Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi is inviting the public to name two of the most important specimens in its collection: a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton that ranks among the five most complete ever found, and a 25-metre blue whale, the largest animal species known to have lived.
The competition, titled “Name Two Giants. Your Chance To Make History.”, opens on Monday, October 5 and closes on October 25, 2026. Entries are submitted through the museum’s website, with no limit on the number of suggestions a participant may make.
A jury drawn from the museum and the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi will assess submissions, and the winning names will be announced later this year. Each winner receives a commemorative prize.
“Science begins with a name. It is how a discovery becomes something we can study, share and protect. We are proud to give our community the chance to do that for two of the most important specimens in our collection, because this museum was created so that people can take part in science. The names chosen will be used by our researchers, by teachers and by every visitor who stands beneath these two giants for generations to come, and they will have been given by the people this museum was built for,” Professor Peter C. Kjærgaard, Director of Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi said in a statement.
The two specimens are the museum’s second T. rex, a male displayed alongside Stan, and a female blue whale that washed ashore on Canada’s east coast in 2021. Stan, also a T. rex, is already named after Stan Sacrison, the amateur palaeontologist who first found that fossil.
Naming a specimen carries scientific weight. Abu Dhabi already features in the taxonomic record: fossils unearthed in the emirate include Abudhabia baynunensis, an extinct gerbil that lived around seven to eight million years ago and takes its name from Abu Dhabi and the Baynunah Formation; Hipparion abudhabiense, an extinct three-toed horse; and Stegotetrabelodon emiratus, a four-tusked elephant whose name honours the Emirates. Many of these are on display in the museum’s galleries.
The winning names for the T. rex and the blue whale will be permanently displayed alongside the specimens.
