The Tree of Life earns its name due to the menagerie of creature shapes that appear in its massive trunk.  Beasts and birds, amphibians and insects seem to peer, lean and crawl out of the sculptured bark in an interwoven pattern of animals (and no, I'm not going to start singing "The Circle of Life").

It's nearly impossible to capture this "living bark" effect with a camera, it must be seen first-hand.  Like an M.C. Escher painting, the animal figures flow into each other seemlessly so that the eye continues to find more hidden creatures in the design the longer its viewed.  While these photos give better views of the detail, all sense of scale is lost in them -- this tree is enormous and the animal figures found on it range in size up to several feet long.  The picture below looks like I could reach out and touch the eagle, but it was actually at least six feet away and possibly that large as well.  Add to this sculpture the ever-changing qualities of daylight and this tree trunk tapestry does indeed seem alive at times.