Body Worlds: Animals Inside Out

  Body Worlds is an amazing group of scientists that use a process called Plastination to preserve bodies and allow us to observe dissected bodies in varying stages without them rotting away. Which is a great way to allow the average person to observe and help understand what is going on under the skin.

Animals Inside Out allows us to observe all sorts of different animals in various stages and functions. It really is quite fascinating. If I remember correctly, all bodies died of natural causes, so nothing was killed for the display.

It’s been over 10 years, so things are a little fuzzy, but as I recall, this exhibit at the Leonardo was included in our tickets to the Utah Arts Festival this year, so obviously we decided to check it out. We may have paid extra for the exhibit, but I am almost 100% sure it was included.

Which brings me to my note: This is an archive post. For whatever reason I decided against posting this back in 2014, but I have tried to reference it a couple times now, so, I am posting it now in November 2025. Hopefully I don’t lose too much with the gap.

The outside of the Leonardo during an artistic performance we watched before going in.

Onto the exhibit.

Scallops and cuttlefish.

Squid.

Octopus.

From the side.

Underneath.

I can’t think of any other exhibitions that allow an underneath view. This is neat.

Neat skeleton and horns. I am not at all sure, but I am leaning towards maybe an oryx.

Crab.

Frog.

Fish.

The other side of the squid shows the inside.

Chicken? I think.

Rabbit.

Chicks.

I want to say ostrich.

Then we moved into the Plastination area.

Steps of the Plastination Process

Embalm with formalin and perform dissection.

Remove body fat and water by placing body in an acetone bath.

Immerse in a liquid plastic such as silicon, in a vacuum chamber.

Suction out the acetone from the tissues to force the plastic solution to permeate: a process called forced impregnation.

Position while still malleable, using wires and clamps.

Cure and harden using gas, light or heat.

Where you can see more muscle and stuff. Super morbid, but super fascinating at the same time.

Sheep.

Closer view of the face.

Goat.

Again.

Nervous System of a cat.

Reindeer.

Closer. Showing the fur and muscle.

Mountain goat.

Human brain.

Horse muscle.

Horse skull.

Layers of horse head. This totally reminded me of the movie The Cell.

Closer. It is pretty fascinating to see though.

Bull muscles.

Dog and the blood vessel configuration.

The front.

Rabbit blood vessels.

Duck.

Cat. This is displaying the rib cage which protects the lungs..

Human and pig lungs.

Giraffe bones and muscle.

Pig blood vessels.

Lamb or goat blood vessels.

Parts of a heart.

Blood vessels and skeleton of a frog.

Horse head.

Back to the giraffe.

Underneath. Man these guys are huge!

Me for scale.

Bones.

Muscle.

Ostrich blood vessels and feathers.

Face.

Side.

Giraffe in slices.

It’s like the images from an MRI, but physical instead of digital.

Fascinating.

Ostrich bones. I am starting to think there is a skeleton pairing with the blood vessel displays. Not 100% sure, but that seems to be what is happening for some of the displays anyway.

Various layers of camel.

Baby.

Neat artwork in the main central area of the museum.

Human leg.

Walking Upright.

Our leg bones are much longer than those of apes. The musculature of our legs is designed to maintain balance with a high center of gravity. The gluteal muscles around the buttock are for flexing, rotating, and extending the legs. The gluteus medius muscle is crucial for walking. It helps the pelvis remain steady while one leg swings forward. In apes, the gluteus medius muscle is devel…(cut off)
Toward the back of the thigh is the hamstring especially active during running. They flex the knee and straighten the hip. The muscles of the calf are particularly strong. They allow for rising up the toes and provide some of the driving force during walking and running.

I have always been just blown away by the fact that we can stand, walk, and run upright, for extended periods of time. It just doesn't seem like it should be possible! But this helps to understand it a little bit.

Human skeleton.

Rearing a reindeer.

We decided to go back through. I like to do that when possible because sometimes you miss something.

The camel.

Closeup of the teeth.

Ostrich.

Creepy shark or something.

Squid.

Octopus.

The leg again. It uh.. also has a penis.

Reindeer muscles.

Some kind of goat.

Horse muscles.

Closer.

Again.

The bull again.

Muscle.

Pig blood vessels.

Lamb or goat.

Big heart. I don't remember what animal it belongs to. It looks like pretty human-ish.

The giraffe.

I believe this is the heart of a giraffe.

The giraffe slices again.

You can even make out the leg bones, surrounded by muscle and tissue. Fascinating!

Closer.

Organs.

We then explored a little more of the rest of the museum.

Mural.

Artistic call box.

Fun.

Fun with light.

Characters from Chicken Run, I believe.

I don’t know why we didn’t explore the rest of the museum. I'm not sure if the rest of it was closed for the day, or maybe just closing for the day (it was getting late). Or maybe I think we may have been trying to see something else that was starting soon. Or both? It's been too long.

Anyway, that was pretty neat! I am glad we got to see it! 10 out of 10 squirrels.

As for difficulty, it's an indoor museum. DR2.

Dogs are not allowed. So be sure to leave Fido home for this.