New Zoo Miami Exhibit Explores Animals As Machines

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Zoo Miami is introducing a new exhibit that's taking a "nuts and bolts" look at the natural world.

Amazing Animals: Built to Survive opens to the public on Saturday, January 9th.

"It's kind of like a mix between 'Ripley's Believe it or Not' and all kinds of interactive experiences," said Zoo Miami Communications Director Ron Magill.

The exhibit explores animals and plants as machines built for survival. From using the animals themselves to life-like models, video footage to interactive displays, the zoo investigates the animals' mechanics like how cheetahs can run so fast, how a giraffe's heart pumps blood up it's long neck, or even how a Venus fly trap detects its next meal.

"The goal here is to show people how nature really has provided us with so many great designs," Magill explained.

Complete with pumps, pipes, insulation, motors, springs, and intelligence-gathering devices, these amazing animals' bodies function just like machines in order to move, discover and survive. Those marvels of natural engineering even inspire humans in our own architecture and design.

And there's an added bonus, according to Magill.

"You get out of the hot sun and into the AC for a while, too!"

Magill says animals can provide the models that will help people live better lives. For example, one part of the exhibit shows how using bat-like echolocation can help the blind "see" through vibrations.

"Its a window to the world of nature that will show people just how great it is," he said.

The exhibit runs until May 8th in Dr. Wilde's World at Zoo Miami.