From now until 2012, travelers passing through the Terminal 1 international arrivals area at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport will see a large Allosaurus bearing down on an Othnielia that has tripped to the ground.
Don’t be scared. The dinosaurs are on loan from the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), which has lots more dinosaurs on display. And while you can’t save the Othnielia from the Allosaurus, you can help pick new names for these two creatures.
“Ever since these two dinosaurs roamed the earth approximately 150 million years ago, they have been without given names. With help from the community, that is about to change. The GTAA [Greater Toronto Airport Authority] is launching a contest to find names for the new dinosaurs. …The experts aren’t sure if these dinosaurs are male or female, so send us whatever names you think fit!”
You can get more details and enter the contest here.
Interestingly, there are also dinosaurs on display in at least two other airports in North America:
A giant replica of a Brachiosaurus skeleton towers over the Field Museum store in Terminal One at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and, at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, there’s a replica of a 33-foot-long dinosaur in the airport atrium. The Yangchuanosaurus skeleton is on loan from Atlanta’s Fernbank Museum of Natural History.
Thanks for visiting Stuck at the Airport. Subscribe to get daily travel tidbits. And follow me on Twitter at @hbaskas and Instagram.