Would you be able to detect an authentic Ecuadorian shrunken human head from an imposter? The key, historical experts say, is to check for evidence of nose hairs -- one of many things fraudulent shrunken heads are missing.

Imposters are everywhere and the Milwaukee Public Museum's calling shenanigans with its new student exhibit, "More than Meets the Eye: The Art of Deception." Opening Friday, May 4, the year-long exhibit explores how reality can be easily obscured by camouflage, fakes and forgeries, body modifications and illusions.

"More Than Meets the Eye: The Art of Deception" is the culmination of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee/MPM Museum Studies Class, a cooperative graduate program between UW-Milwaukee and the Museum.

With the exhibit divided into four segments, four groups of students -- with majors ranging from art, to history to archeology -- developed four display cases to tell the visual stories of different modes of visual enhancement throughout the centuries.

Museum studies master's program student Andrea Skyberg -- who has been UWM's Union Art Gallery manager for the past two and a half years -- worked on a case highlighting "Miss Deception: Secrets From the Dressing Room" with Melissa Bobholz, Kevin Cullen, Shannon Dosemagen, Erin Farley, Erin Gilliland, Angela Glasker, Sarah Kapellusch, Lora Kludt, Jen-Li Ko, Kristen Matlick, Katie Rudolph, Jessica Sawinski, Mark Sundlov and Laura Zellmer.

"This display speaks about the many ways in which women alter their appearance to meet societal standards of beauty," says Skyberg. Female deception comes in both temporary and permanent forms, and inside this case you'll find items such as a pair of breast implants, a woman's corset, Chinese bound shoes and a bustle.

But what is deemed beautiful in one culture doesn't always carry over to another.

"Women in some tribes in South Africa wear big colorful bracelets up and down their arms to imply rolls of fat," says Skyberg. "In their culture, rolls of fat are seen as beautiful."

"Fakes and Frauds" represents another leg of deception. In this case, the group collected fake archeological artifacts that have been used for various reasons, including Wisconsin's famous claim to falsification, the Spencer Lake horse skull.

"Finding the skull in a Native American burial ground dated 500-1,000 AD was very controversial because it implied that horses existed in North America during a time they were previously though to have disappeared," says Skyberg. "A farmer later admitted to burying the skull in the rural Wisconsin archeological dig in 1928 and recently the Milwaukee Public Museum dated it to 1800-1890."

"Now I See it...." is the third case on the museum's tour de deception. Humans learned the concepts of concealment and disguise from animals, plants and natural landscapes. Camouflage and mimicry is the imitation of nature, and both humans and animals have incorporated elements of disguise into their daily lives.

The fourth case, "Elusive Illusion," takes a look into the mysterious world of magic and distorted reality. On display here you'll find a "Fiji mermaid" -- once common specimens of the 19th century sideshow. These mermaids were intended to deceive the imagination by combining half mammal and half fish to create an imaginary creature to the delight and shock of audiences.