Attention !

What are you looking at?

Bisected alligator head

[Last modified: March, 24 2019 04:02 PM]

Have you ever noticed how you can still breathe when you are eating? This was the same question asked in the past by doctors studying the nose and throat. You see, a seemingly unimportant small piece of bone, called the secondary palate, keeps the flow of air from our nostrils separate from our mouths, allowing us to breathe with our mouths full or closed. Much like people, alligators and crocodiles also have this piece of bone, which is why doctors cut open this alligator specimen to reveal and bring focus to it.

Notice how the eye is drawn to the structures in the head! Can you spot the secondary palate? If the head were cut at a different angle, do you think it would have been as easy to notice? What does this tell us about the intentions of the doctors who prepared the specimen?

Object details

Accession number: X1215

Materials: Animal tissue, preserved in Kaiserling fluid and fixed in an acrylic case. 

Dimensions: 30 cm by 5 cm by 10 cm approx.

Source: Negus collection, Grant Museum of Zoology. Formerly owned by surgeon Victor E. Negus, donated to the Grant Museum by the Ferens Institute.

The case and transparent fluid in which the crocodile is displayed are readily ignored, although they are parts of the object. The Kaiserling’s fixative is an aqueous solution often used to preserve natural history specimens. Jeff Koons, in his artwork Three Ball Total Equilibrium Tank (Two Dr J Silver Series, Spalding NBA Tip-Off), forces the viewer to pay attention to the medium. One cannot help wondering: how can these balls float in the middle of the water ? To intrigue the visitors, the artist appealed to talented chemists to dose distilled and salted water with milliliter accuracy to suspend the balls underwater.

Koons, J. (1985). Three Ball Total Equilibrium Tank. [Two Dr J Silver Series, Spalding NBA Tip-Off] New York Gallery.

No matter your age, we dare you to find Wally in these scenes !
Like the throat of the crocodile, one part you intentionally look for is lost within the complicated surroundings. However, without all the other characters, searching for Wally would not be fun ! All these people were created purposely so that the search makes sense. In a similar manner, the pharynx of the crocodile is hard to spot, but this organ is only valuable to study as part of the body system, in relation to everything else in the head (and more).

Handford, M. (n.d.). Where’s wally?.

Next Post

Previous Post

Leave a Reply

© 2024 Attention !

Theme by Anders Norén

Please sign in first
You are on your way to create a site.
Skip to toolbar