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Skeleton of 140 million-year-old dinosaur at Abu Dhabi airport

ABU DHABI - Visitors to the Abu Dhabi International Airport this week will be forgiven for thinking that they've stepped back in time or into the set of the latest Spielberg blockbuster or an episode of The Flintstones.

Einstein, a 23-metre, 4.5-tonne skeleton of an Apatosaurus arrived at the airport earlier this week, where it will spend the next two-and-a-half months on display in Terminal 1 Arrivals Hall .

Einstein is an Apatosaurus (also known as a Brontosaurus), a long-necked vegetarian dinosaur that lived during the Jurassic Period, approximately 150 million years ago.

Discovered in Dakota, the USA, Einstein has been carefully transported in ten cargo crates to Abu Dhabi, courtesy Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) and Etihad Airways.

Accompanied and reconstructed by a team of palaeontology experts, the entire process was achieved in less than a day.

The exhibition will formally open for the public next week, with information available on the dinosaur's past and vital statistics, as well as opportunities for visitors to have their photos taken with the relic.

The exhibition will be free of charge, and visitors will be able to see Einstein without checking in or making a journey through the airport.

The ADAC will host Einstein until the end of September, giving the residents and visitors an unbeatable opportunity to view one of the first significant prehistoric dinosaur skeletons to be assembled in the Middle East to this day.

'This is a unique moment for Abu Dhabi. 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,' said Dan Cappell, vice president, non-aeronautical revenue, Abu Dhabi Airports Company.

In October, Einstein's skeleton will be auctioned off internationally 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. The exact details of the auction are yet to be finalised.

asma@khaleejtimes.com