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History & Heritage

3.25.2022

Stan the T-Rex, star of the Abu Dhabi Natural History Museum

The Abu Dhabi Museum of Natural History has not yet been inaugurated. Yet it has gained notoriety thanks to this revelation! The museum revealed to be the mysterious buyer of Stan, the T-Rex sold for $31.8 million at auction in 2020.

The sale of this fossil remained until then a great mystery. Although some organizations have directed their investigation to the United Arab Emirates to identify the famous buyer of the most expensive fossil in the world, the tracks remained unclear. This week’s announcement was a big hit in the world of dinosaur fans!

An edifying specimen for science

The 67 million year old, 11.7 meter specimen was discovered in 1987 in South Dakota by amateur paleontologist Stan Sacrison, after whom the skeleton is named. Stan has a 70% complete skeleton and one of the best preserved T-rex skulls ever found. The fossil has thus proved to be very edifying for scientific research around the species in recent decades.

 

 

The dinosaur shows traces of multiple attacks and diseases. Its skull is notably marked by several perforations probably caused by the bite of another tyrannosaurus. However, the cause of its death is still undetermined but could be due to old age, starvation, limited movement due to its injuries, or even a parasitic infection.

An educational and fossil-rich museum

The skeleton will help educate the public and share scientific research. The Natural History Museum will also display a fragment of the Murchison meteorite, which crashed in Australia in 1969. The specimen is believed to be 7 billion years old, much older than the solar system (which is only 4.54 billion years old). The museum will showcase local natural examples of flora and fauna, approaching natural history from an Arab perspective for the first time.

 

Natural History Museum in Abu Dhabi.

See you in 2025 for its opening!

See also

The ancestor of whales discovered in Egypt

Published on 25 March 2022

#Abu Dhabi

#Stan the T-Rex

#star of the Abu Dhabi Natural History Museum

#United Arab Emirates