Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi to Open on November 22nd

The Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi will open to the public on November 22nd in Saadiyat Cultural District. Spanning 35,000 square metres, it is the largest institution of its kind in the region. Designed by the architecture firm Mecanoo, the museum’s facade echoes rock formations to connect visitors with the natural world before entry.

Galleries will trace a 13.8 billion year journey from the beginnings of the universe to glimpses of a predicted future. Permanent galleries include The Story of Earth, The Evolving World, Our World, Resilient Planet and Earth’s Future. Side galleries include The PalaeoLab, The Life Sciences Lab, Arabia’s Climate, Beyond the Horizon and The Human Story. An Interactive Theatre will take visitors through curated sequences across time.

Collection highlights include the skeleton of Stan, an 11.7 metre Tyrannosaurus Rex from the late Cretaceous period, a 25 metre female blue whale specimen, and a specimen of the Murchison meteorite that contains pre solar grains formed more than seven billion years before the solar system. Regionally focused displays feature Stegotetrabelodon emiratus, an extinct elephant relative with tusks in both upper and lower jaws. A Late Miocene Abu Dhabi gallery will present one to one scale models of animals that once inhabited the emirate, alongside pieces from the Mleisa Elephant Trackway discovered in Al Dhafra.

At opening, two temporary international exhibitions will be on view: The March of the Triceratops, described as the world’s only touring Triceratops herd, and the 61st Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition.