Mammoths: Ice Age Giants’ exhibition at the Natural History Museum in order to see baby Lyuba, the most complete woolly mammoth ever found. Whilst there I was surprised to learn that there are three types of elephant not just two because there are two types of African elephant; plains and forest.

This exhibition opens with a replica of a mammoth skeleton in bedrock and an actual thigh bone just to give a context of their scale. From here, the show never lets up on this sense of scale with mammoth skulls, tusks and hair samples adding to the wonder of a towering full-scale model of a Columbian mammoth, alongside other giants of the time including a short faced bear and a sabre toothed cat.

The display is littered with interesting facts such as the elephant family tree showing us that mammoths aren’t actually direct descendants or ancestors of elephants — they both diverged from an earlier common ancestor. It also tackles questions such as how close we are to being able to clone a mammoth, and the ongoing conservation efforts to preserve modern day elephants.

The highlight is of course Lyuba — a baby mammoth who was found in Northern Russia in 2007. She is remarkably well preserved and it’s a great opportunity to see the detail of the skin and hair up close.

The exhibition (now coming to a close) was very well done and well worth a visit. The two mammoth pictures are photographs I have taken of illustrations in the book.

Charles Robert Darwin (1809 – 1882)

One of the exhibits in the Human Biology section of the the Natural History Museum is this eight times lifesize model of a seven month old baby living with in its mother’s uterus. The baby will soon turn over so it’s head faces downwards ready for birth.

The sound of a mother’s heartbeat as heard from inside the uterus accompanied the display.

I remember being rather disappointed with the Natural History Museum on my first visit there on a school trip.  There were lots of tired looking stuffed animals that didn’t capture my imagination.  There was however one part of the museum that blew me away and that was the museum’s Whale Hall. At the time it was possible to walk underneath and alongside the ‘Blue Whale Skeleton’ and the life sized model replica and  wonder in awe at the size of the Blue Whale.

New Scientist reported that last year the iconic model celebrated it’s 75th birthday:

Created in the 1930s, the life-size model blue whale at London’s Natural History Museum has lost none of its ability to thrill crowds

THIS month, thousands of people will fall under the spell of a giant.

But this is no fairy tale or pantomime giant. It’s a life-size model of the blue whale, the world’s largest mammal. Now celebrating its 75th birthday, the 28.3-metre-long model dominates the mammal gallery at London’s Natural History Museum, dwarfing whale skeletons and other mammals.

Richard Sabin, the NHM’s principal curator of vertebrate collections, says the model was “incredibly ambitious” when it was built in the 1930s. He saw it as a 10-year-old on his first trip to London, nearly 40 years ago. “I was absolutely blown away,” he recalls. Back home, he raided school and local libraries for whale books.

When the model was unveiled at the end of 1938, it was the world’s only life-size replica of a blue whale. But other museums soon wanted to copy it. Some museums in the US made a point of making their version fractionally longer.

The giant was created by Percy and Stuart Stammwitz, a father and son team in the museum’s zoology department, using photographs and measurements made by scientists on British whaling fleet vessels in the south Atlantic. Although it was accurate for its time, modern underwater photography shows the model doesn’t match reality, says Sabin, probably because it was based on carcasses that became distorted as they were dragged on to ships.

Built in situ in the museum’s Whale Hall, the model drew on technology used to make first-world-war planes. The general foreman, William Sanders, suggested building a wooden frame, covering it in lightweight wire meshwork, then coating it with plaster and painting over that, rather than using traditional plaster casts.

The replica whale has gone on to feature in books and movies, and is also the stuff of urban legend. Some of the best stories concern what went on inside its hollow belly before the trapdoor was sealed shut forever. They feature everything from hidden time capsules to romantic trysts and gambling dens. Only one story is true, Sabin reckons: that workmen used to take their lunch and cigarette breaks inside the whale.

The whale remains a magnet for children. Sometimes when Sabin overhears chattering school parties, he hopes that among the more excited children lurks the next generation of marine biologists who will keep the magic of the whale alive.

Shaoni Bhattacharya

The blue whale is the largest creature known to have existed it is bigger than the largest dinosaur. Now it is not possible walk underneath it in the same way as I did as a child, but it can be viewed from different levels on the gallery floors around the exhibit which now includes other large mammals giving it a sense of scale. The Blue Whale still hasn’t lost it’s sense of wonder and awe.

The breakfast spread was nice but the service was typical of a London hotel. The toast didn’t arrive and had to be re-ordered.

Our first port of call for the day was the Natural History Museum.  We got there before the museum was open and there was already a queue to get in. When the gates opened we were able to jump the queue because we had paid for tickets to see the ‘Mammoths: Ice Age Giants’ exhibition in order to see baby Lyuba, the most complete woolly mammoth ever found. We got into the exhibition early which meant it was quiet and we were able to enjoy the display without people being in the way.  The exhibition was very well done. I was surprised to learn that there are three types of elephant not just two because there are two types of African elephant; plains and forest.

It was obligatory to go and see the model of the blue whale which is stunning due to its size. Due to the school holidays there was a long queue to visit the dinosaurs so we gave them a miss.  There is always next time The other must visit part of the museum for me was the large escalator ascending into the giant earth sculpture.  This took us to the display on earthquakes and volcanoes and the moving plate that simulates the Kobe earthquake in Japan. By this time the museum was heaving and we decided it was time to leave and visit somewhere a little quieter.

Our destination was Foyles book shop. Earlier this year it moved locations to the shop next door to where it had previously been.  The sections I enjoy seem to have expanded and had larger selection of books to be tempted by. I was very restrained but someone next to me at the till clocked up a bill of £460!!!

After the days walking it was nice to get back to the hotel to put my feet up and have a nice relaxing bath before dinner. We dined in an Italian restaurant just of Sloane Square.  The food was delicious, the service was excellent and it was wonderful to sit outside in the warm English air enjoying the atmosphere. After our meal we caught the tube back to the hotel for a nightcap before retiring for some well earned sleep.

I am back from my travels to London to celebrate the birthday of a gentleman who has reached a certain age…

I spent this afternoon sorting out my photographs which are now ready for sharing along with my London adventures. Watch this space…