The half-excavated body of a faux centaur—part man, part horse—showcased on the main floor of Hodges Library has been chosen as the Sight of the Week by the editors of RoadsideAmerica.com.
The popular display is a work of art, made from tea-stained bones of a pony and a medical school skeleton.
The centaur will be featured as the lead story on RoadsideAmerica.com for this week. The specimen also will be mapped and available on the Roadside America app for iPhone, which allows travelers to find and visit attractions while on the road.
Bill Willers, former professor of biology at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, constructed the skeleton in the mid-1980s. In 1992 UT’s Neil Greenberg and Beauvais Lyons raised funds to the buy the bones. With a joint effort they created the case that sits in the library today.
The display is a reminder to always retain a healthy dose of skepticism, said Lyons, a professor of art.
“Fostering skepticism about sources of information is part of the educational mission of the university,” Lyons told Roadside America. “The centaur reminds us to not necessarily believe everything we read or see.”
RoadsideAmerica is a website that chronicles more than 12,000 odd and hilarious travel destinations ready for exploration in the USA and Canada.