SKULLS, bones and tusks from some of the marvels of the animal world will be the focus of a new museum exhibition.

A complete skull and tusk of a narwhal, the skull of a Gaboon viper, the world’s largest venomous snake and bones from the famously-extinct dodo will be on display at the Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle next month.

Bones: Skeleton Secrets of the Animal World opens on February 4 and features more than 100 creatures, showing visitors the role that bones play in animal movement, survival and evolution.

Museum manager Caroline McDonald said: “This exhibition will be like a giant X-ray of the animal kingdom and I can’t wait for our younger audience to come and explore these bony beasts with us.

“We want everyone to see animals in a new light and to leave the museum hungry to learn more about how they live, move and survive.”

The exhibition features enormous rhino skulls and moose antlers to tiny frog, bat and salamander skeletons.

Among the most unusual will be the skeleton of an Andean condor, which was brought alive on a steamer from Chile in 1886 and lived at the museum until 1911.

Dan Gordon, keeper of biology at the Great North Museum: Hancock, added: “I’m excited to be able to put these important specimens on display.

“Many of the bones have never been seen by the public before, so the exhibition offers a unique glimpse into our amazing collection.”

Bones: Skeleton Secrets of the Animal World runs until May 14.