Look who checked into capital’s Marina Mall

ABU DHABI: Mall goers now have a mammoth reason to visit the Marina Mall.

The fossil of what was once a giant prehistoric woolly mammoth during the Ice Age about 15,000 years ago has become a permanent fixture in the Abu Dhabi mall.

Weighing a tonne and stretching four metres from head to tail while standing five metres tall, it is believed to be the biggest fossil ever exhibited anywhere in the world. “Each and every bone in the skeleton is 100 per cent original,” Nick Kontos, head of marketing at Marina Mall, told XPRESS.

According to him, there are about 10 fossils of woolly mammoths exhibited all over the world but what makes this exhibit unique is its size. “It is the biggest so far,” Kontos said.

Discovered near the banks of the Irtysh river in western Serbia in the late 1990s, the skeleton has been identified as that of a male woolly mammoth belonging to the ‘Mammuthus Primigenius’ species – whose closest extant relative is the Asian elephant.

Worth millions of dirhams

Kontos said the mall paid ‘millions of dirhams’ to source the pre-historic marvel from German company GMX Fossil that air-freighted the skeleton to Abu Dhabi. “Each and every section of the fossil had to be packed separately. This newest member of the Marina Mall family not only creates an exciting atmosphere that attracts more visitors, but also provides an educational experience for all ages with the opportunity to witness the magnitude of the genuine life-sized mammoth fossil up close.”

The gigantic creature was unveiled on December 8 and will be permanently on display in the mall’s main exhibition area. 

When Mammoths roamed in the capital

No recreation of the Ice Age would be complete without a large, shaggy woolly mammoth or two stomping across the frozen tundra. But did you know that this Pleistocene pachyderm once roamed in Abu Dhabi? According to an archaeological study, herds of elephants weighing up to five tonnes inhabited the UAE capital about seven million years ago. The study, published in the World Journal for Biological Research revealed the existence of elephant footprints in Baynouna in Abu Dhabi’s western region when it was a vast expanse of green plains and rivers. Extending over 260 metres, the site has one of the world’s biggest isolated elephant herd tracks.