The “Big John” is the largest known surviving example, being 66 million years old.
Paris:
Organizers said Tuesday a Paris auction house will try to sell Triceratops, the world’s largest known dinosaur, known as “Big John”, in October with the magnificent skeleton already on show to the public. Is.
Triceratops is one of the most distinctive of dinosaurs because of the three horns on its head—one on the nose and two on the forehead—which give the dinosaur its Latin name.
The “Big John” is the largest known surviving example, being 66 million years old and a skeleton about eight meters long.
It will be on display at the Drouet auction house in Paris from 18 October, where it will be presented by expert auctioneer Gicello on 21 October.
It is estimated that it will sell for 1.2 to 1.5 million euros ($1.4–$1.8 million), although dinosaur auction sales in the past have proved very unpredictable.
The dinosaur has an export license and a dozen potential buyers, said Alexandre Giquelo of Giquelo House.
A two-metre-wide skull, some 200 bones and large horns of the animal were being collected on Tuesday behind the windows of the Draut exhibition gallery in central Paris.
A unique specimen with skeletons more than 60 percent complete – including 75 percent for the skull – the Big John was discovered in 2014 by geologist Walter W. Stein Bill in the US state of South Dakota. It was renovated in Trieste, Italy.
The sale comes amid continued enthusiasm for dinosaur skeletons, with prices often reaching records that leave public museums and research centers unable to outpace private buyers.
In October, a rare Allosaurus skeleton, one of the oldest dinosaurs, was auctioned in Paris to an anonymous bidder for more than three million euros, more than double its estimate.
A few weeks ago, a 67-million-year-old T-Rex skeleton was sold in New York for $31.8 million, breaking the record for dinosaurs and surpassing estimates of $6 to $8 million.
In 2020, however, many of the dinosaurs offered in Paris did not find takers after minimum prices were not reached.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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