Visitors to Abu Dhabi International Airport are being greeted by Einstein, a 23 metre, 4.5 tonne skeleton of an Apatosaurus. The beast, currently on display in the Arrivals Hall in Terminal 1, is due to be auctioned off internationally in October at a reserve price of $2 million, with 20 per cent above the reserve of the auction price going to the charity for endangered species of Arabian wildlife.
Discovered in Dakota, USA, Einstein was transported in ten cargo crates to Abu Dhabi courtesy of Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) and Etihad Airways. A team of paleontology experts reconstructed the skeleton in less than a day.
Dan Cappell, vice president non-aeronautical revenue, Abu Dhabi Airports Company said, “Einstein is an incredible relic from prehistoric times and provides a great educational opportunity for children and their families, allowing people young and old to learn about a part of the world’s history that is normally only accessible in museums.
Einstein is an Apatosaurus (also known as a Brontosaurus), a long necked vegetarian dinosaur who lived during the Jurassic Period, approximately 150 million years ago.
Although no dinosaur remains have been found in the UAE, the recent discovery of dinosaur footprints in Yemen have reinvigorated interest in the region’s prehistory, and Abu Dhabi has its own Department of Cultural Landscapes within the Authority for Culture and Heritage who are responsible for investigating remains across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Unusually for an exhibit of this type, Einstein is 85 per cent composed of his original bones, making him one of the most ‘authentic’ assembled dinosaurs of his kind.