DUBAI // The emirate’s oldest prehistoric resident finally has a name. The long-necked, whip-tailed dinosaur more than 155 million years old, was on Monday given the official name of DubaiDino.
The name was chosen by Johara Al Bayedh, a bank manager and Saudi national.
The 24-metre long, 7.6-metre high Diplodocus longus dinosaur from the late Jurassic period has been on display at Dubai Mall for the past three months.
Ms Al Bayedh chose the winning name from more than 6,000 entries in a competition on social media that used the hashtag #NameTDMDino.
“I’m a big fan of dinosaurs and I had submitted three names,” said Ms Al Bayedh, a product manager with Emirates NBD who has lived in Dubai for 20 years.
“I was so excited about this that I entered instantly, and knew I had to be one of the first ones. It’s just amazing to have a giant dinosaur fossil in Dubai. It is not just educational but will make people imagine how planet Earth used to function, and how the world was back then.”
The prize included a trip for four to Jurassic Park at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, return flights and six nights in a hotel.
Ms Al Bayedh said she planned to take her sisters along on the trip.
"I've watched all the Jurassic Park movies, so this should be fun," she said. "It will be our first time at Universal, so we are all really looking forward to it."
Developer Emaar had unveiled the vegetarian dinosaur skeleton as a centrepiece in the mall’s Grand Atrium on March 10.
It is the first sauropod skeleton comprising of actual fossil bone to be mounted in an upright position, according to the exhibit details viewed by thousands daily.
The remains of DubaiDino were discovered in 2008 at the Dana Quarry in Wyoming, US and it was flown to Dubai.
About 90 per cent of this fossil’s bones are original and were found intact at the excavation site. This made it an unusual find since the last Diplodocus longus discovered had only 30 per cent of the original bones.
Leaflets with information about the dinosaur state: “No comparable exhibit, with nearly all bones completing the skeleton, exists anywhere. Yes, the dinosaur before you is as real as it gets and complete.”
But the first incredulous reaction from onlookers is that it can’t be real. “I first thought it was fake because how would you have dinosaur fossils in a mall?” asked Maria Menao, a tourist from Sydney, Australia.
Visitors posed for pictures after reading touch-screen monitors and talking to volunteers with a striking image of the sauropod’s skeleton on their T-shirts.
Organisers said Ms Al Bayedh was the first to suggest the name and other participants chose similar titles, but DubaiDino emerged as the favourite.
A self-confessed dinosaur fan, she had tracked news about the Wyoming dinosaur being rehomed in Dubai since early this year.
Nasser Rafi, the chief executive of Emaar Malls, said the interest was important for the developer.
“We would like to provide visitors with memorable moments,” he said.
“It’s very hard to find a unique dinosaur like this and we are proud to bring it here.”
rtalwar@thenational.ae
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Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Rashid & Rajab
Director: Mohammed Saeed Harib
Stars: Shadi Alfons, Marwan Abdullah, Doaa Mostafa Ragab
Two stars out of five
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction
Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.
Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.
Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.
Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.
Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
Source: American Paediatric Association
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Emiratisation at work
Emiratisation was introduced in the UAE more than 10 years ago
It aims to boost the number of citizens in the workforce particularly in the private sector.
Growing the number of Emiratis in the workplace will help the UAE reduce dependence on overseas workers
The Cabinet in December last year, approved a national fund for Emirati jobseekers and guaranteed citizens working in the private sector a comparable pension
President Sheikh Khalifa has described Emiratisation as “a true measure for success”.
During the UAE’s 48th National Day, Sheikh Khalifa named education, entrepreneurship, Emiratisation and space travel among cornerstones of national development
More than 80 per cent of Emiratis work in the federal or local government as per 2017 statistics
The Emiratisation programme includes the creation of 20,000 new jobs for UAE citizens
UAE citizens will be given priority in managerial positions in the government sphere
The purpose is to raise the contribution of UAE nationals in the job market and create a diverse workforce of citizens
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
