Surviving: The Body of Evidence at Penn Museum

A new exhibition at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology opened last month, called Surviving: The Body of Evidence. Surviving is the first in a year-long series of planned events celebrating the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin, born February 12, 1809, called the Year of Evolution.

Surviving: The Body of Evidence is an interactive exhibition that uses a variety of multimedia displays to examine the process of evolution and its profound impact on the human body, its limitations and capabilities. Included in the displays are touchable casts of our human ancestors, a gallery of evolution researchers, and a larger-than-life-sized model of a woman, to illustrate the way evolution has left its mark on our bodies.

An interactive website for the Surviving program provides videos and activities illustrating evolution's mechanics, such as how wisdom teeth are an evolutionary leftover, and the difference between the visual acuities of dogs, humans and chimpanzees.

The Year of Evolution will include museum displays and a series of different events throughout the year, including special lectures, teach-ins and panel discussions.

Surviving: The Body of Evidence runs through May 3, 2009, and after that begins a multi-city national tour.

• Year of Evolution, calendar of upcoming events
• Surviving: The Body of Evidence, a preview and background on the exhibition
• Interactive Website, Surviving: The Body of Evidence